This story below is exactly why I can’t wait to be a full-time entrepreneur ;) I’m borrowing it from a new “Funny Finances” series over at Sweating The Big Stuff, and it’s clever as hell:
A city boy moved to the country and bought a donkey from an old farmer for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the mule the next day.
The next day, the farmer drove up and said, “Sorry, but I have some bad news. The donkey died.” “Well, then, just give me my money back.” “Can’t do that. I went and spent it already.” “OK, then, just unload the donkey.” “Whatya gonna do with him?” “I’m going to raffle him off.” “You can’t raffle off a dead donkey!” “Sure I can. Watch me. I just won’t tell anybody he’s dead.”
A month later the farmer met up with the city boy and asked, “What happened with that dead donkey?” “I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars apiece and made a profit of $898.” “Didn’t anyone complain?” “Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back!”
CREATIVE!!! And admittedly way beyond my comfort level ;) Haha… But it goes to show that using your noggin can really open up some doors for you. And that’s what entrepreneurship is all about. Harnessing those hidden skills of yours and really building out something new and/or prosperous! You’ll probably fail a bazillion times before hitting it big (if that’s what you’re looking for), but keeping that drive alive will almost always get you closer to success every time.
So keep using your brains folks! Find a way to start that company you’ve always wanted, or get to crackin’ on new ways to pay off all your debt faster. You’re never at a dead end in life, only moments when you’re temporarily stuck. The next time you’re hovering there, take a step back and get creative! The opportunities are just waiting to be taken advantage of…
And please, whatever you do, always watch out for the $2 donkees. When it’s too good to be true, it usually is! Everyone knows the going price for them these days are $3.00, jeesh ;)
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(Donkey art by malias)
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Ha! Too funny! And you are right.. We are only temporarly stuck and will get out of this mess soon.
Thanks for this post – I needed it today.
LOL! Great motivation story to start the day, and a nice redo of the making lemonade out of lemons!
J$, get your ‘ass’ in gear and get that business started. Your comfy corner office is waiting for you!
I’m new to Budgets Are Sexy but very happy I found you. Thanks for today’s post. Have an awesome day and I’m looking forward to more inspiration. :)
Every single day my mind gets flooded with ideas. I have a little notebook of ideas that I write down every day. How many have I taken action on??? That’s right 0!!!
I think the key is to organize the madness and concentrate on one thing at a time. Multitasking can be the devil sometimes! Get em J$!
It’s ridiculous, unethical, and brilliant at the same time. Great story. I’m tempted to go buy an old donkey.
awesome and i can’t wait to be a full time entrepreneur either, it will be glorious…:)
Heh heh, funny stuff. I guess I should have raffle off my broke down car instead of selling it.
Love this story. I plan to retell, with apprpriate credit given, of course. :)
Glad you guys enjoyed this!!! I thought it was pretty clever :)
@Melanie Spring – Well, my business is already started there missy – now I just gotta spend my 9-5 there! ;) So it’s a good thing I pay attention on Twitter. W00T!
@Michelle Feeney – You too! It’s a most beautiful week my new friend :)
@Doctor S – And also, JUST DOING. Like Nike. They’ve got it right, bro – even if our first attempt is weak – at least we’re DOING something about it! And actually, that reminds me – found a pretty cool website today: DoSomething.org – check it out.
@Albie D @ TalkingCentsBlog – Haha… true that.
@Julie F – Do it! I just did ;)
Very nice and inspirational….I always feel the best ideas are the ones sitting right in front of my face and and usually so darn simple!
Love your site. Love the inspiration. Love the humor. Keep it up!!
I bought two iPads on April 3rd (the day it came out) so that I could sell an extra one on Christmas Day for like $1,000 to some desperate soul who WANTS IT BADLY. Because you know they’re gonna sell out by then. (well, hopefully) lol.
But hey a raffle sounds like an even better idea. Hmmm!
Loved the comment – ‘you’re never at a dead end.’ So true!!
You forgot to add the part of the story where the kid gets murdered when the other 499 people find out what went down.
Businesses: great to start, but hard to work through. The best mantra I have in trying to stick with it and build a business? “Make a fu&%ing plan!”
@Molly On Money – Yup. Sometimes you just have to take a step back and really just THINK for like 5 mins. Everything’s so rush-rush these days…
@Janet – Thanks Janet! Really appreciate that :)
@Danny @Frugal Quack – Haha oh yeah. Takes a little work and patience, but works out great in the end.
@HappinessandWisdom – Love your blog name!
@Ninja – He doesn’t get murdered, he blogs about it and goes by the name of J. Mon…oh umm…nevermind.
@Mark @ SpotlightInvesting – Haha… that, and a MARKETING plan first. You can have the best product around but if no one knows you exist it doesn’t do anyone good.