Positive Thinking!
December 24th 2007 08:38
Man, if I ever think I’ve had it bad, I just need to remember the guy on telly the other night. He’d decided to start a pig farm, which would include raising pig varieties that were on the verge of extinction.
So far so good, except that he was making no money out of it, virtually, and was spending huge amounts getting the thing up and running. He had an extremely “she’ll be right” attitude, even though he also seemed to be weighed down by considerable burdens, and by a lack of support from his family – who’d nevertheless shifted to the countryside with him!
It seemed to be perpetual winter in the doco, and much of the time was spent trying to deal with pigs, in or out of the pen, in the freezing cold, or trying to sell home-made sausages outside a supermarket – in the cold - or giving away fliers on the streets of the local towns – in the cold.
And then one of his rare breed boars turned out to be a bit of a fizzer when it came to the mating aspect. In spite of having several lovely sows to service, he just couldn’t get anything to get up and go. (I know the feeling.)
Halfway through the program his best friend (the pig farmer’s, not the pig’s) arrives and brings a breath of fresh air to the place – in fact the sun shone that day. This best friend had come to help him get things moving a bit faster, in the hope that the money wouldn’t seep out of their fingers quite so fast.
But then the accountant turned up with dire warnings of going bust in a couple of months.
That would have been enough to put most people off. Not this bloke. He decided to open a farm shop, away from the town, (so that people had to drive there) and there he would sell all manner of farm goodies, including the famous sausages. This meant that the customers would not only have to spend money getting there, but would also pay higher prices than they would at the supermarket.
He announced a big opening day, where Jamie Oliver (who just happened to be another best friend) would appear and officially open the shop. Of course it was cold, but at least the people turned up in droves, and presumably bought stuff. (I had to go out at that point, unfortunately.)
I’d love to know how he got round this with his accountant. I mean, it takes some guts to be told one month that you’ve got a couple of months before disaster, and then spend even more money in order to set up something even more risky. Phew!
So far so good, except that he was making no money out of it, virtually, and was spending huge amounts getting the thing up and running. He had an extremely “she’ll be right” attitude, even though he also seemed to be weighed down by considerable burdens, and by a lack of support from his family – who’d nevertheless shifted to the countryside with him!
It seemed to be perpetual winter in the doco, and much of the time was spent trying to deal with pigs, in or out of the pen, in the freezing cold, or trying to sell home-made sausages outside a supermarket – in the cold - or giving away fliers on the streets of the local towns – in the cold.
And then one of his rare breed boars turned out to be a bit of a fizzer when it came to the mating aspect. In spite of having several lovely sows to service, he just couldn’t get anything to get up and go. (I know the feeling.)
Halfway through the program his best friend (the pig farmer’s, not the pig’s) arrives and brings a breath of fresh air to the place – in fact the sun shone that day. This best friend had come to help him get things moving a bit faster, in the hope that the money wouldn’t seep out of their fingers quite so fast.
But then the accountant turned up with dire warnings of going bust in a couple of months.
That would have been enough to put most people off. Not this bloke. He decided to open a farm shop, away from the town, (so that people had to drive there) and there he would sell all manner of farm goodies, including the famous sausages. This meant that the customers would not only have to spend money getting there, but would also pay higher prices than they would at the supermarket.
He announced a big opening day, where Jamie Oliver (who just happened to be another best friend) would appear and officially open the shop. Of course it was cold, but at least the people turned up in droves, and presumably bought stuff. (I had to go out at that point, unfortunately.)
I’d love to know how he got round this with his accountant. I mean, it takes some guts to be told one month that you’ve got a couple of months before disaster, and then spend even more money in order to set up something even more risky. Phew!
| 43 |
| Vote |
Subscribe to this blog
