The Entrepreneurial Anecdote from Mr. Bata...

This week in September 2014, I was following one of the modules from the Master Business Administration (MBA) when the lecturer provided the audience a very interesting anecdote about Thomas Bata, founder of Bata shoes. By the way, this summer I had the chance to be in front of the dedicated museum in Toronto.

The mentioned story speaks itself about the entrepreneurial nose for opportunity.
Mr. Bata was considering to expand its market segment possibly to Africa.
In order to get a better feeling of the potential market share, Mr. Bata traveled with one of his senior executive to Africa.
Both agreed to take different routes by observing the use of shoes, trends during their journey and then to meet and share their observations, compare notes and take a decision once they will be back in Canada.

Once they were back in Canada, they met.
The senior executive reported that the market was not worth. As he stated "There is no way we are not going to sell shoes down there. It is hopeless. Over ninety-percent of the people do not even wear shoes. The remaining ten-percent wear sandals".

Mr. Bata, the entrepreneur, listened carefully and then provided his observations as follows:
"This is one of the greatest opportunities in the history of our company. The possibilities are endless…think about it, no one even wears shoes down there".

The moral of this story is that opportunities can be sized. But you have to look at the environment around you with different eyes and with a different "mind set".

About the Author
Jose Ferreiro is an entrepreneur and a performer with a passion for working to make this world a better place!