One of the things I insist on with entrepreneurs and their projects, as well as with SMEs with regard to marketing optimization, is that you have to “sharpen the axe before you start cutting down the tree.” We need prior preparation to be able to carry out the project, whatever it may be.
This basic lesson comes from an anonymous story. This is the beginning of chapter 2 of my book “ Marketing for Entrepreneurs ” with which I aim to inspire readers to start their projects saudi arabia mobile number owner name with a new approach. Let me tell you about it and then we will see how we apply it to entrepreneurship (including an explanatory video).
The story of the lumberjack
Some time ago, a young man came to a sawmill in a forest where trees were to be cut down to make magnificent furniture. He spoke to the manager, who, seeing the young man's appearance and strength, accepted him without hesitation and told him he could start the next day.
During his first day in the forest, he worked hard and cut down many trees.
The second day he worked as hard as the first, but his output was barely half that of the first day.
On the third day he decided to improve his production. From the first moment he struck the trees with all his fury with his axe. Even so, the results were diminishing, and at the same time his fatigue was beginning to show in an excessive way.
When the chief woodcutter observed the poor performance of the young woodcutter, he asked him:
—When was the last time you sharpened your axe?
The young man replied:
—I really haven't had time... I've been too busy cutting down trees...
Lessons from the lumberjack story for entrepreneurs
This story perfectly reflects the beginnings of a project. We usually start with a lot of energy and enthusiasm, but we don't measure up. It reminds me of an old ad that said: "Power without control is nothing" (Pirelli ad with Carl Lewis). Something similar happens to us when we start a business.
But after the initial frenzy, we begin to take some time to think when things don't go as we expected. We think, "What am I doing wrong?" The clearest conclusion after reading the story is that we have realized that we had not "sharpened the axe."
But the lessons from this story go much further. If we compare our path as entrepreneurs to the lumberjack's story, we could establish numerous parallels:
We need to evolve in our work: new ways of doing things, new tools [axe vs. saw], that is, continuous training.
We need to learn how to select the trees with the wood that gives the best results when making furniture: measurement and optimization.
The list of things that are required for our preparation before going out to sell (cut the trees) is long.
This doesn't mean that we just stand still until we have everything under control, but rather that we focus on continuous improvement to optimize our results day by day. We do the necessary initial preparation and work on these points as we move forward.
Lessons from the lumberjack story for teams
If we take two steps back and look at the woodcutter's story through the eyes of the other people who were present, we find another series of important lessons.
Let's look at each character in the story:
Young lumberjack : We started the project, regardless of our age, of course! J
Chief Lumberjack : We need a person who has a contextual vision of the project, who warns us of our mistakes and guides us (a mentor).
Other lumberjacks (team) : Can you imagine what they thought when they saw him chopping with the unsharpened axe? How the story would have changed if he had asked them for help, if they had cut the trees together…
I hope this story inspires you and makes you reflect on your way of working. The lessons of this story are almost endless! If you want to know more about the prior preparation of entrepreneurs, here you have all the information about my book « Marketing for entrepreneurs »
To round off the article, I leave you with a video about this story: