So the mailing failed. Something's wrong. Disappointed?

You bet.

Gonna quit?

Too early to tell. Don't know yet what went wrong.

What are you going to do now?

First, I'm going to see if I can figure out why I didn't get it right the first time. Then I'm going to see what kind of choices I can create.

["From the best-selling book, Strategy of the Dolphin®: Scoring a Win in a Chaotic World, by Dudley Lynch and Paul L. Kordis. Used by permission of Brain Technologies Corporation, all rights reserved."]

It really looks like you messed up good.

It does, doesn't it.

Bet all those people who told you this program'll go great guns in the marketplace were just pulling your leg?

That has to be a possibility.

You didn't do any test marketing, did you?

Nope.

That's pretty dumb, isn't it?

Sure looks like you have a point.

You could have at least tried a small mailing first?

Could have. Appreciate the suggestion. I'll probably do that the next time.

You're terribly under-capitalized, you know?

Tell me about it.

Really in a hole now, aren't you?

For sure, something's got to give.

Almost lost your shirt. Now you're going to lose your house and probably your wife and kids, eh?

Oh, probably not.

Not much of a way to start a promising business, is it?

It certainly gives one pause.

I bet it's the mailing house's fault. They sold you a bad list.

The list looked good to me, but it's something I'm going to take another look at.

You're probably awfully hacked at that brochure designer.

I liked the brochure. But since something's wrong, I'll look at that, too.

You don't have prayer. How about I buy your program - pay you a couple of thousand dollars - and you can at least pay of some of your debts?

Thanks, but it's a little early to think about bailing out.

Doesn't look to me like you've got much choice.

I appreciate that it might look that way.

But be honest, just what choice you got?

Well, I'm not sure this is going to mean anything to you, but I've got a choice of giving up a lot and hunkering down or giving up a little and pushing the envelope. Maybe you could say I've got a choice of staying a caterpillar or trying it as a butterfly.

I don't get it?

It's not important.

But what's a butterfly got to do with it?

Nothing really. It's just a metaphor.

Metaphor?

Yeah, a metaphor to remind me that inside every butterfly there's a caterpillar that succeeded in letting go.

Butterflies? Caterpillars? You sound to me like you are one more confused fellow.

How right you are! That's where I'm at right now - the confusion part of change and discovery process.

Then what?

We'll see in the next chapter.