a regular girl
It made me feel sort of sad when I hung it up. I thought of her going in a store and buying it, and nobody in the store knowing she was a prostitute and all. The salesman probably just thought she was a regular girl when she bought it. It made me feel sad as hell--I don't know why exactly.
"It’s one small mercy that here in prison we don’t have to see anyone we don’t choose to see. In this way, prison is beautifully unlike real life. In real life, people from your past litter your life like cockroaches, popping out of crevices and scuttling across the dark. In the outside world, you can’t escape fate’s cruel crossing. You turn a corner, and there buying a hot dog is the editor of your college paper; you engage in conversation; you go out for lunch, and then to dinner, and then into bed, and then you love. Love is the languid sigh of death, and no one will ever convince me otherwise.
Prison may be the hell of other people, but at least it’s not a hell of people you love."
Most business owners, particularly those who have founded and grown their company from scratch, are very protective about their firm. It's their baby, and even though they're entertaining the idea of selling it, they want that baby in good hands. They want their employees protected and secure. They want their customers taken care of.
The first question they're going to ask, at least in their own mind, are, 'Who are you?'... and 'How do I know you can run my company the way it should be run? ' They do not want to sell it to a kamikaze pilot who's going to drive it into the ground. That's why it may be best for your lawyer or your (…) accountant to make the initial call on your behalf. You get instant credibility. Or, if you prefer to make the first call, and you detect those questions bubbling around, offer as references the names and numbers of your lawyer, your accountant and maybe one or two of your directors whose names he may recognize. (…)
Another method that is equally good is to send a short letter which includes the profiles of your board of directors, much as you did when seeking your accounting firm. This also gives you instant credibility, and should remove any hesitancy on a prospective seller's part.
What if your prospect cuts to the bottom line, just to see if you're serious? He says, 'Well, I may be willing to sell, what are you willing to pay?' You say something like, 'Oh, three to eight times your after- tax earnings, but of course we have to look at the books. I'd probably do an acquisition audit. But we can talk about that later.' You've sidestepped his probe with an answer that tells him you know what the hell you're talking about, so don't ask any more stupid questions!
Regardless of the deal you eventually hammer out, here's a key point. Make
If you're contemplating your first business transactions, you need to approach your venture knowing in advance the three greatest personal hazards you face. (…) Here are the three hazards:
1) The depth of personal commitment required. Your acquisition deal must take precedence over normal personal considerations. You have to make a total commitment of time and energy. Buying a business, especially the first business, is a full-time proposition. If you are trying to hold a job at the same time, you'll either have to quit that job or give up making your Quantum Leap through acquisition. You'll be spending days and nights figuring, re-figuring, analyzing and strategizing - and then doing it all over again.
Because if you don't, if you do a half-assed job of planning and calculating every step and every nitpicking detail, you're likely to fail. All this means no days off, no vacations, constant travel and continuous meetings. (…) You sleep on your couch, eat at your desk, work on your bed. Your lawn goes to hell, your friends think you're crazy, and your family stays mad at you for ignoring them, forgetting their birthdays and missing their recitals. You must have a commitment of support from your family. If not, you have to make a decision - your Quantum Leap or your family. I'm not fooling around here. (…)
2) The total financial risk involved. You must be willing to make a total commitment of your financial resources... to put everything you own on the table. Sure, a lot of Other People's Money is available, but many sources of OPM are looking to see how willing you are to lay your resources on the line first.
Mark this sentence: If you're not willing to risk everything you own, now and in the uncertain future, don’t try to buy a business. If you can't afford to, or
The source of your individual passion stems from your own personality. But whether you love dealing in the manufacture of hard goods, or buying and selling real estate, or the prospect of striking oil in a remote, windswept field, you'd better be driven by the relentless fire of hot passion. (…)
When you're passionate about your business, it becomes your mistress. You think about it day and night. You think about it when you're at home, when you're traveling, when you're lying in bed at night, hell, even while you're making love. You have to give up other pursuits, hobbies and pleasures because your business beckons like a seductress. You have to leave your family to entertain themselves, drop friends who don't understand your passion, forget to eat, forget to go home. If you drink, you keep a bottle at the office. If your mind wanders, and you dare to think about time off, your business comes back to reprimand you for even a moment of infidelity.