Every morning at 6:30 AM, coffee in hand, I skip emails and social media to watch the bees in my garden.
Relentless and focused, the bees move from flower to flower—but never land on dead ones. They seem to instinctively sense which blooms are fresh.
Watching them this morning reminded me of the most painful and valuable lesson I ever learned in business: I was trying to get nectar from dead flowers.
The Story of the Client I Was So Sure I’d Win
Let me take you back to my early days in the print shop. I was proud of my skills. I had years of experience with traditional printing methods. I knew about ink, paper, and machinery. I had what I thought was a “formal education” in my craft, and I believed that made me an expert.
One day, a potential new client walked in—a young musician who wanted to print 1,000 high-quality posters for his upcoming tour. It was a big, profitable job, and I was confident I could win it. I gave him my standard pitch, explaining our superior printing process and paper quality.
He listened patiently, nodded, and said, “Okay, thanks. I have one more meeting.”
An hour later, I saw him walking out of the small, new design studio that had just opened up down the street. It was run by a kid half my age, who I knew did everything on a computer. The next day, I heard that the kid had won the contract.
The Painful “Why”
I was frustrated and, honestly, a little arrogant. How could this kid with no real-world printing experience beat me? I swallowed my pride and called the musician.
“I’m just curious,” I said. “What did he offer that I couldn’t?”
His answer hit me like a punch to the gut. “It wasn’t just about the posters,” he explained. “He showed me how he could turn the poster design into an animated graphic for my Instagram, create a QR code that links to my Spotify, and even set up a simple online store to sell them. He offered me a whole digital campaign, not just a piece of paper.”
In that moment, I felt like a dinosaur.
My years of traditional knowledge —the skills I was so proud of —were dead flowers. I knew how to press the juice from sugarcane, but the world had moved on. The kid down the street wasn’t just pressing juice; he was making smoothies, cocktails, and energy drinks. He was self-educated in the tools that mattered right now.
The Day My Real Education Began
That failure was a turning point. It was the day I truly understood what the author Jim Rohn meant when he said, “Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.”
My old knowledge could get me a job, but it couldn’t build a future. I realized I had become a “paper doctor”—full of theory but unable to solve a modern problem.
That night, I didn’t go to sleep. I stayed up and created my own curriculum. I didn’t enroll in a university; I enrolled in the university of the internet. I started with a simple question: What practical skill can I learn tonight that will help my business tomorrow?
I started with a YouTube tutorial on basic graphic design. The next week, I took a free online course on social media marketing. I learned not to be an expert in everything, but to be curious about everything.
My Advice to You: Be Like the Bees
I still sit by my window every morning and watch those bees. They are my daily reminder.
Your time is your most valuable resource. Don’t waste it on dead flowers. Don’t cling to outdated knowledge out of pride. Don’t collect certificates just to feel productive.
Instead, be selective. Be a hunter for fresh nectar. Ask yourself:
- Will this skill help me solve a real problem for my customers today?
- Will this knowledge make my business more competitive right now?
- Am I learning how to do, or am I just learning how to know?
Entrepreneurship isn’t about what you learned yesterday; it’s about what you are willing to learn today. Stay curious. Stay humble. And always, always focus on the flowers that are in full bloom.
