Power of One - How One Customer Can Make All the Difference

My 7 year old daughter decided to open up her own business. This is not her first business, mind you. She has had 7 separate businesses already. She loves to come up with new ways to make money. She has sold everything from pictures she has drawn to rocks from the driveway. This budding entrepreneur even found a way to monetize her stuffed animal collection by creating a museum and charging admission.

Although my daughter loves the idea of having a business, I am wondering if her personality traits are right for business or not.

Brynnan is a perfectionist. She cried for hours because the cow she decorated for a food chain contest wasn't going to look good enough to win first place. After her first t-ball practice she was grumpy as a grizzly bear because she couldn't catch every one of the balls that came her way. If she does something, she wants to be the best. In the business world this personality trait has meant great works of art and amazing accomplishments. In our house, it means she gives up if she does not succeed at a business right away.

Another personality trait I am worried about is her tendency to be impatient. This girl wants results NOW. One business we tried for her was to build a community of kids online and then sell ad space when it had quite a few people active on it. After a few days she gave up because it was taking too long to see any money coming in. She would sit at a lemonade stand for about 10 minutes before coming in complaining that she had not had one customer yet.

These two personality traits combined this morning to create a perfect storm where she was ready to chuck her newest business, manicures and pedicures for kids. She was practicing on my toenails and it was not looking as good as she wanted it to, so she was angry. Then she whined that not one person had made an appointment yet. I tried to encourage her with my best parent pep talk. But no matter what I said, she was totally bummed-until we had a knock on our door.

At the door was her first paying customer. Her best friend from up the street had come with money in hand to purchase a pedicure and manicure. Gone was the despondency. Gone were the whining and sad looks. She had energy and purpose. She had a sunny disposition and a professional manner. In that moment, she was a businesswoman.

She may be a child, but we adults are much the same. One day we swear our businesses are headed for bankruptcy. We wonder why in the world we have poured ourselves into a venture that is destined for the toilet. We know that no matter what we do, we will fail.

Then that one customer comes in our door. We land a client that we thought we would never get. A family decides to buy a full package instead of just one session. Someone comes and orders a quantity that we thought was impossible. All of a sudden our entire world looks different. Our labors have meaning and purpose. We start to plan for the future. Going in to work is fun again. We are entrepreneurs!

There is much power in one. One customer has turned the tide for many a business. You may be feeling down and discouraged because of the current state of your venture. If you are, I encourage you to hold on. Your one customer may be walking up to your door right this very minute. Go greet them like the entrepreneur you are!