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Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again. When I was a small boy learning road sense thats what I was taught to do before crossing the road. You can never be too cautious as a five or six year old learning these basics, because if you get them wrong it doesn’t half hurt, if you’re lucky enough to tell the tail. It’s also a basic rule that follows you throughout Lifes University, especially when you come to a crossroads. The rule of checking , double checking and checking again before making important decisions. Sometimes though outside influence can cause confusion.

This road sign in North Wales, told pedestrians to “Look Right” if they were English speakers, but to “Look Left” if they were Welsh speakers. Believe me, thats what it says in welsh.

The question is, Was it a plot by Welsh Nationalists to get the English only speaking pedestrians run over?

I doubt it, the company that made the sign appologised and removed it quickly before something nasty happened.

Basically, what I am trying to say is that although you are cautious and check and double check before making your decisions, sometimes you don’t have all the answers or those that give you information can make mistakes or misinform you. I had suffered this experience at an earlier stage when we moved to Spain because the information I found about the company that offered me the position of director wasn’t the full picture. Not only that, but the information I found was the information I really wanted hear.

As I wrote yesterday, I was at another crossroads, a time for change, but was determined not to fall into the same traps as previously. The situation was different though, this time I was looking at starting my own business. I had been offered by a foreign company the chance to set up my own company in Spain as their representative for the whole of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). My initial outlay was minimal, the company I would represent was a major force in the industry and I knew the market very well. My only risk was having to give up my job where I had been for seven years and so the risk was if it didn’t work, I’d be jobless.

I decided that I was more than qualified to start my own business, the company I would work with were of sufficient size and the risk was worthwhile taking. It was a feeling of satisfaction knowing that I was able to create my future and build something from scratch. After only six months I had reached 80% of the market and had taken a 30% share. Of course you’ll be wondering what my market was, well I was selling fresh salmon fron Norway. Spain is one of the countries with the highest consumptions per capita of fish in Europe, with a tradition for fresh seafood rather than frozen. Of course, with my products being fresh, it meant continual sales, week in, week out. You couldn’t sit back and think you’d made it after a good week, because the following week your customers were empty and buying again.

After two years a factor I hadn’t taken into account occured, and it was something I had no control over. It was a situation that was created by international law, and from selling 30% of the fresh salmon that came into Spain one week, to selling zero the following week. Unfortunately this situation arose maybe a year or 18 months too early. If it had happened later I would have been prepared, as I had realised I had all my eggs in one basket and was looking at a plan to diversify, but I was too late, or the situation I was fearing came too soon.

To resume, after 6 months of fighting the situation, I had to close the company and sell everything to cover my debts. Another of Lifes University exams.

Tomorrow I’ll finish the series which will bring me upto date and will be when I will try and relate how Lifes University reflects in my blogging.

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