Gerrish junior is ten and this holiday he’s made life miserable for a handful of geckos. Sorry, I must have been looking the other way.
Being a boy, Jay decided to capture as many lizards as possible and study them in a jar. Lo and behold as fast as he pursued them, they dropped their tails through the awesomely clever process of ‘autotomy’.
Time and again, Jay was left with a wriggling tail while clever lizard raced off wishing wonderboy would stick to his iPod or Nintendo like any normal kid.
This amazing survival technique has a parallel for the solo business owner. Too often I witness individuals who will readily go down with the ship instead of giving a little something away in order to survive and prosper.
What’s better: A 100% of something that isn’t working, or 50% of a business that’s going nuts?
I’m not suggesting we all rush out and start formal business partnerships, but I do think it’s a good exercise to at least contemplate a ‘what if?’ scenario now and then.
How effective might a handful of coaches be compared to a lone gun? How might a web designer approach life if they sat alongside a skilled web developer?
Could three health practitioners handle their admin and marketing more efficiently by coming together under a single brand?
Apparently autotomy is not painful for the gecko, in my experience nor is sharing your business. In fact if I hadn’t invited Sam and Peter to join me in my business, I’d be gasping for breath in a glass jar for sure.
Let me know what you think, by sharing a comment below.
To help put any plans into action, the five comments on this article or associated forum thread that we judge to be the best will each win a copy of Microsoft Office 2010 Professional (total value $4,245), courtesy of Microsoft.
Click here to see how one man in a ‘bachelor bubble’ planned his whole wedding in five days using just Office 2010 and Windows7, and keep up with Windows7 news on their Facebook page here.
The FS team will review the comments and announce the winners in next week’s Friday newsletter.
“ Jay was left with a wriggling tail while clever lizard raced off wishing wonderboy would stick to his iPod or Nintendo like any normal kid. ”
Robert Gerrish is one of the Flying Solo crew and supports soloists as a coach and consultant. He presents at conferences and networking events and bangs on to the media or anyone who listens, about all things micro. Along with Sam Leader and Peter Crocker, he's the co-author of Flying Solo – How to go it alone in business.
