The BIGG Successs Show
6 Factors to Help You Succeed When Opportunity Knocks
Why being in the right place at the right time isn't enough. George shares a story about missing out on an opportunity, and the lessons he learned from his mistake. Read the show summary here.
Welcome to the Big Success Show. Today we'll talk about six factors that will help you succeed when opportunity knocks. The Big Success Show with George and Mary Lynn. Way back when Mary Lynn. I was a young whipper snapper. That is way back. I was just getting started out in the world of business ownership and that sort of thing. And I had an opportunity to buy a piece of property. This was a building site. And the real estate broker told me that you could get a 12 unit apartment complex on this site. And I did some research and found out I could get 24 units on the site, so I thought. Took it to my architect. He said, "Nope, you can actually get 26." It sounded better all the time. Well the thing is, at that point I knew the property was worth twice what I was paying for it. But another business opportunity came along and I decided to go for that. So I sold my option to the architect at my cost. Within weeks a major building project was announced across the street. And the final result was I could have made way more in that project in months than I made in the business opportunity in years. If only you could go back in time, right? Sometimes you got to get burned to learn, right? Well, and it's funny because I think a lot of times the ones that got away are the most significant losses quote unquote. So today let's talk about the six factors essential to succeed with an opportunity. We'll look at what I learned from missing out on this opportunity. And let's talk about it, Mary Lynn, as the property and the business opportunity. Alright, so first you were in the right place and your research showed you were definitely there. You knew the property was worth more than what you were paying for it. That's right. And the second thing was it was the right time. I didn't know that, but with just a little bit more research I probably could have found that out. You know, I was young, and so I didn't know that, but I did learn a lesson. But it's not good enough to just be in the right place at the right time. I learned that one the hard way. You also have to recognize that you're in the right place at the right time, knowing that it could take a little time to get the payoff. But you had another opportunity, George, which is why you sold. So did that opportunity not prove out? Well, it did, Mary Lynn. In fact, it helped launch a bunch of my other businesses, but I still would have been much better off with the real estate project. But you say you knew the project was worth more than you were paying. So why did you sell it at cost? Oh, I wish I knew the answer to that question. You know, the reality is I was young. The money that I had down on this property to hold it was pretty significant, and I really needed that money for the business opportunity. Bottom line, I was scared. I didn't know what else to do. So I did what I thought was best. So number four, you have to have the knowledge of what to do. This is all about education. When your opportunity presents itself, you don't have time to prepare. You have to do that in anticipation of the opportunity showing itself. And oh, Mary Lynn, I wish I'd have heard that advice years ago. So I could have used that in a number of ways. I had enough education to know how to find the opportunity and how to build upon it, what I lacked were the specifics of what to do with the exact situation. So what did you do to get yourself ready for the next time? Well, I studied more about all the ways that you could make money with a piece of property, not just by developing it and renting it out, but also how to make money just by controlling it and selling it for a profit. Now, I can't tell you how many books I read, how many tapes I listened to. I talked to anybody and everybody who would give me the time of day. And so not only do you have to have the knowledge of what to do, number five, you have to know how to do what you need to do. Number four was about education. Number five, this factor is about experience, how you actually execute and do what needs to be done. Yeah, and from this experience, I started out smaller on my next real estate opportunity. I bought a few properties at a huge discount from a guy who was in financial trouble, helped him out, but I also learned how to go through the process from beginning to end to develop a property. So now, is it important to start out smaller? Not necessarily, Mary Lynn, but I would say this. I think a lot of really successful people start out relatively small. What it did for me, I said earlier that I couldn't afford to lose the money I'd put down on the real estate opportunity. Well, I wanted to be sure that I didn't feel that way again. I wanted to make sure the next deal I did that I could afford to see it through to the end. Boy, your mistake is sure giving us all sorts of wisdom, coming up the final essential factor to succeed with your next big opportunity. Today, I've shared a story from my early days in business ownership. We've talked about how it's important to be at the right place at the right time, but that's not good enough. There are also four other factors we've discussed three so far. Now, we're to number six, you have to have access to the required resources. Who you know plays a huge part, you need to be able to raise the money required, and you also have to be able to find the right people to get the job done. Yeah, and I think Mary Lynn, this was perhaps my biggest stumbling block. I just became overwhelmed at all the work that would need to be done, and I couldn't see the forest for the trees, you know, the proverbial forest for the trees. Couldn't see how big this opportunity was and really how easy it would have been to capitalize on it. But there is some good news in this story. I learned so much that has made me so much from missing out on this particular opportunity. We call that a big lesson. That's exactly right. You can get a written summary of today's show at BigSuccess.com. Let's get our big quote, George. Big quote today comes from Abraham Lincoln, who said, "I will prepare and perhaps someday my opportunity will come." Do your homework now, so an opportunity knocks? Hello. You can answer. Next time we'll talk about effective communication across department lines. And until then, here's to your Big Success. The Big Success Show at B-I-G-G Success.com B-I-G-G-G-G (birds chirping) You