Anecdote For Entrepreneurs
Friday, September 15th, 2006It is 1990-91, deep into recession, and we’re working on salvaging a $270mm investment.
It’s a gorgeous highrise in a prime location in Manhattan. It cost more to build than it should have and it’s standing almost empty. Only the bottom feeders are buying and the best offer is under $100mm.
One of the players on the turnaround team is a brilliant, quirky NYC consultant. He approaches the building one overcast morning, heading to a strategy meeting, and stops dead upon seeing a young man who is clicking a handheld counter standing on the sidewalk in front of the main entrance.
“Hey,” says our consultant, “what are you doing?”
“Counting traffic.”
“Why?”
“We’ve been hired to count how many people come here, for valuation purposes.”
The consultant looks at the empty building behind the young man, and then takes the counter away from him.
“Do you think Bugsy Siegal hired a traffic counter to stand in an empty desert in Nevada?” he asks, “The building is empty! Why would anyone come here?”.
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postscriptum
The property ended up turning a handsome profit, instead of the huge loss that had been accepted and expected.
