 |
| Taking it easy during Relax Time (for Lara and Daddy). Chamonix Valley, 2013. |
A tourist is standing on a quayside in a small fishing village in Mexico when a tiny motorboat chugs into view. In the boat is a Mexican fisherman with an impressive looking tuna that he has obviously just caught. "Nice tuna" says the tourist, "how long were you out before you caught that?" "Oh, not long", says the fisherman, "maybe a couple of hours. There are loads of tuna like this one out there" - he gestures out into the sparkling sea with his hand - "you just need to know where to look."
The tourist thinks for a while, and asks the fisherman why, if it's so easy to catch such an impressive tuna, he has only caught one. "Well, replies the fisherman, I only need about half of this tuna to feed my family. I sell the rest at the market to buy whatever else we need. We get by pretty happily." The tourist thinks some more and says "But if you're only out there fishing for a couple of hours, what are you doing with the rest of your day?" The fisherman smiles and replies, "I fish in the morning, then I have lunch with my wife and kids. After a siesta, I might sit on the porch and strum my guitar. Sometimes I'll just head to the village square and hang out with my friends."
The fisherman heaves the tuna out of the boat and is about to set off down the quayside when the tourist stops him. "Listen," says the tourist, "if you stayed out all day, instead of just a few hours, imagine how many tuna you could catch. You could feed your family and have loads of fish left over to sell at the market. You'd make a fortune! Pretty soon you could buy a bigger boat and catch even more. Eventually you'd probably want to buy a few boats, and at that point you'd be making some serious money. You could set up your own company - not just fishing, but also canning and distribution - you would own the entire production chain. You'd dominate the market round here for sure, but you wouldn't stop there, you'd want to go nationwide. You could move to Mexico City and get a nice house for you and your family. If you think about it there's nothing stopping you breaking into the US market. You could move to LA and run a North America-wide operation from there."
The fisherman ponders what the tourist had said. "How long would all this take?" he asks. "If you worked really hard, perhaps ten years" says the tourist. "Another five or so for you to really get established in LA. So, fifteen years, maybe twenty at the most."
"And what then?" asks the fisherman. "Well", replies the tourist with a knowing smile, "this is the really clever bit. At that point you'd sell up. You'd float your company on the stock market, cash in your shares and retire on the proceeds."
"Then what would I do?" asks the fisherman.
"Whatever you want! You'd be completely free. Just imagine - you could leave LA, and retire to some beautiful little fishing village down in Mexico. You could sit on your porch, strum your guitar, or just hang out with your friends. Maybe even buy yourself a little boat and do a bit of fishing..."
