In business, it’s good to look the part. In fact, many larger businesses have a dress code – not just the traditional suit and tie that you’ll find in an office, but construction workers have a dress code of
their own that’s even more important. And you know what? Dressing up is fun. Looking good feels good too.
But let me tell you a story of a young man who was down on his luck but made good (spoiler alert: it’s me). More recently than you might imagine, I was spending my nights sleeping in cars. Now I love cars, don’t get me wrong, but there are more comfortable ways to spend your evening hours. And I dressed the part; I didn’t have a choice.
It was around this time that I learned that Visa was bringing pre-paid credit cards to Canada, and I wanted in. I knew that was a major growth market (as did Visa, of course). So I went out, tattered clothes and all, and I told them I wanted to be their sole distributor in Canada. I don’t dream small! They turned me down for sole distributorship, but they did allow me to sell the cards. I took my last few dollars, printed off a few hundred flyers, and hit up all the cars in my area.
You can probably guess, based on where I am now, how the rest of the story went. It wasn’t long before I was printing off thousands of flyers at a time, and once I’d had a taste of working for myself and succeeding, there was no turning back. It’s made me enough money that I can dress up however I want, but the bottom line for me ever since has been results. If I can come from nothing and work myself to the top, you can too. You just have to get out there and actually do the work. The clothes can come later.
