Half full or half empty is up to you

January 6, 2014 by ·

You’ve all heard the “glass half full or half empty” saying. Today I talked to one of my clients in Calgary Alberta who’s business I’ve been consulting for only a few months. In this short time he’s managed to radically improve his client base, customer satisfaction and just as importantly, his financial strength.

I just got off the phone with my client and afterwards realized that much of my work involves presenting a full picture, and pointing out the good and bad. Whatever the client seems fixated on, is what I gear up to fix. I love hearing good things from my clients, so this was a good day for me.

A problem might take a lifetime to solve, but a perspective can be changed in seconds. – Asif Zamir

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Homework never ends (for successful people)

May 3, 2013 by ·

If you want to do really well, read books. Don’t start with online articles, don’t start with podcasts, don’t start with seminars or classes. Start with books. Go to your local library and read at least 10 books on a subject.

Business, investing, real estate, the film industry, the book industry.

When I was in high school I thought “one day I won’t have homework anymore.” Actually that’s not true. The homework never ends. There is always more room for improvement, for learning new skills, for acquiring knowledge. But more importantly than that, is this – why should you have to do things “hit or miss” style when you can learn from someone who already succeeded?

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Think

April 9, 2013 by ·

There are these 2 restaurants almost side by side in the same plaza. I don’t know how that happened, usually landlords of commercial real estate don’t allow that to happen for obvious reasons.

They both have the same theme, same food. Two different atmospheres though, one is a grungy dark bar type style and the other is a bright family friendly style.

One has no clear hours posted, and is usually out of food (the chef is usually at the bar). The other has hours and website clearly posted, menu clearly posted and (expensive) prices clearly posted.

Of course the second one, the family friendly one with great customer service is doing very well, they can barely keep up, and the business is expanding. The first one that never seems to have FOOD to sell…they aren’t doing so well.

There are plenty of customers on planet earth…what 7 billion? So please spend some time thinking about your business and what you can do to make it better. – Asif Zamir

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Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank

March 12, 2013 by ·

Since around 1998 I’ve watched a smart engineer in Santa Rosa California make millions of dollars in profit every year, and then spend it all foolishly. He can build just about anything mechanical, get it manufactured, sell tens of thousands of them at a high profit.

But he can’t manage the money or the business end of things, and so whatever he makes he loses or mismanages. I’m talking about millions of dollars every year for over 10 years. He’s not better off today than he was 10 years ago.

This is the story of most business owners. Just because you are a great baker doesn’t mean you can own your own bakery, just because you are an amazing handyman doesn’t mean you can run your own real estate business.

There are two fantastic business reality shows – Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank. If you are a business owner you need to watch every episode. There are business owners who pitch great products but they can’t be trusted to execute the business plan because they suck at business, and there are others with great business skills and poor products – the people who have good business skills and poor products usually do better than the person who has a great product and poor business skills.

Ideally you’ll have both a great product and good business skills.

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