An Italian migrant made a living making sausages – very good sausages – and made a very good living – making and selling 200kg of sausages each week. He had two boys who he decided were to get the very best education available and one became a doctor and the other became an economist. The economist worked in Canberra and occasionally came to Sydney to visit his father. On one particular visit he decided to offer some advice to his father – “Dad, business is getting tough and the economy is slowing – we could be headed for a recession, so you’d better cut back on your sausage making”. So the father decided to heed the wise advice – after all he was an economist – and so he cut his production to 150kg per week. The economist son visits again for Christmas and being a good son, decides he should update his father and offer more sound advice based on the current economic climate as seen by the experts. “You’d better cut back more – things really look to be getting tough and the situation is tight fiscally”. Not really understanding all the jargon but trusting his son to do the best by his father, he cuts production again - from 150kg to 75kg per week. Easter arrives and the son again dutifully comes to Sydney from Canberra to visit father – as you do. “How’s business, dad”? “Terrible, just like you predicted” comes the reply. “I need to close the business - I’ve only sold 75kg of sausages this week and I cannot pay the bills”! The downturn in business activity can be self-fulfilling and the constant negative speak can actually lead to the community being scared by the advice and comments of the “experts” – after all, it wasn’t them that caused this terrible mess – was it? Banks have stopped lending and therefore no business can possibly ever get ahead!
What ever happened to making a profit, reinvesting that profit in the business, rather than buying a mansion and a flash new car, and financing your own investment in growth? Murphy’s Lesser Known Laws1. Light travels faster than sound – this is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
2. Change is inevitable – except from a vending machine
3. Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don’t
4. Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool
5. The 50-50-90 rule: anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there’s a 90% probability you’ll get it wrong
6. If you lined up all the cars in the world end to end, someone would be stupid enough to try to pass them, five or six at a time, on a hill, in the fog.
7. The things that come to those who wait will be the scrappy junk left by those who got there first
8. The shin bone is a device for finding furniture in a dark room.
9. A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.
10. When you go into court, you are putting yourself into the hands of 12 people who weren’t smart enough to get out of jury duty Fishing With Mirrors A fisherman from the city was out on a lake in a small boat. He noticed another man in a small boat open his tackle box and take out a mirror. Being curious, he rowed over and asked what the mirror was for. “That’s my secret way to catch fish” said the other man. “Shine the mirror on the top of the water. The fish notice the spot of sun on the water above and they swim to the surface. Then I just reach out and net them and pull them into the boat.” “Wow, does that really work?” “You bet it does!” travel around the “Would you be interested in The selling that mirror – I will give POOF! you $30 for it.” “Well, okay.” The husband The money changed hands and the buyer asked - “by the way, how many have you caught this week?” “You’re the sixth!” Piece of Mind? A doctor explained to his patient’s husband, “I’m sorry to inform you, but your wife’s mind has completely gone.” “I’m not surprised. She’s been giving me a piece of it for the last twenty years.”  Download a PDF Copy
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