Blue Elevator Blog

Business Alchemy

If you’re here, chances are you came from the article My Quest – The Secret to Business Success .  If you haven’t read this article, I invite you to read it first – then return and follow-up with this read.

Have you ever wondered if there was a secret to business success?  Is there something key that every successful business knows or does?

Have you ever wondered why some businesses just take off?  And others just kind of limp along?

Additionally, is there a magic bullet?  Or, can we uncover the hidden secret or magic potion behind business success?

Is there something known as business alchemy?

What Is Alchemy, Anyway?

Back in medieval times, protoscientists of the day had a similar question.  Their quest was similar.  They were pursuing chrysopoeia, metamorphosis, and transmutation.  What?!

What were these early scientists trying to do?  They were trying to find a way to change lead into gold.

Gold was, well – gold.  It was super valuable.  Lead is (and was) similarly heavy and malleable, but not valuable at all.  So, these gurus of their day were trying to transform something low in value into something super valuable.

And, for the record, they were never successful.

Modern Day Alchemists

Today, start-up entrepreneurs and seasoned C-level executives are trying to turn their ideas into gold.  Additionally, it seems everyone is trying to get their “business to the next level™.”

And, there are success stories.  There is Warren Buffet of Berkshire Hathaway.  There’s also Bill Gates of Microsoft and Steve Jobs of Apple.  And, people like Richard Branson of Virgin fame.  Another rags to riches story is Mark Cuban.  And, the list goes on.

Why did these few make it big?  And, why are there 1,000 mediocre businesses for every shining star?

Fast Forward To Today

Now, before I show you the secret handshake, as it were, I want to fast-forward hundreds of years.  I want to take you from the 3rd or 4th century to the 20th century.

Not too many years ago, modern scientists decided to pick up where their predecessors left off – that is, to try and turn lead into gold.  But in this case, they tried to turn bismuth into gold.  Bismuth is another base metal that is similar to lead.

And, guess what?  They were successful.  You can even read about it in the January 2014 Scientific American Publication.  Using a nuclear particle accelerator, scientists “boosted beams of carbon and neon nuclei to nearly light speed” and slammed them into foils of bismuth.  Finally, they were able to create some gold by shaving off neutrons from bismuth atoms.

But, there’s a catch.  Notice the word ‘some’ gold.  The amount of gold they produced was so small that it was below the level of detection.

And to quote one of the researchers, “It would cost more than one quadrillion dollars per ounce to produce gold by this experiment,” said Glenn Seaborg.

So, we still can’t change lead into gold.

So, What’s The Point?

After hundreds of years, no one has truly been successful changing lead into gold.  And the idea of alchemy still eludes scientists.

So, I will re-ask the question: Is there something known as business alchemy?  Can you transform an ordinary business into one worth its weight in gold?

If you want the answer to that question, stay tuned or ask for the next article in this series.  Contact us – we’d love to hear from you.