Blog

Posted on

Business – Optimizing A Process – Order of Operations Related to Surgery:

This week I am touching on the topic of process optimization. This is another topic that came a conversation between Kevin@deliberateconsulting.com and myself when comparing thyroidectomy procedure results and side effects. He was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and had surgery a couple of months prior to my diagnosis.

Process-Optimization

We compared notes on what was similar and what was different between the two.

(Caveat: There may be some factors that we are not aware of, specific to each of us as individuals, that could have influenced decisions made.)

 

We both had thyroidectomies. Surgery, an overnight stay. A vacuum bulb to drain the incision area. Released the next morning. Then wait to determine if further treatment is necessary to ensure the eradication of cancer. In Kevin’s case, he needed further treatment, in my case, it is too soon to tell.

The doctors started Kevin on hormone replacement therapy almost immediately after surgery, then had to wait for levels to drop to begin the secondary treatment. I am still not on any replacement hormones until they determine if I need the radioactive iodine ablation, thus shortening the cycle time to start. Since the hormones appear to last about 6 weeks, I am good for a while with no replacements and won’t have to wait for levels to deplete if I do need the RAI.

The way my surgeon planned things seems to be the more efficient way to do things. This got me thinking about how an optimized process for business is cheaper and more efficient than just randomly doing things in a haphazard manner.

 

I do this in my real estate investing. When rehabbing a property, I evaluate what needs to be done & plan the order of operations so that there won’t have to be re-work because something had to be undone to do something else.

 

You can look at your business processes and optimize them for efficiency by ensuring the order of operations for each step does not additionally delay some other step.

 

You can think of it like the sandwich-making analogy I used here…if your current process calls for you to put the peanut butter on the plate, then add the bread, then the jelly or jam, you can optimize it by changing the order of operations to bread, peanut butter, jelly, then another slice of bread.

 

What inefficient processes have you identified in your business or workplace? How did you change them?

 

And, as always, let me know what you think in the comments. Ask questions, tell your story.

 

If you like my posts, please share them with others and subscribe to this blog.

Posted on

Business – Revisiting the E-Myth Revisited

Welcome back! I was talking with Kevin@DeliberateConsulting.com about things we should do differently in our business (disclaimer: Kevin & I are partners/investors, along with others, in a high-end door manufacturing business). One of the things he brought up was that all of the partners should have read Michael Gerber’s “The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It” [http://a.co/d/5JhEnwk] before we decided to invest in a business. Kevin also suggested I write a blog post about it and how it can help you in business.

 

The E-Myth Revisited

 

emyth

 

The E-Myth Revisited is a wonderful book that provides guidance for individuals having an “Entrepreneurial Seizure” as the book’s author, Michael Gerber, puts it. It provides a mix of case history, told as an on-going narrative of a client, and guidelines for successfully organizing an entrepreneurial idea into a business operation manual. It tells how you should work ON your business before you work IN your business. AND, your goal should NOT be an employee of your business, doing things yourself.

 

I’ve mentioned the E-Myth before:

BUSINESS – WE DON’T NEED NO STINKING PROCESSES!…OR DO WE?

MY RESPONSES TO TIM FERRISS’ “TRIBE OF MENTORS” QUESTIONS

 

I would like to know more about my readers. If you could spare about 2 minutes of your time, please take a survey to tell me what you like about the blog. Just click here to take the survey.

 

Business Buying, Two Years Post-E. Seizure

 

I did not read the E-Myth until after we had already purchased the business and were off to the races. I shared it with the other investors, indicating how important it was that we follow its recommendations. Kevin read it and as indicated by the prompt for this post, he feels the same.

 

Looking back, I have to agree with Kevin. We should all have read the book before deciding to buy a business together. We did not understand how to operate the business. What little “processes” we received from the previous owner were a jumbled bag WTF? and Huh? And, on top of that, the partner directly involved in the business adopted everything wholesale, becoming too mired in the day-to-day to view anything strategically.

 

This is exactly what the book is designed to avoid. If we had spent more time understanding how the business operated and put in systems & processes to optimize its operation prior to purchase, we would be a lot further ahead.

 

We are slowly getting things on track and working to bring efficiency to the operation. Only time will tell if we will be successful.

 

Lessons Learned

 

Kevin and I are starting to collect lessons learned so we can apply that to future business endeavors, investment advice, and consulting efforts.

