The business world can be a tricky place! And the desert, too.
It was just about 10 years ago for the first time that a cholla (rhymes with hoya) stuck into my hand, and it was a memorable experience. Ouch!
There have been a few more times over the years, and one time our daughter's dog Gus got a pricker stuck in his lip, and we had to take him to the vet emergency room. I remember holding him on the drive in... he was uncharacteristically still and quiet. Very sad.
As a kid running through fields and woods in the Northeastern U.S., little brambles stuck onto my socks and clothes, and they were pretty easy to pick off. They didn't go into the skin - they needed fabric to attach. Not cholla cactus... they love skin, and when they sink in, those prickers sting. And they don't pull out... they're stuck in.
Pity the poor person or animal that falls into a cholla... it's hard to imagine. Check out this unlucky golfer in Scottsdale and the look of puzzled onlookers... where do we start to help this poor guy? See golfer engulfed in cholla.
I've heard these called 'jumping cholla' because they seem to jump onto your hand or leg quite easily. I've learned to stay away and only touch them with a long handled tool if one section happens to fall onto the ground and needs to be thrown away. Yes, people plant these in their yard... the picture here is our front yard in Scottsdale, Arizona.
There are analogies in cross border business. Something or someone looks OK and acts OK, but they latch on and leave a sting. They're hard to shake. Has that ever happened to you in business, and how do you avoid it?
The first step is to think about when you've encountered a business cholla. Seemed innocent enough... all was well. Until they jumped into your skin. Uh-oh. How are you going to shake that off? Just might need some scissors, tweezers, alcohol and a stiff drink.
I've been lucky and perhaps my New York-intuition has stopped me from getting too close to trouble along the way. We all know to avoid that e-mail asking to wire you money from the Nigerian who died ('just give us your bank account number'), but there are plenty of appeals that are more subtle that require a little more thought.
It's particularly true of cross-border work. How do you know if the partner so far away is honest, trustworthy and can be counted on? In the end you can hire someone like Global Chamber sponsor Lightstone Solutions to check a potential customer, distributor or partner out... and that just might be worth it in the end.
The U.S. Commercial Service Gold Key program includes some checking of the background for prospective partners... but you might want to take that extra step of bringing in someone like Lightstone Solutions to gain true peace of mind for today and tomorrow. Doing a little more due diligence lowers the chances that there will be a problem.
If you're thinking about doing an important partnership across borders, checking a little deeper on the key person's character is recommended 'just in case', and to avoid potential pain. And when things fail, they can be hard to shake off, and leave a sting.
What are the ways you avoid the pain of a business cholla? Work with someone you know, like and trust.. at the Global Chamber, growing in 500 metros around the world!
Doug Bruhnke, Global Chamber
Originally published at https://www.globalchamber.org/blog/2015/05/16/global-chamber/beware-the-business-cholla/
