The oldest rum brand in the world, and also the oldest living business in Barbados, is Mount Gay Rum.
The Mount Gay distillery, sitting in the middle of wind-blown sugar-cane fields, dates back to 1703. For hundreds of years now, Mount Gay Rum has been a favorite of the pirates, sailors, and tax evaders who landed in Barbados.
When you look at the oldest businesses in other countries around the world, the picture is similar:
Ireland – Sean’s Bar, founded in the year 900
China – Ma Yu Ching’s Bucket Chicken House, founded in 1153
Ukraine – Drohobych Salt Mine, founded in 1250
Looking at businesses that are still running after a few hundred years or more, you will find lots of small breweries… small inns… small mints… small mills… small mines… and an occasional bell foundry thrown in.
Which led author Ted Gioia, who wrote about this topic recently, to conclude:
“You might assume that the best corporate survival strategy is to get bigger and bigger, but empirical evidence tells a completely different story. These long-term survivors are far more likely to be small, focused companies that do one thing very well, rather than ambitious growth-oriented megacorporations.”
Is Gioia right? I don’t know. But it resonated with me. And so I want to warn you:
A business owner recently tried to motivate me into working with him. “This could be a billion dollar company,” he said, “and you can be a part of it!”
I didn’t say so at the time, but I shuddered at the thought of being part of a billion-dollar company.
Who wants to be a billionaire? My idea of being rich is having more money at the end of each month than I had at the beginning — without scrimping, scrounging, or worrying along the way.
I know that when I don’t work, I get depressed. So I’m more interested in enjoying what I do, and being able to stick with it for the long term, than in making a lot of money and cashing out.
So now that you know that, it’s time to make a decision to avoid my email newsletter or not.
You might be wasting your time by signing up to my newsletter. What’s worse, you might be exposed to dangerous ideas that steer you away from your primary goal, in case that goal is to get very rich.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for enjoyable work, for the long term, and if you’re ok focusing on one thing and doing that very well, then it might make sense to sign up.
Who knows?
Maybe I can give you good ideas so you can run a business that you enjoy.
Or maybe, even so you can build a little legacy. So a hundred years from now, your great-great-grandkids are still running the direct response brewery you start today… while pointing proudly to your picture on the wall.
If you’re interested here’s how to sign up.