Choosing the Right Moment to Make the Jump
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This article is by my business partner, @AnythingIan.
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I was having a conversation over dinner with one of my good friends the other night. He was telling me about his ex co-worker Daniel’s success in the real estate market.
He’d made a ton of money in the past few months.
Here is the business model (it’s genius):
It’s common for realtors who’ve made a sale to not see their commission for up to 60 days.
Daniel solved this problem for them by starting a business that advances commissions. For the service, he tacks on a big margin for himself.
He started with $5K in capital. Within three months he’s already generated $400,000K in receivables.
He’d practically made a fortune overnight!
My friend was astonished by Daniel’s success.
I wasn’t so surprised.
* * *
I happen to know a few things about Daniel:
He’s been in the real estate game for over 5 years
By trade, he is an accountant
He quit his day job 3 years ago to focus 100% on real estate
My friend knows this about Daniel too, but he’s focused on moments rather than trajectories of success.
Did Daniel stumble upon a gold mine out of the blue? No.
Daniel has been spending his best creative hours each and every week for 5 years working to understand a market and identify opportunities.
* * *
I met Daniel once over lunch when we both still had corporate gigs. He was just getting started in real estate. I was just getting started too.
Daniel was sharp. He used to make investments based on data he mined from big box retailier’s investments strategies. But as it turns out Daniel’s big win wasn’t his first idea– buying and renting properties.
It isn’t for most of us.
Daniel planted the seed for his first big win way back in 2006– that’s when he went in on his real estate investment.
He watered that seed with hard work. He read books, attended seminars, talked endlessly about his craft, asked questions– and maybe most importantly– quit his job and took the ‘big risk’ to spend his best energy on his craft.
I know, at least in some way, my friend wants to experience similar kinds of successes.
Most of us do.
There is no question he’s capable of it. He’s one of the smartest guys I know.
My friend’s problem is he’s still working at the same job Daniel left 3 years ago to start his real estate business. He’s still waiting for the right moment to leave that will lead to the moment of success that he truly desires.
By searching for the right moments, he’s looking for the “perfect storm” of events that would create a similar watershed in his life.
But if he could see Daniel’s success as a trajectory he might:
Choose anything.
Get going.
Or as Sebastian Marshall summed up Dalio, “Don’t postpone a decision unless you stand to make it better by an amount larger than the cost of the delay.”
-Ian
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