Napoleon was forced

to retreat from Russia

Do what you do best
Pamela Geer knows the frustration of growing a business.
She writes that she often looks for the grandiose strategy.
When that becomes overwhelming, no real action is taken.
She now follows Food Network star Paula Deen’s example:
Start where you are and start with what you know best.
That’s powerfully simple advice, she writes.
“I plan to do it right now in the next steps I take.”
Thanks, Pamela. You are a role model for the rest of us.
We live in desperate times. Don’t count on a fast recovery.
We tend to think these times call for desperate measures.
That only make us look desperate to clients and colleagues.
Napoleon’s invasion of Russia is a classic example.
He had not counted on the Russian winter or the Russians.
The Russians burned everything as they retreated.
They left nothing for the French Army to forage.
Then the winter set in and the invasion failed.
Assess your strengths. At what do you excel?
Like Paula Deen and her sandwiches, do what you do best.
Next, assess your weaknesses. What don’t you like to do?
What do you feel uncomfortable doing? Do not do well?
Find someone with those strengths to work with you.
They may be a partner, friend, relative or employee.
We can’t be all things to our friends or our clients.
Do what we excel at and find others to do the rest.

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Paula and sons at her popular

Lady & Sons Restaurant in Savannah

Start where you are

We were talking with a Savannah lawyer we met the other day.
The topic of conversation was Food Network star Paula Deen.
He knew her personally and had watched her rise to stardom.
Paula was a young single mother with two sons to feed.
She did the only thing she knew much about. She cooked.
Rather she made sandwiches and sold them office to office
Her sandwiches were good and saved him valuable time.
He didn’t need to go out to eat lunch on busy days.
Paula was selling good taste, convenience and herself.
Watching her on TV, you know she’s loaded with personality.
All the business people downtown got to know her.
They encouraged her to open a small restaurant.
That led to larger and larger restaurants.
Now it's almost impossible to get a table in her restaurant.
I know. We tried. They were booking tables for the next day.
Paula is an entrepreneur. She parlayed her local celebrity.
She wrote and published a cookbook to sell in her restaurant.
That led to more cookbooks in gift shops and other locations.
I’m not sure how she connected with Food Network but she did.
Now she’s a national celebrity cook and runs a cooking school.
She even has a line of cookware. There's no stopping her.
The great thing is that she does all of this in Savannah.
Lesson learned: Start where you are.
Work diligently and creatively. Don't give up.
Like Paula, there’s no telling where it might take you.

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