Good luck is not as good as seizing opportunities. Opportunities change fate.

Author: Wang Hou
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-01
Features: Finding Opportunities in the Unconventional
Unconventional opportunities may not be valued by many, but this is also an advantage of such opportunities—they are less competitive because they are not well-regarded. This makes it easier to start your own business. In the 19th century, gold was discovered in California, USA, leading to a gold rush where many people flocked to the state to dig for gold. At just 17, young farmer Amor was also ready to give it a try. Too poor to afford a train ticket, he joined a caravan and traveled to California with little more than the clothes on his back. Mining for gold was purely a labor-intensive job, and the harsh environment made Amor feel out of place. After a while, he considered giving up. One day, he overheard prospectors complaining, "Who can give me a bucket of cool water in exchange for a gold coin?" Later, due to the lack of water, someone even said, "Whoever lets me have a good drink will gladly pay two gold coins in return." It turned out that the lack of water was the most tormenting thing for prospectors in the mines. These complaints inspired Amor. Since he wasn’t suited for mining, he thought, "Why not sell water to the miners? It might be more profitable than searching for gold." So, he abandoned his attempts at gold mining and began selling water to prospectors. He dug canals to bring in water, filtered it to make it refreshing and drinkable, and then sold it in buckets and pots to the miners. Many people laughed at him, saying that everyone came to California to get rich by mining gold and that dealing in such small-scale businesses was not worth leaving their hometowns for. Amor didn’t care about the criticism and continued selling his water. Because there were many gold miners with a high demand for water, and no one else was willing to sell it, Amor quickly earned $6,000, which was quite significant at the time. Meanwhile, some miners who couldn’t find gold starved and ended up wandering from place to place.
In real life, many people are not accustomed to seizing opportunities that seem to have little potential, yet they fail to grasp more promising ones, resulting in a life of mediocrity. From a market perspective, whether an opportunity is unconventional or mainstream, as long as there is demand, there is an opportunity. Of course, compared to mainstream opportunities, unconventional ones may be less valued, but this is also an advantage—they are less competitive because they are not well-regarded, making it easier to succeed. Sir Henry Fok is a world-renowned billionaire. In the 1950s, Hong Kong’s real estate industry flourished, and he made a fortune in it. At the same time, the development of the real estate industry boosted the construction materials industry. However, sand mining in Hong Kong was a field rarely touched by entrepreneurs at the time, as it was labor-intensive, offered low profits, and was difficult to make money from. But Henry Fok saw it differently. He believed that with the growth of construction, the demand for river sand would increase significantly, making it a highly promising market. Moreover, since many large companies were uninterested in it, it presented a profitable opportunity. Sand mining in Hong Kong was labor-intensive, offered low profits, and was difficult to make money from.