Cindy and Dave purchased the Starter System about three years ago. They have a list of regular shows they do every year but some of those shows had been canceled. They needed to find some other venues, so they applied at a regional race way. They were happy when the got the letter of approval in the mail.

Happiness turned to disappointment when they arrived at the speed way. The prime location had already been assigned to Big Bill’s Airbrush Tats. Cindy said Big Bill’s operation looked so professional and intimidating. Big Bill had a 10 x 20 space, all his staff was dressed alike with polo shirts embroidered with Big Bill’s Tats. They were already open and ready for business. Cindy looked at Dave and said “Let’s go home. “ Dave replied “We are here, let’s set up and make the best of it.”

The crowd was a fair size but not really big enough to support two separate tat artist locations. Cindy reported the morning sales were slow. Then before the big race in the afternoon, Big Bill announced over the speaker system for the next half hour they would be spraying tats for free. The mob descended on Big Bill’s booth. Being a professional, Big Bill drew the line as to where the cut off for free tats would be and told the people behind the line that they would have to pay for their tat. Not wanting to miss out on the big race and expecting to get a tat, the overflow crowd worked their way down to Cindy and Dave’s booth. They wanted to know if they were giving free tats. “No we are not” Replied Dave. To most of the people it did not matter if they had to pay for their tats. Now Cindy and Dave had a line of paying customers.

At the end of the day, after deducting all expenses, Cindy and Dave went home with over $600 in profit. They were happy they decided to stick it out and do the show despite Cindy’s initial instinct. As Cindy said “Some people work all week and don’t take home that much money.”

I guess the moral of the story is that the circumstances are not what determine your success or failure; it has more to do with your attitude. Cindy and Dave could have thrown in the towel and quit, or even quit before they ever started, but they decided to put a smile on their face and go for it. In the end they were rewarded for their effort. Who knows what Big Bill did for the day but it does not really matter because Cindy and Dave were happy with their results.