Thread: Successful parties:

and please, be specific

Divide your sales forecast by a factor 2, multiply your expenditure budget with a factor 1,5. If your project still looks financially interesting after doing this, then go ahead and start right away without procrastination and overanalysis.
If not, move on to the next project.

What?
Like tell my past self that Google's IPO at $85 wasn't overpriced?

I don't spend a lot of time looking back.
Too many opps ahead of me.

Venturer, thanks for the response!

Originally Posted by kimberland

What?
Like tell my past self that Google's IPO at $85 wasn't overpriced?

I don't spend a lot of time looking back.
Too many opps ahead of me.

So you've never made a mistake? I'm all for the mindset of challenge and/or issue= opportunity but there has to be something there.

Originally Posted by Dan-O

I'm spending more & more time on this forum so if this has already been done, please forgive me


To those who are truly successful:

Given the knowledge you have at this point in your success, if you created a time machine and could go back and give yourself advice when you were starting out, what would it be? What would you tell unsuccessful self to avoid? What would you have told your unsuccessful self to do differently?

Skip college.
Quit chasing money, chase the needs of others instead.
Listen to your customer's problems/complaints; they are opportunities.

Also, you might want to change the title of the thread ... I didn't look at it because I judged it to be about holding successful parties and events.

Originally Posted by PhxMJ

Also, you might want to change the title of the thread ... I didn't look at it because I judged it to be about holding successful parties and events.

I thought the same thing....

I thot the same thing as well! But I opened it, MJ!!

Specifically,
I would've found as many roommates as possible, and let them "buy" my first house for me. With the rent I saved, I would invest in my first little MFH.

I would've gotten a job in an HR department at 18 and learned HR software inside and out (simply because that is the product on which I consult on today, but I started 15 years later) and within 3-5 years be making $15-20K/mo more than my expenses (which are nearly nothing - see above). With this, I would invest in at least 10 units/year for the next 10 years, eventually trading up to apartments and/or commercial properties and then relax.

Generally, I would advise my younger self to:

• Live as cheaply as possible (see above)
• Never finance a depreciable (car, dinner, hotel, vacation, etc)
• Don't hire friends. They're much harder to direct and MUCH harder to fire. (I know there are those who disagree with this point. But this situation cost us thousands because we continued to cut them slack FAR longer than we would have other employees.)
• Always have a Plan B - for suppliers, shippers, workers, etc, etc
• Work harder at networking. People do business with those they know, like and trust!

I have a tons more. But these are the ones that leap to the front of my mind of things I would change if I could go back in time.

Yeah, I was being flippant
but I do get weary of folks throwing out these general questions
(your biggest lessons, your top mistakes, etc)
and not answering them themselves.

Oh yes, one more thing . . .

I would NOT buy stocks on margin!

Plan.
I mean REALLY Plan. (See Russ's post)
Then make plan B,
and C
and D!

Get Started Sooner


Really - - - that is it.

It is the journey that makes it worthwhile. I wouldn't do anything to change the journey because that is where the growth, the lessons, and the fun (heartache too) happens.

All the mess ups and hard times and failures and regrets brought us to where we are today. Where we are today will lead us to our tomorrow. I wouldn't have it any other way. While the parent in all of us would like to believe that other's can and will learn from our experience and our mistakes - - I just don't think it is so.

You have to fumble yourself before you will succeed.
You have to make your own mistakes before you will really learn the lesson.

Don't get me wrong - - I'm not suggesting one jumps in with no capacity for learning from others... I'm just saying that nothing teaches like your own experience does.

Originally Posted by AroundTheWorld

You have to fumble yourself before you will succeed.
You have to make your own mistakes before you will really learn the lesson.

Don't get me wrong - - I'm not suggesting one jumps in with no capacity for learning from others... I'm just saying that nothing teaches like your own experience does.

That is worth reading again, and again, and again. Great insight, Sonya. ++

Thanks for the responses! There's a lot of good info here. Kimber, I can't really answer the question which is the reason I asked. I've yet to see the success of some parties posting above. My intent with this thread was to see if there are mistakes I can avoid. Obviously, I know I need to learn for myself but why make the mistake if I know how to avoid it?