Focus Focus Focus...

So what are you up to these days ?

I recently met with a long time friend / colleague and as we often do, we confided in one another on what current opportunities we were pursuing and what challenges we were facing in our pursuits. Both of us come to this conversation from a position of abundance and gratitude which provides for a very positive conversation.

I was sharing some personal challenges as it relates to focus and discipline as I continue on my journey of being of finding new and creative ways to identify and deliver on creating value for others. The act of adding value and moving assets from an area of low productivity to an area of high productivity is something that I've been doing for 25 years. Without the confines or constraints of an organization (or more particularly other people that don't share the same perspective of gratitude and abundance) I have a plethora of opportunities to help others move assets (time or $) from areas of low productivity to higher productivity through my creativity and ingenuity.

After the routine data dump with my friend of highlighting what's currently on my plate (It was easily into the double digits in terms of projects / ideas / opportunities) and some expression on my part that I was perhaps to widespread in where my energy was being spent he aptly coined the phrase "diversity of focus". At first I thought he was being polite but the more I thought about it and reflected on what gives me energy, the more I gravitated toward embracing the notion.

To put this into context, here is a snapshot of stuff that I'm working on with one client;

A. working with a client to manage a tax appeal on a $25M / 400k SF asset that was acquired at a substantial discount to its assessed value;

B. presenting this same client with accretive options on how to affect the punitive energy spend (electricity predominantly) that is impairing the assets ability to lease up;

C. delivering an automation control solution for a 100,000 sf refrigerated distribution facility where client's electricity costs are out of control (low hanging fruit is in conservation measures while longer term we will be evaluating Micro CoGen options)

D. Supporting same family owners of $25M asset on capital gains planning to assist them in evaluating their exit strategy and ensuring their supporting Real Estate Broker is aware of how this capital gains strategy may assist in expediting the sale. Expectation is that $10M gain would be entirely exempt as a result of tax strategy;

E. Piloting a water conditioning device that will reduce downtime for repairs and extend useful life of cooking equipment where high temperature changes are triggering scaling and impairing water flow;

So....am I all over the map ? Tax / Energy / Automation / Capital Gains Planning / Water Management....YES

Am I entirely focused on creating value for my client and moving assets from an area of low productivity to high productivity? The answer is YES.

A lower tax bill is a reduction in one's liability which is easily transposed on the Income / Expense Statement. Check

Lower energy costs are captured in low operating costs which can / should be offset with attaining a higher net rent on vacant space. Check

Automating temperature controls and lighting enable the refrigeration units / lights to operate at a much greater efficiency and result in a lower electricity bill at the end of the month. Check

Understanding and affecting a sales process whereby all of the taxable gains are offset and the capital gains on a short term hold are negated allows for this cash to be easily redeployed elsewhere. Check

Spending less time dealing with maintenance issues and replacing equipment with less frequency shows up on both the PnL and the balance sheet. Check

The ultimate test of my "diversity of focus" is the client's satisfaction with my efforts and their acceptance of my ideas in context of increasing the productivity of their assets.

So far..so good.

Please follow and/or send me a note if you and/or a client have assets that need to be transitioned from their current state to one of higher / greater productivity.

Bob Langlois is an entrepreneur that is impassioned with ideas and enthralled with how opportunities and people are easily connected with one goal in mind - moving assets from an area of low productivity to an area of high productivity.

#assets #highestandbestuse #focus #cleantech #energy #tax #capitalgains