One Of Those Days That Turns Out Completely Different From Your Expectations

Hi my Steemian friends !
In my job I travel a lot because I source products in China. In the same time that it is interesting to travel and find a factory and new products it is also many times exhausting as the schedule is tight and you are always on the move! So basically I know how it goes and it is always the same kind of routine, get up early, go to the train station in good time so you have time to line up and get your tickets !


Then you get on the train, get picked up by a driver that brings you to the factory, then you inspect it, have lunch, go back to factory discuss prices then rush to the train and go back home. Except today it was different!
As I arrived to the yiwu market to visit the suppliers booth I met the boss of the factory; Michael. This company make ribbons. He seemed different from so many business owners I meet here. He was relaxed, and he had that glimpse in his eyes which tells you that he knew something you didn't, he had discovered something, and I wanted to know what it was, because he beemed of energy and radiated happiness.
After discussing my products a bit we decided to head off to the factory. Usually I am picked up by the factories driver, and the car usually has too many miles on it. So let me tell you I was quite surprised when Michael pressed his key and a yellow Porsche Boxter started blinking.

I was gonna go to a factory in a Porsche ? How much money does this guy make? More importantly how much margin does he have on his products ;) I'm definitely gonna bargain the prices with him when we get there.
Before we would go to the factory Michael said he wanted to pop by his house. It's not often I get invited like that and I thought it would be cool! It turns out the Porsche was not his only car.


The house was also a surprise to me, I never could have guessed the ribbon business was so good.


After sitting and having some water and Michael had collected some documents he needed we continued our ride towards the factory.
When we arrived at the factory on the outside it looked like any other factory.

But on the inside was the next surprise! This is not the standard office for a factory let me tell you. So it turns out he actually designed the whole office in detail by himself ! I think it is really impressive, and he even made a lounge room next to the office.


Later after going through and checking each floor Michael brought me to yet another surprise he had turned the top of the whole building to a garden/ entertainment area!




He quickly checked the nice veggies, and he had pepper, tomatoes, squash, eggplant and more , and he collected two bag full that he gave me.

He told me that in life it's always important to have balance. If you work hard you should also use the same amount of energy on something you like because it will give you extra energy back! I started to understand his secret, I could see it in the contrast of his living style.
Later we finally went for lunch and the time had passed by so fast already having such good conversations the whole day . When we ordered food it was already 3 a clock! As we finally sat down I wanted to find out how Michael had arrived were he is today, had it always been an easy ride? He said he did not have money to go to university and already when he turned 16 he started his first job, he stopped suddenly, and said that his mother taught him one important lesson. It is not okay to just take, even if someone offers you for free, you should earn it yourself and you create your own success. Then he continued, he said when he was 16 he only weighed 50 kilos, but for his job he had to carry loads of up to 80 kilos of corn on his back, and in one day the combined weight would equal
20 Tons! Wow, i realized that behind this success there was much suffering and hard work. He did this job for 2 years and then went in to construction for some years, it was about 15 years later that he had collected enough to invest and start his own, and that was the beginning of the company I today had the pleasure to visit. More importantly I had the pleasure to spend an entire working day happy and really connecting with someone, that is what business is about, so why not learn from Michael and combine business with pleasure and all of a sudden what you think would be just an ordinary day turns out to be inspiring and energizing One !