Greetings   This may touch close to home for you

In his book, Start Small Finish Big, Fred DeLuca tells the story

of a 40-something mother of 3 whose life took a dramatic turn

in the 1980's when her husband abandoned the family.

Mary Ellen was left with an old truck, a mortgage and a daughter

in college and 2 teenage sons.  What would you have done in her situation?

When life dealt her a lemon Mary Ellen chose to make lemonade.

In partnership with her sons she advertised a small moving service

and put the old truck to work.

Calls began to trickle in and gradually business picked up.  Two years

later when it came time for the boys to head off to college Mary Ellen

was left with a decision.  Should she keep her steady but boring job in

a company where she held 20 years seniority and great benefits, and let

the moving business die a quiet death?  Not.  In the face of overwhelming

disapproval and long odds Mary Ellen Sheets decided to follow a dream.

She gave up jobs, benefits, and even her family home to pour herself

into the small venture that would eventually become the nationally

known moving company Two Men & A Truck.

By 1999 she claimed 82 franchises in the U.S. and others in Canada.

Mary Ellen's path to success was definitely not smooth.  From the outset

she faced one overwhelming obstacle after another.  She admits that

she learned everything the hard way and had several brushes with financial

disaster along the way.

Then why did Mary Ellen succeed when so many others failed?

She lacked experience, financial support, and admits that she had no

master plan-she made things up as she went along!

So what was her secret?  She turned obstacles into vehicles for

constant improvement. When Mary Ellen was slapped with failure she

picked herself up, brushed herself off, and devised a way to improve

on her performance.

If this woman could grow a successful company simply by her determination

and her willingness to improve, improve, improve-you can too!

The next time you are hit with rejection, or stumble over a lousy sales pitch,

don't assume it's because you are in the wrong business!  Instead use it as

a vehicle for improvement.

Where did the advertising take a wrong turn?  Which posting did not get any click,

What could you have done differently that might have altered the outcome?

How many more ad do I have to post. How many more lists and exchanges,

And social media do I have to join?

Then get back out there and practice what you learned from the situation.

There is always room for improvement.  Put continual improvement and growth

 into practice in your own business and watch what happens!

Sincerely,

 Happy Promoting

Liz J.

Failure is success if we learn from it.

Malcolm Forbes