Discussion:
Bunlady
(too old to reply)
t***@yahoo.com
2005-05-22 16:14:16 UTC
Permalink
Dear all:

I was watching one of those business success stories on TV. There
is a middle aged woman who started a real estate business when she had
$550 in her pocket. She was wildly successful. Then, to cut down on
the demands of work, she sold it and opened a McDonald's.

She ended up with three McD and 250 employees. Then, she saw the
bun making plant. She begged and begged to become the plant head. She
continuously wrote to McD head quarters to be allowed to become the
head. This is because she was passionate about buns. Ever since she
first saw the plant, she knew she wanted to run it. She started
talking the language of a bun maker: ie flour from China; Sesame prices
in Singapore; and the acquisition of Yeast for low prices.

Eventually, McD let her be the head. She renovated the process
and improved it. She now grosses 550 million and is launching a line
of trucking company to deliver to not just McD, but several other big
chains.

I thought it was a remarkable story. All the more remarkable is
that she is just an ordinary woman. She is a single mother of three
kids. She used to cry morning when the sun came up because she started
driving to work @ 3AM and would see the sun rise. It was very hard on
her to work so hard while she had the three young kids.

My question is: how did she do it? How can an ordinary lady
become so wildly successful? Is it a natural talent for business?
What is it about her that she is successful in all she does? Is it her
passion (ie she is passionate about buns)?. She started with only
$550. [They showed a picture of her Mercedes Benz. The plate reads:
BUNLADY]. [she also joked: "when I wanted to own my own business, it
was so I could have more time for myself; but I have yet to figure out
how to do that :-) "]

Can anyone shed light on this? Why and How can someone do it?

My wife and I are both Physicians, but we are looking for ways to
invest money. We are pretty book smart and have graduated medical
school. My wife is a family physician with the Air Force, and I am
planning to specialize in Psychiatry somewhere down the line. So,
we've had professional success, but what about business? I guess we
are looking for some words of wisdom so we would get over our
apprehension about venturing into a new territory of investing.

After seeing the BUN-LADY story, we wonder if we can open a
McDonald's. I hear that you have to have 1 million dollars. I also
hear that before buying any business, one would be smart to work it for
six months. So, if we were ever to purchase one, you can be sure that
I would work it for six months--at least we know that much.

Any input would be appreciated.

signed: McDman
Wayne Lundberg
2005-05-22 21:50:49 UTC
Permalink
Post by t***@yahoo.com
I was watching one of those business success stories on TV. There
is a middle aged woman who started a real estate business when she had
$550 in her pocket. She was wildly successful. Then, to cut down on
the demands of work, she sold it and opened a McDonald's.
She ended up with three McD and 250 employees. Then, she saw the
bun making plant. She begged and begged to become the plant head. She
continuously wrote to McD head quarters to be allowed to become the
head. This is because she was passionate about buns. Ever since she
first saw the plant, she knew she wanted to run it. She started
talking the language of a bun maker: ie flour from China; Sesame prices
in Singapore; and the acquisition of Yeast for low prices.
Eventually, McD let her be the head. She renovated the process
and improved it. She now grosses 550 million and is launching a line
of trucking company to deliver to not just McD, but several other big
chains.
I thought it was a remarkable story. All the more remarkable is
that she is just an ordinary woman. She is a single mother of three
kids. She used to cry morning when the sun came up because she started
her to work so hard while she had the three young kids.
My question is: how did she do it? How can an ordinary lady
become so wildly successful? Is it a natural talent for business?
What is it about her that she is successful in all she does? Is it her
passion (ie she is passionate about buns)?. She started with only
BUNLADY]. [she also joked: "when I wanted to own my own business, it
was so I could have more time for myself; but I have yet to figure out
how to do that :-) "]
Can anyone shed light on this? Why and How can someone do it?
My wife and I are both Physicians, but we are looking for ways to
invest money. We are pretty book smart and have graduated medical
school. My wife is a family physician with the Air Force, and I am
planning to specialize in Psychiatry somewhere down the line. So,
we've had professional success, but what about business? I guess we
are looking for some words of wisdom so we would get over our
apprehension about venturing into a new territory of investing.
After seeing the BUN-LADY story, we wonder if we can open a
McDonald's. I hear that you have to have 1 million dollars. I also
hear that before buying any business, one would be smart to work it for
six months. So, if we were ever to purchase one, you can be sure that
I would work it for six months--at least we know that much.
Any input would be appreciated.
signed: McDman
...
My reply may sound simplistic, but it is the truth behind most successful
entrepreneurs. Fist of all, she had a burning desire to get hold of that
first McDonalds knowing full well she could make it work far better than
'standard' expectations. Anybody with three kids in tow who sees a future
with them as self-supporting contributors to their future and the benefit of
mankind will know how to motivate McDonald hamburger flippers. You, on the
otherhand, may not be able to carry it off because you and your wife are
professionals. Which means that you work within a set of rules and
regulations developed for you to be able to put a shingle on your wall
proclaiming you as a professional. You have never challenged the status quo
because in so doing you would be ostracized from your profession.

