Rule of Business

I had a business owner chat with me, yesterday afternoon, about how he got a little worried at times of keeping his business going. He said he knew I had been doing my wedding cakes for 39 years and wondered how I was able to stay so busy all the time. He was more freaked out about just being in the wedding business for about 4 years now and he noticed more and more starting to do the same thing he was and was worried about staying in business with sinking some $$$ into it. Said he was pretty busy and booking into next year, but worries when he hears of others starting up.

I told him I didn’t have a magic formula for being in business making cakes for 39 years, other than just “keep on keeping on.” My Mother always taught me the Golden Rule….to treat folks the way I wanted to be treated, and it would carry me through. That if I got worked up every time I heard of a new person wanting to make cakes….I’d be worried all the time, but that many who step out into what I do for a living soon find they either can’t cut it, can’t make money at it and drop it after a bit. That I just keep doing what I know best and do the best on each cake order I make. If I treat the customer well, word of mouth is my best advertisement. I no longer really have to run any kind of ads and have more business than I can handle. I told him to think about it….he can’t book every wedding out there. I can’t do every wedding cake or birthday cake in this area….but I am willing to help other decorators by passing on business to them too. It didn’t bother me….as I am busy enough. Stick with it and just keep doing the best for each customer….was my goal.

He said it made him feel better after talking to me and he was not going to give up and that he needed to just STOP and collect his vision again and see that he really was booked and booking into next year, so really he was blessed. I agreed with him and told him I’m not a business person….I hate that part of what I do and to just find his passion and the love he had for when he started up his business…not worry about the other guy.

Come to think about it….we all need to be reminded of that in our lives. Too many look around at what someone else is doing, getting more than they are, buying this and having that….and we need to STOP and see that we really are blessed and have way more than a lot of people. More important to keep treating people the way we want to be treated. It also reminded me after chatting with this guy, that I need to just KEEP ON KEEPING ON and keep fresh the Golden Rule in my life.

“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 7:12 NLT)