"Problems are just opportunities in work clothes"
-Henry Kaiser
You've heard of him.
... A business magnate who created steel, cars, ships, and the famous medical building "Kaiser Permanente".
And he's about to drop some knowledge while still in his grave to me, you, and the people of Portugal...
We all face problems.
And I came across a little one in our family; that maybe you can help solve.
A family member closed down their generational cafe in a beach town called Pria de Victoria.
It's a little gem of a town. The only town on the Portuguese island, with a large beach.
But once summer ends, traffic dies.
So a family member who owns a cafe -- that his grandpa started -- had to close the doors. It's not situated at the beach (like a handful of cafes are), but at the center (a 2 min walking distance from the beach)
The reason?
Just not enough traffic to support it year-round.
But in the words of Dan Kennedy:
"There's ALWAYS something you can do".
And in the words of Henry Kaiser:
"Problems are just opportunities in work clothes".
So of course, while I was walking down the cobblestone road through this little beach town, my arrogant self got into his "old blue welder coveralls", and did some thought experiments to solve the problem for them 🙂
One thing I noticed was there were a lot of thirsty people lying around the beach.
Thirsty people can use a drink and a snack from the cafe, delivered to them (yes, you can drink on the beach here -- or at least no one cares).
Another thing I noticed is that the crowds are mostly here at night hanging out at the cafes.
Well, crowds get hungry.
They could use a snack.
And the clubs and cafes where they congregate to could use locally made snacks sold at wholesale prices to sell to these hungry people.
Another thing I noticed is that people are infatuated with "new". Especially if its something that came from America. Like... American-inspired cookies. Or Juice-it-up-inspired shakes (a shake shop in California).
Well.... at least those are thought experiments.
And it's always much easier to point out other people's problems than fix your own, but the point is:
... When there are problems -- which there always are -- get in your "work clothes" get under that "hood" and start tinkering with things and see what you come up with.
-Paul do Campo
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