Reframing the assets that we have

Abundance, assets, constraints, creativity, Leverage, possibility thinking, problem solving, Uncategorized

Inspite of the fact that I write about marketing, product management, finance etc. The fact is that I am also learning every day. While I have some theories like “Riding the Elephant ” , I am actually a Work in Process.

So when I come across something which I have used earlier and I read a book in which a similar idea is written, then it becomes a validation of my ideas.

In marketing you will constantly come across constraints. Actually in life itself, you will constantly come across constraints. But in case of marketing, I have noticed that Murphy’s law decides to become applicable at the most inappropriate times.

At those times you have to be as resourceful as possible. One of the ways of becoming resourceful is to first identify all the assets at your disposal.

Next see how the same asset can be utilized in a different way.

Third “who” could benefit from the reframed asset and last

How could you benefit from the assets that person or organization has and then go about showcasing them, about how it could be of mutual benefit to both the concerned parties.

One thing which I have used very effectively is the spare technical manpower in our company. I have actually gone and spoken to partners to check if they’re facing technical problems in going to the market.

We have been able to work with partners because of just this one asset that we have and they can’t afford. Due to that they take us to the market, we help them sell and give us all the services.

Sometimes it could be the internal setup or processes or messaging that you have built, which could be repurchased for the other side, in return for something that they have.

In marketing you always need to keep looking with an abundant mindset of how you could reframe the assets you have to get what you want.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Asset Allocation – concentration within an asset class

Abundance, compounding, Financial Independence

Today I am writing on financial advice after quite a long time. I have written multiple times earlier also about how asset allocation is important to buffer you against shocks in one asset class. Especially when you look at it, when you are in a debt instrument like a Fixed Deposit or Term Deposit with a bank then the amount promised (or interest rate promised) is almost guaranteed.

On the other hand prices of stocks and commodities keep going in cycles and real estate also moves in cycles. As they move in cycles they also have a tendency to go down multiple tens of percentages during down markets. On the other hand they also spike up multiple tens of percentages and can over many years give a massive inflation adjusted return.

But keeping your portfolio balanced between different types of assets is critical because being concentrated in one asset class can totally destroy your wealth.

Today however I will talk about why it’s important to concentrate your allocation within an asset class.

As Garrett Gunderson says, being diversified means lack of knowledge / conviction. If you are not confident of the items within an asset class on which you are confident of growth then its better to invest in ETFs or mutual funds for that asset class. These are designed to generally be diversified so that the individual risk is avoided an average return can be delivered. These are however also at risk of market fluctuation.

On the other hand if you see when the news reports talk about a market being at a high or low, they always talk of a certain “bucket” of stocks. Which means it is the average of all the stocks in that bucket.The Nifty or Sensex or the S&P 500 are all examples of buckets in different markets . These buckets are also called index.

As in any average there are things which are way above the average number as well as way below. If you have invested in the stocks which are way above the average, then you can make returns which could even be more than 10 times the index over a period of time.

However the amount your portfolio can grow is determined by the quantity of these “peaking” stocks that you have in your portfolio. If these are only say 1% of your portfolio then even the growth of the 1% by leaps and bounds will not be helpful if the remaining 99% is not growing. If you want to get compounding to work for you, to help you create abundance, then the stocks that you have should be the ones that have the ability to grow faster

I learnt this lesson when I was reading the Motilal Oswal Wealth Creation studies and its a critical aspect for your investing, of you are doing it on your own. If you don’t have the conviction or heart to do this kind of work to build your portfolio then its better that you focus on mutual funds and / or ETFs.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Scarcity or Abundance

Abundance, mindset

If you look at the news channels everyday more often than not you will see things that are wrong , with our world.

On the other hand if you see poor illiterate farmers are using cell phones in India and various parts of Africa. I was surprised to see a demo of how a fertilizer company has given a Voice BoT as part of their mobile application and farmers use it in their language.

Earlier when I used to go to get my haircut done at the salon, after the cut the barber would hold a mirror at the back of my head. Since there were mirrors in the front also, I would see the reflection of the reflection of the rear mirror. Now after the pandemic I have avoided going to the salons because there’s a lot of people. I use a local utility App and they send me a barber at home.

This utility app connects me to the barber because he’s also using a smart phone. After my haircut this barber now takes the photos of how he has cut my hair and shows me. I can zoom into the photo and get the finer details of my cut which I could not get before in the salon. Some people are looking at creative uses of what they (the smartphone) instead of thinking of what they don’t have (the large mirrors of a salon)

Another example of how semi literate people are using the smart phone to cut the time in decision making for closing an order. I was getting a chest of drawers being made. To close the laminate to be put, my carpenter didn’t bring me samples to approve before fixing it in his factory. Instead he saved time and money ( 1 hour in traveling each side and then the time to show me the various options) . He just sent me the photos of all the options he thought would look good and then asked us to choose. Zero cost.

There was a time less than a few years back when we used to spend about a dollar a minute to call North America from India. Today we do video calls virtually free. So much abundance.

The news papers and television channels would make you think the world is coming to an end, because they run a business. They need a higher viewership so that they get advertising revenues.

However if you look at the world around you, you will see so many good things happening. Become inquisitive about them.

Till next time keep an abundance mindset.

Carpe Diem!!!