Tag: Red Monkey Tales

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Red Monkey Tales – Rumble in the small business jungle

I was worried about competition to my small business when Red Monkey dropped in to say hello but all his frivolity didn’t cheer me up.

“I’m glad to see that you doing something constructive toward your small business but you sure look down in the dumps. What’s chewing you up?”

“With things as they are now, more small businesses are opening doors and competition just seems to be increasing.”

“Oh no. I thought we were going to have some fun. I’d rather be up in the trees eating berries and feeling safe than he down here with you in your gloomy mood.” Continue reading “Red Monkey Tales – Rumble in the small business jungle”

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Red monkey tales – silly ideas might just work

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Red faced monkeys enjoy living in the trees high above the Amazon jungle, searching for fruits and berries. They also come down from the tree tops to forage for insects and Brazilian nuts. Most of them shy away from other animals and especially people but one red monkey, sharper than the rest, sails down from the tree rooftops and occasionally gives out advice that may surprise you.

“Hey, Red Monkey what do you have to say for yourself today?”

“You called me down from where I was hanging in a tree so it must be important because you know I don’t like being disturbed.”

“I’ve been thinking,how do you get people to understand about how important it is to come up with ideas for new small business opportunities.”

“You called me down from my favourite place in the trees to talk about this. Haven’t you got anything better to do?”

“But you know how it is. People aren’t like you Read Monkey. They don’t enjoy the kind of freedom you have. They have to earn money in the human jungle otherwise they won’t survive and thrive.”

“Why don’t you talk about what you saw today when you were out shopping at the butcher today?”

“What you mean?”

“Tell them about those three young school girls finishing Matric and what they were doing.”

“What’s there to say?”

“If young people like that can come up with an idea to make money, why can’t adults?”

“Yes, what those young Matriculants school girls were doing all started with an idea. The three of them want to go to the coast for holiday when they finish their Matric this year and so they decided to dress up in Hawaiian beach gear, bak shortbread biscuits and were going around with a tin asking Saturday morning shoppers to donate towards their end-of-school holidays.”

“That’s what I mean. I don’t understand you humans. You make things so complicated. That’s all it takes. It all starts with an idea. But you’ve got to give something of value in exchange. Look at those young schoolgirls, they knew if they just went around empty handed they may have got a few donations but not much. So they decided to bak shortbread cookies themselves and let people on the streets decide how much they would exchange for each biscuit.”

“But these are young schoolgirls. Small business is different, isn’t it?”

“Do you really believe that? I might be a monkey but I’m not that stupid. Take that guy you know, John, How did he start his business which is doing so well now?”

“I suppose you’re right, Red Monkey. His idea was to start a new kind of restaurant where he could give customers better value than they were getting from the big chain restaurants. He started out small to test these idea and it took off.”

“Talking about food is making me hungry. I’ve got to go. I know of a tree where the berries have just started ripening and I want to scuttle off now before the other monkeys find them.”

“Well, Red Monkey, you never cease to amaze me. Go feast on your berries and come back soon because we’ve still got a lot to talk about.”

“It’s all just monkey business if you don’t do something about what you talked about today. If you want things to happen for you, you’ve got to be like those young girls and get into action, making and testing your product. It’s only monkeys like me that can monkey around. You humans have to work so you better find things that you enjoy doing.”

The “Red Monkey Tales” is a occasional light-hearted small business series which stimulates ideas and new thinking by monkeying around.

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Red Monkey Tales – look for problems

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Red Monkey was perched high in a tree observing his surroundings. He scanned downwards through the trees and from time to time looked far off into the distance over the treetops.

“Hey, Red Monkey what are you doing?” John, the small business owner asked.

“I’m just looking around to see what’s going on, “Red Monkey said. “Wait there John, I’ll be down in a minute.”

“So what were you looking for?” John asked.

Red Monkey Jamie came towards John, ambling along, showing no urgency at all. “You don’t know how it is. We red monkeys are dependent on the forests for our survival. It’s you humans through your habitat destruction that destroy our forests and leave us with no fruit-bearing trees.”

“Well, you know I’m not one of those. If I had my way they would be no cutting down of rainforest or any other forests for that matter.”

“Maybe. So what’s on your mind John?”

“I had a terrible dream last night. I dreamt that I was tired and weary. It was night. I climbed into a small bed-like ledge high up in the mountain and was about to go to sleep when I looked up and saw the rocks above were crawling with snakes.”

“So what did you do… in your dream, I mean?”

“I jumped out of the rock bed on the side of the mountain and woke up scared out of my wits.”

“How did you know those snakes were dangerous? They could have been harmless snakes and would have just kept you company for the night.”

“Yes, I know. Maybe you’re right. I’ve had so much on my mind lately”

“Is your business still troubling you?”

“Yes, it seems like I can’t come up with any new ideas. You know our these in this economy.”

“Why don’t you look for problems? Think of that farmer who recently heard about whose lambs were being killed by jackals and caracals. He had a big problem on his farm in the Eastern Cape.”

“But that solution he came up with to put solar-powered cats eyes on some of these ewes so the light would chase away the jackals and caracals when the ewes got up or turned their heads at night chased away the predators but he’s not made any money out of it.”

“But that’s not the point, John. The farmer had a problem and he came up with a solution that has cut down losses of these lambs. At least he didn’t go for traps, poisoning or hunting to chase away the jackals and caracals. He’s not going to make any money out of his idea but he’s going to save a lot of money on his farm.”

“Yes, it’s not an idea that he may want to sell to other farmers but it does show how important it is to start with problems when looking for new business ideas.”

“Now that you’ve got your creative juices flowing, perhaps you will come up with something that may help you in your life and could perhaps help others with similar problems. All this talk is making me hungry. John, I’ve got to go unless there is something else you wish to talk about.”

“It’s good seeing you again Jamie. You always get me thinking in a new direction. I wish you would come down more often. ”

“Stay down here with you humans. Not a chance. I’d rather be high in the rooftops of the Rain Forest eating berries and fruits and fooling around. See you sometime.”

The Red Monkey Tales is a series on a small business ideas and the spirit of enterprise where monkeying around is tolerated, encouraged and prized, all in pursuit of right-brained thinking and fun.