 

Below are some, in no particular order:

  • Read the E-Myth Revisited
  • Put together your operating manual
  • Understand you costs
  • Create an operating agreement defining who will do what
  • Stick to your operating agreement
  • Understand Cash Flow

 

Please email me, comment below, contact me on LinkedIn, Twitter, or my Facebook page to share your Lessons Learned in operating a business.

 

And, as always, let me know what you think in the comments. Ask questions, tell your story.

If you like my posts, please share them with others and subscribe to this blog.

Posted on

Personal Improvement-Why a “Why Me?” Attitude Doesn’t Help

Apologies for the sporadic posting. I kind of have a little more than usual to deal with. A few weeks ago I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. And I go under the knife tomorrow morning to have it removed. It was caught very early and the outlook is very good. I busied myself getting work, home, and other segments of my life prepared to weather my hopefully short recovery.

Because I have this going on in my life, I decided to take the opportunity to go over handling bad news or adverse situations.

StillLifeWithASkull
“Still Life With A Skull” By Philippe de Champaigne – Web Gallery of Art:   Image  Info about artwork, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=369918

Why ME?

What is the first thought that comes to mind when something bad happens to you?

Do you immediately think “Why ME?” Do you look for reasons, actions, or people external to yourself to place the blame for the bad news?

 

I used to. My first thought would be “Why do I have such bad luck?” or “What did I do to deserve this?”

I eventually realized that no matter how much I worried or wondered or looked for blame, it did not better the situation.

 

Why “Why ME?” Doesn’t Work

The only thing to come out of it was that I added anxiety and stress on myself. This is not good for a  person mentally or physically.

I think part of my realization of this was when I was about eleven or twelve years old. My parents were divorced and my father would arrange to take us for the weekend. Then he would not show up. After many times of packing a bag for the weekend, waiting all weekend for my dad to show up, then, on Sunday night, unpacking the bag because Dad never showed up or called, I finally realized that there was nothing I could do about it, so there was no point in making myself sick worrying about it.

 

I was a much happier person once I gave up worrying if he was going to show up or not. I reasoned, to myself, “He is still my dad. I will still love him. But I won’t trust or rely on him to make me happy.”

This approach of not allowing worry or anxiety to add stress to your life is very similar to the Serenity Prayer.

My take on the Serenity Prayer is:

Change the things you can

Don’t worry about the things you can’t

 

MementoMori

Memento Mori

Another way to approach this is as Stoics do…remind yourself daily of your mortality. There are variations on how to do it, but most involve asking yourself if any of what is bothering you will matter when you are dead.

It also helps to keep ego out of any decisions.

 

Tying back into what I currently have going on, I can’t influence the outcome of this surgery. The “after” will be only slightly different from my current lifestyle. A few more pills added to my daily regimen, the same doctor overseeing my diabetic care will also oversee my thyroid care (he is a top endocrinologist).

I am lucky because I only have thyroid cancer. It is slow-growing, does not spread like other cancers, and we found it very early, by accident.  I currently have at least 5 friends that I can recall off of the top of my head who are dealing with various types of more serious cancers that could be/are life-threatening, in the near-term.

 

In summary, if you take anything away from this post, follow these rules for life:

Change the things you can

Don’t worry about the things you can’t

 

And, as always, let me know what you think in the comments. Ask questions, tell your story.

If you like my posts, please share them with others and subscribe to this blog.

Posted on

Personal Finance – What Can I invest In?

This week we are talking about different types of investments that you can utilize to better your personal finances. I’ll briefly touch on traditional investments (stocks, bonds, etc.), investing directly into a business, and various forms of real estate investing.

Additionally, I would like to give a shout-out to @DeliberateKevin for the guest post last week. Go check out Deliberate Consulting.

FinChart1

“Traditional” Investments

Traditional investments are what most people usually think of when they think of “Investing”. This can be stocks, bonds, Exchange Traded Funds (ETF), etc.

There are three main approaches you can use:

  • Investment Advisor
  • Robo Advisor
  • DIY

TraditionalInvestingRiskChart

Investment advisors usually handle clients’ money for a fee. In most cases, that fee is a percentage of the total portfolio balance. Additionally, unless the advisor has a fiduciary duty to you, the investor, they may push you towards investments where they get better or additional commissions, as opposed to investments with less fees and/or commissions involved. Also, you need a sizable balance to start your account, say, in excess of $500,000.

