Business and the Art of Fire Starting…

Business Startup
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Good day everyone, the topic for today came to me as I was going through some Boy Scout stuff in the garage yesterday (my son is a 13-year old First Class Scout working towards his Eagle hopefully in 3 years…

There are always opportunities for good ideas to be brought to life. But they won’t bring themselves to life, they need a fire starter. 

Someone to carefully set up the little pile of kindling and a tinder nest to catch a spark.  

And then the fire starter need to create a spark to ignite the tinder nest, and then to control the addition of the kindling to the fire, all the while blowing gently to give oxygen to the fire. 

Progressively the fire– or business- gets bigger and can take bigger pieces of wood less frequently, and it can get its own oxygen.  It has taken on “a life of its own” but it still needs a little help.

Eventually, you just need to come around once in a while and add some big logs…

The rest of the time you can be working on other things and other fires. 

Each individual project within a business can be looked at like a fire and…

Unless you go through each and every one of these nurturing steps for your projects, you will be left with a bunch of useless piles of kindling strewn about.   Or a bunch of once-roaring fires that were abandoned and are now smoldering ashes…

Tinder Nest

Kindling Ready

Spark

Add Kindling

Give Oxygen

Progress to Larger Fuel

Add Occasional Logs

Hope this metaphor helps you get your next project off to a successful “life”…

Rob

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23 Comments

20 Comments

  1. Lynn LaneNo Gravatar (57 comments)  •  Apr 3, 2009 @6:52 am

    Rob,
    I see you’re at it early too.
    You are right about the art of fire….business. Great metaphor.

    I think it’s always hard to get started. but once we start it just takes small amounts of efforts to keep it steady.

    Lynn

    http://www.Warriorofsuccess.com

    Reply

  2. John HoNo Gravatar (86 comments)  •  Apr 3, 2009 @6:56 am

    Story telling and metaphores are powerful vehicles to get messages across.

    It reminds me to come up with my own signature story!

    John Ho
    Understanding Personalities for Better Influence & Persuasion

    Reply

  3. JJ JalopyNo Gravatar (57 comments)  •  Apr 3, 2009 @7:28 am

    What a great metaphor!

    You describe that really well. I could picture myself building a fire with you.

    I’m off to start some fires of my own. Oh look – I already am! :-)

    JJ Jalopy
    Life Coaching and Home Business Advice with JJ Jalopy

    Reply

  4. Philip GravesNo Gravatar (52 comments)  •  Apr 3, 2009 @9:01 am

    How you dress up in your own time is your concern… oh I see, your son, sorry :-)

    Here’s hoping we’re at least blowing gently now!

    Philip
    [Consumer Behaviour Expert]

    Reply

  5. Christian HallerNo Gravatar (48 comments)  •  Apr 3, 2009 @11:28 am

    As a former Eagle Scout myself, I applaud the analogy.

    Christian
    http://www.christianhalleronline.com

    Reply

  6. Steve ChambersNo Gravatar (103 comments)  •  Apr 3, 2009 @1:26 pm

    Great analogy for starting a business. Makes me think about Disney and the saying, “To think, all this started with a mouse.”

    Steve

    Reply

  7. DIY LawyerNo Gravatar (23 comments)  •  Apr 3, 2009 @2:16 pm
  8. Pam SchulzNo Gravatar (48 comments)  •  Apr 3, 2009 @5:35 pm

    Rob -

    What an awesome analogy between building a fire and building a business. You have a wonderful gift for storytelling – word pictures create powerful images.

    Thanks for giving me something to think about!
    Pam

    Reply

  9. Bob KauferNo Gravatar (49 comments)  •  Apr 3, 2009 @5:39 pm
  10. Sonya LenzoNo Gravatar (30 comments)  •  Apr 3, 2009 @6:49 pm

    Rob, that is a beautiful picture of the way an idea and a business start!. I loved it!
    Sunny Marie
    Glamour and Glitz
    http://www.sunnymaire.vox.com

    Reply

  11. Yann VernierNo Gravatar (6 comments)  •  Apr 3, 2009 @7:21 pm

    Great reminder Rob. I am too often guilty of igniting fires but not blowing oxygen long enough to get the momentum going (working on it though).

