Grant Cardone's Success Blog

AUTO DEALERS CRITICAL TO YOUR CITY'S TAX REVENUE
by Grant Cardone

(The Car-Done Bill, below, has already been viewed by over one million people. Please forward this to every auto dealer you know and your state representatives so that auto dealers are properly represented in Washington.)

Retail auto dealers are critical and vital to the survival of your city, county, and state tax revenues. This country's economy is ultimately more dependent upon the survival of your local auto dealer than even the much publicized auto manufacturers. Without dealers buying and selling product no plan to assist the manufactures will be successful.

Auto dealers generate the much needed revenue to city, county and state budgets with some municipalities receiving as much as 30% of all tax revenue from the tax revenue generated from auto sales. Newspaper, TV and radio advertising are dependent upon the dollars auto dealers spend in order to fill their papers and ad time.

Auto dealers represent main street-middle class America providing over one million managerial, mechanics, technicians and sales positions. These jobs range from minimum wage to very high paying management salaries including bonuses and commissions providing for incomes at the middle-class level that would not be otherwise available.

In 2008, 128 car dealerships closed in the state of California while registrations of new cars and light trucks declined 23%. The much depended upon tax revenue dropped as much as 30% in some of those cities.

If car dealers are unable to purchase new cars from the manufacturers the factories will reduce output, entire industries dependent upon manufactures will fail, more jobs will be lost and more importantly, cities dependent upon that tax revenue will bleed red ink. This will negatively impact those services we all take for granted such as schools, hospitals, police and fire departments, teachers salaries, water systems, utilities and more.

Auto dealers are some of the best and most basic examples of the entrepreneurial spirit in this country and as they succeed or fail so does middle class America and the infrastructure of the cities we live.

'The Car-Done Bill' proposes that Auto Dealers with be provided immediate but temporary federal tax credits for any and all new or used car purchases for the entire year of 2009. Consumers would also be provided with temporary tax credits up to 15,000. These incentives would create a tremendous and practical stimulus, pumping much needed tax dollars into the city and state coffers without costing the American taxpayer a dime. This is not a bail out this is a stimulus. Remember without the tax revenues municipalities around the country will further strain the Federal Government because when communities run out of money they go to the state and when the state runs out they go to the Federal Government. The financial viability of the city and state you live in depend on the financial health of your local retail car dealers.

Grant Cardone, is NOT an Auto Dealer but a Concerned Citizen

CLICK HERE TO SEE Grant Fight for Auto Dealers on Fox TV

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Individual households and businesses have a majority of their attention on how to cut expenses, but that will not IMPROVE their financial situation during a recession. In fact, if you only cut expenses and do nothing else, you will actually get further behind. You MUST find ways to increase revenue for your household and your business as this is the only way to improve your financial situation. The government will not be able to bail out the common man.

It is critical that your money, energy, resources and time be invested in projects that add to the revenue of your household or your company. If there is no potential to add revenue, then DO NOT do it. If it has the potential to drive revenue, sales, or income-- do it and do it over and over again!

Also do NOT pass on any opportunity to drive revenue even if you have to make allowances that you would not have considered in other years. We are in a "new world" and it may require for you to do some things you would not have done in the "old world". This may include the price you are willing to accept for your product or service or even a job you may have to take to keep moving your finances in the right direction. Don't let your pride get in the way of keeping the flow of income moving in the right direction!

Also, you have many resources other than money, and they need to be leveraged. Some of these include time, focus, attitude, willingness, work ethic, creativity, your family, your name, reputation, connections, and more. The recession has not affected your most valuable assets, so you must use them.

In 2009 be willing to do the following:

1) Do those things that other households or businesses are UNWILLING to do. Go where others will not go and do what others refuse to do. Those that do will survive, and those that do not will find themselves in a worsening state of financial affairs. Maybe the kids need to contribute by washing cars or your employees are following people home in order to make "the sale". Be willing to do what others are unwilling to do so that your financial situation doesn't go backwards.

2) Seek out problems to solve. Most people retreat in the face of problems when the reality is that problems are opportunities. Those that solve problems for others in the upcoming year will be rewarded. There is no shortage of problems, which means there is no shortage of opportunities. Let's say you have a vacant foreclosure in your neighborhood. Bring together the other neighbors and create a TIC, (tenant in common), and purchase the house and rent it out. This will protect your neighborhood, the pricing of your real estate, provide all of you with income and position you and your neighbors with the potential for future profits.

