Interest rates are high, inflation is through the roof, and bread costs seven cents more than it did a month ago.
Imagine how lucky we would feel in October of 2005 when the Fed’s rate was 5.21% (over 2 points higher than it is now).
Or back in 1980 when inflation was quadruple what it is today.
How about when the value of bread eclipsed the value of jewelry, as it has in many failed countries of the past?
These headlines are here to scare us. But as business owners we know better. We understand that these sentiments signal massive opportunities for us and our business.
To put it into perspective, let’s look at the “Opportunity Window” of the Coco days in 2020 – 2022:
As fate would have it, this graph is a solid example of Garrett and I’s real estate journey in 2020 – 2022.
At the outset, everyone freaked out.
With threats of market failure and a housing collapse, people stopped investing money. Instead, people chose to preserve what they had
Against our better judgment, Garrett and I dropped close to $1M on our first property in Hollywood, CA.
Last week, we refinanced that property and doubled our money.
Like idiots, Garrett and I ran towards the fire while everyone else was running away from it. And as the dust settled, we walked away with outsized returns.
Looking back, I can see that we were naïve.
I can also see that we understood one thing better than anyone else:
Hillbilly Math
Think about it like this:
A risk is jumping into a burning building without any protection. A calculated risk is understanding that burning buildings are full of fire and lack oxygen. Armed with this knowledge, we still run into the building, but with a fire jacket and an oxygen mask to keep us alive.
In our business, our oxygen mask is education, and our fire jacket is a friend or two that is much smarter than we are.
Education helps us make informed decisions and smart friends are there for us to lean on when we make a mistake.
The Best Get Better, The Rest Run for The Hills
Now that we know how to keep ourselves safe, we must understand that there are only so many things that we can control.
And the economy is not one of them.
But the usefulness of our product or the quality of our service and the management of our team all are.
Let me make something clear:
The timing is never perfect.
For this reason, we should focus on putting out the best product with unbeatable service.
No One is Coming to Save Us
No matter what happens, betting on ourselves is the best hedge we can make against whatever comes our way.
By going all in on ourselves, we take back control – from our employer, our industry, and our government.
Knowing that our destiny is in our own hands, how can we ever fail?
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