Thursday, March 27, 2014

Being there can be the difference

As I was boarding the Line 2 bus, I ran into Todd getting on.  He told me he was ready to start mowing soon. He had 90 clients to start the year which was a good start to keep him busy. He also said he was on the wagon, meaning he was still keeping away from drinking too much. (Off the wagon is when a person stays on a drinking binge.) Todd told me that if he had a couple beers he would be off to drinking a dozen.

We chatted for a while on the bus and he was telling me how things are going. This was good to hear. It was good to hear him talk so openly and freely about keeping his life on the wagon.
Well, we all got something to work on.  We benefit by having someone who cares about our victories and supports us in our struggles… someone we can celebrate our victories with, and be encouraged by someone who understands. 

As I got off he made a point to give me a huge wave as I walked away. If I were not on the bus I wouldn’t have these times to share and be there with others. I could tell it was an encouragement for Todd to see me. He valued having a time to chat. And I am sure others overheard our conversation, and it was possibly an encouragement to others around us to hear Todd share. 

Positive stories shared on the bus can be like a mini-mobile-motivational seminar. You don’t have to strain too hard to hear conversations.  Once I had a friend suggest we ride the bus together and share our dreams while riding, that maybe it could inspire others to dream too. 

It is important to be where people are who need us. So many relationships can be made while riding and waiting for the bus. It’s there many can make a difference by just being there, and celebrate with those who are making the effort to do good through their lives. It’s amazing that a positive person’s persona, disposition, can affect people around them without using words. 

“Rejoice with those who rejoice,” the Apostle Paul said. To have people who share in what we do and have mini-celebrations together is a blessing in life. 

 Public transit is a great place to be among a varied cross-section of people. Just being there can be the difference.


Friday, March 14, 2014

Transit Transformed … Community of One and the Entrepreneur

Grabbed 2 downtown, then hopped on 5 to the Hammons Tower. Took care of some business quickly and came out to catch the other 5 coming back to downtown. While sitting there on the bus bench enjoying the beautiful spring-like day, the thoughts of how people get money to do things was going through my mind. I wondered how many business dollars are generated alone through this big, tall, black business tower behind me. 

Dollars are harder to get these days and Transit is fighting for the available dollars too. All across the country I hear it is getting more competitive to get the same Federal, State money being allocated to public transit(with less to go around). Having access to public transportation is viewed by many as equal to our right to free speech in America. But how can it be funded? 

While sitting there my mind went back to a conversation I had many years ago with one of the founders of Evangel University, Dr. J. Robert Ashcroft. He was asked to go to a college in the East to help them pay off a million dollar debt. This was probably 30-40 years ago. He took a year’s salary of one dollar. And in one year had them well on the way to having the debt paid off. I asked him how he did it. He said he got everyone working together as one team. He asked the faculty to eat lunch with the students, included the faculty to interact with the administration to solve problems, enlisted student insights, got outside suppliers involved, and created an atmosphere, and function, of one unit all working toward the same goal. 

Then I began creating parallels. What if that could be done in a city and everyone worked as a community of one for providing public transit?
What if the bus drivers with some business experience met to come up with new ideas of securing, or building revenue streams to fund the bus service. The Transit leadership/staff interact with this drivers’ think-tank group and kick around possibilities. 

Get the community involved in another think-tank, include bus passengers and non-bus passengers. Stir that in the mix. 

Add three of the areas accomplished entrepreneurs to be a think-tank group to come up with innovations for funding public transportation that could be a perpetual, self-generating system for new revenues, but still have low fares for the bus passenger. Combine the minds of entrepreneurs accustomed to working with 9-figure budgets to vision new ways to do things… ways relevant to our culture today and where it is going.
(Maybe they would work for a dollar a year each to see if they could come up with some funding innovations… innovations that would constantly generate revenue, make transportation available to all, and produce a classy, nationally-noticed, eye-catching transit system.) 

Use the entrepreneurs as the point men (persons... there are great women entrepreneurs as well) to bring all the concepts together. Homogenize all factors to one unit of thought in that the community, transit services became as one in mind, spirit, heart. 