3) Keep your attention on what you can do to move yourself, your family and your business forward regardless of what the economy or the government does. You can only cut your budgets so much before you will realize that you have to produce in order to protect yourself. What you focus on is what you get. So stay focused on what you can DO instead of what you should stop doing!!

Grant Cardone, Author of "Sell to Survive". 800-368-5771 // gc@grantcardone.com

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Recessions Are For Economies,
Not Individuals...
by Grant Cardone

The television, the radio and the economist continue to report how much is wrong with the American Economy and then viewers and listeners go into agreement with the reports and make the bad news reported become reality for themselves. I have been through about nine of these so called pullbacks over my life-time and have survived every one of them! Here is some data you need:

Recession is defined as a temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity are reduced, generally identified by a fall in production over two successive quarters.

If you don't personally have a temporary decline or fall in production it means you would not have a recession. RECESSIONS ARE FOR ECONOMIES NOT FOR INDIVIDUALS.

A recession does not mean every individual need participate or that YOU personally have to be impacted. I personally have no intention of being involved in this reported bad news and I refuse to participate with any and all economic declines, pullbacks or shrinkage of any sort. You don't have to participate either if you don't choose to! But in order not to participate you must act differently from the masses of people and do whatever is necessary not to have a decline or fall in your production.

Just remember, what happens to "all people" or even "most people" does not mean it has to happen to you. Just because John and Bob get in a fight at the local bar on Friday night does not mean you have to wake up with a black eye on Saturday morning.

Here is a trick I use to insure I don't participate with pull backs! Look around at what most people are doing and don't do what they do. Those that are affected by recessions actually make it happen to themselves because their actions support that which they hear reported by the media. Disagree with the bad news and know that only your actions not the media can affect you! Then do everything each DAY to make sure you don't participate in the BS news. This is what I do:

1) Focus on exact actions I take daily to expand.

2) Do everything possible to keep my attitude positive daily.

3) Push as hard as possible to get results day to prove the media wrong!

4) Increase my personal training daily.

Don't shrink now, expand! Don't spend less money now, spend more! Don't start putting in budgets now, invest money and expand! Don't agree with bad news, disagree by your actions!

Now is a great opportunity for the strong to get stronger while the weak and undisciplined disappear.

Remember Recessions are for Economies not for Individuals.

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"So first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Have you cut your budgets as far as you can?
Have you shrunk your sales force to a bare minimum?
How many more efforts do you have in you; to retreat before you wake up and realize you can retreat no more?

At some point there will be nothing left to cut or reduce, no way to get smaller. When that time comes you will see that the only way out is to sell your way out, to expand while others contract and to grow while others get smaller.

You cannot advance by retreating as they are impossible combinations. With retreat, you only end up where you started and find yourself having to cover the same turf again. Advance regardless of the fears and the terror in the marketplace. Advance even when it does not seem to make sense, knowing that moving forward always makes more sense than going backwards.

-Grant Cardone

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While it is certain we are going through a difficult economic time it is also certain that we will get through this. This is not the first time this country's economy or its people have been challenged.

Look what has happened over the past 40 years:
Average home prices:
1970- $23,000 Recession
1980- $62,000 Severe Recession
1990- $97,300 Savings and Loan Bust
2000- $147,300 Internet Bust
2006- $221,900 Housing Correction

The US is still the largest economy in the World with Japan in second place between the same years. North America (moderate growth) was 33% in 1970 and still 33%
in 2007.

Even after all the challenges over the past forty years your home's value still went up in value and the US economy continued to maintain its position in the world. Is this a different time? Sure it is. You are older, hopefully smarter and more experienced. Yes, jobs are being lost, banks have gone out of business, companies are losing money, the stock market is crazy and your home has probably gone down in value, but you are still alive and you will survive.

The question is not whether you will make it through this time or not, the question is how will you act while you are going through it and how you will survive it.

There is no shortage of people that spend all their time assigning blame, crying, stressing, freaking, and complaining. None of which has any positive effect on the outcome. Now is the time to focus on what you can do about the current situation. Quit spending time on what you cannot do about it and put all your energies, resources and actions on doing something constructive.

While the world loses its mind about how "bad" things are, you and your family need to come together and create a constructive plan for surviving this time. When I want to really focus I always go to my wife first and say, "hey, I really need your support right now. I have to put my head down and really hit it at another level."

We sit down and talk about how we are going to do that. How can she help me create more products and get more products sold? We also talk about where we can tighten up any spending that is unnecessary.

Then I will create a list of things I can do about it and schedule myself doing those things.

It is said, "You are either part of the problem or part of the solution". Spend your time on the solution because that is the only way to resolve the problem.

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