Entrepreneurship story: The Fisherman's Life

There was once a businessman who was sitting by the beach in a small Brazilian village. As he sat, he saw a Brazilian fisherman rowing a small boat towards the shore having caught quite a few big fish. The businessman was impressed and went to see the fisherman to ask him, “How long does it take you to catch so many fish?” The fisherman replied, “Oh, just a couple of hours.” “Then why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?” The businessman was astonished. 

“This is enough to feed my whole family and I still have some left to sell,” the fisherman said. The businessman then asked, “So, what do you do for the rest of the day?” The fisherman replied, “Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go out to sea and catch a few fish, then I come back and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I take a nap with my wife, and when evening comes, I join my buddies in the village for a drink and some fun. Mostly we play the guitar, sing, and dance throughout the night.”

The businessman offered a suggestion to the fisherman. “I have a Ph.D. in business management. I could help you to become a more successful person. From now on, you should spend more time at sea in the mornings and try to catch as many fish as possible. To be succesful you have to make some sacrifices. So instead of coming back so quick and playing with your kids you will have to be at see to catch as many fish as possible. Then instead of napping with your wife you will have to go to the market and sell the fish. But then when you have saved enough money, you could buy a bigger boat and catch even more fish and maybe hire someone to help you sell the fish. Soon you will be able to afford to buy even more boats, set up your own company, your own production plant for canned food and distribution network and hire much more workers. By then, you will have moved out of this village and to Sao Paulo, where you can set up HQ to manage your other branches.”

The fisherman continues, “And after that?” The businessman laughs heartily, “After that, you can live like a king in your own house, and when the time is right, you can go public and float your shares in the Stock Exchange, and you will be rich.” The fisherman asks, “And after that?” The businessman says, “After that, you can finally retire, you can move to a house by the fishing village, wake up early in the morning, catch a few fish, then return home to play with kids, have a nice afternoon nap with your wife, and when evening comes, you can join your buddies for a drink, play the guitar, sing and dance throughout the night!”

The fisherman was puzzled, “How is that different than what t I am doing now?”