Entrepreneurship is a long-distance race in which only a few are able to reach the finish line. The majority start the race running hard, but as the race progresses they begin to encounter problems. One of the topics that I insist on both to entrepreneurs with their projects and to SMEs with marketing optimization, is that you have to “sharpen the ax before you start cutting down the tree.” We need prior preparation to be able to carry out the project whatever it may be. This basic learning comes from an anonymous story. This is the beginning of chapter 2 of my book « Marketing for entrepreneurs » with which I intend to inspire readers to start their projects with a new approach. Let me tell you and then we’ll see how we apply it to entrepreneurship (including an explanatory video).
The story of the woodcutter
Some time ago, a young man arrived at a forest sawmill, where it was necessary to cut down trees that would later be used to make magnificent furniture. He spoke to the person in charge and he, seeing the appearance and strength of that young man, accepted him without thinking and told him that he could start the next day. During his first day in the forest he worked hard and cut down many trees. The second day he . Worked as much as the first, but his output was barely category email list half that of the first day. On the third day he set out to improve his production. From the first moment he hit the ax with all his fury against the trees. Even so, the results were diminishing, at the same time that his fatigue began to show itself disproportionately.
Lessons from the history of the lumberjack for entrepreneurs
This story perfectly reflects the beginnings of a project. We usually . Start with a lot of strength and enthusiasm, but we do not measure. It reminds me of an old ad that EF Leads went like this: “Power without control is nothing” (Pirelli ad with Carl Lewis). Something . Similar happens to us when starting a business. But after the initial frenzy we begin to take some time to think when things don’t go as we expected. We think “What am I doing wrong?” The clearest conclusion after reading the story is that we realized that we had not “sharpened the axe.” But the lessons from this story go much further. If we assimilate our path as entrepreneurs to the story of the . Woodcutter, we could establish numerous parallels: We need to learn how to cut trees: training. We need to. Know how to select which ones to cut and which ones not to cut: strategy.
