Thanksgiving, A Recipe For Real Estate Success

November 28, 2007
Volume 2 Issue #5

This year, our Thanksgiving turned out to be one of the best we have ever had in the 28 years I have been married to my current wife. Now you might be asking, What does that have to do with me? Or worse yet, it might sound like one of those Holiday letters that brag about honors student children, trips to Hawaii, the new job promotion and how Harvey found the cure for malaria.

No, this has a real estate message, really. Right now you are probably reviewing or working on your business plan for next year or if you are not, it might be a good idea to do that. Our successful Thanksgiving really owes a lot to great planning with a little bit of luck thrown in.

The recipe for success:

Review last years meal. (5 great side dishes, 1 not so good side dish, turkey slightly over cooked, forgot to put the rolls in the oven.) Overall- pretty good.

Research what would make it better. Find new recipes in magazines and online. (More and more the Internet is playing a role in our Thanksgiving.)

Invite the guests and family. Try to find some interesting people to come. Invite them well in advance. (This is a subtle message about prospecting.) 

Delegate. Assign some side dishes to people who are specialists. Make sure older sons new girlfriend understands the importance of getting mashed potatoes prepared correctly.

Have the right tools. Buy a new turkey pan. The old one has seen better days.

Put the plan for the day in writing. Assure that the rolls actually are baked and not forgotten.

Enjoy the day. Once the big day arrives approach it with a great attitude; it is infectious.

Make corrections along the way as needed. Turns out we didnt need one of the appetizers; we had more than enough food and it would have been too much.

Enjoy the results of a well executed plan. Treat yourself to a piece of pie for a job well done.

There you have it, our recipe for Thanksgiving success. This year we worked on our plan just a little harder and things worked out pretty darn well. Was it perfect? Well not quite. The dishwasher stopped working Tuesday night at 9:30 and believe it or not, no one would fix it the day before Thanksgiving. We were also lucky, everyone was healthy and there were no current family vendettas.

The message is loud and clear-- having a plan increases your odds of success. Think Thanksgiving and it might be a little easier to put it together. The results of planning are worth it.

Tech Tip- If you are getting a new computer this holiday season, it will probably have Microsofts new operating system called Vista. Before you get rid of your old computer, remember to back up your important files. Not all older programs work with Vista, so plan on extra time and money upgrading and learning new programs. If you have programs that you use often, visit the companys web site to make sure your program works in Vista or to download an update to make it work.