Wow! It’s that big?
 
Yes. That black spot that looks like a pinhead is actually larger than earth. That little spot released a lot of energy as you can see by the odd looking backward “J” back on January 28, 2007 when I took this picture.
 
I have special equipment and a lot of experience to take pictures of the sun. Don’t try it. You could easily destroy your eyes. This particular spot released a blast of radiation that could have killed everything on earth.
 
It obviously didn’t do that. It wasn’t aimed at us when it blew off all that energy. And, even if it had been, our earth has a handy magnetic shield protecting us from such events.
 
Okay, now I’ve shown you something you probably have never seen. I knew where to look and how to photograph this thing. That’s what I do as an amateur astronomer.
 
As a business astronomer I look for tiny spots in your business that really are huge opportunities for profit. See? Same thing really. It takes experience—I’ve got more than thirty years of business experience—and a keen eye.
 
Concrete. I have to stop being philosophical and start being more concrete. That’s something I’m working on.
 
Concrete. If you have a warranty or service department that handles your customer’s problems, it should be making money. If it’s not, you’re missing a big opportunity.
 
I don’t mean by pleasing the customers the service department makes money. Hey, that’s not concrete. I mean, the service department ought to produce measureable income. If your product has a lot of problems—maybe you shipped a faulty widget—it ought to be producing a lot of income.
 
It’s corny to say “problems are really opportunities” because problems really are problems. If you shipped 10,000 faulty widgets it’s a big problem. But it can be less of a problem than you think. In fact, if you handle this problem very wisely it can add stature to your “brand”. And it could add money to your bottom line.
 
Tylenol is the trusted brand to this day because they handled a very bad problem very well.
 
So just think about this. That little spot on my picture could have wiped us out. Or, if we had some alien technology it could have supplied the entire earth’s energy requirements for 100 years. Same little spot.
 
There are little spots all over your business. Can you see them? I can. But then, I’m a business astronomer.
 
Chris Reich, Author of TeachU’s Business Talk Blog