Utak Atik
Tinker with something
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Life and Entrepreneurship lessons learned from an amazing Taxi driver in Okinawa Japan
When I went to Okinawa, I visited Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium which houses the second biggest tank in the world. Amazing aquarium. But it's not what I will talk about here. This post is about this very interesting taxi driver we met when we were about to go back to our hotel.You see, this aquarium is located pretty far from the main city. From Naha, the city where the airport is located, it took us around 3 hours by bus. So there we were, waiting for the bus in the bus stop to go back to our hotel. When suddenly this old Japanese gramps came and talked to us. He was talking slowly in English but we could sense his confidence in speaking. He was kind and full of smiles. He asked where we were going to. Then we told him our hotel. He confidently said he knew the hotel and offered us to take his taxi instead of the bus. His offer was a little bit more expensive than our bus fares but he said it would take less than two hours. He was pretty convincing. So we took his offer.And it turned out to be a fun ride. We were chatting and laughing and he showed and explained to us places in Okinawa along the way. We even arrived in our hotel in around one hour. But the best thing was, I learned important lessons in life, and entrepreneurship in particular from him.First Lesson - Go to your customerThere were many taxi drivers in Okinawa Churaumi aquarium. They were all just there waiting for somebody to come to use their taxis. But he took the initiative and approached us. He went to his customers. And he got us. He taught me that customers/users will not come to me magically, I need to go to them.Be Bold and ConfidentThis one is actually my weakness. I'm a shy person in a sense that I don't approach others. I'm afraid of rejection and embarrassment. But he taught me that to achieve something I need to be bold and confident. It's gonna be hard for me to exercise this lesson, but 頑張ります!Be really good at what you doDuring the ride, I learned how he gained his confidence. He was simply really good at what he did. He told us that he has a "gold ribbon" taxi driver license. To get the gold ribbon, he needed to take exams where he was required to memorize places and roads in Okinawa, which explained why there was no GPS in his car, and english skill as well. He told us that there are only around 80 drivers who has this gold ribbon, while there are around 400 drivers for the silver ribbon. You can see that it's a pretty tough exam. He taught me that you can be bold and confident but without the necessary skills to back you up, you're nothing but an empty boaster.Smile and be kindLast lesson I got from him was to smile and be kind. It's hard to reject someone who approached you politely and with smile. Unless you're a douchebag.Hopefully I can really practice and exercise these lessons. And hopefully you do too!DragonDrop App for Mac - Useful and Nicest Registration Window
Have you checked out DragonDrop App for Mac? A very useful and amazing little app. You should try it by downloading the trial version. If you find it useful after trying it, you have to buy it. I mean, just look at the picture. The cutest app registration window I've ever seen :D
