How do you get to where you want to go?

Gordon,

You know, as I look again now on the pictures from the SQ1 Workshops I realize how much I have quietly absorbed from them, without even realizing it.... :)

The pictogrigm of things contains some of the most important lessons.... :)

> The simple formula for making money is this:

> GIVE.

> Pretty simple.

Yes, this is true! It's like a law of nature (hey, I'm a physicist, I ought to know). :) To get, you must give.... :)

> One area of my research right now is in the
> LUCRATIVE area of FINDERS/LOCATORS FEES...

> and FINDERS FEES are being paid on
> everything from employees to land to
> chattel...

[...]

> It is EXCHANGING value, and as the
> pictogrigm shows, you shouldn't put your
> values on someone else, but should be aware
> of their value...

> As I mentioned in the CHATTEL REPORT: THE
> SPRINT TO FREEDOM, I personally wouldn't buy
> a 1000 dollar bike, but for many, that would
> be a cheap bike...it is relative to what we
> believe and value.

> Jim Straw has mentioned that he sold sewing
> machines to poor sections of a town because
> the people WANTED it so badly, they had the
> DESIRE to possess it...

> maybe a sewing machine could turn old rags
> into NEW clothes...it was a terrific VALUE
> for the poor people because they could spin
> their own gold from it...

> What do you want to have? There is a COST
> attached to that, but it doesn't always have
> to be exchanged for the DOLLAR amount
> attached to it...be it houses, cars, jewelry
> or even businesses...

Gordon, it can be "tough" when you come from a background as an employee to stop seeing things as being "worth" one single price. I know having come from that background myself up to a year ago.... We tend to go into a store, see a price sticker on an item, and then say to ourselves that this is what it is "worth." However, in reality everything has multiple "worths," depending on who you talk to....

For example, for some people a commercial van isn't "worth" much.... It may have only two seats at the front, and a big empty space at the back. It's completely useless if you want to drive your large family around, since there are just two seats! BUT....

If you have a distribution business, then the van is worth much more, because you can transport all your goods in the back. Perfect! :)

I'm currently helping someone to sell a commercial van, and we've decided to sell it through an auction. I've gone to two auction-houses to check things out....

One of the auction-houses only deals with a FEW commercial vans.... They told me they get about 15 vans in their fortnightly auction. I brought the van in, and the guy there looked up what similar vans had previously been bid up to. "We think it would get $6,000" (in Australian dollars), he said. However, he was a nice guy, and he recommended another auction-house "just down the road"....

The second auction-house told me they did a LOT of business with commercial vans. They had on average around 80 vans in their fortnightly commercial van auction (compared to just 15 for the previous place). They went through their records.... "We estimate you'd get $10,000 to $11,000" they said, based on recent bids on similar vans according to their records.

It seems that the second place attracts more sellers of commercial vans, because they are more focused on commercial vehicles in general.... This then attracts more buyers for commercial vans too....

Having more motivated buyers, I think, helps to drive the price up compared to the first place (which specialized more in passenger cars, not commercial vehicles)....

This is what it all means! To buyers at the first auction house, a commercial van of a particular make and model is only worth around $6,000 to them -- because most of them are shopping for passenger cars! To buyers at the second auction house, however, the same van is worth $10,000 to $11,000, because these buyers are LOOKING for a commercial vehicle!

Anyway, time will tell if these valuations are accurate, but it was interesting.... :)

However, this lesson can be a tough one to accept at first, because we are so used to believing that there is only ONE price that something is "worth." The lesson (which I learned first from Gordon) was that everything has MANY prices which they are "worth".... It depends who you talk to.

> So, what do you have to GIVE? Dien, you're
> just starting to uncover your hidden assets,
> the deal maker in you is about to burst
> through.

Thanks Gordon! :)

> Thanks for giving me a place to post the
> SQ1, and yes, MAYBE one of these days I'll
> get around to making it more formal, who
> knows, maybe even a SQ1 Center for Silly
> Stick figure drawings too.

Heheh.... :)

I think the "silly stick figures" in the SQ1 Workshops are really of immense value!

There are SO MANY important lessons condensed into those few simple "child-like" drawings.... :)

I'm very grateful to you, Gordon, for sharing them with me and with all of us here.... :)

I'm sure that many others have an experience like mine.... That they've quietly absorbed many of the lessons, and applied them in their own lives! You don't even realize it until you look back on the pictogrigms, and realize how much more you know now after having gone through the "course".... :)

- Dien

Hi Dien,

Looks like a regular source of 'chatteling' for you....

secure (buy,option,take on consignment) vans from/via Auction House #1 and sell via Auction House #2?

Hi Philip!

> Looks like a regular source of 'chatteling'
> for you....

> secure (buy,option,take on consignment) vans
> from/via Auction House #1 and sell via
> Auction House #2?

Yes, that crossed my mind too.... I may investigate this further.... :)

- Dien