Advising Center

Global Economic Crisis. Credit Crunch. Catch phrases we have all become too familiar with in recent times. With official figures showing new car sales in decline by 20% it’s no wonder we are all nervous about investing in the second most important purchase after our homes.

It’s not all doom and gloom for the general public, however. Smart buyers are cashing in on the bargains available through auction houses. With prices below retail and a huge range of vehicles available at all times, it appears that it pays to start bidding for a bargain.

Even better, it’s no longer only used vehicles going under the hammer. Dealership liquidations, whilst unfortunate for the automotive industry, are providing a win win situation for car buyers.

In the Melbourne suburb of Sunshine last December, 55 new Holden’s went under the hammer. Every single lot sold, with an estimated value of $1.4 million dollars.

But buying at auction isn’t a new phenomenon. With products ranging from general and government vehicles, to classic and prestige, trucks, machinery and earthmoving plant equipment, damaged vehicles, IT equipment and general goods all up for the taking, auction houses are not only surviving current economic conditions, they are thriving. And in return, major savings are being passed on to final consumers.

With economic times making us all increasingly budget conscience it’s important to maximize your dollar, wherever you are spending it. If a new car is on the list of “to do’s”, why not explore the option of buying at auction? And take note, if bidding in an auction is too overwhelming, many auction houses now offer consumers a buy before auction facility, allowing you to secure a vehicle at a set price.

If your small rural community wants to earn a large sum of money for any worthwhile purpose, the best way to do it is to partner with an existing event, such as a cross-state bicycle tour, a circus, or a popular musical act that is touring your area.

It helps if your community generally agrees that it needs money and the various nonprofit groups are willing to work together to do a good job of hosting whatever event you may decide to invite.

If your town has an active Chamber of Commerce or a Grange, they can act as the coordinators for all the local nonprofits that will take part.  Any group will do, but it’s important that you’re sure they will do the job right.

Nonprofits are ideal because they can apply for grants from tourism agencies to help promote the event.

Here are the dynamics of how this works:

* Get together some smart community leaders: business owners, school administrators, city administrators, and civic group leaders

* Brainstorm what unique opportunities your town has — location, scenery, natural resources, proximity to a larger urban center

* Consider what events might fit well with what your community offers: e.g., does your state have a cross-state bicycle tour that might like to incorporate your community into its annual tour route as an overnight stop?  This usually involves providing the group a place to camp and shower (perhaps on the  high school football field).

It also involves guaranteeing that you will provide dinner and a breakfast for the group.  That’s where your community makes its money primarily, if catering to a cycle tour is the event you choose.

Secondary sources of revenue are beer gardens, motel stays, incidental purchases that the visitors make.  These can be substantial.

There are many possibilities, limited mostly by your imagination, your location, and your community’s willingness to cooperate to put on a good time for the event you choose to host.

Can you handle serving dinner and breakfast to a couple thousand hungry bicyclists — and do it fast, delicious, and filling?  If so, a special event like this can earn your community $40,000 or more in a day.  Sure beats bake sales and car washes!

If you decide that a concert outdoors of one or more big-name musical acts is what you want, are you close enough to a major city that can provide sufficient audience?  (This is quite a bit more risky than the bike tour with a guaranteed meal contract — if you estimate wrong, you will lose money.  Only attempt this if you have an experienced music  promoter who will handle the project.)

Concerts also require paying the groups to play, unless you can convince them to donate all or part of their fees.  Don’t ask unless you can help them receive lots of positive PR in return.

The circus is not going to cost you out-of-pocket, but your take may be small if you can’t draw a good crowd.  You want a big success — with whatever you undertake — so that it energizes your volunteers.  No one will want to be part of a flop!

If your community decides to invite a circus, be sure to check their references!  Also, look into how they treat their animals — this can bring bad PR these days.

Whichever event your community decides to sponsor, be sure to do your homework, to use only people with expertise, connections, and community spirit to pull together your meal preparation and site selection and vendor licensing.

You need to make sure you produce a well-run event, whatever it is, because both the rewards for success and the penalties for failure are great.  Make sure your special event is a success with careful research and planning.

A key skill of any consultant is to look at things from the perspective of their client. If you stand in their shoes and figure out where they are coming from and what they really want, you are already succeeding with them – even if they don’t buy from you first time. If they recognise that you can really appreciate a problem (as they themselves see it) your standing and reputation among your clients will be very strong.

A client won’t necessarily hire on the basis of techie skills alone. It’s also whether you are easy to work with, whether you bring something extra than just your technical nous.

So being able to ‘go with the flow’ or sway with the culture or the individual ideosyncrasies of a client are critical consultancy skills. A client who is insecure may want your expertise to support them. So it can be very important to recognize this from the outset.

Be ready to shine glory on your client or customer – build them up, encourage them, motivate and enthuse them. Ego stroking? Yes, but who doesn’t need a bit of that from time to time?

It will also win you more work in the long-term because your client or customer will see you as supportive and trustworthy and on their side.

Developing this skill enables you to have an insight into the problems that your clients want you to solve. The practice of this insight will help you develop your services and products and since these will be from perspective of your client and your market it will be easily noticeable.