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-01- Mr. He Netted 5 Million Last Year On the ninth day of the Lunar New Year, I had a hotpot dinner with distributor Mr. Li to celebrate the start of the year. I asked him how business was last year. He said it was hard to say whether it was good or bad, as standards vary, but compared to another peer, Old He, he was far behind.
I also know Old He, but I wasn't clear on how well his business was doing. "He netted at least this much last year," Mr. Li said, extending his right hand and shaking five fingers in front of me.
I couldn't help but marvel that the baijiu business was so profitable.
I said, "Since you're both in baijiu, why do you say you're not as good as him?"
Mr. Li said that Old He was lucky to have signed with Fenjiu a few years back. After saying this, he shook his head with a complex expression and muttered, "At that time, Fenjiu even approached me."
"Then why didn't you take on Fenjiu?" I asked curiously.
"Who knew Fenjiu would take off back then? At the time, everyone thought it had too many market problems, so I declined without much thought. Old He was just lucky; he started later than everyone else but seized almost every opportunity."
Mr. Li sighed and complained for a while about his bad luck in recent years and how business was getting harder.
After thinking for a moment, I said, "Let me tell you a story, one written by a man named Zhuang Ziliang."
The story goes that Zhuang Ziliang and a recognized 'opportunist' were riding a motorcycle together, with Zhuang in front and the other behind. As they rode, the opportunist suddenly called for a stop, saying there was a big bird on a tree by the roadside that seemed injured, and suggested trying to throw a stone to knock it down for a meal.
Zhuang thought it was pointless; the bird might not be injured, and even if it were, a stone wouldn't bring it down. But the opportunist insisted on 'throwing a stone to test it.' He got off the bike alone, walked to the tree, and threw a stone at the bird.
The bird was indeed not injured; it flapped its wings and soared away gracefully.
Zhuang laughed and said sarcastically, "What a pity, such a big bird!"
"No, I'm very satisfied, because I now know it wasn't an injured bird. Knowing that is very important to me; otherwise, for the next few days, I'd keep thinking, 'Why didn't I throw a stone at it?' Now, I've acted, and I've thrown the stone. Even though I didn't hit it, I have no regrets."
The story was short, finished in two minutes. I asked Mr. Li, "If it were you, would you throw a stone to test it?"
Mr. Li held his glass, staring at the hotpot without a word. The hotpot also said nothing, gazing back at him, bubbling and steaming.
-02- Prejudice Against Opportunity If we consider 'the bird on the tree might be injured' as a possibility or an opportunity, how many people would throw that stone?
Regarding opportunity, there have long been many prejudices and fallacies.
The first common fallacy is that opportunity equals luck.
'Succeeding once is easy; sustained success is hard.' Many distributors encounter such problems and attribute them to luck. Summing up with 'bad luck' is the easiest and most comforting thing in the world, and the best self-consolation. You no longer have to feel bad about failure because all failures stem from 'luck' beyond our control.
But while you gain comfort, you also deceive yourself. You won't reflect on whether your methods were wrong, whether you tried hard enough, or whether your management had issues. Without proper reflection and summary, there will be no change or progress. Your efforts are just repeating failures in the same rut.
Know that opportunity and luck are not the same thing.
Opportunity has patterns; those who can discover and seize the patterns of opportunity are said to have 'opportunity thinking.' Luck, on the other hand, is elusive and patternless. The world is diverse: some are aggressive, some conservative; some believe everything, some doubt everything; some act recklessly, some are cautious. Who is more likely to seize opportunities? Those who value and believe in opportunity.
Those who believe in and value 'opportunity' are more willing to throw that 'stone.' Most people believe in luck, not opportunity. Those who believe in luck often won't throw the stone unless the bird falls by itself; only then will they act.
Of course, a distributor taking on a new brand is not as simple as throwing a stone, but what about attending an industry conference, engaging in peer exchange and reflection, or attending a brand's new product launch?
