Be Brave Not Safe

Goodwill is defined as:

• friendly, helpful, or cooperative feelings or attitude
• a foundational business term – representing the established reputation of a business regarded as a quantifiable asset, e.g., as represented by the excess of the price paid at a takeover for a company over its fair market value

Goodwill is also a company…

In a prior post I mentioned how we made frequent trips to Goodwill, in the process of downsizing for our recent move.

Conveniently, Goodwill lit-up a store several months ago, about 2 miles from our previous home, where a grocery store failed.

You see, Stop ‘n Shop built a brand new facility across the street from Market Basket, a long-time successful enterprise in our prior town.

Even after Stop ‘n Shop had been open for years you’d observe Market Basket’s parking lot being completely full and only a smattering of cars at Stop ‘n Shop. Stop ‘n Shop became the convenience store. That is, if you only needed a couple of items and didn’t want to fight the crowd at Market Basket, you’d go to Stop ‘n Shop.

It seems Stop ‘n Shop misjudged the market opportunity in that town. And, since this was a business model that could NOT be sustained, they closed up shop.

Fast forward: Goodwill industries purchased the facility and converted it to serve a prime market opportunity.

I am amazed at a number of observations that can now be made. For example, where another enterprise failed, Goodwill now:

• Employs numerous people at this location, and is STILL looking to hire more!
• Receives a constant flow of FREE inventory as people (like us) drive-up and drop-off their unneeded stuff.
• Has a parking lot full of cars, as customers stream in and out, scoring great deals on “stuff.”
• Tractor trailers constantly coming and going as they distribute their “free” inventory to/from other locations.

What a great business model! They convert donated stuff (their free inventory) to revenue, pay thousands of employees and allow others to acquire reasonably good stuff “on the cheap.”

Recently, I’ve read how some people feel that the company pays its executives too much and are otherwise casting a bad light on the firm.

To that, I’d ask, what are YOU doing for society that provides the benefits mentioned above (i.e., jobs and fairly priced goods to the communities it serves)?

Perhaps you have a great idea? If so, go for it! It is a COMPLETELY free country 🙂

More on this (pursuing a worthwhile business idea) in a future post.

All the best!