In business, we often say that the customer is King and indeed, the consumer is the supreme authority, not only on which products and services they purchase but also on the economy itself. If consumers believe the economy is going well then they will continue to spend, but if they feel poor or they think the economy is tanking or that we are going into a recession, they will stop spending.Consumer economics is fascinating, especially the “consumer confidence” which appears to be 1/3 of the performance of our GDP. At the Online Think Tank, we follow it all very closely, especially right now – sinking dollar, subprime fallout, retail Q4 results, toy imports, auto sales, small business VS. box stores, etc.In the real estate sector, it is particularly important to have a strong consumer confidence level in the economy and the housing markets. The housing real estate market will rebound much faster if people have confidence in the real estate valuations and believe they will go back up. If homebuyers do not believe that the real estate prices will go back up then they will create a self-fulfilling prophecy and that is exactly what will happen.This is why it is very important for government officials, economists and the Fed to put a good spin on the future prospects of the economy and the housing market. If the stock market, real estate industry and consumers believe that this market downturn is only a short-term problem, then the problem will be over shortly. Some folks have criticized the Bush Administration’s plan to shore up the free fall of foreclosures and lack of confidence in the housing markets.Anything that the Bush administration or government can do to return the confidence is all good and even a mere public relations strategy is worthy of note. Having lenders and consumers talk to each other and giving everyone a brief timeout to prevent a landslide of foreclosures in the first half of the year of 2008 is a good thing. Currently, we all know that there is a lot of supply of homes for sale on the market and the prices are depressed and soft. Saying we are in a buyer’s market is somewhat of an understatement right now.Many buyers who are interested in buying a home are holding off or they are making completely lowball bids and each home seller, who takes such an offer helps drive the prices in the neighborhood down even further. This creates more homeowners who are upside down in equity that are willing to walk from their properties and leave the bank with the problems, thus putting more homes on the market – times about 3 million, which is predicted to happen in 2008.The best thing Real Estate Professionals, Federal Reserve, Bush Administration, Wall Street Analysts and Economists can do, is to explain rationally what is going on and help return the confidence to the market by staying positive – that’s true leadership. The real estate market goes through cycles and this is no surprise as every industry sector goes through rotations. At the top of the bubble there were obviously lots of deals going on based on irrational exuberance and when that balloon popped, the bottom dropped.If you are a real estate professional, I advise you to dump the negativity and start talking up your neighborhoods and communities. Talk about why you live in such a great area and why there is still demand for homes in your city. This is the best thing you can do to help the market return. It is time that all real estate professionals become part of the solution and not part of the problem. This is definitely something to contemplate in 2008.I would please like to have your “Personal Commitment” in writing below, by way of a comment stating that you will pull your weight in your market to help the residential real estate market return. This is serious and if you are not going to help solve the problem, then maybe you should find another profession? What say you?
Tag Archives: Marketing
Raise Capital With Private Investors
If you have launched your own startup, your first biggest challenge is to raise capital. Fortunately, you choose from a lot of options to raise the funds your business needs. Among all the sources, crowdfunding is one of the best ones as it helps redefine how startups can get off the ground. In this article, we are going to help you know the benefits of raising capital with private investors through a crowdfunding platform. Read on to find out more.
Benefits of raising capital with private investors
1. Funding is not equity-based
First of all, crowdfunding is not necessarily equity-based. Although startups have the liberty to use the equity in order to catch the attention of potential investors, It’s not required to give up ownership to collect capital.
The good news is that some platforms allow their members to apply a reward-oriented approach in order to raise capital. For instance, if your business deals in a specific product, make sure you hand over a few units to your prospective investors before you roll it out for the ultimate users.
2. Attracting potential investors is easy
With crowdfunding, you can attract a lot of potential investors without putting in a lot of effort. Although you can try for angel investors, keep in mind that this process can cost you a lot of time. The reason is that you will have to pitch your small business concept several times.
On the other hand, if you use a crowdfunding platform, you will have to post your business pitch in only one place. And this page will be ready by hundreds of investors from across the globe.
These platforms have a lot of useful features that may help startups collect funds from investors. So, attracting potential investors and raising capital will be much easier using crowdfunding platforms.
3. Higher visibility
Crowdfunding can help you make your startup more visible. Since marketing may consume a large chunk of your budget, it makes sense to use a crowdfunding platform instead. For potential investors, it’s easy to fund a crowdfunding campaign.
And these activities can help boost the visibility of your brand. Plus, you can also attract investors for your next funding rounds.
The Bottom Line
If you want to raise funds for your startup, crowdfunding can be the best choice. All you need to do is become part of a crowdfunding platform and you will be able to tap into the pool of potential investors. And this will help you kick start your business and make it a success in the industry.