Challenges Polish People

I visited my usual bag shop again today.

This was because I heard the store manager was leaving to start his own company again.

I’ve been visiting this shop about once a month (of course, I don’t have the means to purchase every time) to learn about approaches to work.

I ended up standing and talking at the shop for 3.5 hours and learned many things again.

I’ll summarize the particularly memorable parts that I can apply immediately.

Taking on Challenges

The most important is “Take on challenges while you’re young enough to challenge.”

This person had independence and owned a store by age 27.

The depth of success stories and episodes when things didn’t go well there!

What was particularly impressive was the mentality and approach to work when things weren’t going well.

This was when he had multiple stores with employees, leaving stores to people who could follow his teachings.

They were reliable when things were going well, but when sales slumped, there was no one who could navigate through well.

Many people can claim all the credit when things are good, but when things go badly, they blame others and fall apart.

What kind of recovery you can make when things aren’t going well determines whether you’re truly excellent.

What’s even more amazing about this person is that he then closed some stores or passed them to others, keeping only his one store.

However, debt accumulated during that recession, so he worked convenience store night shifts, delivered newspapers in the morning, then stood in the store during the day - that vitality!

I was amazed by the episode of literally working himself to the bone to endure that period, without any single move that could transform the situation.

Furthermore, when asked “Aren’t you scared to go independent now?” he said he knows how much he needs to eat and not die.

I thought this ultimately comes from knowing his living standards and money flow when independent from challenging himself when young.

For someone who’s never been independent, it only seems like it won’t go well, but knowing from experience that 90% of worries don’t happen connects to life strength.

Marketing - Field and Upper Management

Additionally interesting was the marketing method.

I’ll keep this vague as it could be problematic to go into detail, but what’s necessary to increase sales?

Is it better to sow seeds that take effort but pay off later, or do slash-and-burn business that shows immediate results?

An easy example is high-brand licensed products.

Isn’t the same thing happening with our own products?

I strongly felt the need to have this perspective.

Summary

Ultimately, I buy bags at this shop not only because of the bags’ quality but also because of the conversational skills that carefully explain and don’t make them seem expensive.

Good products are a given.

That alone won’t sell - an obvious story.

I thought the skill of shop staff introducing products on-site is most important.

This knowledge should apply in IT too.

Rather, I strongly want to become someone who would talk to a youngster like me for over 3 hours like this.