What Everybody Ought to Know About Overall Strategy

G’day all

Happy Friday, I can attest to the theory that lockdowns certainly do not make the weeks drag on!  Maybe this next 6 weeks of stage 4 here in Melbourne will go with a blink of an eye…?

Or maybe I am just being hopeful.

Speaking of being hopeful, I keep watching each of Dan’s press conferences for that one statement that is bound to come… I’m sorry… right?

“Dear Victorians,

 I am sorry.  I am sorry that our half arsed ridiculous brain-fart of a quarantine policy failed.  I am sorry for all the businesses that are now forced to close, the tens of thousands that will lose their jobs and livelihoods, and the ramifications that will be felt throughout the county.  

I am sorry to the hundreds of people in Victoria per day that will contract this virus, and those who die from it… 

We screwed up. Every other state got it right, NZ got it right, we knew what we should have done, but failed to do it…

Regards, Dan.”

It’s bound to be shortly right?  Right??!

No, of course not.  Because politicians never say anything like that.  It just will not get them re-elected…

It wouldn’t be so bad, if even after it had all failed, there was a plan, a strategy in place to get it right.  To correct the error…

But no, we get nothing.  Just tougher and tougher restrictions based on yesterday’s case levels.

I am tired of the completely knee-jerk reactions this government has shown in making up policy as they go.

What is the right number of cases that will allow us to get back to our lives Daniel?  What happens after these 6 weeks if we are still seeing triple digit infections?  Do we lock down for longer?  Are we releasing in 6 weeks regardless of case levels?

If cases drop, and we release, and they spike again (likely scenario) do we lock down a third time…?

Where is the plan, the strategy to reopen Victoria, to protect the vulnerable from this virus and allow people’s lives to go on, rather than this complete uncertainty and unknown future we face now?

I had better link this back to property investing, lest be accused of political ploys, but you certainly would not buy a property with no plan.

You most certainly would not purchase, with the idea of… “Well, lets buy it then see what happens once we settle…”

Or at least I certainly hope you would not.

No, you would have a clearly mapped out strategy, knowing that you were planning on renovation, then tenanting, or selling etc.  You would even know the market you were going to pitch the property to once complete (investors or owner occupiers).  Then everything you did inside that property would be to get you closer to your goal at the end… the outcome of your strategy.

You would even have contingencies within the strategy to say that if “X’ was to happen, then this is what we will do…

You do not make this stuff up on the fly.  That is not a strategy for a successful investment, instead, that is ensuring failure.

One of my favourite quotes, which I am not sure can be attributed to any one person in particular, but is reported to have been said by Benjamin Franklin all the way through to Winston Churchill is “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”

BEFORE you begin making decisions, investing, even creating political policy, ensure you have your full strategy mapped out.  Make sure you know EXACTLY what you are planning to do, what the consequences will be and what the contingencies are if things do not go to plan.

Do NOT be like Dan…

Hold firm Victorian’s we will get through this.  We have survived bush fires, droughts, floods, hailstorms and more… we can certainly survive the Victorian Labour party…

You got this!

Happy Investing all!!