There is this guy who sells caramel popcorn by the stage, I found it very interesting because caramel popcorn is mostly found in poshy places like malls or generally in a more uptown market. I approached him making enquiries on the prices just having a little chit chat about why there were no matatus, fare hikes, weird January rains etc. Then he offered to let me taste so that I can decide whether to buy or not but he was as sure as hell that I wouldn’t resist the sweetness of the popcorn and I would part with a fifty bob as that is how he priced the popcorn. For sure the popcorn tasted really good even though I knew I could make better my chefy attitude couldn’t allow me to believe he would do it better than I would. Inquisitive me immediately asked him, so what is this brown stuff, what did you put in the pan to make the popcorn turn brown, which sugar did you use, he smiled and told me “that’s my business secret” and I smiled and told him that’s okay I understand but deep down I knew for sure I wanted to know how he made his version of caramel popcorn …
I realized this guy in his small business set up, understood the meaning of trade secrets, like how one ought to protect their trade and not give it out freely to people who ask for it even when it’s clear they shouldn’t . I’m not sure had I offered him money to tell me what it was he used he would tell me, it’s abit of a Grey area maybe he would or not or it would mostly depend on how much is offered.
Apart from monetary and machinery capital, trade secrets should follow right next, because a trade secret is what makes a business exist and stay relevant . No matter how small or how irrelevant, one needs to protect them, hence alot of call for patenting, copyright etc.
In my view I would say, protect whatever that makes your business relevant, it could be a skill, an art, a recipe, a blueprint, a font, basically anything and everything that makes your business stay relevant and don’t be too quick to pass it on because you could be selling your business/enterprise for free without your knowledge.
Let people call you mean, selfish and all other names out there for refusal to dish out your secret and they will appreciate what amount of work goes into researching and finding that which makes a business stand.
As I strategically pose at the stage every day pretending to be waiting for my ride, I cant help but try and peep at what my caramel guy puts into the corn but I have never been able to see past the opaque container next to the popcorn machine, I think should there be an impromptu kanjo rainsack, he would only pick that little container, run away and leave the entire pop corn machine because this guy would do anything under the sun to protect his trade secret which misterously happens to be in that opaque container.
sensesNhumor 