The art of the deal

A friend lent me a book recently titled: How to Get Rich. The author is Donald Trump. The book was written in 2004 about the time when Trump was hosting the incredibly popular TV show The Apprentice. The book was largely panned by critics, many who saw it as being self-serving and egotistical. To some extent it is, but there are some interesting insights given that it was written 12 years ago and much water has passed under the bridge...

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Looking back for guidance

I was very sorry to read that South Wairarapa farmer Alex Benton has lost the farm that had been in his family for seven generations. Mr. Benton had bought the property off his father, worked hard and was eventually debt free, but an irrigation system incurred inexplicable cost overruns which meant that he eventually found himself nearly $5 million in default. The bank foreclosed, sold the property for $3.5 million and left Benton bankrupt,...

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Shedding worldly goods

We recently shifted into a new home. We’ve downsized; not too much, we still have three bedrooms and two bathrooms, but in the process we have lost an extra living room, an art studio and an office. My desktop computer is now stationed in one of the bedrooms and instead of a two-car garage we now have what was described by the seller’s agent as being a one-and-a-half car garage. I have seen a half-car; I recall a stunt on Candid Camera...

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Wonderfully made in Taiwan

An old friend has died. Shine Leu’s family emailed me last week to say their 66 year-old much loved husband and father had lost his battle with cancer. Back in 1996 I was involved in helping to set up home for the Taiwanese family who had decided to immigrate to New Zealand and settle in Masterton. Shine Leu and his wife Lin Chen and their two sons Robin and David were encouraged here by the board of Masterton Business Enterprise to grow...

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