hello i’m gary shotton and i’m here as a part of inspiring better business today’s subject is the word opinions well from time to time i’m asked for my opinion and a lot of times it’s regarding business and in many cases it’s regarding should i buy a business and someone has spotted a business they’re interested maybe they’re working corporate and they’re tired of working there whatever reason they’ve found out that it by the grapevine because i do not advertise that i have been successful in buying an existing business and bringing it up over a period of time to a larger business and that’s intriguing to some people again this is low-key not advertised and they come to me and say i have this opportunity what do you think gary what’s your opinion well it’s not an easy answer because i need to know more about them i can look at the numbers of the business and say yeah it’s making a really nice profit it’s not unlikely that this business is a two to three million dollar purchase and it’s making five or six hundred thousand dollars and it looks really good on the outside but i know more this is not going to be a good thing for everyone because there’s taxes to pay there’s a payback on the loan and the person buying that kind of business is probably going to have to keep a real tight belt for 10 years or more i’m also asked from time to time my opinion of purchasing a piece of property once again i have some experience there i have some rental properties i have a commercial property i have some land and so my opinion is something again not being advertised but the word gets out and maybe they come and ask me their opinion now there’s some good requests and there’s some very a questionable request on this one i’d like to tell you a very very good one because a gentleman i know have known for since he was a small child i mean a really small child and he’s now in his early 30s mid-30s and he’s been very successful because of his hard work his diligence and all that he’s doing he has a great track record and he’s asking about the logic of buying the neighboring piece of property to a piece of property currently owns wow that’s totally different my opinion is different than an opinion it’s more a result of knowing this person and knowing where they’re at now there’s a big difference between an opinion and being mentored and a lot of times i view someone asking my my opinion especially if i hardly know them there are many times asking for affirmation they’ve already made their decision they want to buy this they want to do this and they just want someone to confirm that this is a good choice well once again this could be dangerous because what do i tell them i don’t know them that well i don’t want to throw water on that so what do i do i tell them mostly the experiences i’ve had i never never will make someone’s decision i want them to know that i have some experience and here’s some of the pluses and minuses the uh the pitfalls the person should watch for i also tell them that they need to get multiple counsel it’s counsel from not just me but other people not just the realtor not the person that trying to sell you the land of course they’re going to tell you this land is a good purchase they’re trying to make their commission but you need some independent people with experience and have a track record and not make your decision but go ahead with uh gaining which the word of god talks about there’s wisdom in the multitude of counsel and this counsel is many times an opinion now you met i mentioned before about the idea of mentoring so there’s a much better way to do this is to over time be mentored get a long track record don’t be uh last minute last call one phone call one request and then take that and run with it it’s very dangerous now when someone’s asking you your opinion i’ve already given you some tips be very careful to not take responsibility be very careful not to make the decision for the person encourage them to analyze the whole situation watch for the pitfalls encourage them to trust in the lord be confident in the lord’s guidance and direction look at their own track record see if this is a logical step up now i also want to ask my other people’s opinions and let me tell you about that if you’re in a position where uh you want someone to help you give you input and advice uh here’s what i do i first of all have about three or four really qualified individuals that are in us quite a bit larger experience realm worth more if you want to call it more uh value more experience and larger businesses than myself and i cherish their insight now i don’t just call them up on the spur of the moment i make an appointment i tell them what i’m after i say i like your input i don’t say opinion usually i say their input i would like to gather uh from your background from your experience some of the things that you would might share with me that might be a pitfall as i’m making my decision i’m the one that makes the decision not them and then i’m careful to uh guard my uh and respect them for their time and meet in their condition drive out of my way be there on time and seriously take notes and understand what they have to say on this subject and i put that with my other background my experience and my knowledge and then i could make a good decision you see there’s a saying i goes like this we’re all entitled to have an opinion but we’re not entitled to share that opinion unless the time is right unless the situation is right and i’ve made that mistake i’ve had in years past the idea that i kind of know something about this and i see someone about to make the mistake and if i don’t know them at all and they haven’t asked me for input i’m kind of intruding and but if i am i then i i i’m careful that that uh i i don’t give my opinion in a way that it’s final that it’s the the it’s the the final decision gary said that this would work because when it does or may not work correctly gary gets the blame that’s just how it works now there’s another observation that i’ve seen and it’s worth sharing here of these people that are maybe a little older than i am in age and also in experience i’ve noticed that they’re not out sharing their opinion openly they’re mostly quiet people they’re mostly people that uh are have learned that over time it’s worth waiting and not sharing a lot of information intel ask there’s a saying that goes like this that there’s a reporter that was uh wanting a great interview with this very successful interview but this reporter uh was frustrated because they were trying to get this uh successful individual to open up and share and so they’d ask a pointed question and they say well why are you successful that would be the main question and this quiet individual would reply something like good choices and that’s all that they got i mean hardly anything but good choices and the reporter would be a little frustrated and say well how do you make good choices and quietly this individual would reply bad choices experience that’s what we’re talking about we must gain experience to make good choices and if you have an opinion and you don’t have the experience some people give their opinion have zero experience in it they just have an opinion i always like to to know uh the background of the person that is giving me advice or input are they really following their own advice that’s a good question well i hope this helpful hope this could help you uh in making the good choices in life in good choices in business and uh the idea of opinions is kind of one of those slippery slopes be careful don’t get too close to the edge because you can slip in and cause some problems but be willing to mentor people hope this is helpful thank you you