 

Robo Advisors are basically algorithms that select the best investments based for you based on many criteria. They usually invest in ETFs and can automatically do things like rebalance portfolios, automate tax loss harvesting, etc.  They tend to operate on a fractional percentage commission, meaning that they are usually cheaper than a full-blown human investment advisor. Robo Advisors will also allow you to start an account with a much lower balance than a traditional financial advisor, with some allowing you to open an account with no money, though you will need to put money in to invest.

 

DIY or Do It Yourself is another approach you can take. It costs you no fees other than trade fees and you don’t need a large balance to start. But, you will have to spend a lot of time researching your investments and deciding where to put your money. You can start with as little as the price of a single share of stock and the trade fee.

 

I would like to know more about my readers. If you could spare about 2 minutes of your time, please take a survey to tell me what you like about the blog. Just click here to take the survey.

 

Direct Business Investment

 

You can invest into a business outside of stock. This can be in the form of buying a franchise, buying a share of an existing business, or even taking your non-retirement account money and opening a business. A word of caution: Be sure to perform thorough due diligence into any business you invest in like this and if investing with partner(s), ensure you have a sound operating agreement in place and that everyone abides by it.

See more on starting a business with partners: BUSINESS STARTUP: 9 TIPS FOR STARTING A SMALL BUSINESS WITH PARTNERS

 

If you only have retirement account funds available, either from a 401k from an previous job or an IRA (Individual Retirement Account), you have the option to buy or start a business using those funds through a Rollover Business Startup (ROBS) transaction, also known as Business Owner Retirement Savings Account (BORSA). This allows you to utilize the money you have saved to start a business without incurring taxes or penalty. There are specific restrictions that go along with it and it has to be administered by a qualified group. Companies like DRDA and MySolo401k can help you deal with this type of thing.

FinChart2

 

Real Estate

 

The last type of investing option I am going to talk about is real estate. As I have talked about before, I like investing in real estate, in addition to other types of investing. Real Estate has options that range from very hands-on and intensive involvement to very passive hands-off approaches.

 

Direct Investment – Real Estate

If you have money sitting around, or you decide you want to follow the Tim Ferriss approach and dreamline a muse to support real estate investing, you have lots of options.

You can wholesale, which is finding people with a need or desire to sell a property that doesn’t qualify for traditional financing or need the funds in a short time period (need a quick closing).

You can Fix and Flip. This involves buying a distressed property at 30% or more below market value (where market value is considered the after-repair value or ARV) and rehabilitating the property, then selling it at or near market value.

You can also buy and hold, the term for investors that buy property with the intention of renting it out over the long term. Generally, these investors like to acquire their properties in a similar state to the Fix and Flip investors, but do not sell the properties.

A less well-known approach is to invest in Notes. These are mortgages that the banks sell off at a discount to get their capital back & re-deploy it in another loan. There are note funds in addition to you being able to buy notes directly.

Most note funds require that you be a sophisticated investor. No, that does not mean that you have to drink your tea with your pinky out and wear a three-piece suit every day. It is a category defined by the government as having an income of $200,000/year if single, $300,000 if married, OR $1,000,000 in net worth, not including your primary residence.

 

Self-Directed IRA – Real Estate

Like the ROBS/BORSA methodologies mentioned above for direct business investments, there is a self-directed IRA (SDIRA) that can be used to invest in real estate. They can be used to buy investment properties or, in some cases, to actually BE a “bank” of sorts.

Some caveats with using an SDIRA to buy investment property: You cannot take advantage of depreciation on the property, so you lose out on some tax benefits; You cannot receive any immediate benefit from the investment. All returns from the investment belong to the SDIRA.

 

Another option is to become a private lender. Basically, you are becoming the bank, lending money on a short-term basis, to a real estate investor. They benefit from quicker and usually cheaper closings and you as the lender benefit from the interest earned by lending the money, which usually is more than you will make in the bank or other investments.

 

Hopefully giving you this overview of different types of investing will help further your knowledge and be a starting point for your own investigation into how best to invest your money.

 

 

And, as always, let me know what you think in the comments. Ask questions, tell your story.

If you like my posts, please share them with others and subscribe to this blog.

