I pulled up to the restaurant and parked my car.
As I got out, I nearly stepped on a wallet sitting on the ground just outside the driver’s door.
This was about ten years ago and not the only time I found a wallet, but a memorable one.
Immediately, I looked through the wallet to try and find a way to contact the owner.
There was a driver’s license, a few receipts for local restaurants, an ATM card, and a couple of credit cards.
No easy way to contact the owner though and it was Saturday night so I couldn’t drop the wallet off at her bank – something I’ve done when I’ve found other wallets.
I had recently moved out of the area and was only there for a couple of hours before driving back to my new neighborhood 30 minutes away.
I definitely didn’t want to make the owner travel all the way to me if it took a few hours to find her.
I thought about leaving the wallet at the restaurant but they didn’t open until 4pm on Sundays and I didn’t know how long it would take to track down the owner.
I wondered what stores were open right now that would be open early in the morning?
Ah! The cupcake shop. They were about to close at 8pm and opened up again at 7am.
I ran over to the cupcake shop and got there just as they were about to lock the door.
Fortunately, they let me explain and said they’d be willing to put the wallet in their safe.
With the wallet secured, I did another search online for the owner and posted on Facebook in case someone I knew knew her.
Within 20 minutes of posting on Facebook, one of my friends figured out who the owner was and found her phone number.
Within 30 minutes, I was on the phone with the wallet’s owner explaining to her that her wallet was safe at the cupcake shop.
With a sigh of relief, the owner said she hadn’t even realized yet the wallet was missing and she was getting on a plane at 11am the next day.
She was able to pick up her wallet, and a cupcake, Sunday morning before heading to the airport.
Your Challenge For This Week
The lesson I learned from this incident was how helpful it is to have my cell # in my wallet and have my wife’s cell # on my cell phone.
I’ve suggested as much to others only to have them tell me they don’t think anyone would take the time to return their lost item.
Maybe I went a bit above and beyond, but don’t you think you’d call someone to let them know you found their lost item?
Then, why not make that easier for someone else to do by putting your contact info on things you might leave behind?
My wife did this with her Mac dongle and even umbrellas – and she’s had both items returned.
Try this and let me know how it goes!
Business Growth Strategist & Business Coach
As a relationship-based business growth strategist, I work directly with a limited number of self-employed professionals, aka solopreneurs.
WHO YOU ARE:
You want to have a greater impact and increased income. The problem is that there are so many options for how to build your business that you can feel stuck, overwhelmed, and like you’re running out of time.
The reason options are overwhelming is that you’re looking at them as a series of disconnected steps, when to make the most of your time, you need a strategy that connects only the most important and highest impact ones.
You know that if you try to do everything, you’ll accomplish nothing. This means, to achieve your goal, you have to invest in a strategy to put time on your side.
What’s Included:
As a relationship-based business growth strategist, I will work with you to design a year-long plan that consists of three 12-week sprints, each followed by 4 weeks of reflection/assessment, rejuvenation/vacation, and strategic planning. This will allow you to sequence your goals, create momentum, and leverage your limited time.
We can build your plan through a half-day strategy session, a coaching engagement, or a mastermind program.
These are not right for everyone; they’re personalized offerings and are priced accordingly.
What might you work on?
In my coaching work with entrepreneurs and solopreneurs, we focus on the areas where you’d like to grow, which may include:
- Creating a strong sales conversation framework
- Building your referral network
- Lead generation through a relationships
- Growing your visibility in your industry
- Increasing your ability to attract the right kind of clients
- Identifying and launching a minimally viable offer
- Breaking through whatever bottleneck is holding you back from getting the results you want and deserve
- Becoming a published author and marketing your book successfully
- Improving your virtual presentation skills
Learn more about the different ways we can work together – deep dive 3-hour session, private 1:1 coaching, and masterminds. I’m excited to support you in reaching or exceeding your goals.
Stay Connected:
- Connect with me on LinkedIn to see the content I share.
- New to my website? Start here
- Listen to my On the Schmooze podcast – weekly since July 2016.
