Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Seemed A Smart Idea At The Time.

Warren Buffet is one of the world’s richest men and made his fortune from being financially shrewd. Yet I read that a Furniture Store Chain, one of Four owned by him, has come a real cropper through an idea that must have seemed pretty safe and even clever at the time.

It seems that at the beginning of the recent Baseball Season, Jordan’s Furniture Chain came up with the idea of running a promotion offering customers all their money back; if the Boston Red Soxs won the Baseball World Series.

Well,now at season’s end, the Red Sox did their bit for the customers and won and now Jordan’s have to reimburse customers for more than 30,000 sofas, tables, and beds. Just as well for insurance hey? For although no one is saying how much, insurance cover is said to only cover $21.7 million, as some people apparently spent over &100,000 each re-outfitting their whole homes.

Taco Bills, apparently also offered a free deal but they were a little more cautious in their offer. They only had to provide a free Taco to anyone who turned up between 2pm & 5 Pm on October 30. Much less attractive maybe, but more realistic and affordable don’t you think?

Just shows that all of us make mistakes or over estimate the odds at some stage. Even the smartest do, so don’t sweat it when you do too! If it is a one off event!

If you keep making mistakes, then I think you do have a real problem and need to look into it straight away, don’t you? However, if it is only an occasional one and a new one every time, that is not so bad, and in fact shows that you are prepared to take some risks, doesn’t it?

It has been said that the only one who makes no mistakes is the person that does nothing. If they do nothing then there is no way they can make mistakes, is their thinking. However sometimes not doing anything is the biggest mistake one can make.

So as you look to and plan for the future, don’t be afraid of the odd mistake, but at the same time don’t take unrealistic risks (like Jordan Furniture) unless you have the financial wherewithal to back it, no matter, how unlikely it may seem of happening at the time.

So get out there and live your life; take a few risks, but make them measured ones, and don’t keep repeating the same mistakes, and have an interesting life!