The Business
Dedicated to my Father and Mother,
whose passions are inspiring.
Act I, Scene I
(Frank is leaning over a store counter reading a newspaper as George enters from the “Front Door” on stage right.)
GEORGE:
Hey
FRANK:
Hey
GEORGE:
(pause) So?
FRANK:
Nope not a soul. (pause) How does the sign look?
GEORGE:
It’ll be fine. (muttering) Why do you always have to worry about that stupid sign?
FRANK:
I heard that.
GEORGE:
Could you tell me why is this taking so exceptionally long?
FRANK:
I guess the locals around here don’t know enough about us… yet.
GEORGE:
HOW!? We’ve got plenty of ads in all the newspapers (pointing to the one in Frank’s hand,) and no one has bothered to step foot in this place. Why wont somebody, anybody walk through that door?
FRANK:
(putting the newspaper down) How am I supposed to know its not like I’ve done this before either! Why do you expect me to have all the answers when it comes to what customers think?
GEORGE:
Maybe because you’re the one whose has been designing all the ads and been telling me that they will come for the past two weeks!
FRANK:
Listen I can’t make people show up and buy our stuff …
GEORGE:
I know that but why did you have to convince me that…
FRANK:
I didn’t convince you; I thought you might want to help and then you went and integrated your entire life around it! (muttering) I still don’t see why you quit your day job.
GEORGE:
I heard that! (pause) Well if you don’t want me to help I’ll leave!
FRANK:
I didn’t say that! (pause) I meant you should have given it more thought and not jumped right in to this business without the idea that it could fail miserably.
GEORGE:
So we’re doomed.
FRANK:
No we’re not. Haven’t you heard all the success stories where people try six or seven times to start their own businesses and have trouble getting started, and six of the seven times it does fail at first.
GEORGE:
So you’re saying we are going to fail?
FRANK:
Not if we don’t give up. It will work you just have to be patient.
GEORGE:
I HAVE been patient!
FRANK:
Would you just give it one more week!?
GEORGE:
Why do you keep saying that?!
FRANK:
Because I don’t want to go job hunting any more than you do! And I know that if we could just get one customer we’d have it made from then till (estimating) the sun collapses! That’s why I always worry about that “stupid sign” as you called it. (pause) If it can get one person in here… (proceeds to daydream) we’ll be on easy street for sure.
GEORGE:
How do you know for sure?
FRANK:
Because I wouldn’t have quit my job, emptied MY savings, and taken out an astronomical amount of loans to start this business if I didn’t know that people would buy this without hesitating!
GEORGE:
(disbelief) Sure.
FRANK:
Why would I lie to you about this!?
GEORGE:
You might.
FRANK:
No, I wouldn’t. Besides you’ve seen me play poker, and you know that I’m a bad liar.
GEORGE:
Good point, (pause) so how are you so infinitely sure this’ll work?
FRANK:
Because I do.
GEORGE:
Don’t give me that. Tell me!
FRANK:
I did.
GEORGE:
I want a real answer.
FRANK:
No, you want an answer that will have definite facts and actions and reasons. I can’t give you that.
GEORGE:
So u based this WHOLE THING on a “gut feeling”?!
FRANK:
In so many words… Yep.
GEORGE:
And just why did you drag me along?
FRANK:
Like I said I didn’t drag you along; you basically volunteered. (pause) Okay here’s the best way I can explain it. You’re married right?
GEORGE:
(condescendingly) Frank, you were at the wedding. You were my First Man! Why would you ask me that?!
FRANK:
To prove a point. Now u ask me how did I know? Right?
GEORGE:
Right.
FRANK:
So let me ask you, how did you know Sheila was the one for you?
GEORGE:
Because I’ve loved her from the moment I laid eyes on her.
FRANK:
So you’ve told me before. But WHY?
GEORGE:
Because I just did. (realizing where Frank is going now)
FRANK:
Well you said it yourself.
GEORGE:
But you’re comparing love to this! (becoming frustrated again) Its not applicable!
FRANK:
To me, it is. I love this. I can’t say why, it’s just something I have to do because I love it.
GEORGE:
But there’s got to be more than just that!
