A short story about wealth creation

WEALTH IS CREATED WHEN YOU ADD VALUE One summer’s day Mike was looking at the weather forecast and he noticed that tomorrow was going to be scorching hot. He decided to go out and buy a

crate of bottled water and some ice. The next morning Mike awoke early and set off to the local river bank. The river had a path alongside it that many people used daily to take walks. Close

to the path was a car park so he parked his car, took out the water, the bag of ice, a bucket and a folding table and walked to a spot beside the river. He placed the ice in the bucket, the

bottles of water in the ice and the bucket on top of the table. He took out a piece of cardboard and on it he wrote “Ice cold water: £5 per bottle”. The morning was starting to heat up and

many pedestrians passed by the makeshift stall. Some glanced over and continued on their way. Some ignored him completely. Occasionally someone would stop, look at the sign and exclaim “Five

pounds for a bottle of water. What a rip off!” or “Are you kidding! You’ve got a cheek charging a fiver for a bottle of water. I can buy it in my local shop for a pound”. Mike ignored the

comments. They weren’t his ideal customer. Eventually a rather dishevelled man appeared in front of Mike’s stall. He was sweating profusely and looked a little unwell. He said “Here. I have

a fiver. I’ll take one of your bottles”. Mike obliged and the water was exchanged for a scrunched up five pound note. The man opened the bottle immediately and gulped down the entire

contents in one go. Mike asked the man: “Are you okay?” The man replied: “Yes. I am now. I thought I was going to pass out and then I saw your stall. You’re a lifesaver and would have gladly

paid you anything right now for that bottle of water. Five quid is cheap, especially since the nearest shop is a mile away. I don’t think I’d have made it.” In that moment of trade, wealth

was created. * Mike increased his wealth, because he gained more value for the bottle of water than it cost him. * The man also created wealth. To him the value of the bottle of water was

worth more than the £5 in his pocket, otherwise he wouldn’t have handed it over. He also gained something of more value than it cost. You could argue that Mike overcharged for the bottle of

water. But that’s not strictly true. He placed himself in the right place at the right time with the right product. The alternative to Mike’s expensive bottle of water was a long walk to the

nearest shop, so the value in this case was the convenience. Therefore the product seemed cheap to those that really needed it. Mike simply charged what he thought his water was worth at

that place at that particular time. He expected many people to pass by or even comment on how expensive his product was, possibly even being nasty about it. In fact, they simply didn’t see

the value. But there are always a few who needed what he sold and would gladly pay his price. All he needed to do was find his ideal customer, provide value to them and he created wealth.