Often, the key to seizing an opportunity is 'valuing it' and 'throwing a stone,' without needing huge investment or taking huge risks.
The second major misconception is that valuing opportunity means liking speculation.
Traditional Chinese education has always encouraged people to be down-to-earth and work hard; for example, many bosses like to hang the calligraphy 'Heaven rewards the diligent' in their offices. This is, of course, very correct.
But at the same time, we have long held a full prejudice against 'opportunity thinking.'
If someone throws a 'stone' to try to knock down a bird, we often describe them as 'unsteady' or 'not doing their proper job,' and might even label them as 'opportunistic' or 'speculative.'
Over time, 'opportunity thinking' has gradually taken on a negative connotation. People often comment on successful people with a mix of resentment and contempt, saying, 'That guy was really lucky!'
This implies two things: others' success is just 'luck'; and if I had such 'luck,' I would do even better.
When you say you've had 'bad luck,' you are denying the importance of 'opportunity,' denying that discovering, analyzing, and seizing opportunities is a capability, and the most important one for success.
This prejudice runs so deep that even many successful people themselves are unwilling to acknowledge the status of 'opportunity' in their hearts. It's as if admitting it would diminish the quality of their success or even make it illegitimate.
So, when summarizing, many successful people prefer to talk more about the challenges and hardships they overcame, rather than dwelling on the importance of opportunity.
-03- Cultivate Opportunity Thinking; Be Willing to Throw Small Stones Opportunity thinking includes two levels: one is the eye to discover opportunities, and the other is the willingness to take action.
Most people tend to have problem thinking; they see problems clearly, but only those with 'opportunity thinking' can see opportunities within problems.
When discussing the importance of opportunity, one of Naisbitt's assertions is most quoted: 'Success comes not from solving problems, but from seizing opportunities.'
Naisbitt originally used this to describe U.S. presidential election results, but it turned out to apply in many fields. Almost every distributor's first success, big or small, is related to opportunity.
It could be discovering a new sales channel, entering a category that fits consumer trends, or betting on a potential brand.
So, how can distributors develop 'opportunity thinking' and continuously discover and seize opportunities?
First, always stay sharp, fresh, and curious about new things.
Many distributors who succeeded by seizing one opportunity tend to attribute their success to hard work rather than opportunity. This bias makes them blind to many opportunities.
Some opportunities are obvious, like established famous liquor brands. But such explicit opportunities are highly competitive, often requiring connections, strength, resources, and even luck. In fact, many such explicit opportunities can no longer be called opportunities.
Understand the essence of opportunity deeply. Most real opportunities often do not appear in familiar forms; they are invisible, hidden, or even misunderstood.
So, 15 years ago, while many distributors complained about the hegemony of hypermarket channels and price wars, some distributors rose by seizing the moment;
10 years ago, while many criticized e-commerce for channel conflict, low prices, and rampant counterfeits, another batch of distributors bravely went online and completed their initial capital accumulation;
Today, community group buying is racing ahead amid controversy. Many distributors stand on the moral high ground, condemning its sins, but we also see a batch of distributors using this channel to achieve exponential growth.
Therefore, we advocate that distributors talk more about 'business' and less about 'ideology.' We should be curious, discard all prejudices, actively engage, objectively analyze, and then make decisions.
Second, external communication and learning are the most important tasks for distributor bosses.
Company management is certainly important, but not so important that the boss is locked in the company 24/7. The boss's battlefield is in the market, not in the office.
We find that the more distributors engage in external communication, the more open-minded they are, the larger their networks, the more resources and experience they gain, and the better their companies perform.
External communication is not just about gaining more opportunities; it's also about learning more management skills. A distributor boss who forces himself to step out of the company often finds that the methods for managing the company well come not from within, but from peers, from enterprises, and from exchanges and learning at various industry conferences.
A distributor with 'opportunity thinking' and a perpetual 'eye for opportunity' will move from success to sustained success.