吸取一個(gè)教訓(xùn)，贏得一份禮物

LEARN A LESSON, FIND THE GIFT

Tom Peterson worked for many years to build a solid business selling television sets, stereo systems, and home appliances. He gave people good value, a full satisfaction guarantee, and friendly service. With the help of his wife Gloria, who handled the books, Tom developed an excellent reputation. He was proud of his high percentage of repeat customers.

About five years ago, Tom was approached by the owners of a competing company. They wanted him to buy them out. The price was very attractive. Everything looked good. Before making his final decision Tom asked Gloria what she thought about the purchase. She told him that even though the numbers looked good it didn’t feel right to her. However, Tom was so self-confident and so convinced that this was a rare opportunity, he went ahead and made the purchase. Within months he discovered that he had made a big mistake. He had paid too much for a dying company. He tried as hard as he could to make it work out, but he couldn’t turn things around. He was forced into bankruptcy. He was about to lose everything, including his original business.

Tom was embarrassed, but he is a survivor. He looked at his situation. He decided to openly admit his mistake and, rather than getting bogged down in lawsuits, he would focus his energies on saving and rebuilding his original business. He saw also that he had made a mistake by not listening to his wife, and that he needed to learn from this experience. He dealt with the crisis in a way that delighted many people and increased their respect for him. Old customers flocked into his store. He and Gloria adapted to changes in retailing and have built an even better business than before.

In the business world, it is natural for businessmen to gain and lose. Only those who regard their mistakes as gifts and learn from them attract endless profits.

【助讀詞匯】

◇home appliance n. 家電

◇guarantee n. 擔(dān)保，保證書

◇reputation n. 名譽(yù)，名聲

◇be bogged down in sth 陷入

◇retailing n. 零售業(yè)

【參考譯文】

吸取一個(gè)教訓(xùn)，贏得一份禮物

湯姆·彼特森辛勞了很多年才建立起自己牢固的公司，銷售電視機(jī)、立體聲裝置和其他家電。他向人們提供高質(zhì)量的產(chǎn)品、包滿意的售后保障和友好的服務(wù)。他妻子歌利亞管理賬務(wù)，在她的幫助下，湯姆建立起了良好的聲譽(yù)。他為擁有高比例的回頭客感到自豪。

5年前，與湯姆競(jìng)爭(zhēng)的一家股東與湯姆進(jìn)行了接洽，并希望他能全部買下他們公司的股份。價(jià)格很誘人。一切都很合適。在做最后決定前，他問(wèn)歌利亞對(duì)這筆買賣的看法。她說(shuō)雖然價(jià)錢很公道，但是老覺(jué)得有什么地方不對(duì)勁。盡管如此，湯姆過(guò)于自信，深信這是個(gè)難得的機(jī)遇，所以他出手買下了那家公司。幾個(gè)月后他發(fā)現(xiàn)自己犯了個(gè)大錯(cuò)。他在一個(gè)奄奄一息的公司身上花費(fèi)了太多的錢。他竭盡全力希望能力挽狂瀾，但是沒(méi)能扭轉(zhuǎn)局面。他被迫申請(qǐng)破產(chǎn)。他就要失去一切了，包括原來(lái)的公司。

湯姆窘迫不已，但是他熬了過(guò)來(lái)。他分析自己的處境，并決定公開(kāi)承認(rèn)自己所犯的錯(cuò)誤，而不是陷入沒(méi)完沒(méi)了的訴訟中，他集中精力對(duì)原來(lái)的公司進(jìn)行挽救和重建。他也認(rèn)識(shí)到?jīng)]聽(tīng)妻子的忠告也是一大失誤，他得從中吸取教訓(xùn)。他處理這次危機(jī)的方式得到了人們的認(rèn)同，也贏得了更多的尊敬。老顧客又涌進(jìn)了他的店鋪。他和歌利亞適應(yīng)了零售業(yè)里的變化，生意做得以前還要紅火。

商場(chǎng)上，勝敗乃商家常事。只有把錯(cuò)誤看做是禮物并從中吸取教訓(xùn)的人能贏得源源不斷的收益。

【人生啟迪】

不管做什么事情，都會(huì)有風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，都有犯錯(cuò)的可能。對(duì)待錯(cuò)誤的態(tài)度決定你的最終成敗。犯了錯(cuò)誤因?yàn)榕聛G面子而不愿承認(rèn)，一輩子都會(huì)活在這個(gè)錯(cuò)誤的陰影中。相反，如果從錯(cuò)誤中吸取教訓(xùn)，頑強(qiáng)地重新站起來(lái)，你就又邁上了踏向成功的征程。