3. The fascinating thing about EBU models: Volume is vanity, profit is sanity
4. My thoughts on Happiness
Speaker 1:
However, here are some of the things that I've noticed about this marketplace. Number one is that there's no question about it. My conversations with real estate agents across Australia over the last week is telling me deals are harder to put together. Deals are harder to put together and when I'm giving you an analysis of the real estate market, please understand my analysis is not on individual transactions. It's looking at a broad base. So of course you are going to see properties, particularly turnkey properties, that are going to have six people that want that property because they've waited for years to get that perfect property and that property is going to sell at an amazing figure. No question about that. That happens whether there's a marketplace that's had 13 rate rises or a marketplace that has had 10 rate drops. Those properties operate independently of the market. They are properties based on lifestyle, not based on markets. But I'm talking about the nine out of ten other deals that take place and they are definitely getting harder.
Speaker 1:
Buyers do not have fear of missing out in most cases. In a hot market, it's, in all cases, the next thing that's very, very clear. After years of soaring interest of rents, there are signs now that the speed of rents going up has paused. I say paused because it could go off again, and not only has it stopped growing at the speed it was, there are now clear signs that rents in certain markets are starting to come down. The next thing I want to touch on today is I've been having lots of conversations, including with Thanos and Maria, who I spent four or five days with in Crete with my daughter. They were amazing hosts. By the way, it's a great place to visit.
Speaker 1:
The next thing I have noticed in real estate is the money being made in real estate now is so interested that it's so model-driven. So if you turn around and look at the real estate industry, you've got a few models. You've got a model where you've got a principle that all they do is just sell. All they do is just sell. They have what is called a director's effective business unit, so they own the business, but in addition, they've made the decision to be a selling principal. Those businesses, my friends, if done correctly, can take out the most money out of the marketplace in terms of profits for an owner. The reason why is that principal will get paid both for their sales activities but also for being an owner of a business and getting a return on an MYOB or Xero, which I use, you'll notice that you could have a business that's turning $10 to $20 million, but if the principal is not actually adding a lot of value in terms of sales activities, that business is going to leave a very, very I would call it uninspiring profit for the amount of time and energy and risk involved in a business.
Speaker 1:
Alternatively and I gave the example, obviously not naming names because they wouldn't like me to be talking about their businesses, but in pretty much a 48-hour period, I looked at two profit and loss reports a 48 hour period. I looked at two profit and loss reports. One was of the business that was doing close to 20 million dollars and one was of a business doing five million dollars, and what was interesting was that the five million dollar business had a higher profit than the 20 million dollar business and and plagiarizing Manos Volume is vanity, profit is sanity. The only thing you're ever going to bank in real estate is a profit team. Now, I'm not saying money is everything, but it is definitely something. The second thing is you've got to ask yourself what is the purpose of owning a business. Was it because you wanted to have the bragging rights? You wanted to have the bragging rights. Look at me, or was it? You set up a business that was going to allow you to build an elf effortL-F, effortless, lucrative, fun life that gave you a lifestyle that was able to sustain you for a long period of time and to help you focus and enjoy things that you love doing, and that's why I've got to tell you the model is very, very important.
Speaker 1:
Now, if you are the sort of person that does not like being in people's living rooms at 10 o'clock or 8 o'clock at night, if you're not the sort of person that likes having phone calls yes, troy, I am relaxed If you're not the kind of person that likes making phone calls back and forth, putting a deal together on a Thursday night at 10.30 and trying to get something exchanged contracts done unconditionally before the weekend, because you've only got one buyer and that's what you've got to do get that deal done because you don't want to rock up to the auction on Saturday with no one else there. Well, if you're the sort of person that loves that, you do real estate. If you're the person that hates that, but you prefer growing people, you should not be listing property, you should be listing people and, yes, it is a good model. But listen, speak to any principal that is a non-selling principal and they will tell you they made far more money when they were listing and selling. Of course, the problem lies that how long can you do it for? Probably not too different to what a sports player soccer player, footy player, I don't know what have they got? 10, 15 years at high performance stakes, because real estate at high performance will actually drain you Long hours. Lots of uncertainty, chaos. That's the operating pattern that we now live in real estate too. That we now live in real estate to.
Speaker 1:
The last thing I want to talk about is happiness, and for me, happiness has a very useful formula. Just like there are macronutrients in our foods proteins, carbs and fats happiness has got some macronutrients, made up of three, and this comes from the work that I think arthur brooks has co-authored in a book with oprah winfrey, incredible academic, who studied the happiness level of people, the happiness level of people, and there are three things that, if they are in synergy, if they were integrated together, will make you the happiest person on the planet. So let's share that. Number one you need purpose, a reason. Number two you need to have enjoyment. You need to enjoy what you're doing as your vocation, not vacation, your work vocation. You've got to enjoy it. And number three you've got to get satisfaction out of it. You've got to actually be pausing and saying, geez, I feel good, I achieved this. So let me go over that once more time.
Speaker 1:
The three macronutrients to happiness in life is purpose, a reason, a goal, an angle, an unmet need that you're trying to achieve, something that your unique psychological fingerprint, which only you have in the 8 billion people on this planet, is a driver. So that's the first one. The second one satisfaction. You've got to be able to feel really good as you're doing your work, that you're achieving. And look, I do that in all my work, in my one-on-one coaching. I love it when a light bulb moment is established in the conversation between coach and coachee. I love it when I'm on stage and I actually deliver an incredible presentation that not only makes people laugh, not only makes people feel like they want to be better than what they are, but also gives them useful information and a roadmap to circumnavigate the path they're going, because it's a path that I may have walked a few years before them. I get satisfaction out of that. I get satisfaction out of producing video content like this, 100%, I do. I enjoy it. So, team, if things aren't going for you from a mental point of view, just have a good think about what I just said.
Speaker 1:
Purpose, satisfaction, enjoyment. And there's a big difference between enjoyment and pleasure. Pleasure is fleeting. It comes and goes. Of course, the guy or girl who decides they're going to have a line of coke for around 30 seconds, 30 minutes for some people, that's pleasure. Enjoyment is far deeper and it's longer, deeper and it's longer. Pleasure is eating a beautiful Wagyu steak, if you're into meat. Enjoyment is having the steak and eating it with great company. God bless.