#PostFather'sDayHacks

In this week's edition of #HacksTheNewsletter, we have for you eight special #PostFathersDayHacks from my good friend, and President of ARM Consulting, LLC Andrew Margolick. Andrew's company focuses on lease restructuring and portfolio management of commercial investment properties, SO GOODNESS KNOWS HE'S BEEN BUSY DURING THE PANDEMIC, working with retailers of all sizes (from 15 locations to 1,500 locations) to manage their way through. As an entrepreneur and consultant, a husband and a dad to three, including a gymnast and a baseball player, Andrew manages to maintain good humor and gratitude throughout it all. A few of his Life Hacks are below.

Rise and shine. Wake up early (for me it’s usually before 5 am) and be productive.  Get the administrative, internal stuff done and out of the way so that you have your day for your clients.  Do not check Twitter or Facebook and do not play Candy Crush until you’ve been productive for no less than an hour.

Break up your day. Take an hour to recharge by working out, going for a walk, etc.  There is nothing wrong with doing this during the workday.

Don’t be afraid to put work on clients.  I have a lease data request that I send clients.  This contains pertinent information relative to their locations (rent, expiration, sales, etc).  I will not make a single phone call until they have filled this out.  They know the information better than I do and can populate the information faster than I can abstract it.

Be honest with clients/prospective clients about your chances of success.  Make an honest assessment of the probability of successful outcomes and tell your client/prospective client upfront.  If certain parts of their portfolio are not worth your time, let them know. 

Be honest about your areas of expertise.  You’ll save time and get more credit by saying “I don’t know, but I can ask the right person and get back to you”.

Work and family can and will overlap. I tell every client that I will be available when they need me; however, they may hear a baseball/softball/hockey game in the background.  In 20 years of doing this, I have yet to have a client take offense.  In fact, they are usually jealous and appreciate that I want to spend time with my family.  At the same time, my family understands why I may not be paying full attention to a game or may need to step away for a call.

Travel and work can and will overlap.  You’re never truly “off” as a sole proprietor.  I have closed deals while standing outside of the Colosseum in Rome, while at the MLB All-Star Game, etc.  

Find the smart people and the hustlers.  I try to have one main point of contact within each company, be it a client or party I’m negotiating with/pitching.  Identifying the go-getters and people who are willing to manage a process allows questions to be filtered through one person, making the process much more efficient.