Chasing the Sheikh
In my first international business, things were very tough. I had little or no experience in building a company much less in international business.
Our first "real" opportunity to accomplish something of note was when we were secured by a sheikh from the Arab Emirates to try to get him a McDonald's franchise. Getting a McDonald's franchise is not an easy thing to do. To secure one (especially in a country outside the US) one has to put together a business plan including a prospectus of traffic, sales, resources (staff and materials), locations and funding. The sheikh (through his Business Manager) had tried for a long time to get a franchise with little or no success. He approached us through a mutual acquaintance to help him since we had expertise in that area.
We travelled to the Emirates and evaluated all of the necessary areas to create a prospectus and plan for him. This we submitted to McDonalds and over a few weeks were invited to Chicago to discuss the possibility of setting up a franchise for him in the Emirates.
After our meeting with the Mcdonald's people, we all went out to dinner. The sheikh did not speak any English and always wore his traditional dress (long white robes and headress). We ate at a restaurant that was located very high in one of the Chicago skyscrapers which had two high speed elevators.
The meal was quite expensive and the business manager always paid in cash. However, in his part of the world, the "tip" is included with the check. As we were about to get on the elevator, the Maitre d' approached us about not leaving a tip for such a large bill. Distracted, we took our eyes off the sheikh and as luck would have it, the elevator door opened at that momment. The sheikh stepped in, the door closed and he was gone. This sheikh had the odd habit of walking in a straight line without stopping until someone told him to do so. Consequently, it was very probable that as soon as he reached ground level he would be sauntering down the Chicago streets (at 10:00 PM, wearing long robes and headress and carrying several thousand dollatrs in cash on his persone (another habit he had)). Consequenlty the potential for disaster was pretty high.
I told my partner to handle the restaurant and I went after the sheikh. I reached the bottom and asked the incredulous looiking gurads in the lobby if a man wearing long robes and a headdress had been by. All they could do was point out the door. My worst fears realized!
I ran out the door and about a block donw the street saw the sheik with ronbes flying out behind him walking fast in a straight ahead direction. I ran to catch up and happened by a police officer on his beat staring at the sheikh that had gone by and sctratching his head. I said "Please come with me!" and he started running alongside of me. Just as we were about to catch up with him two "gentlemen" stopped him and were in the process of searching him for money (ignoring his protests). Seeing myself and the police officer approaching at a run, they ceased their search and ran. The police officer gave chase and I took the startled and confused sheikh back to the building, meeting up with our party.
We actually managed to secure the franchise for the sheikh and ran it for a time, for him. As far as I know, it is still going strong today.