Posted on

Personal Improvement -Inigo’s Guide to Networking Success (A Guest Post by kevin@deliberateconsulting.com)

 

This week I am bringing you a guest post from Kevin Paylow (kevin@deliberateconsulting.com), Consultant & Corporate Storyteller, Certified Corporate Storytelling Instructor, Innovation Consultant, Message Consultant, Strategy Consultant. 

https://www.deliberateconsulting.com/

 

I saw this meme on Facebook and thought it was too good not to pass along.

IGTNS

 

Plus what kind of maniac doesn’t enjoy a good Inigo Montoya cultural reference?

But the advice here is great… though points 3 and 4 need to be fleshed out a bit.

Your personal link probably isn’t “You killed my Father”. Instead consider sharing WHY you’re at this particular networking event.

Except for some extreme situations, “Prepare to die” isn’t the best way to manage expectations. Instead tell them how you hope you can both benefit from meeting.

“Hello. My name is Kevin Paylow. I came to meet and hear the latest thinking from other innovators. I’d like to learn about you and your business and see if there’s a way for us to work together.”

Of course, this is just your introduction. I recommend planning ahead for extending the conversation – read this blog post I wrote a few months ago for some ideas.

Good luck!

Kev

 

Posted on

REI – An Unstructured List of Why Real Estate Investors Attend REIA Meetings:

 

This week, I am covering REIAs. I will go over what a REIA is, how REIAs can benefit you if you are interested in investing in real estate, and how to find a REIA in your area. I will also provide details on how to find out about the REIA for the Houma/Thibodaux/Morgan City area.

 

REIA stands for Real Estate Investor Association. This is a group of like-minded individuals who get together to learn about, discuss, and network over Real Estate Investing.

 

What is a REIA?

 

REIA stands for Real Estate Investor Association. This is a group of like-minded individuals who get together to learn about, discuss, and network over Real Estate Investing. From my experience, REIAs are for anyone with an interest in Real Estate Investing (REI), from rank “noobs” to experienced real estate investors.

Meetings usually cover a topic for education on some aspect of Real Estate Investing, such as Tax implications (by an accountant), things to include in your lease (by a real estate attorney), and ensuring a property has a clear title (by a title expert).

Real estate investors also get the opportunity to network with one another. This provides opportunity to learn from each other and can also facilitate deal making. Investors have the opportunity to buy, sell, or trade deals with each other.

Some REIAs do charge a meeting attendance fee to cover a room rental and/or snacks and refreshments while others are in freely available spaces. Some are also held in meeting rooms at restaurants where in exchange for bringing in the group to eat, the room is available for use.

 

 

I would like to know more about my readers. If you could spare about 2 minutes of your time, please take a survey to tell me what you like about the blog. Just click here to take the survey.

 

 

What can a REIA do for ME?

 

REIAs are a place to learn. They provide education on many different real estate topics. As stated above, many REIAs bring in subject matter experts to present to the group. These experts are also available for Q & A.

Some REIAs have sponsors who provide REI-specific services, so that allows members to save time in finding said services. These range from title companies to construction contractors & beyond.

There are also likely to be wholesalers at meetings with properties that are for sale at a discount, in addition to investors shuffling their properties.

 

How can I find a REIA?

 

A lot of REIAs use Meetup.com to list and promote REIA meetings. Go there and search for REIA and your town name. You can set a radius distance from your target location so it will show meetups within that range, in the event there is a meeting in the next town over. When you find one you want to join, join the group and RSVP for the next meeting. It’s as easy as that.

 

Are you in the Houma/Thibodaux/Morgan City area?

 

If you are in the Houma/Thibodaux/Morgan City area, you are cordially invited to join the Bayou Real Estate Investor Networking group. Meetings are usually held on the first Wednesday of the month. Go to the BREIN Meetup page for more information.

 

And, as always, let me know what you think in the comments. Ask questions, tell your story.

 

If you like my posts, please share them with others and subscribe to this blog.

Posted on

Personal Finance – How NOT To Spend Your Money

Welcome back!

This week I am going to go over how NOT to spend your money. There are lots of good things to spend money on, but I continually observe people spending money so they can feel like they are keeping up with the Joneses or because they “deserve” it. And avoid misunderstanding, I am not advocating frugality, just better decision-making when spending money.

