The things which hurt, instruct.
Benjamin Franklin
Now, I don’t want you to think that this principle only applies to tragedies, because nothing could be further from the truth. I’d like to share a business example that reinforced my faith in this concept. In March of 1991, after an exhaustive search, I selected a company to screen print my T-shirts.
In late June, I committed myself to a local and national advertising campaign to market these shirts. A serious issue developed in early July.
Instead of filling an order in two weeks (as originally promised), the screen printer didn’t fill the order for more than five weeks.
This was unacceptable, and I decided to find another screen printer. But I’d already established my pricing and delivery terms based on discussions with the original printer. This was a major problem, right? What if I couldn’t find another company to deliver a product of equal quality at or near the same price?
Well, rather than get depressed and curse my rotten luck, I immediately set out to get another, better printer. Within one week, I found the printer I was looking for. Now, instead of having an order filled in two to five weeks, it is filled in two to four days. Eight years later, I’m still working with this vendor.
Losing the first screen printer was the best thing that could have happened! Of course, I didn’t know it at the time, but I kept believing that I could make this seemingly “bad situation” turn out to my advantage. And I did.
Experiences like this have taught me that when one door shuts, there is always a better one waiting to be opened.
