In a recent mid-term election commentary, Dick Morris commented that the risk for Republicans wasn’t over-confidence, it was under-confidence. While pundits say 40-50 House seats may switch as a result of the mid-terms, Morris contends it could be in an historic 80-100 seat range, if the response is bold enough. This reminded me that the same principle applies in a person’s career, in business or to an Industry such as ours.
So my comment today isn’t on the mid-terms per-se, as important as that subject is. It is about under-confidence as it applies to the Manufactured Housing Industry. With the Industry still at or near its lowest ebb since the HUD Code went into effect in 1976, with the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) tracking 26 issues and gearing up to engage regulators with a specially selected lobbying firm, it would be all too easy to say, what is there to be confident about? Where is the good news? Where is the financing? We have to fight site-built foreclosures, a possible double-dip recession; the list of yuck could drone on…
…but there are people making money in our Industry today, in spite of these factors.
Looking at mud can muddy one’s vision. Looking at success, looking at opportunities while being mindful of the challenges, that is the key for the near term.
Longer term, 3-4 years from now, we have a long wave of new home buyers on the horizon. We have tens of thousands of home sites to fill in manufactured home communities. People still need and are buying homes, people tell me from various parts of the country. Some are investing in repossessed land home packages, renting them waiting for the economy to return. They say the ROI is good on that strategy. They continue to sell the new home opportunities that present themselves.
What people need today is an Aim-High business plan. Position yourself for the future that experts like Cornell University’s Dr. David Funk are telling us is coming. Look at the mid-term strategy outline as described in the book, the Manufactured Housing Revolution.
It was The American Success Story – Henry Ford – who said:
“Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you are right.”
Think how to. Line up the resources and talent you need. The best days for our Industry, I truly believe, are yet to come. # #