FRANK:
Is there more than that with you and Sheila?
GEORGE:
How could there be?
FRANK:
Exactly.
GEORGE:
But…
FRANK:
(cutting him off) No. I know this will work. If it doesn’t you might as well give me a quick death.
GEORGE:
You would die if this didn’t work?!
FRANK:
I don’t know. I might.
GEORGE:
It really means that much to you?
FRANK:
Yes.
(a bell ring as a customer walks into the storefront)
CUSTOMER:
Hi, you wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve driven past this place, just couldn’t seem to see your sign from the road.
(FRANK and GEORGE look at each other.)
FRANK:
Told ya.
BLACKOUT
Act I, Scene II
(Customer has just left)
FRANK:
Wow our first customer! Can you believe it?!!
GEORGE:
I still can’t believe how much they bought.
FRANK:
I told you people need our product!
GEORGE:
I knew that but I didn’t realize that they needed that much!
FRANK:
Do you believe me now?!
GEORGE:
Yes, but…
FRANK:
NO! No “buts.” This is it! We’ve made it George! We finally made it!
GEORGE:
But!
FRANK:
STOP! I don’t want to hear anymore of your pessimism. I’m tired of it.
GEORGE:
And I’m tired of you always interrupting me! Now LET ME SPEAK!
FRANK:
alright, alright. speak, speak.
GEORGE:
Thank you, now we had our first sale right?
FRANK:
Right.
GEORGE:
And it took us two whole weeks of waiting to get just that one right?
FRANK:
What’s your point?
GEORGE:
My point is that we can’t just sit here waiting for our customers to show up.
FRANK:
Well of course George, we’ll be doing things constantly, once we get going. Making everything, updating the packaging, filling out orders, like the one we just got…
GEORGE:
I know that but how are we going to make any headway?
FRANK:
Well that’ll take time but if you think about it (calculating in his head) if we have about twelve or so more customers like that one all of our expenses, give or take a grand or so, will be paid. How does that sound? After that we’re on easy street.
GEORGE:
We just have to stay open long enough to get past twelve customers.
FRANK:
I can’t stand it when you do that!
GEORGE:
Do what?!
FRANK:
Talk about just the negative, like you’re hopeful. It makes me sick. To keep a business on its feet you’ve gotta’ be confident that it will work!
GEORGE:
I am confident! I just would like some security that I won’t have to go job-hunting! How do you know that we’ll be able to make it to the … sixth customer?!
FRANK:
I don’t, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to give up without a fight. Not until the bank forecloses and I don’t have a dollar to my name would I give up and call this a failure! … (pause) Of course Marie would have something to say about that but I’d just tell her we need to buckle up and roll the dice again…. She wouldn’t like that but we’d survive. I don’t know how Sheila would take this but then again I’m not married to her, you are.
GEORGE:
How can you be so… (searching for the word) passionate about something like that? Doesn’t it wear you out?
FRANK:
Well, it hasn’t yet, but I’m sure it will soon enough; (jokingly) which is why it’s probably a good reason to keep you around.
GEORGE:
Oh yeah sure that’s the reason. So what are we supposed to do now?
FRANK:
I would think that we should make sure that we have enough of our stuff in stock for when people start coming here wanting just as much as what that last customer wanted … nearly bought everything we had out here…
GEORGE:
I still don’t see how you can be so sure that people will come.
FRANK:
Word of mouth George; word of mouth. It travels faster than fire in tall grass but hopefully it’ll be positive and not destructive. So let’s get cracking, we want our customers happy! (thinking about what he just said) WOW! Customers I can’t wait to have a whole hoard of them in here buying everything in sight! Just think in a couple years we’ll expand, and get an even bigger clientele; pretty soon our stuff will go nation-wide, then global! OH, I CAN’T WAIT!
GEORGE:
Well after that little speech, you can count me in until the bank forecloses and I don’t have a dollar to my name either!
FRANK:
(laughing) Okay, but lets pray that doesn’t happen. Besides you’ve gotta’ be more patient with the rest of the world. Now hand me that stack of order forms over there…
(Lights start to fade at beginning of the last sentence of the last line till BLACKOUT)
The End
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