Читать книгу Find. Build. Sell. - Stephen J. Hunt - Страница 10

I got my first ‘scent' of a deal when I was four years old and was given a bucket of Lego for my birthday. I was playing with Luke, my next-door neighbour, and he said, ‘Can I buy that bucket of Lego off you?' ‘How much for?' I asked. ‘Three dollars?' he said. This was a fortune for a little kid like me, and I fantasised about all the lollies I could buy with this unexpected windfall. I was about to say ‘Sold!', when my mum pulled me aside and whispered, ‘Stephen, think about it. You could sell the bucket to him for three dollars, or you could sell him the individual bricks for 50 cents a brick, and make 20 dollars. What would you prefer?' ‘Can I charge him 70 cents a brick?' My entrepreneurial chops were on display, even then. ‘That would be greedy, Stephen,' she said. ‘And don't forget, Luke could go to the shops and buy them for less than that.'

In that moment, I discovered the principles of pricing structures and market forces. I owe my mother a great debt for teaching me, at such a young age, the essentials of entrepreneurship. I sealed the deal with Luke, headed down to the shops and filled my pockets with cobblers and chocolate bullets.

My father taught me my second lesson. When I was 10, we took a family trip to Hong Kong. We lined up at the money exchange counter to buy some Hong Kong currency. I watched my dad hand over the money to buy the notes, and a moment before the money changed hands, the exchange rate went up, and in the blink of an eye, we were given $200 more than if we had bought it a few seconds earlier. In that moment, I learned that timing is everything: a critical element when buying and selling a business.