Goofus and Gallant Start a Business
Goofus and Gallant are no longer the young kids you read about in Highlights magazine in the doctor’s waiting room as a child. They’re both in their 50s now and facing a change in life. They’ve both matured a lot and have families, hobbies, aspirations for a comfortable retirement and plenty of good years left in them to achieve their dreams. The only thing they’re lacking is a job.
After twenty-five years with the same company, Gallant was let go when his employer was acquired by a Chinese firm and operations were consolidated in Guangzhou. He was offered a position with the new firm, but he and his wife wanted to stay in the states while their children finished high school. Gallant felt the entrepreneurial itch and decided that the next phase of his career would be to start a consulting business and share the accumulated knowledge gained over his career with others.
Goofus was fired for unauthorized derivatives trading and inappropriate conduct with certain female employees. He realized that he could never get hired again and with three alimony payments and five child support payments to make each month, he needed to do something fast. He was a good talker and knew he could make it as a consultant.
Gallant immediately went to Meadow Creek Business Center to start a virtual office. He had a proper business mailing address, a business phone number with answering service, use of office equipment and started with 16 hours of office space time each month. In no time at all Gallant was properly licensed at the state under his new address and there was always someone there to accept his packages. His calls were taken by the receptionist and she became a familiar voice to all of his contacts making it sound like Gallant had an established office and staff from day one. When Gallant needed to focus without interruption, he used his office space time to get some serious work done.
Goofus worked out of a spare bedroom at home. Given the recent scandal with the girls at the office, things were a little tense at home with wife four. Goofus had a difficult time concentrating on getting his business properly launched. His business mail was mixed up with the personal mail and usually ended up in the trash with the junk mail or stuck between the pages of Cosmo only to be found weeks later. His packages were often not delivered or when they were left at the door, they were eaten by the family dog. When people called, he was not always there to answer the phone and they got the family voicemail greeting of the happy couple saying hello in unison. When he did answer the phone, it was hard to hear over the baby screaming.
When Gallant met with a client, he used his office space time or used the Meadow Creek Board Room to really impress them. He was launching his business like a rocket. Soon he had moved to a 40 hour plan and by the end of the year he had his own office at Meadow Creek. He and his wife couldn’t be happier.
Goofus met his clients at Starbucks. It was awkward having to wait for a table with all the other losers. The high school students didn’t seem to realize they weren’t the only ones trying to have a conversation and it made it very difficult to talk. His clients seemed a little reluctant to discuss much in a public area for some reason as well. His business is struggling and it’s not looking good with wife four.
Don’t end up like Goofus, get a virtual office at Meadow Creek and be a winner like Gallant.
Richard Gabel
Comments