Business Bulls

Networking is one of the most important resources for any business. Mark knew that, which is why he went to a small business expo. This would for Mark. He wanted to make new contacts, but he could also learn more about his industry. Perhaps even find a mentor. The trip was paying off from the start as he had collected business cards and others contact information. While walking from table to table talking to businesses about how they manage, Mark noticed a flier for guest lecturers. Knowing he couldn’t pass this up, Mark left the floor and headed toward the lecture halls, which were smaller rooms with chairs and a microphone.

Bouncing from one to another he found himself doubting how he was going to be successful himself. This is when he stepped into Red Hearding’s lecture. The first thing that caught Mark’s eye was Red’s logo. A giant bull as a dark silhouette in front of a bright red background. This man spoke with such confidence that Mark was glued to the stage during his presentation. Going on about networking, knowing who you are in business with, and doing your research on what you are selling. Mark knew he needed to talk to Red.

“Excuse me!” Mark made a bee line for Red as he walked off the stage.

Red turned around and stuck his hand out to introduce himself.

“Red nice to meet you!” As Mark shook his hand, he realized there was a card in his palm.

“That’s a nice trick. Could you teach me that?” Red Laughed “Sure, its easy enough. Is that what you wanted to ask me?”

Mark stuttered “Oh…no... uhhh.”

He was nervous and thought that he had blown his one chance to make a good impression.

“I was wondering if I could take you to lunch. I would love to learn a little more about your business strategies.”

Red looked impressed. No one had taken such initiative with him before.

“Sure. Do you have time now?”

The two walked over to a concession stand not far from the lecture hall and then found an empty hall to talk in.

“So what is it you would like to know?”

Red Said and then took a bite out of his burger.

“How do you have such confidence? While you were speaking, you seemed to give off this aura that you knew what was going to happen before you said it.”

Red smiled. “I’m sorry son, but I was with this much confidence. But some say that if you do something for long enough that you could get to my level.”

Mark laughed along to be polite but inside he was hurting. He knew he was still nowhere closer to becoming successful.

“Then what about your logo?” Why pick a bull?

“Well that easy! The bull is powerful! And Red is not my name but the color the provokes it. Its like a symbol showing me as being strong.”

Mark was nervous. He was starting to believe he had chosen the wrong person to talk to.

“One more question. What business are you in?”

Red finished his burger. “I was in the oil business, but the government shut me down after finding too violations.”

hard for Mark to keep his smile after hearing that. At this point he knew he wanted a mentor and thought this would be the one, but he was wrong.

“Thank you for your time Red. This conversation helped me.”

The two stood up and shook hands.

“Anything I can do to help.”

Red walked out of the lecture hall leaving Mark to stew in his frustration. He couldn’t believe that he was fooled like that. Thinking about what kind of businessman Red was started to discourage him from going into business for himself. On his way out of the room, Mark stopped by a garbage can to throw out a half-eaten burger. He then looked at his note book which he had written “Business plan” in big black letters on the front and dropped it in the can. As he began to walk away, he heard a voice.

“Excuse me. Are you here for the Expo?”

Mark turned around and saw a short Asian man standing next to him wearing a dark blue suit.

“Yes, the floor is down the stairs to your left. They have a lot of companies down there showing how they do business, and some are looking for people to hire.”

The man looked intrigued. “I see, And what have you thought of the Expo so far?”

Mark tried to put on a smile but could not hold it for long. He could get two words out before .

“Well, I’ve made a lot of contacts here, so that’s good, but I think I learned about the dark side of business.”

The Asian man chuckled. “So you met Red?”

Mark looked confused. “You know him?”

“Of course. I hired him.”

This took Mark by surprise. “Does that mean that this is your expo?”

“Technically no, but I did use my businesses to put together a majority of this. I felt it would be a good business move to help the people that are struggling as well as my businesses.”

Mark was speechless. He had met the man in charge of all the businesses he had spoken to and had so questions.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you sir, I’m Mark.” He stuck out his hand to shake his.

“I’m Ken Hokkaido. It's nice to meet you.”

“I do have one question Ken. Why would you hire someone like Red?”

Ken crossed his arms and looked Mark right in the eyes. “Do you think that the way you can learn business is from people who did it the right way? Red made his mistakes, and he is paying for them, but now he has something he can pass on the others that do not. That’s the experience of what happens when your business practices are sketchy.”

Mark thought he understood but wanted to clarify first. “Are you saying that because he was dirty, got caught, and has the confidence to in himself to make that a service to sell, that people can learn from him?”

Ken smiled. “That is right.” Ken uncrossed his arms. “You catch on quick. You know, I may have a spot for you in one of my businesses. I can’t guarantee the position title, but we can talk about what your experience level is.”

Mark didn’t know what to do. He was there to learn how to run his own business. Not work for someone else’s.

“Thank you, but I am trying to start my own business.”

Ken looked at Mark thinking of what to say next.

“Think of this as a learning experience. You work for me for a year or two and learn how to run a business. It’s like a paid internship.”

Mark couldn’t believe what he . Everything had come together in one sentence. He knew that he could learn a lot from this man.

Mark stuck out his hand take Ken's. “You have a deal Mr. Hokkaido!”

Ken used is free hand to reach into the garbage and pull out the notebook Mark had thrown away.

“That’s great to hear, you will need this.”