Girl Scout Lesson In Business

Timothy Ferriss would be very proud of 8-year-old girl scout Wild Freeborn. Ferriss is the author of the book, "The 4-Hour Workweek," a book where he describes how to use technology and outsourcing to automate processes and take advantage of your true strengths.
Freeborn, in her first year as a Girl Scout selling cookies, decided to think outside the box (parden the pun) when it came to the cookies. Instead of spending days walking door-to-door hawking the cookies or standing outside in the cold at local grocery stores, she decided to put a video on YouTube.
In the video she talks about selling enough cookies to send her whole troop to camp. Genius. Then, her web savvy father placed an order form online. It didn't take long for her to reel in more than 700 orders.
Awesome.
Unfortunately, the Girl Scouts don't see it that way. The organization asked Freeborn to take down her web video, saying it was not fair to the other girls and that the cookie program is supposed to teach "young girls to be entrepreneurs." HELLO!
I think Freeborn just gave the first lesson in entrepreneurism.
We can all learn something from Freeborn. We all get caught up in "this is how it's always been done," and "We can't do that." Those words have been spoken in every office around the world.
When that happens, we close the door on any future opportunities and growth.
Even though she was ordered to take her site down, she's playing hardball. She hasn't stopped taking orders online.
She's a true entrepreneur: daring, open to new opportunities and hard headed. She's going places in the future.
--Ron Ameln, SBM