Real estate entrepreneur Nick Jekogian's thoughts and adventures in real estate, customer service, angel investing, endurance sports, and making things happen.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Work harder than the other guy!
"I could work harder than everyone." - Jerry Rice
We continued to discuss some of his other accomplishments and he kept talking about Dancing with the Stars. I didn't know it at the time but he was once of the finalists in the Dancing with the Stars competition. He talked about the challenge of learning something completely new to him and how much work he needed to put into it to accomplish it. He even went so far as to say that his hardest workdays ever where while practicing for Dancing with the Stars.
Here is a guy who by anyone’s definition has "Made It" yet he was putting in 15 hours a day learning how to dance. For what? To prove to himself that he could be better than the next guy. It’s that simple.
Another thing that struck me in this conversation was his sleeping habits. He would sleep just before the games on Sunday instead of on Saturday nights. On Saturday nights he would mentally play the game in his head. Every play over and over again. He would be up all night mentally practicing the game so that by game time it was already won.
"We had other teams beat in warm-up because we were prepared." - Jerry Rice
We don't play football so how can we use this story? If we want to be the best players in whatever we do, leasing, acquisitions, sales, management or even running an organization then we need to be constantly practicing for the big game. In our business the big game is every time a resident is on the phone with a problem, a seller needs a comparable offer, or a lender is asking for more detail on a deal. It takes knowledge to handle these game winning issues and gathering knowledge is our mandatory practice sessions.
We always have the opportunity to be better and can never stop practicing.
Good luck in the big game. And remember its you that makes it happen.
-Nick
Monday, April 21, 2008
IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Built to Serve
CARRYOUT FOR LEADERS
** Surrender your ego. Surround yourself with talented people, and listen to what they have to say.
**Preserver the culture. The leader is the primary guardian of the culture.
**Remain faithful to the values. Do not compromise values, even when remaining faithful means doing things differently from the way everyone else does them.
**Unleash the imagination. Serve your team members, and they will give you their best.
**Never stop talking about the purpose. Make certain all teams members connect what they do the higher purpose of the organization.
**Accept Responsibility. Leaders can delegate authority to their team members, but they can never delegate responsibility to the team members.
**No job is unimportant. Organizations are interdependent, and all team members must be working together to realize the potential of the team.
**Do not compromise integrity. Absolute truth is the best dividend and company can pay its shareholders.
**Execute as if your life depended on it. The current business environment requires a sense of urgency like never before.
**Have Fun. Higher productivity and greater guest satisfaction are the result of team members seeing their work as ministry.
The Go-Giver
THE LAW OF VALUE
Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.
THE LAW OF COMPENSATION
Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.
THE LAW OF INFLUENCE
Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people's interests first.
THE LAW OF AUTHENTICITY
The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.
THE LAW OF RECEPTION
The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Its a big world.
At daybreak I counted more than 50 cranes in the air (from just one window view). I wondered around the construction site of what is today the Worlds tallest building (Burj Dubai). The development going on here dwarfs that of any developing city I have every seen. All this in a city that hardly existing 10 years ago.
What we need to keep in perspective is that its a big world out there and the US is no longer the power that it once was. This is good and bad. Good for us because with the US in finacial straits right now the world economy seems to be holding its own if not continuing to expand nicely. The bad side is that the US is being bailed out by foreign investors that at the end of the day are buying big pieces of US industries on the cheap.
As NWJ Cos. continues to grow we are will have to look at the forces outside of our US borders as both positive and negative influences on our business.
"If you take risks, you may still fail. But if you do not take risks, you will surely fail. The greatest risk of all is to do nothing." - Robert C. Goizueta (1931-1997), former CEO, Coca-Cola
The Best is yet to come and we have a lot of work ahead of us.
Let's Make It Happen
Nickolas W Jekogian
NWJ Companies
917 763 3500
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Nickolas W. Jekogian
917 763 3500
Jekogian@NWJcompanies.com
Monday, April 7, 2008
When blood is running in the streets, the way to make money is to buy assets.
These are signs of our times. One month last year Fortune, Forbes and Business Week all ran cover page articles on how to invest in real estate. Less than 6 months later the market began to fall. Real Estate investing is not a follow the leader business, you have to invest when others are bailing out. Zell, Roth, LeFrak, Ross and many other real estate billionaire made almost all their wealth by buying in down markets. Now is our chance to do the same.
Many people are being forced to sell and we have positioned ourselves as the perfect buyer in these markets. Remember our idea of a good deal is not based on being able to flip in 6 months for a decent profit. We invest for the long term and we can wait out the slow periods.
Our strategy is to invest heavily when the market is low and hold long term. When the tide comes back our properties increase in value like all the others but our basis in the assets is substantially lower than what others will be paying.
This same model worked well for us in the early 90s and was responsible for more than half the growth in our. Corporate net worth. The same dynamics are out there again today and now is the time to execute.
In just a few years we will be a $1 Billion company and when the market kicks back up those assets will allow us to easily and quickly continue our growth.
Remember the Best is Yet to Come, but only you can Make It Happen.
Nickolas W Jekogian
NWJ Companies
917 763 3500
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