 

Everyday Observations

 

Bad spending habits observed recently:

Withdraw money from an old 401k account to go on vacation

Spending money to set up a business, but with no initial business activity

 

Early 401k Withdrawal

If you have money in an old 401k, use it for the intended purpose: Savings for retirement! It is understandable if you have a hardship and need the money to help deal with that, but just pulling the money out to go on vacation is a bit ridiculous. In addition to diminishing the amount of money to be available at retirement, you also have to pay a penalty on the money you withdraw, in addition to taxes at your current rate.

 

401kEarlyWithdrawal
Amount needed to withdraw from old 401k to get $8000 for a vacation.

 

As an example, assuming a 24% tax bracket, if you want to use $8000 to go on vacation, you will need to pull out almost $13,000 to cover the $1,290 penalty and approximately $3,097 of taxes to end up with $8000 to go on vacation.

Not only do you lose 34% off of the top of your money, you also loose any additional earnings by not having that total amount of money still invested.

 

I would like to know more about my readers. If you could spare about 2 minutes of your time, please take a survey to tell me what you like about the blog. Just click here to take the survey.

 

Setting Up a Business Entity with no Business Activity

I understand the desire to get out of the rat race, to start your own business, and not have to work for someone else. I am right there with you! But take a practical approach. Take a practical approach. I see people starting up LLC entities, putting up websites, and paying for business infrastructure before they have any business activity. That is definitely putting the cart before the horse. If you spend that money, but do nothing in the way of generating business, then that is a wasted expense.

You would do better spending money on actual business-generating activities than paying for infrastructure before you need it.

 

Suggestions

 

Vacations

Plan your vacation as inexpensively as possible. Don’t skimp, just don’t pay $1200 a night for a room when you can rent a whole condominium or home for $110 per night in the same area.

Carry snacks and drinks with you so you don’t have to pay $4-$5 a person for snacks and $3-$4 per person for drinks. No need to carry enough for the whole day, but if you can save $28-$36 for one round of snacks & drinks a day, that cuts your total expense.

Save money until you have enough to go on vacation.

 

Businesses

Start your business on minimal infrastructure. Start conducting business now, then add infrastructure as you really need it.

Have a detailed realistic business plan. Plan out costs, expenses, margin, target audience, etc. Know these things before starting your business, much less spending money on infrastructure.

Hopefully these suggestions helped you out. Please comment here with any questions or suggestions regarding tips, tricks, and ideas for judicious spending.

 

And, as always, let me know what you think in the comments. Ask questions, tell your story.

 

 

 

If you like my posts, please share them with others and subscribe to this blog.

Posted on

Automation: Good Signs Ahead for Automation in the Oil & Gas Industry?

 

I would like to know more about my readers. If you could spare about 2 minutes of your time, please take a survey to tell me what you like about the blog. Just click here to take the survey.

 

AFOPlot1
Hydraulics-Focused Drilling Data

 

This week is a quick post about what may be an interesting trend in the US Land Oil & Gas Sector…Interest in Automation and Optimization technologies to increase efficiencies. I have a theory on why. AND, #Disclaimer, I mention the service offering I work with.

 

Historic Interest in Automation

 

Historically, there are always early adopters for technology, and the oilfield is no different. You have a few entities that want to be on the cutting edge of everything, a few tire kickers, and the majority don’t want to spend any money until something is proven to them. Such is the case with automation and optimization, from the perspective of the offering we have (BaraLogix Equipment & Services).

 

Offshore

 

We initially provided the optimization and event detection service offshore. This was before the equipment was ready to ready to be deployed commercially. Actually, it was still in development. We had a few jobs here and there, but not a lot of buy-in. Even with customers that benefitted from significant value from it, it seemed the response was always something similar to “Maybe you actually did help us achieve our goals, but maybe it was something else…” or “We don’t have the authority to sign off on this case history saying that you brought us value.”

So we did jobs here and there, but  there was never a consistency to the work.

 

Land

 

As far as land work was concerned, due to different economics, the service was always outside the client’s budget. In fact, the only time we did provide the service on land, at least in the US, was when conducting trials of the equipment.

 

Fast-forward to today…

 

We now have customers in the US Land area that are interested in what the service and equipment can provide them. There are three jobs starting up in the next three weeks or so that are a mix of the combined equipment & services or just the standalone service.

 

My thoughts jump to “Why now?”

 

What I suspect is that over the last 3-plus years, operators have been increasing their efficiencies to stay relevant at lower oil prices. And possibly they have plateaued. Now, they want to take that next step and increase efficiencies even more. I think that may play a big part in the sudden interest in our equipment and services.

