Don't Eat Those Dumb Beans! Book Released on Living Life To The Full - With Less Regrets!

This book released as an eBook covers some great material and ideas that can assist individuals and businesses to get a lot more out of life.

This is a very practical book. Easy to read and easy to apply.

Readers are already sending emails to the address noted on the last page directly to Lord Niel.  Most common are expressions such as Satisfying, Practical, Easy to read. 

So what is the book about?
We look at how you really want to live: at your values and how you know what is real to you. We look at learning curves and opportunities in a changing world. We consider how structured thinking can encompass your life and how this can help you to achieve your own goals instead of living other people’s ideals. We  look at the process of achieving goals and what really contributes to successful goal setting. Along the way we will continually introduce you to examples of success or failure with true tales that make you think about where you are going.

This is an invaluable read.

A simple effective guide that you finish reading is of more value to you than a long and complicated guide that you put away half read.

If you agree and you follow through and use the enclosed techniques this could well become one of the best investments in your future that you have ever considered.

We thoroughly enjoyed preparing this volume and putting the ideas down as simply as we could. We want you to get real benefit from this publication. As you read and visualize each character and the decisions that they made we hope that you will connect with the real lessons. Life can be a real source of happiness. The application of key principles will assist you to taste success in ways that you might never have experienced.

Business Lessons For the 21st Century

This story is featured in Lord Niel's book, 'Don't Eat Those Dumb Beans!'

EDDIE’S Fish Shack

The story of Eddie’s fish shack provides food for thought. (Excuse the pun.) There are a few similar stories around. This one was told by a sales manager I knew and I quote it as he explained it to me. This is a classic story of someone who swallowed down a whole load of ideas and started to make important business decisions based on them. Basically they were fed a lot of ‘dumb beans’ and they ate them. Thank goodness Eddie has a smart wife.

Eddie and his son John had a fish shop in a very popular part of a major city. The building was old and the grounds had been there for many years but it was an iconic fish shack that everybody used to go to. In the mornings it was the perfect place for breakfast with bacon and egg burgers all the rage. But it was the fish and chips that had built the reputation of the business. People used to take their families on the weekend and during school holidays everybody in the area headed for a plate of their famous fish and chips. It was truly a successful family business.

One day, John was reading a magazine on business and he noted the observations of an economic adviser who was making predictions for the future. None of the predictions were very positive and the article concluded by indicating that all sources seemed to suggest that a downturn in the retail industry was about to occur. The adviser warned businesses to be very careful in terms of their expenditure. It anticipated poor times in business in the year ahead as the economic downturn was sure to hit home and small businesses in particular would well be affected. John felt that this was something that they needed to consider. He discussed it with his father and they became very concerned. John suggested that they needed to take steps to make sure that their business would survive what he saw as catastrophic times ahead.

So they looked around for ways to save money. Each year it had been their custom to paint the fish shack. The Fish Shack was old and a bit run down and so a regular slap of paint had kept it looking bright and clean. Of course it was a significant expense. Then too, the grounds around the fish shack were old and some paintwork kept it looking bright. Painting it each year seemed an extravagance, especially with the anticipated downturn coming. So they decided that they would not paint the grounds or the building this year.

For several months business was good. But then one or two people noticed, as they were driving down the road that the old Fish Shack was looking a bit tatty. A few people turned to their partners and said, “that place looks a bit run down. I wonder if there’s something a bit smarter further on.” And so they kept driving. Sure enough, they found other places quite nearby.

Because the building looked quite rundown and because the grounds were looking very old this happened more often. People were driving down the road looking for a place to eat but the general appearance of the place was by no means what it had been. More and more people began to drive by.

At the end of the next quarter when they looked at the figures, they found that just as they had anticipated, the figures had dropped. Eddie was grateful to John that he has found this article on the economic downturn. “Thank goodness we saved the money that we did by cutting expenses. I wonder what else we can do. If things continue to deteriorate like this we will need to look at everything we can do to save funds.”

