Sometimes you just need to show up!

This happened while I was still in Spain. One Friday evening my partner Mike and I were wandering back to our car, having enjoyed a lovely evening eating Tapas in Javea Old Town. Having a bit of "local knowledge" we had parked on a scrap of industrial wasteland just outside the town, and as we passed some cars parked on the road we heard a kitten crying.

We walked up & down trying to figure out where this pitiful noise was coming from... and by a process of elimination we identified that it was in fact coming from inside the grille of a parked car?

The car was parked on a corner, not ideal when you are trying to stage a rescue mission! But not to be deterred, Mike lay down in the road whilst I stood in front of him in case a car came along (thinking about it now I think I got the worst deal!)

Shining his phone under the car at full stretch he saw two little yellow eyes peering out from inside the engine. After what seemed an eternity of coaxing, this little tiny scrap of thing came down from under the wheel arch and eventually I was able to scoop her up from the other side of the car.

Now we had a dilemma. We were on an industrial estate, there was no evidence of residential housing and no sign of any other cats either.

?We decided we simply couldn't leave her there, so what then felt like the longest 15 minutes journey home ensued. The tiny kitten (6 weeks old at most) was not happy and wanted to be on my lap... but of course I was driving so she howled, ALOT!

?I hadn't really thought the plan through, other than getting her somewhere safe.

?We arrived back at the house, popped her down and she howled & howled (it was going to be a long night). However, we soon realised she needed to go the toilet and we had nowhere for her to go. Bless her heart, she made her way to the corner of the room and did her business there. So there I am making a little tray out of a roasting dish and some torn up paper while Mike fashioned an activity centre from shoelaces, tin foil and lolly sticks.

We decided the best option was to let her sleep with me for the night. So having kicked Mike into the guest room we settled down. She was an absolute sweetheart, snuggled into me under my chin and pretty much slept through until the morning.

In the morning we realised we had a BIG problem. We were due to leave Spain on in 48 hours and there was NO WAY we would do a two day drive with a tiny kitten in the car - plus we had AirBnB's booked and a ferry journey.

?So we took her to the vet where the vet advised us she wasn't chipped and had probably been abandoned... then tried to get us to pay her first year vet bills (at a reduced price of course). We politely declined paying €250 saying we would try and find her a home.

As we started to walk back to the car with "Lilibet" in a shoe basket I hit upon a plan. "Let's go for a beer" I said, spotting the town square with 4 cafes dotted around it. Mike never says no to a beer but I had a cunning plan. I decided I would not leave the square until I found a home for the kitten.

?The town square is a bit of a meeting place, so while Mike settled at the table and got the drinks I took Lily out of the basket and headed straight to the nearest table where a lovely German couple were sitting. Sadly they were only on holiday and couldn't help.

The next table was occupied by two very elderly ladies having a good old natter. Cat in hand I threw myself on their mercy telling them the whole story of how we had found Lilibet inside the car engine, and how we only had two days to re-home her.Quick as a flash one lady rang "Marion" her friend who was mad about cats. But as soon as my hopes were up they were dashed as Marion had just rescued a cat who was far from friendly, so it was a reluctant No.

The third table was more promising. They called me over, asked to give her a cuddle but I was then told that they already rescued two cats and simply couldn't take a third. Strike Three.

As I ventured back to our table I noticed two new people had sat down and as I walked towards them the lady just said: "I'll take her...?" WE HAD LITERALLY STUMBLED ACROSS THE MOTHER THERESA OF CATS!!!?A lovely Dutch lady called Heske with her husband who were renovating a house just 20 minutes away. She then proceeded to show us pictures of their previous visit where she had driven home with 4 homeless cats.

?We pulled up our chairs, sat and had lunch with them, and after a couple of very enjoyable hours they came back to ours to pick up the bits we had for Lily and off they went.

And of course there is a business lesson:

SOMETIMES YOU NEED TO SHOW UP

I could have done the following to find Lily a home:

• Posted on local facebook pages
• Put posters up where she was found.
• Contacted rescue centres to see if they had anyone on their list looking for a kitten.

?All sensible things. But they would have all taken too much time to yield a result.

Instead, I went to where my "ideal customer" hangs out - the Town Square.

I had my "sales pitch" ready ... abandoned kitten in hand ... and I was determined to make the sale.

I showed up ... and met someone who needed exactly what I had.

Sometimes it is so easy to make sales & marketing too complicated and too clever - and hide behind our screens also - when in fact the simplest ways are often the best.

Know your audience, find out where they are congregating, and take your product to them and be ready to answer all their questions - what could be simpler than that?