 

What do YOU think could be driving this?

 

And, as always, let me know what you think in the comments. Ask questions, tell your story.

 

If you like my posts, please share them with others and subscribe to this blog.

Posted on

Personal Improvement – Books That Have Influenced Me Recently

BookList
Books That Influenced Me

 

I would like to know more about my readers. If you could spare about 2 minutes of your time,  please take a survey to tell me what you like about the blog. Just click here to take the survey.

 

Welcome back to another installment of Things I Think About! This week I am going to go over a few books that I have read recently that have had an impact. While some of them cover a mix of topics, to me, they mostly fall into one topic. Because of this, I will break them out by topic and detail the crossover topics, and why I feel that way, for each book I also have them listed separately on my Recommended Books page, HERE.

 

Business

The E Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber

This book speaks to my soul! I “read” the Audible version, (as I do most books due to my 3-hour plus daily commute), recorded by Michael Gerber himself. This book details why a lot of “Entrepreneurs” find themselves overworked, underpaid, and without the ability to grow. It is an interleaved mix of example stories with lessons explaining about each story. The main focus of the book is to explain why developing processes and systems for operating your business will allow you to employ other people to work IN the business so you can work ON the business.

 

The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss

A young Tim Ferriss relates how he figured out how to not be locked into common misconception of the American Dream…go to school, get a good job, work like a slave for 20-30-40 years, then retire at an age where there is a good chance that you will have trouble enjoying life. In the 4-Hour Workweek, he details the concepts of mini-retirements, becoming effective and efficient in whatever you do for work, and ideas for small businesses that require little to no maintenance to support you on an ongoing basis.

Granted, as even pointed out in the book, the goal is not to be able to lay on the beach drinking mai tais, it is to free you up to do the things you want to do, including world travel, learning languages, and/or working with non-profit organizations.

This book also qualifies as a personal Improvement book, because a lot of the recommendations for efficiency and effectiveness while working have helped me to reduce a lot of stress at my main job.

 

Rich Dad’s Cash Flow Quadrant by Robert Kyosaki

This book breaks out the different classifications of people earning money. ESBI stands for Employees, someone who works for someone else to make money, Self-Employed, a person working for themselves to make money, Business Owners, owning a business & employing other people, and Investors, those who employ their capital to buy assets. It promotes the idea to be either a business owner or, ultimately, an investor, as this usually provides the best returns on time & money.

 

Personal Improvement

The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday is a devoted Stoic. He has multiple books and a website dedicated to Stoicism. This book is kind of a manual for achievement. I really enjoy it because it basically lays out my philosophy on life. The short version is “Do what you can to change the things you don’t like in your life…Ignore the things you can’t change.” The Obstacle is the Way takes it a step further in that it guides you to figure out how to change either the situation or your thinking about the “things you can’t change”.

 

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kyosaki

Robert Kyosaki tells the story of how he grew up a poor kid, but due to the tutelage of a friend’s father, learned to become a businessman. The book is a simple read but puts forth important concepts…assets are only assets if they will make you money, don’t spend foolishly, and educate yourself to grow. There is also a good bit of advice on real estate investment as a vehicle to become wealthy.

 

Principles by Ray Dalio

Ray Dalio is one of the richest men in the world and got that way by building one of the top hedge fund management companies, Bridgewater Associates. In Principles, he relates his lis life and how he got to where he is, developing his principles for business and personal life as an operating system along the way. This is another Audible entry where the author reads the book to you. It works.

 

Real Estate Investing

Long Distance Real Estate Investing by David Greene

While I don’t invest in real estate outside of my back yard, (for now), this book is incredibly useful as a guide of how to do things. The methodologies and techniques laid out here will work even in a local market. It’s a mix of strategies, tools, and tips to be successful.

 

The Book on Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner

This book is a thorough primer for anyone wanting to get into rental properties as an investment. It covers everything from finding properties to rehab tips and beyond.

 

The Book on Managing Rental Properties by Brandon Turner and Heather Turner

Hmmm…the title sounds a bit familiar…YES! This is the follow-up book to The Book on Rental Property Investing. It picks up where the previous book left off and takes a deeper dive into what you need to do to manage properties successfully.

