A few months ago, Vimal, an unemployed youth, met me to discuss about his problem. Karthik, his friend, was accompanying Vimal though Karthik did not have any intention of meeting me.

“Even if you write one thousand articles and I read all of them, I don’t think I will ever develop the confidence that I too can become prosperous,” Vimal said and pursed his lips.

I looked through a nearby window. A big tree on the side of the main road caught my attention. I pointed my finger at the tree and asked Vimal, “Where did that big tree come from? Do you have any idea?” Vimal replied with a confident smile, “Why, it grew out of a tiny seed.”

I said, “You know very well that a seed contains a big tree. Someone as intelligent as you knew this fact and his care and attention to a seed made this tree emerge out of the small seed. His knowledge had the power to accomplish something big using something small. Had you given the seed to a child that did not have this knowledge, he or she would have thrown it away and the world would have lost a big tree.” After a moment of silence, Vimal said, “I agree.”

“At any point of time, life offers hundreds of big income opportunities. But all these big opportunities are contained in small events and happenstances. If you acquire this knowledge and become more conscious of what is happening around you, then you can easily make a big income tree emerge out of a small work or project,” I told him. “How do I become conscious of the income opportunities?” Vimal asked me.

“Observation and alertness are the first steps in becoming conscious. I met you just a few minutes ago. But, I am able to think of many Internet projects that you can do. I got those ideas by observing you. Can you make a guess about them?” I asked him. “No, I am clueless,” replied Vimal.

I said, “You have a iPod - a brand of portable media player designed and marketed by Apple Computer – in your pocket. So, I assume you love modern electronic gadgets, music and MP3. Tens of millions of people around the world love them too. The simple fact that you love iPod and use it can create new income opportunities for you.”

“Can you please tell me more about them?” he asked me.

“Apple reports that it has sold tens of millions of iPods in the last few years. Its user base is growing rapidly. It means you can target as many users and offer them a product or a service,” I told him. But Vimal did not receive it well. “If it is such a fertile market, definitely there would already be cut-throat competition. How I am going to compete with them?”

“Competition is a sure sign of a booming market,” I told him and continued, “Create a website that will be useful to the iPod users. There are millions of songs and educational audio files for iPod. Collect information on rare and popular files and review them. Many website operators by mistake allow their users to download copyrighted files and get into trouble. Sometimes the penalty would be severe. Do some research and give your website visitors links to free, legal, downloadable files. Update your website regularly. If you do follow these steps, your website will grow steadily even without much effort on your part to promote it.”

“I don’t have time to learn about web development and marketing. I have a friend who knows a bit of these things. I will request him to help me. I don’t think I will be able to do this project. Anyway there is nothing wrong in giving it a try. Let’s see how things go. But I know I can never become an entrepreneur,” Vimal said before he and his friend took leave.

Just before leaving Karthik tried to ask something but then he changed his mind.
After four months I received an email from Vimal: ‘I tried my best to create a website to make money. It didn’t work. I told you that I would never be able to make money through self-employment. My prediction has turned out to be correct.’

In the same week, I received an email from Karthik: ‘What you told Vimal touched my heart. I gave up all negative thoughts and feelings and worked on creating a website to review MP3 music and audio files for iPod. I concentrated on a niche. Now I have excellent traffic and have already started to make money… ’