B6. Get a Mentor/Friend to discuss

           

Use it to validate the financial model you have made but don’t deviate with their opinions

Whatever you plan to do-discuss with any one whom you can trust.

It will be better if he know about business and give you honest opinion and validate your assumptions.

My father used to say

-If we have no one to discuss and get advise.

Then we shall discuss it with WALL.

I was surprise-how it will benefit when I talk to wall?

How wall will reply me

Isn’t it foolish to talk to a wall?

But now I realize it is correct.

Many times in life and business we end up in situations we can’t tell others not even to closet of friend or wife even.

As sometimes they may make fun or can circulate the information in market knowingly or unknowingly which can affect our market credibility significantly.

Then how to get advice on what I am doing is correct or not

Just TALK TO WALL

When I talk to wall- I repeat myself what I want to say

I try repeat what other person shall argue or say

Most of time I can find my mistake or get a solution, I need

STRANGE But it WORKS and Works Well.

A word of CAUTION

Many times your friend or mentor may give their limited opinions which may give very negative or very positive picture which both may be dangerous.

Some of my projects I discussed with my close friends:

For example I was almost ready to finalize a project in Sentosa. The deal was an amusement park in Sentosa named Asian village which I visited incidentally with a family visiting Singapore. It was a 21 acre land parcel with shopping, dining facilities and amusement rides. The company has invested over $60+ million without a single dollar debt but somehow was not able to manage properly. The whole project was negotiated and agreed upon for a price of few million only.

When I discussed same with my family and friends, they thought I have gone mad and give me so many negative points that I didn’t pursue the project.

Believe it or not, just few years later famous mega project of casino with few billion dollar investments was made on same site.

Similar few incidents happen where the same projects were a multiplier affect of 100x in less than span of 10 years.

That proved that the opportunities I spotted were very good but the mistake I did was I was influenced by negative opinions. Results could have been much better if I would have planned for said contingencies and moved on with projects.

Apply Common sense again here.

            Embrace their positive and negative point and revalidate your biz model.

            See again if you are on right track.