In a small town not far from you, a boy watched his father at work. His father was the town baker, and every morning without fail he?d rise at 3:00am to begin the day?s baking.
Fresh pastries, sugar-coated sweetbread, biscuits of all shapes and sizes and ? the most popular ? the softest bread you could ever hope to eat.
All the ingredients for the bakery came from the local farmers and shops. Since the town was small and fairly isolated, this was more of necessity than choice, although helping the local community was more than just an added bonus.
It was the thing that shaped the boy?s future.
Shared Treasures
As he watched his father hard at work, and the shoppers who would come to the bakery and buy the savouries and pastries and bread, the boy also noted how some could afford more than others.
He?d watch at school how children of the wealthier ? and thus, perceived more influential ? parents would have fresher bread and tastier pastries (not to mention more of them).
As someone who didn?t have to worry about how fresh his food was, he didn?t like the idea of his friends not sharing the same good fortune. So he hatched a plan.
He asked his father if he could learn to bake. He?d watched him enough times in fascination; now he wanted to become more than just the pupil.
His father agreed, and soon the boy was making small pastries and bread rolls. Nothing too fancy, but enough to begin to learn the intricacies of how dough was shaped; how heat would turn a mess of ingredients into a masterpiece of flavours; and much more.
The boy would always bake more than the shop needed, though, and pocket the best ones for school. There, he?d share his treasure with the less well-to-do kids. The boy soon became known as the boy with the bread, and the faces of his friends would light up on baking day.
This continued through high school, where the boy?s skills had become more evident in the soft bread and sweet cakes that even his father had never been able to make. It was even said that the boy with the bread was instrumental in helping the school team win their first football trophy, by keeping players fed on a daily diet of goodness they would never be able to afford.
When time for college came, tragedy struck. The boy?s father, the town baker, became ill and was unable to run the bakery. So, instead of going to college with his other friends, the boy took over the bakery and kept the town stocked with the freshest baked goods.
Years went by and, as with many small towns, the one in which the boy grew into a man changed. Large retailers moved in, chain stores replaced family businesses, and the boy-now-a-man saw his long-passed father?s beloved bakery suffer. He knew it wouldn?t be long before he too, had to close.
But he didn?t close.
Instead, all his life choices came back in one single visit from an old school friend. Someone the boy had fed the secret fresh bread to. Someone who?d been the star quarterback on the football team that was fed to victory by the boy.
Future Legacies
Someone who had never forgotten the boy with the bread and how that boy had made him the person he was today. The boy?s old school friend had aced college, started his own business, invested wisely and was now a millionaire several times over.
The old school friend knew about the troubled times the boy-now-man was going through. This made what had to be done easier. He bought the bakery and told the boy with the bread that the bakery must never shut.
And it never did. It?s still there today, flourishing under the food of the baker and the guidance of the old school friend. They ship their foods further afield now, and fancy restaurants eat the savouries and sweets that only the small town had known about before.
The boy with the bread is now the man with the bread and his father?s legacy remains.
Everyone starts somewhere. We never know who will become what, or how our paths may cross with those that can change our lives forever with one single motion.
- In your business, you might be the boy with the bread now. But the decisions you take today will be altering the future already. Instead of chasing that one big client, build relationships with many smaller ones ? one of them might be the next Apple.
- Instead of trying to get the attention of the influencers and A-listers for your blogger outreach program, develop touch points and feed the smaller bloggers ? even Seth Godin was an unknown at one point.
- Instead of just watching what others are doing, learn your trade and help others grow through it. The earth is round ? your good deed will find its way back around to you at some point, and often when you need it the most.
The boy with the bread is in every one of us; it?s how we share that bread that defines us.
This is a chapter from my Parables of Business ebook, helping businesses understand how old wisdom can help shape new mindsets. You can learn more about the book, and grab your own copy, here for just $0.99.