 

Loopholes of Real Estate Investing by Garrett Sutton, Rich Dad Advisor

Another Audible author read, Loopholes covers the benefits of and hazards to watch out for when investing in real estate. I have probably listened to this book at least 6 times…right up there with the 4-Hour Workweek and The E Myth revisited. Lots of great advice.

 

And, as always, let me know what you think in the comments. Ask questions, tell your story.

 

If you like my posts, please share them with others and subscribe to this blog.

Posted on

Holiday Lighting – The Automation Technology Used to Run a Show

CMB-24D-Angled
RGB and AC Controller Boards

Welcome back this week. I would still like to understand what you like about this blog and would appreciate you taking this short survey. You can probably finish it in under two minutes. Just click here to take the survey.

Today, I am going to discuss the automation technology that I use to run our holiday light shows. I am using this as motivation to get moving on building additional props for my Halloween show because I have to get it built, then add sequencing to cover the new element in addition to trying to add a new song or two.

SequencingPumpkins
Sequencing View

There are quite a few options for making lights go “blinky-blinky”, but the one I have settled on to start out with is manufactured by a company called Light-O-Rama.  They have lots of options to choose from, so no matter if you are a beginner or an experienced enthusiast, they have products to get you going.

Controller-AC
16 ch. AC Controller

Controllers

There are various things you can do to make your holiday light decorations blink. The first thing I experienced was the “blinker bulb”. It was a special bulb that, when inserted into a string of Christmas lights, made them blink.

The next option that came along was lights with a special controller built into the string that gave you options blinking and shimmering. Other products were a box pre-programmed with songs and they blinked the lights in time with the music but was in no way synchronized with the music as a show. There are also LED bulb strings that change from white to multicolor to blinking multi-color depending on the number of times you press the button on the wireless remote control.

These are all options we have incorporated into our holiday lighting display along the years, with the exception of the preprogrammed music box prior to getting started with the animated light show synchronized to music.

Our first controller was a sixteen channel AC controller. This allowed us to have 16 different light show elements or sets of elements turning on and off, synchronized with music. It is able to handle incandescent and/or LED light strings.

We next added a second AC controller and a twenty-four channel RGB controller. RGB stands for Red, Green, Blue, the three primary color components of a RGB light. By varying the intensity of each component, it changes the color that the RGB element puts out. This is also known as a “Dumb RGB” controller. Since each channel controls a single color in an RGB element, twenty-four channels can control eight RGB elements.

We then added a third sixteen channel AC controller to our setup, giving us a total of forty-eight AC channels and a grand total of seventy-two channels with the RGB controller.

This year, in the off season, we added a second twenty-four channel RGB controller. The plan is to use it to control a  dancing skeleton, my above-mentioned prop I need to build.

Lights

We use a mix of incandescent, LED, and RGB lights (flood lights and RGB strips) in our show. LEDs work out great due to the low power consumption.

We go shopping on the day after Christmas each year to pick up new and backup lights for the show at a 70%-90% discount off of retail pricing. It helps to keep the cost of putting on the show down.

Cables

We initially used extension cords to hook everything up, but it started getting expensive as we added more channels, not to mention that they are bulky and heavy.

SPT1WirePlugs

We now mainly use SPT-1 wire (16-gauge speaker wire) along with vampire plugs to run power to each string of lights.

Automating the Show

Our goal, once we started using the light controllers, was that the show would be totally automated…meaning we would not need to turn it on and off every day. We also wanted to be able to have visitors be able to hear the music, but not have the music bother my neighbors.

So we added a standalone “miniDirector” to run the show and a FM transmitter.

The miniDirector has the sequences and songs saved on a SD card. When the power is turned on by the timer, the miniDirector starts running the show in a loop. It outputs the audio to the FM transmitter so viewers can hear the music right in their cars and it outputs the sequencing signals to the controller via serial connection using cat-5 cable. All the controllers are linked together in this way.

Now the show runs at the programmed time with no need to keep a separate computer running to drive it.

Well that about wraps it up for what we use to automate our holiday light show. Below are videos of some of the sequences:

Videos

This is Halloween – Full

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tpE76pop3o]

Carol of the Bells – Full

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzFTO-pTNug]

Dragula – Full

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9ig8tNIxUc]

This is Halloween – Clip

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l06qcycc648?start=166]

And, as always, let me know what you think in the comments. Ask questions, tell your story.

If you like my posts, please share them with others and subscribe to this blog.

Verified by MonsterInsights