Napoleon Hill, in researching entrepreneurs in the early 1900’s, said they found great success when all people involved in a situation worked in harmony, as one mind, with each other. Joint minds birthed a master-mind which produced outstanding invention to solve problems.
Jesus said we “will do greater things”… He was referring to His Disciples that as a unit they would surpass His accomplishments (as One in Spirit). 

As One we can believe for and expect Greater things. 

I boarded 5 heading downtown. On the way, I saw all the construction going on transforming some of the old office buildings into a new concept of downtown. We may be entering a season of greatness for all.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

The Bus … benefits of thinking like an entrepreneur

As his friend got on the bus, this guy asked him if he had 50 cents. His friend said he didn’t, then he turned to me, sitting in the back, asked me if he could borrow 50 cents. I said not now. His friend nudged him to ask the lady in front of him across the aisle. She rummaged through some things and came up with a bag of pennies. What went through my mind is that he is going about this all wrong. He used the word, “borrow,” which implies he plans to pay you back, a time, a place. Well, I obviously didn’t see any of these conditions present, and not knowing him how in the world would I know I could count it being paid back as he suggested… a lack of trustworthiness. 

Consider this scenario, someone (let’s call him Todd) needed $20. As Todd walked down the street he saw a lawn mower for sale for $20. As he continued walking he saw several yards that needed mowed. Todd found a person who would pay him $20 for mowing his yard. He told the man that he needed to go buy this lawn mower on sale for $20 so he could mow the yard. He asked his prospective customer if he would advance him $20 so he could do this. The man hesitated. So Todd asked the man to go with him or he would leave him his jacket as collateral. The man agreed. He bought the mower and mowed the yard. The man liked the job and asked him to come back again. 

Then as he walked down the street with a lawn mower he found another yard needing mowed. He offered $20 to mow it. The lady said yes, but now he needed gas. He asked the lady to pay him $20 upfront so he could go buy gas. He offered to leave the mower there to protect her money advance. She agreed and he went and bought a gas can and gas. That day he mowed two more yards for $20 and made $40 profit while having his equipment paid for. He would buy another mower or two when he saw good deals along the street, so he would have a backup. 

Todd rides the bus when he’s not mowing and now makes up to $200 a day mowing yards at a competitive rate. 

Two people who ride the bus. One has an entitlement mind… ask with no guarantee of a  return. Another uses an entrepreneur’s approach… provide something of value for someone who investments in your service. 

The bus culture is a prime place to teach entrepreneurial skills… to learn how to use your skills, provide a product or service that someone else would see of value and pay for it. If this culture were taught this, we would have Todd’s of the world making a positive contribution to the world around them. It starts with a change of mindset, creating belief in one’s self, and showing how to make money while improving lifestyle for others and our self. We could change our culture for many on the bus and those around us if we learned how to apply the entrepreneurial way of thinking for getting what we need. 

Actually, as an entrepreneur friend of mine told me, we should make learning entrepreneurial skills a requirement in our education system.  It’s not only personal survival insurance, but a lifestyle fulfillment factor in our pursuit of happiness… our privilege of the free enterprise system in America. 

While on the bus that day I was thinking about this guy’s approach to get 50 cents. (I really didn’t want to reward a method I disagreed with.) I felt for the lady who gave her bag of pennies to this guy. As I got off the bus I passed by her. I reached in my pocket, pulled out my change. I spoke to her as I walked by and handed her my change, “God wants you to have this for your kindness.” I realized I had about 80 cents in change and a few pennies. She got paid back more for being kind. 

The lesson learned:  think like an entrepreneur; create something of value to someone who will pay you for it. And God rewards kindness. 

Also, here’s a book summary that teaches how to make money, when you need a few extra hundred(although the author suggests a thousand). It’s the Todd way of thinking… an entrepreneurial approach. Put More Cash in Your Pocket.
Feel free to pass it on. If we taught people “how,” the “have” would be more widespread.