    All the best,
    Yann
    http://www.ProfitsTactics.com

    Reply

  12. April BraswellNo Gravatar (73 comments)  •  Apr 3, 2009 @9:10 pm

    Sounds like the lead into a GREAT Bruce Springsteen song!
    (hey, I’m a JERSEY GIRL, I ALWAYS get to make BRUCE references. :)

    All the best,

    April Braswell

    Online Dating Coach, Dating Expert

    Reply

  13. Jennifer BattaglinoNo Gravatar (25 comments)  •  Apr 3, 2009 @10:26 pm

    Hi Rob
    Great post, especially because it makes a lot of sense! If you put in the effort then it gets easier over time…
    Can’t wait to read more.
    Jen

    Reply

  14. Mitchell RehaumeNo Gravatar (12 comments)  •  Apr 3, 2009 @10:35 pm

    Very powerful metaphor. Short and sweet but hits home.

    Reply

  15. Lisa McLellanNo Gravatar (90 comments)  •  Apr 3, 2009 @10:51 pm

    I know that this isn’t actually about boy scouts and starting fires, but it reminded me of something that got me really upset, so now I’m going to vent…. My son is a cub scout. So this year in Webelos he was taught how to start a fire…WITH A FIRE STARTER PURCHASED FROM THE STORE AND LINT FROM THE DRYER!!! I thought this was supposed to be a survival technique in case you were stranded in the wilderness. What happened to rubbing sticks together? So what happens if you are lost in the woods and didn’t bring your trusty flint thingy and dryer lint? lol

    Lisa McLellan, Child Care Expert – Babysitters, Nannies, and Au-pairs

    Reply

    Rob NorthrupNo Gravatar (84 comments) Reply:

    Lisa, I understand your concern, but…

    If you ever tried to rub sticks together to start a fire, or watched them try to do it on Survivor, you would see that there is no way a Cub scout or most Boy Scouts will be able to do it.

    The idea of Boy Scouts is Be Prepared, so when you go into the woods you should take fireproof matches, tinder (dryer lint is fabulous), and a flint to make sparks if the matches fail. By being prepared you don’t need to rub sticks together…

    Hope that makes sense. :-)

    Rob

    Reply

  16. Darryl PaceNo Gravatar (66 comments)  •  Apr 3, 2009 @11:37 pm

    Rob,

    Very effective analogy for nurturing a business project.

    Darryl Pace

    Reply

  17. JC MacKenzieNo Gravatar (48 comments)  •  Apr 3, 2009 @11:48 pm

    A well put analogy. Having spent many years in colonial living history camps, I can safely say that if you want to be dry and warm, best take care of each “prep step”.

    Thanks

    JC jc

    Reply

    Rob NorthrupNo Gravatar (84 comments) Reply:

    JC- Did you work in Williamsburgh? Yorktown? Jamestown? I love them all… Rob

    Reply

  18. Duane CunninghamNo Gravatar (51 comments)  •  Apr 3, 2009 @11:48 pm

    Hi Rob,

    As always superb advice about business and as another John mentioned being able to relate what your saying through story and metaphor makes it simple to understand and lowers the natural defenses

    Awesome stuff

    Duane

    Learn Winning Persuasion
    Techniques that Work Like Magic by Tapping Into the Psychology of
    the Mind with Persuasion Expert Duane Cunningham!

    Reply

  19. mark mallenNo Gravatar (35 comments)  •  Apr 4, 2009 @12:23 am

    You should probably be careful not to add too many big logs or you will burn down the whole house. Been there, done that. Mark
    glaciermarketing.wordpress.com

    Reply

    Rob NorthrupNo Gravatar (84 comments) Reply:

    Point noted… limit the # of logs, or keep a bucket of water and a shovel handy which us Scouts always do!

    Rob

    Reply

  20. David PowerNo Gravatar (42 comments)  •  Apr 20, 2009 @10:54 am

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