DAY 14: How to paint a splash of sunshine on your soul
Warning: today’s writing represents the author’s take on truth. A certain religion is implied. Read at your own risk (or reward).
My second Sabbath Day in finding financial freedom in furniture. It has been quite the adventure. One opportunity for a challenge. And so on. So it goes. A challenge, after all, is nothing more than an opportunity in disguise. Some opportunities are more hidden than others, to be sure.
I awake, excited to start the day. It’s Sunday. A day to refrain from commercial activities and renew my spirit. My twelve-year-old son will be ordained a deacon today. “Mazel tov!” Larry Kozin says. I start my new church volunteer assignment as a youth advisor. My wife will teach others how to find and take the names of their ancestors to be baptized in our temples. We will then return home from church to feast as friends and family on a crockpot of Chicken Azteca in celebration of today’s events. Life is good.
And then
After the friends say goodbye, the food is gone, and the kitchen needs some cleaning attention, my eye catches the flashing alert on my smartphone, telling me I have a message. My finger won’t sit still. Click. Someone wants to know more about our mattresses for sale in the garage. Swype. My finger glides across the phone’s screen to form words in response to a potential buyer’s request. Then another message appears. And another.
An hour later, I feel remorse for swyping responses to ads on the Sabbath. A day I choose to disconnect as much as possible from the commerce of the week and reconnect to the business of the Sabbath. For me, that means service without thought of recompense.
A small but dark spot is painted on my soul today.
Another challenge
That’s when I remember yesterday’s test of my integrity. A Facebook user under the guise of Justa Truthteller posts on my Facebook Marketplace ad the following, “Saw these exact same pics on Craiglist but with a different story,” Justa accuses. “Where was the furniture store you were going to open that fell through because your lease fell through? Why do this under different names/accounts?”
I reread “her” message and my chin fell to my chest in shame. She was right to question my integrity.
The story
A few days earlier, I had asked one of our 2,500 nationwide furniture brokers if he wouldn’t mind posting some of our mattresses for sale and I would recompense him ten percent. We needed to move mattresses. He was agreeable to the terms as a favor to the new kid on the block. He wanted to see me succeed.
But, his text fell in line with a “going out of business” theme. Common in the furniture industry, but–as Justa Truthteller pointed out–inconsistent with our actuality. We weren’t going out of business (knock on wood). We were staging homes, buying in bulk, and selling the excess mattresses and furniture for side income (and for fun!). Interestingly, I wrote our true story on Facebook Marketplace after I read my broker’s ad on Craiglist. You could say, his ad inspired it.
Why the “going out of biz” message
What the broker was really trying to do, besides helping me to sell mattresses, was to help the potential buyer get past the paradox of why some guy in Tucson had a garage full of new, high-end mattresses for sale. The consumer needs an easy-to-understand story as to why she can get a high-end product at such low prices.
Please note, the going out of business story didn’t and still doesn’t change the fact that the potential buyer is getting a really good deal on quality mattresses. These are high-end sold at a fraction of retail costs!
Seeking advice, today–on the Sabbath–I write an S.O.S. message to my millionaire mentor, Larry Kozin. He writes back, “Always be honest. Always be true.”
Opportunity shines through the cloud of confrontation
Yes! Always be honest. Always be true. That inspires an idea. An idea to slowly but surely serve the consumer by always being transparent and by always telling the twist-free, stretch-free truth.
“Why not rewrite the odes of an olden age of furniture salesmanship with scripts of truth and transparency, then ensure we get the word out to our 2,500 independent furniture brokers?” I ask Larry in a follow-up email. I realize a word change or two to the infamous “going out of business” ad would do it. Check this out:
OFFERING “going out of business” prices on all mattresses and furniture!
You want the best price on the planet. We want to stay in business. We have quality mattresses and furniture for WAY FAR LESS than retail prices. How? Three reasons (among many):
+ We are part of the LARGEST Network of Independent Furniture Brokers, with over 200 licensed distribution centers and over 2500 Brokers. That gives us the Buying Power on name-brand goods.
+ We don’t pay employees or expensive rent for retail space or thousands of dollars on marketing.
+ We don’t mark up products with the industry-standard 30 to 40%. We charge less than half. No more. No less (unless you are a good negotiator and can talk me down a percentage point or two).
Purchasing in bulk with buying power allows us to buy quality mattresses at wholesale prices, made-to-order, right from our partner’s factory. It also saves us on shipping costs. We then pass along those savings to you.
We save. You save. It’s that simple.
Okay, a work in progress. But you see my point. Hopefully.
Larry writes again, “We’ll remind independent furniture brokers that if you want to work with us, you continue to pledge to always be honest with your fellow man. Integrity is KING in this kingdom.”
Larry’s message and vision are what has kept his companies free from legal battles and earned him BBB A+ ratings! Squeaky clean.
Lesson’s learned
- Always be honest. Period.
- The furniture broker who wrote the ad on Craigslist isn’t at fault. I am. I approved it.
- If I live by the law of the Sabbath, don’t ask others to break theirs for my benefit (Sorry, Larry!). Nor break it myself.
- Be a good example to my newly ordained son in all I say and do.
- Be grateful for the Justa Truthtellers in your life. They can help you make course corrections when needed.
- We all make mistakes. Some paint dark marks. But doing what’s right, or correcting what’s wrong, alwayspaints a splash of sunshine on the soul!
See you next time on our HONEST journey to find financial freedom in furniture!
