A boat docked in a tiny Greek village. An American tourist complimented
the Greek fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it
took him to catch them.
"Not very long," answered the Greek.
"But then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" asked the
American. The Greek explained that his small catch was sufficient to
meet his needs and those of his family.
The American asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"
"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta
with my wife. In the evenings I go into the village to see my friends,
dance a little, play the bouzouki, and sing a few songs. I have a full
life."
The American interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help
you.
You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the
extra fish you catch. With the revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. With
the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and
a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.
Instead of selling your fish to a middleman, you can negotiate directly
with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can
then leave this little village and move to Athens, Los Angeles or even
New York City!
From there you can direct your huge enterprise."
"How long would that take?" asked the Greek.
"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years," replied the American.
"And after that?" "Afterwards?
That's when it gets really interesting," answered the American,
laughing.
When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and
make millions!"
"Millions? Really? And after that?"
"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the
coast, sleep late, play with your grandchildren, catch a few fish, take
a siesta with your wife, and spend your evenings singing, dancing and
playingthe bouzouki with your friends."
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