Less Can Be More

In my neighborhood, a messy yard can earn a citation (and the scorn of neighbors). So when I returned from a trip to Europe a year ago, I was horrified to see that my western landscape (rock and cactus) was green with weeds. 

Unfortunately, I had returned home with a nasty virus that had me spending my days on the sofa. In my waking hours, I fretted about the yard.

As I lay dozing one afternoon, there was a knock at my front door. I looked out to see a handsome man standing on my porch. When I greeted him, he pointed to my front yard and simply said, “I am a gardener.”

He might have said, “I am an angel.”

And so Octavio came into my life. We discussed what needed to be done and set a time for him to tackle the mess. He said he’d come by again once he finished his work at the nearby golf course. 

Not only did my yard look amazing when he finished, Octavio returned the following day to move the heavy bags of clippings to my curb for trash pickup. There was no doubt that I was going to hire him whenever needed.

That time came last weekend when Octavio came for the spring weed removal and pruning. When he finished, we had a little chat. “How long have you lived here?” I asked.

He said it had been two years, although he had come to Las Vegas prior to that time and stayed for six months, returned to Mexico for six months, then came back. “I decided I wanted to start my business here,” he told me.

“Did you speak English when you came?”

 “A little bit,” he said. He told me he’d attended a university in Mexico, studied business and knew he wanted to have his own. He pointed out several neighborhood yards who used his services.

“So how’s Las Vegas treating you?” I asked.

Octavio smiled. “Good,” he said. Then he smiled even more. “Really good.”

I wondered how many doors he had knocked on before he came to mine.

I’ve long admired the many immigrant entrepreneurs who bravely arrive in a strange land and set up shop. They’re a striking contrast to the many messages I receive from natives who have thousands of advantages the newcomers lack.

A case in point is a woman who recently wrote to explain her situation and tell me she was paralyzed with fear about leaving her job to build a business she’d already started as a sideline.

I was flabbergasted. As I pointed out, here’s what she had going for her:

1. She’d tested her idea

2. She loved doing it

3. Her job is making her crazy

4. Her husband is totally cheering her on

Looked like a no-brainer to me. Everything was working in her favor. Could it be that having too much is a bigger impediment when it comes to starting a business?

That’s what the evidence suggests.

Visionary entrepreneur Paul Hawken knows why Octavio has launched and successful enterprise and will keep it growing. In Growing a Business, he points out, “With low overhead, frugal means and fragile budgets, you can’t buy your way out of problems. You have to learn your way out. The creativity and tenacity you have to develop will make it hard for you to be put out of business.”

Of course it makes sense to put all your resources to work for you, but if you don’t add a willingness to learn, they’re not worth much.

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If you want to build your business the way Octavio is building his, join me on Monday, April 12 for How To Be a Thrifty Entrepreneur Without Being a Cheapskate. Can’t attend the teleclass in person? You can still register and receive the audio download the next day.