Natan and Yael are married and founding partners of NY Realty* a real estate brokerage and management company. They built it from the ground up and are supremely proud of their achievements.

Building relationships, creating strategic partnerships and maintaining a stellar reputation. It all adds up to where they are now.

Their monthly finance meetings used to be the highlight of their month. They’d go out to a local Steakhouse, on the Company’s expense of course, and review the company’s financial performance compared to their budget. With their consistent growth and profitability it was a time to celebrate.

Tension At The Table

These past few months have been different.  With the economic downturn and high interest rates, closings on new sales declined and the business has been missing it’s marks. Today’s meeting had a very different tone.

Yael reviewed the numbers with Natan and showed him how revenues were dropping while expenses were increasing.  She mentioned that she was very concerned that promotional gifts were at an all time high.

“Natan, you’ve got to stop sending all those meat boards and sushi platters to our referral sources! We just can’t afford it with the business drying up,” she said.

Natan vehemently disagrees.  “In order to maintain our relationships and bring in more business, we have to INCREASE our promotional spending, not decrease!”

What Mindset Has To Do With It

Most people are programmed to relate to money through their childhood experiences. Whereas Natan grew up in a stable, solidly middle class home, Yael was raised in a single parent home where money was tight. In fact, covering the monthly expenses was not a guarantee and this fear still affects her when their bank account dips.

Natan clearly has an abundance mindset which is quite opposite to Yael’s security mindset. People with an abundant mindset tend to spend more. They believe there is always a way to make more money. People with a security mindset tend to need more money in the bank to feel safe.

Natan and Yael’s different money mindsets are causing them to approach the same situation from different angles . While each one serves a purpose, their mindset is only helpful if it serves their common goal!

Defining and Setting Common Goals

At the end of that meal, Yael and Natan agreed that they couldn’t operate ‘Business as Usual”.  They agreed on 2 goals. One, they were committed to increasing profitable revenue. Two, they had to cut overhead until they achieved their revenue goals. They agreed to brainstorm separately and meet again to discuss their plans.

Yael realized that Natan was right.  He had to continue sending promotional gifts to an expanding network.  She would suggest a more affordable solution, such as fruit or chocolate platters, instead of meat boards and sushi platters.

Natan realized that Yael was right.  He reviewed all the expenses in the company and suggested changes.

Same Direction - Less Stress

At their next meeting, things became productive again. Natan agreed with Yael's innovative solution on promotional gifting, and Yael appreciated the expense cuts Natan suggested.  They were both energized to move their business forward, together.

Takeaways:

The next time you are going through you finances, ask yourself the following:

• What mindset am I using right now?
• Does this mindset serve me?
• If yes, great! Lucky you.
• If not, what can you do to challenge (or broaden) this mindset?

Bonus challenge ideas:

• If you tend to Scarcity- Gift someone just because.
• If you tend to Security- Buy an ‘extra’ you normally wouldn’t just because - without looking at the bank account.
• If you tend to Abundance- Delete one item that’s sitting in your amazon cart that you don’t really need.

 “Different money mindsets approach the same situation from different angles”