So they looked around the building and they immediately thought about the large signs that they left on all night. The site was equipped with some very large neon signs that advertised the best plate of fish and chips in town. Turning the signs on overnight was an expense. They thought about it and realized that they could save some reasonable funds by turning them off. So they made this decision to save funds and do the “smart thing” to cut their costs. Drivers on the main road would often see these signs early in the morning and late in the evening. They would say to themselves, “I must try that place. The fish and chips must be very good there.” It would be a regular reminder for them to bring their families on the weekend. After all, Eddies was an iconic place. And now they noticed that the signs were no longer on. They thought of themselves, “it looks like Eddies is closed down. After all these years it must be really sad the business to be gone. We will have to go somewhere else with my family this weekend.”

Sure enough, when Eddie checked his figures at the end of the next quarter they had dropped again. He noticed that weekend trade was well down. They were clearly not getting the volume of people through that they used to have. Eddie thanked John. “It’s a good job that we cut those costs with the signage. Our sales have gone down yet again. The article was spot-on.” If this continued they realized that they were going to be in a bit of trouble financially. So they discussed how they could save funds again. On the weekend it was their custom to hire a number of extra staff. They also had additional people present early in the morning to serve truckers with bacon and eggs. They decided to save money by reducing the number of staff to serve during the busy times. They could do this themselves.

That weekend was a busy weekend. As people drove towards the Fish Shack they noticed the large queues. Partners turned to each other and said, “I can’t be bothered waiting in that queue. Maybe we can find some place further on.” So they kept driving and sure enough they did. The Fish Shack was reasonably busy and both Eddie and John were very tired but at the end of the day the figures were well down. Eddie’s wife was not impressed with how much work he was doing. She decided that she wanted to check this out for herself. While Eddie was happy that they were saving money in the economic downturn she wasn’t all that convinced that they were actually in an economic downturn.

She decided that she was going to check this out for herself. She was not convinced at all that the city was in the grips of an economic downturn. From what she could see the city was doing quite well. And yet, as her husband pointed out, their figures were down. So she went for a drive around the area where the business was looking at other cafeterias and food places. What she found was shocking. About one kilometer up the road from Eddie’s place was a fish and chips place that served the worst fish and chips that she had ever tasted and yet the place was packed out. She dropped in for a plate of limp chips and hardly cooked fish. She listened to the crowd in the queue. Occasionally she heard reference to the old Fish Shack. People were saying “what a shame it was that the old place had closed down. They used to serve the best fish and chips in town.”

It was described as being an iconic place. “We always used to go there on the weekend. The place is so run down these days. And the service is gone. You should see the queues and only two people serving. Sure it’s a good plate of fish and chips but for how long.”

Wherever she went she found a similar story. She didn’t have to listen for long to hear people talking about Eddie’s. If only someone would take over the place and build it up again.

That night at home there was quite an interesting evening. They pulled out the article and showed it to her. She then went through with them all the steps that they had taken to try to prepare for the economic downturn. As they did and she talked to them about what people were saying in the area they began to realize what they had done. They had believed on face value the advice in the article without considering the fact that it was at best a guess based on reasonable data available to the writer. Their steps had made it a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The two men went for a look around the area themselves and realized that she was right. They had been the architects of their own demise. The economic downturn predicted for the city had not happened. People were eating out more often than ever. And many people wished that Eddie would get his Fish Shack going again.

So what did they do?

They switched the signs back on. They repainted the Fish Shack and the grounds. They rehired the staff. And they advertised specials to bring people back to Eddies. Interestingly, because people had tried the limp fish and chips nearby they were more interested than ever in Eddie’s iconic Fish Shack. Today it is doing better than ever.

The moral of this story is certainly worth considering. [Actually there are a lot of additional lessons in this story. Business owners might well draw a lot of benefit from considering it with their people.] Sometimes you will read predictions about market trends from quite well informed sources but it is always good to check things out for yourself.

In today’s day and age people feel that it is a sign of weakness not to know the answers to questions. So when you ask them about certain trends they will sometimes formulate an answer rather than appear to be uninformed or weak.  So always check things out for yourself. Sometimes a trend is short lived. At times it will run for years. How do you know? Check it out for yourself.

The value of personally discovered information cannot be overrated. It is worth doing personal investigation. Some people are very good at gathering facts and not very good at analyzing what the facts mean. This is where personal observation coupled with a real instinct as to where things are going in the market can be invaluable.