So, yes, you must tear down your shingle and flip burgers for six months to
see and smell, and feel the heat of the stove and the hormones in the young
help you will be surrounded by. And you will ask yourself "How do I get
these kids to buy into a future goal I have created for their benefit as
well as mine and my customers?"

The very best book you could put your hands on to learn just how a person
starts as a clerk and ends up being the richest man in the world, get hold
of Sam Walton's own autobiography "Made in America". He spells out the
formal step by step and yet so few people care to read and learn.

Then, if you really want to joining the ranks of entrepreneurs, study the
California Intensive Entrepreneurial Training Program which is free, with
nothing to sell, and available online including mentoring as required
www.pueblaprotocol.com

Wayne
John A. Weeks III
2005-05-23 05:02:19 UTC
Permalink
Post by t***@yahoo.com
My question is: how did she do it? How can an ordinary lady
become so wildly successful? Is it a natural talent for business?
What is it about her that she is successful in all she does? Is it her
passion (ie she is passionate about buns)?. She started with only
BUNLADY]. [she also joked: "when I wanted to own my own business, it
was so I could have more time for myself; but I have yet to figure out
how to do that :-) "]
Here is a story to illustrate how this works:

Line up 100 people, and give each one a penny. Ask them
to flip the penny. Those who have heads are to move once
step forward. Those who get tails are to go home. Then
repeat. Each person remaining flips again, and those
with heads stay in the game and move forward one step.

What you will find is that eventually, one person will
be further ahead than all the rest. How can that be?
Did that person have some special skill or training? No,
there is no skill for flipping a penny. Did that person
know someone who was running the contest and get some
inside info? No, there is no prior knowledge in flipping
pennies. Was that person simply a better penny flipper?
Again, no, since you could repeat the test over and over
again, and get different results each time. Was is
equipment, looks, practice, being born rich, or any
other factor? No. It was just that the person who
won flipped heads more times that day than anyone else.

The result is that most things happen just by pure luck.

For example you could study Bill Gates. You could be
in the right place 1000 times writing the same version
of BASIC for the computer, and never once become the
richest person on the planet. The fact that Bill Gates
did it only shows that it is possible. Bill Gates isn't
any smarter or better than the rest, it was just that
he flipped heads more times in a row than anyone else.

In a population of 300-million, you are going to have a
bun lady and a Bill Gates. Since we only run through life
once, once the bun lady and the Bill Gates person is picked,
there are no more chances for anyone else to do that particular
thing.

There is no set path to success. You have to be out there
every day flipping pennies to be in the game. But you can
very well do everything right and still lose. You will also
find people who do nothing right, and they still win due to
some factor that is out of our control.

So, while it is cool to celebrate the bun lady's success,
following her as a role model will do you no good. You
have to find your own path, work your butt off, and then
have a tremendous run of luck.

-john-
--
======================================================================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 ***@johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
======================================================================
Wayne Lundberg
2005-05-23 23:38:25 UTC
Permalink
Being there, is half the battle.

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