Gone: Customers, sales, profits. Following is a simple little tale about how it happens.

Jones was a typical entrepreneur who worked long hours and wore many hats.

The problem was that all the hats screamed for attention. Jones solved the problem by wearing the hat that screamed the loudest.

Unfortunately, this was only a temporary solution since all the hats kept screaming until they were worn.

There was, however, one hat that never screamed. It never complained, whined or whimpered, even though it was lonely. It knew it was important, whether or not it was worn. That hat was right.

One day the customers quit coming. The other hats became quiet; they no longer were needed. It was then that Jones noticed the hat named Marketing and how little it had been worn.

'Why didn't I wear the Marketing hat?' thought Jones.

For one thing, Marketing hadn't screamed for attention like the other hats. The other reason was that Jones was afraid the Marketing hat was too expensive to wear and would drain profits.

"But now there were no profits; the customers were gone.

Jones put on the Marketing hat. It was time to get the old customers back, and to get new customers, too. It was time to wear the Marketing hat regularly.

"Even the other hats perked up."

(c) 2005 Neil Sagebiel