It's not where you start- It's where you go!

The following is a piece that I borrowed from the book, Something to Smile About. Encouragement and inspiration for life's ups and downs by Zig Zigler

Dave Longaberger graduated from high school at age 20. He repeated first-grade and then three-repeated fifth-grade. He reads at the eighth-grade level, stutters, and has epilepsy. In 1996, his company, the Longaberger Company, sold more than $525 million in handmade baskets, pottery, fabric, and other home decor items through 36,000 independent sales consultants nationwide. How'd that happen?

Dave has a lot of positives going for him. He possesses an entrepreneurial spirit. As a child, he worked so many jobs, his family called him the "twenty-five cent millionaire". He learned many important lessons from his jobs. As a seven year old in a grocery store, he learned that the way to please the boss was to figure out what the boss wanted and get it done. Next, he studied people and learned about them from every job. Examples: Work could be fun, and he did a better job when he enjoyed his work. The more the people he dealt with liked him, the more likely they were to continue doing business with him.

In the Army he learned about uniformity, control, consistency, and Central Headquarters. He also learned how to become a risk taker and not a gambler. For example, he opened a tiny restaurant on a shoestring. On opening day he had $135 that he used to buy the first days breakfast fixings. After breakfast, he had enough money to buy supplies for lunch, and then he use the money he made from lunch to buy dinner preparations. That's starting a business on bare-bones!

Later, Dave bought a grocery store and ran it very successfully. All the time he was preparing for bigger and better things. His optimism, patients, and hard work enabled him to overcome many difficulties. We all can learn the lessons that Dave learned on the way up. (To learn more about the Longaberger Company, see its web page at www.longaberger.com.)