Oysters

Two quick thoughts today – one food related (since it’s Friday) but both sort of commerce related.
I went to buy some fish for dinner yesterday and the fish monger had a beautiful box of oysters on display. That got me thinking: how many times do we look at business opportunities as if they were oysters? I mean, your first thought isn’t “Wow – that looks delicious.” You’re probably thinking – “is that edible?” It isn’t until you crack the oyster open that you realize it might be something you’ve want to try. Business can be the same way – an opportunity might look like it’s not worth pursuing but if we’ll take the time to investigate – crack it open a little – the real opportunity presents itself.

I also bought flowers for my Mom (remember Sunday, kids!) and found that ordering flowers was kind of like an oyster too.  You shop on-line and see the picture of a beautiful bouquet in a terrific vase and note the price.  That’s only the shell, as I found out.  When you go to order, you find out that the price you saw was just for the flowers.  Want the vase?  That’s more.  Want them delivered?  That’s even more.  By the time I was done, the price was double what I assumed it was when I started the process.  I got the shell open and I wasn’t happy.

I’m of the opinion that serving “oysters” to customers isn’t a great idea (sort of like many airlines do when you buy tickets and are hit with lots of additional charges) but spending time to check out opportunity oysters as a businessperson is an important idea.  Make sense?