How Many P's Does It Really Take?

 September 22, 2021

The Four P's of Marketing

We have all heard of the 4 P's of Marketing. Or, maybe we haven't. Some of us have. As you can see in the image above they are Product, Price, Promotion, Place. According to Investopedia.com these are the key takeaways:

• The four Ps are the four essential factors involved in marketing a good or service to the public.
• These are the four Ps: the product (the good or service), the price (what the consumer pays), the place (the location where a product is marketed), and promotion (the advertising).
• The concept of the four Ps has been around since the 1950s; as the marketing industry has evolved, the concepts of people, process, and physical evidence have become important components of marketing a product, too.

The Product

Can it be so simple? Can we bring it down to just 4 P's? I challenge that thinking and have come up with the 32 P's of an investment. I wonder if 32 is enough? Being I already have 32 we'll just go with that. 

So, here are the 32 P's of an Investment:

To properly prepare projections, we push to perform profitably while preventing pitfalls. Protection of principal is paramount. Perhaps, with proper principles and promotion, we can present a plethora of properties with potential profit. Providing a proven potpourri of possibilities, we can be pragmatic to properly avoid problematic and pretentious people and personalities. Interest will be peaked when we have piqued their interest. 

Perfect

Let's break this down a bit:

1. Properly Prepare Projections: When we dive into a property a bit of analysis goes into the project. We want to make sure we have sourced the comparable sales, do a rent survey to make sure we understand what the market will bear for market rents, determine to what level of repairs and upgrade we need to bring the property to get these rents, determine the cost of money (loan and equity) and make sure we have a good handle on the finances so we know what the property has historically had for expenses as well as what the expectations are for after our takeover. 
2. Push to Perform Profitably: We make sure we set the timelines for bringing the property to full performance. By collapsing timelines wherever feasible we can shorten the time on a higher interest bridge loan and ultimately deliver a higher return to the investors. 
3. Preventing Pitfalls: Now, don't go and assume there are no pitfalls. That would be foolish. The magic is knowing how to handle them as they come. In our due diligence we do all we can to prevent them from happening. Once we accept the property we are "all in" and now must be able to address any which come up. A great example for Thunder Mountain is the covered windows we uncovered. By putting our eyes on the problem and through discussion of our shared purpose, we came up with a solution which will not be more costly than our original plan. 
   
   
   
   A Blank Slate
   
   
4. Protection of Principal is Paramount: The capital invested in the project must be properly protected. We do this by keeping a close eye on capital outlay throughout the project. Our asset management makes sure we are on time and within budget. Our project management makes sure we can fill units as quickly as possible to create cashflow. And, as soon as possible we push for a refinance to bring in a lower cost loan and replace some, or even all, the equity in a deal. 
5. Proper Principles and Promotion: The simplest answer to this is one I have heard: "Say what you are going to do and then do what you said you would do." And, after a project is complete we can rinse and repeat on a future deal. Done. Next. 
6. Plethora of Properties with Potential Profit: Now, this one will be hard to fulfill in the current market conditions. Good thing I included the word "perhaps". No promises of a plethora short-term. However, real estate is cyclical so deals will be plentiful in the future. When? We don't really know but my best guess is 2027. Be patient people!
7. Proven Potpourri of Possibilities: THIS is where we can shine. With the current demand for housing we can get creative. You know, just like we did with the Quality Inn in Sierra Vista. Thunder Mountain. What's next? Shopping malls? Office buildings? Our work and buying habits are changing which will likely drum up new clever and creative opportunities. 
8. Be Pragmatic to Properly avoid Problematic and Pretentious People and Personalities: Wow. That was a mouthful. One of our requirements here at Bakerson is we have to like you. So simple. We are always working to attract like-minded individuals to take this journey with us. 
9. Interest will be Peaked when we have Piqued their interest: Now this may be the most profound statement here. People so often misuse or even misunderstand "peaked" vs "piqued". To "pique" interest does not mean to be at the pinnacle of interest. Rather, it means to stimulate. 

The Place

Here is an interesting observation: Of the 4 P's of Marketing I only used one - Promotion. And, I found more "P" words which I used in the explanation: Perfect. Project. Process. Promise Pinnacle. Public. Pays. Plentiful. Patient. Push. Profound. And of course the 3 additional from the marketing principle: Price. Product. Place.

If someone goes back and points out the word "physical" gently remind them that it would be more appropriate to be in the "f" category. Which reminds me, I mentioned over the weekend that my niece Fiona should really consider spelling it "Pheonnah". 

And that is our project from my corner of the globe ~Bruce