Tag Archives: Barry Gilbertson’s real estate & property market blog
Savings, Bloody Savings
If you had to rank the challenges you face in business – what would you put top? A recent RICS survey asked people running small property companies and professional services to do just that. They answered as follows:
- Cash flow 41 per cent
- Access to contracts 19 per cent
- Red tape 11 per cent
- Bank support 10 per cent
- The rest were a mix of smaller issues
What does this tell us? First, money is very tight. Secondly, finding work is hard. Thirdly, bureaucracy makes life difficult. No big insights there perhaps.
However, it seems that working capital is not perhaps as big a problem as many commentators consider it to be.. Read the rest of this entry »
Survival by a Thousand Cuts
What can and should companies be doing to survive? Read Barry’s CoStar Guest Column…
A recent RICS survey asked people running small property companies and professional services firms to rank the challenges they faced. Before branching out on my own this year, I spent the last 15 years as a partner at PwC helping companies in distress to survive by reducing costs or to increase profits, so I found this fascinating. Read the rest of this entry »
Early Leaders: Six Super Signs
Nurturing tomorrow’s leaders is critical to succession planning. William Buttery & Barry identify six signs to help to spot those individuals…
Successful succession planning
In any business or organisation, identifying and then nurturing the leaders of tomorrow is the key to successful succession planning. Here are six signs noted from our different experiences we think help to spot those individuals who will be leaders, rather than followers, as they progress through their chosen career, whether paid, voluntary or not-for-profit.
Assertiveness: question everything
‘He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.’
Chinese Proverb
Assertiveness, in its true sense, is a little-used skill. It is not the ability to question something, for that is just self-confidence. Rather, it is knowing when to question and how to do so effectively. To be assertive is to let others know what you do and do not want in a confident and direct way. Both passive and aggressive people relate to others as though only one person counts: themselves. In contrast, assertive people are concerned with a fair deal for everyone. You will be respected and feel valued.
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The New Glass Ceiling
Having qualified as a surveyor, I am always surprised how few property experts make it to corporate board level. With property such a significant part of the corporate balance sheet, it seems astonishing there are so few board members with the right expertise and real experience in a senior enough position to make a success of buying, leasing, occupying or investing in properties from which the company trades.
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