Money does grow from trees!

I know, I know…I am always using my son as a case study. The truth is that he is the greatest source of inspiration and intrigue. Last month he exhausted my data watching five minute crafts on Youtube. I have unlimited data on my contract but they throttle you after you have used more than their “Fair Use” policy. So the last 10 days of August my Instagram and email were crawling. So when I eventually figured out what the cause was, I confronted my son. I concluded our chat by saying to him that money does not grow from trees.  He promptly said to me; “daddy money does grow from trees” His logic was simple money is made from paper, and paper is made from trees. Therefore money grows from trees!

It was hard to argue with his logic. He then reminded me that his birthday is on the 29th of this month and gave me an itemized list of things he wants for his birthday. This got me thinking we often accept the limitations that people tell us. Kids are different. They don’t accept the excuse, they reason it out. Why does this beautiful characteristic die as we get older? What happens to us with age that we stop being inquisitive? Is it because we get so used to being told we can’t, that we learn to just accept it?

I don’t buy into lists. Especially the ones that say something like; The 7 characteristics of entrepreneurs. Hey people are different, and their traits can’t just be distilled into a list. Be that as it may, it seems one of the most common traits amongst most entrepreneurs is curiosity. Curiosity for me is about always learning. This means always reading and bettering yourself. It also means being not afraid to ask dumb questions.

I will speaking at a forum for dentists. Ironically, how I got this speaking gig was someone read one of my blogs and thought it relevant for an event they were organizing for dentists. The lady called me in for a briefing. She had the whitest teeth I had ever seen. I asked how she managed to keep her teeth so white? She told me about so many ways to whiten one’s teeth. She mentioned that she gives her son these purple chewables that make tartar purple that way her son can see where he has not brushed!

What a simple solution! I often have to ask my son to brush three times as he is always in a hurry to finish. I was like, where have these chewies been all my life?! Then I got thinking why do I have to give my son an additional step to brushing his teeth? He will do it for the first couple of days then he will stop using them. Why not add the chewable into the toothpaste? Wouldn’t it be cool if the tooth paste was purple and when you brush the tartar off then your teeth become white again?!

I was watching a documentary on how much plastic and plastic bottles that are found in the ocean. You would be shocked to see how much plastic is found in a stomach of a dolphin. We all drink bottled water. I have always thought this to be the most perverse thing, we put water in a plastic bottle and drink it as a healthier option to sugary drinks. Then those same bottles end up contaminating our oceans! South Africa has some of the cleanest tap water in the world. There is absolutely no reason to drink bottled water other than convenience.  Why not have tap water bottled in a cardboard carton like milk instead of plastic? Cartons are bio degradable plastic is not.

Think like a kid and you will think like an entrepreneur. You will see opportunities where others don’t. Think like a kid and you will be surprise to find that money does actually grow from trees.