More on those $5 roses that you paid $8 for last week…..

On the Saturday before Valentine’s day I went shopping for single white rose. The florist had none on display, but when I asked she went into the fridge and pulled out two dozen.

“Oh, these are not at their best. You can see they are not going to last long and we can’t use them.” she said.
“That’s a shame, so what will you do with them now?” I asked.
“Oh we’ll just throw them out, but if you want them you can have them for $3 each.”

Contrast that with my experience at the pharmacy just ten minutes before. When they didn’t have the prescribed ointment I needed in stock the young assistant phoned around four other pharmacies (the competition) trying to find it for me.

Here’s the distinction.

The florist thinks she’s in the ‘flower business’ not the ‘brightening someone’s day’ business.
The pharmacy assistant knows he’s not in the ‘drug dispensing business’.

What business are you in?

Image by Paul Cooper.