DIDACTIC FROM THE PRINTING WORLD – WHAT IT WILL COST YOU

In this last piece of the didactic from the printing world series, I will share with you the last life lesson and principle I have observed and still observing as the ultimate in achieving great feat in the printing world. Systematically, after respecting the processes involved in producing a printed work, cultivating and developing the virtues needed, the last thing you need is counting the cost as well as paying the price.

You see we are caught up in a generation where people want to associate with words such as: greatness, success, exploits, achievements etcetera, but only few give due consideration to what it takes to achieve those – the price or the cost. Hence, cutting corners become the order of the day, most people want the easiest, cheapest way to achieving greatness; unfortunately, cutting corners short circuit the natural flow of success and greatness.

The last but not the least of the issues I saw in the printing world is the fact that one must count the cost, carry his/her cross and pay the price so as to become established in the business. From the onset, I was wondering how my Boss became who he is today in the printing world, though not the best but one of the best; after careful close observation of how he operates and asking him few questions, I gathered that he had over the years paid every possible price to pave his way to greatness, and as a matter of fact, he is still paying where necessary.

The first price one must pay in the printing world is time. It was David Oyedepo who said “Time is the hardest currency in the world, invest it but don’t spend it”. Succinctly, in the printing world, time is of essence, you must discipline yourself thoroughly until time becomes your closest ally in the business. Here, time determines where you go, what you do and how you finally deliver to your clients. I have seen practically how some printers (My Boss included) sometimes run helter-skelter just to meet up with the deadline of delivering to clients. This often leads to substandard production and stress. Watch your time it is the essence of your life.

Another cost one must pay is placing reputation above money or immediate gain. I know for sure that there is no business establishment that does not exist with the purpose of profit making, and honestly there is nothing wrong with that.  But one thing I have seen my boss doing time and time again is sacrificing “much gain” to create a name for his business enterprise. What I mean here is this; I have seen some printers plunging into much of the fee they charged their clients and using meagre part of it to produce a substandard work. Summarily, it is better to gain little and produce a great work that will create a lasting impression and name in your clients’ mind than to gain much and send your clients away with below standard work.

One must lay aside convenience, one must practically embrace hard work, one must be dogged like I shared in the last piece, and one must place clients’ satisfaction as his /her topmost priority if he/she desires to go down in history as far as the printing world is concern. I must note here therefore that the variables I mentioned here as the cost may not suffice to all people, but the implication is that there is a price to pay that leads to greatness, success and worthy achievement. 

You see for the last three weeks that I have been sharing about my experience in the printing world so far, one might ask why he is boring us with all these needless stories. How relevant and important are these write ups to us? Well, I apologize if that is how you feel, but I strongly believe there is life lessons and revelations for us in almost everything and experience if only we can be opened-minded, life will be much more meaningful and purposeful.

Talking about cost; if you have not come to internalize the reality that for everything you want to be in life there is a cost and a price attached to it, the reality of life entirely will elude you. It  was one of the greatest teachers that ever toured this earth who said a wise master builder count the cost first before venturing into building a house; hence, if he hasn’t counted the cost and is willing to pay the price, starting to build will be an effort in futility.

Your life is your time and your time is your life. How do you relate with time? Have you counted the cost of being discipline with time and paid the needed price? Is time working for you or you are ever running after time? (I will share more on time in a different piece). Again, do you prefer personal selfish gain above great reputation? How industrious and hardworking are you? How dogged are you while confronting the challenges of life? Life will never make sense if you have not come to count all these and pay the necessary price.

Every story and analogy I have shared in this series so far is in one way or the other related to our daily life experiences. And to wrap it up with the issue of cost or paying the needful price, I will like to leave you with these questions; at least they can provoke your thoughts and spur you to take decision towards the right direction. Have you counted the cost of being great in life? (I do know that we all desire greatness). Is the life you are envisioning for yourself in the nearby future correlating with the price you have paid or you are paying now? Are you proud of the price you have paid or you are still paying for your life now?

Unless you count the cost, you cannot pay the price, and your failure to pay the price is your success in failure. Life is a process that needs all the available virtues to stay through with your head held high and become the person God designed you to be; however, this cannot come to fruition unless you count the cost and pay the price.