A good friend of mine owns around 50 houses and apartments, and does 95% of the work himself. He is super smart and impressive, however he is his own limiting factor in his growth. He literally can’t keep up with the work and refuses good deals. Learning to lead others effectively is key to growth in real estate investing and it’s a hurdle many unintentionally self limit their growth.
Many people self running a real estate business are interested in a sustainable income, not necessarily growth.
At 50 properties, your friend probably could start leveraging a team and either get more properties and more income or simply get more time for himself and still have enough income. But, a lot of people will have topped out at 10 or so properties, if you're paying other people to do the work there, you may not be making enough income to grow your assets.
This is not just an issue in real-estate investing. This sounds like it is a general principle that can be applied across-the-board. A lot of small business owners/franchisees fail because they don’t know how to create processes and delegate. A good book on this is The E-myth Revisted.
> Learning to lead others effectively is key to growth
My personal pet-peeve: In 99.9% of cases, when people talk about "leading" in the business context, what they really mean is just "managing". Let's not infest our language with corporate newspeak.
Leadership is about making people genuinely want to do things. Jesus, Napoleon, Lenin, Steve Jobs - they were leaders. Managing, on the other hand, is about handling employees, who are doing what you tell them to do only because you pay them.
No, they were managers. They just understood that good management is being a leader. Trying to micromanage and compel people to do what you want is inefficient compared to inspiring people to want the same things as you, and helping them coach them so they grow into more effective, productive versions of themselves.
> Trying to micromanage and compel people to do what you want is inefficient compared to inspiring people to want the same things as you,
I generally agree, but I have never ever seen that in a business world. What the business owner wants - maximum profit - is in a direct conflict with employee wants (maximum salary for an easy and/or fullfilling job), so I can't see them ever wanting the same thing.
In general, people are willing to forgo their immediate interest (high pay, interesting tasks) only if they believe they're doing something for a greater good, and that does not happen in companies. Even if you're crunching on some innovative product that will make the world better (which is the claim that is often used to motivate people in startups), the main reason for the crunch is that you're trying to beat X other companies that are also working on the same innovation. So, even in such case, you're mostly killing yourself to make the owners rich, as the world will be a better place regardless of whether it's your company or your competitor that manages to win the race to the market.
The way to achieve that, in my opinion, is to try to align the person's career objectives with the company's objectives. Find out what motivates them, money, recognition, etc and illustrate how they can achieve those goals by achieving the company's goals. Then people motivate themselves.
The other part is being a good coach, which is not about giving advice, it's about helping someone take responsibility for their tasks and helping them learn how to improve.
That's just my opinion, and I'm not a manager so maybe I have no idea what I'm talking about.
I agree. I like BMWs for what they are but I wouldn’t dismiss Cadillac’s current offerings without taking a real look at them. And really who couldn’t get excited about the CTS-V?
Porsche is at least offering something unique in their rear engine models. But at the same time they aren’t really practical for day to day use. Noisy, cramped, very low to the ground (so visibility is not their forte). And even more expensive to maintain.
I have driven a few. For what I need my car for, I prefer my BMW 535. I don’t race. 99% of my driving is 65 mph or less. I also have a wife and a kid, so a de-facto 2-seater is out of the question even if I did love it.
You’re both right. Industrial electric motors run 24/7/365 for decades in all sorts of harsh conditions. The motors should not be an issue.
On the flip side these cars are filled with electronics. Just look at the dash... I don’t trust those to last more than the warranty period. However, I feel the same about most modern cars, especially luxury cars.
Yea I would say culture is the bigger influence here. Living in Asia felt like traveling to another planet in a lot of ways.
Still, getting to know “the other” and understanding they feel fear and love and have hopes and dreams just like me is incredibly humanizing, whether it’s the doped up homeless guy in your area, the Bernie lover in the office, your neighbor with an NRA bumper sticker, or a successful business owner. Learn to speak their language and come from curiosity and contribution and you’ll have friends and influence across the spectrum.
When I installed smart stuff in my home I kept the originals. When I sold earlier this year I switched everything back out before I listed it. It was worth the hassle to me. No one pays extra because the Nest thermostat is installed vs $30 basic. And I’m going to want to install another Nest in the next home so...
I haven’t installed any smart outlets but I would consider doing the same. Most of these jobs are super easy, and if you can’t handle it a $20/hr handyman certainly can.
Looks like someone lost their "religion" because they didn't find a "cure". That doesn't mean a fast or particular supplements don't help any specific use cases.
Local business owners are hounded by marketing companies everyday promising the moon. Marketing seems like the great Panacea, but no one is reminding them that going over the top with current customers could potentially create a higher return.
$250/mo on Yelp ads gets a few dozen eyeballs on the business.
$250 in free product every month to regular customers creates Fanatics who tell ever, and could possibly get just as many of their peers eyeballs with a FB/IG post about their experience.
A lot of people forget the basics because it's not being sold.
Sure, but still, I don't see why you would need to look at asymptotes and convergence. It's enough to look at individual customers and ask the baker if he thinks it's easier to attract a new client than to stop an existing one from leaving.
Please do yourself a favor and invest in other things too. I'm also a bitcoin believer, but it's a relatively small part of my holdings, which are mostly in real estate.
On coffee methods the standard is 1 gram coffee to 17 grams water, with some flexibility for brew strength preference.
The only places that use tradional ratios are old school Italian influenced shops, which are fewer and farther between.
http://www.scaa.org/PDF/resources/golden-cup-standard.pdf