The Ferriss Wheel of Fortune
Timothy Ferriss has put in front of us a concept that needs further exploring by any would-be wealth seeker.
The basic premise is that with the global market place, we can hire out to people willing to do quality work at a much cheaper price then we can get it done locally.
Read the book and draw your own conclusions. I do not dispute the logic of Mr. Ferriss work, in fact this thinking is at the heart of one of our Laws of Wealth. I think the biggest flaw in the program can be summed up by the following true example that I recently experienced.
As one of my businesses, I am a real estate broker. One of my clients has been a victim of the bust in real estate values. An offer came in lower than the debt, so I brought the offer to the bank for a “short sale” consideration. After being transferred through the automated machine for 15 minutes, I was finally talking with one of the bank’s representatives named “Bob”.
His accent led me to believe that was not his real name.
Thirty minutes later, he still was reciting to me through his scripted presentation, not grasping the situation, nor offering any hope of reasonable alternatives. (Fill out another 20 pages of paperwork was his solution.) He was not equipped to deal with this problem. I asked him what time was a good time for me to call him back, and got the answer I was expecting. He was actually in India, so the time zone was significantly different from mine.
Those of you who have recently fled Dell and other computer vendors because of poor support know exactly what I am referring to.
Lose-Lose-Lose-Lose is where we are headed in this dilemma, as I had predicted to my seller. (I had just finished reading an advance copy of Sway.)The bank could mitigate 95% of it’s loss on this property by dealing with this issue swiftly and intelligently. Instead, after a prolonged delay, the bank, the seller, the would-be buyer, and the Realtors will all lose. The property will be vandalized, become an eye-sore, and will ultimately be sold to an investor at 50 cents on the dollar.
It seems to me that the real trick is to outsource to the competency of these workers. If language and comprehension of our financial troubles are difficult barriers, why allow a $5 an hour worker to negotiate over a $300,000. property? Why not use them for research, manufacturing, document preparation, etc?
The outsourcing concept is viable in my opinion; as with most things in life the Devil is in the details of execution.
As an entrepreneur, we are always seeking opportunities. Why not free up some of our time through Mr Ferriss’s suggestions, and use some of it to look for and purchase some of these distressed properties as another source of income?
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