The Value of Teamwork!!
Real Estate Investing Success is Grounded in Teamwork
by Wahid ?Mr. Tycoon? Shakur

As this article is being written, the NBA 2006 playoffs are in full swing, and since basketball is without question my all-time favorite sport (and the one that ended my career as a professional athlete ? another story for another time), I thought I would use the concept of teamwork as a backdrop for this article. I want to emphasize the value of working with or being part of a team in real estate investing ? or any other undertaking ? and how easily it can be done.

Truth be told, you don?t have to be a sports fan to recognize the true value of teamwork. In just about every avenue and aspect of human endeavor, teamwork is a constant presence and consistent theme. Think about the last time you accomplished something totally on your own. If you are honest, you?ll be hard pressed to find any achievement that was due solely to you and your efforts. Even King (LeBron) James will tell you without hesitation that the Cleveland Cavaliers? playoff success is a direct result of Donyell Marshall, Eric Snow, Anderson Varejao, and the other Cavaliers? contributions.

I think everyone will agree that the most under-rated team is Mom and Dad! They play every position; they coach; they?re team physicians, trainers and general managers! They do it all! No matter whether you are raised in a single parent, two-parent, or multi-parent household, the teamwork of these life guides has a profound and lasting impact. It also forms the basis for the desire to be a part of (or form) a team, be it on a playing field, in a classroom, on the job, or in our home life. Teams make the victories sweeter and take some of the sting out of the losses.

Another, often overlooked value of teamwork is that the work continues even when you are not around! Once you have built a solid and dependable corps of committed teammates who embrace the collective vision and mission, even when a key player goes down, others step up to fill the void and keep the ball rolling. One of my most memorable examples is Magic Johnson stepping in to play center for the Los Angeles Lakers when Kareem Abdul Jabbar went down with an injury. The Lakers went on to win the NBA Championship and that team is touted as one of the best ever to play the game!

Teamwork is critically important to success in real estate investing as well. No matter if you are a solitary, home-based investor or a corporation, you need a team around you to be truly successful. Here?s a case in point:

I started out as a solitary, home-based investor a little more than 6 ? years ago. Even though my wife and I agreed to give this real estate investing thing a try, she kept her day job (so we could eat and pay our living expenses) while I drove around looking for vacant properties and put up signs and took phone calls and wrote letters and got contracts and looked for lenders and attended seminars and workshops and, and, and, and? Make no mistake, it was a lot to handle, but I had the benefit of three things to help me ? (1) a supportive teammate in my wife who not only kept us financially afloat, but also stepped in whenever and wherever she could; (2) a successful real estate investor who willingly served as my Mentor/Coach and helped me avoid the pitfalls and potholes inherent in our industry; and (3) a proven system to follow. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Today, I am very fortunate to have TEAM TYCOON?; a group of loyal, committed, hard-working professionals who are helping me continue to build the TYCOON real estate investment empire. Hear me now - I?m not suggesting you go out and sign a lease for an office, hire an Executive Assistant, salespeople, and a marketing firm. No, my advice is consistent with what I have been saying all along:

1. Find a successful real estate investor to be your Coach/Mentor/Guru.
2. Invest in your real estate investing education; and
3. Listen! Learn!! Succeed!!!

Once you have the coach, you need to sign up players. How do you go about finding them? A great place to recruit is your local REIA (Real Estate Investment Association). REIAs are membership organizations comprising hundreds and sometimes thousands of individuals who are in the same business you are ? Real Estate Investing! What better place to find like-minded individuals with the same basic goal ? to make money as real estate investors? Don?t get it twisted, though, you aren?t looking for people who talk a good game; you are looking for players who execute and the best measure of execution is scoring ? and as I have said before, the way the real estate investing game is scored is ?if you get a check, you are winning!!? Again, I?m not suggesting you go out and hire people ? partner up on a few deals and see how it goes. You?ll know if/when the chemistry is right! From there, make sure you have a plan to follow AND FOLLOW IT!

A key player on your team should be the ?Money Man? (or Woman)! This might be a hard money lender or a private investor or even a banker ? but whoever it is, they should be your first (and last) resort to fund your deals ? your ?Go To Guy.? Again, it may take a while to fill this position, but it will play a key role in the team?s long-term success. Oh, make sure you have one or two additional ?money? players to come off the bench, just in case the first string is not producing!

?There is no I in T-E-A-M!? Even though every team has a star (sometimes two or three), unless it?s tennis or golf or some other individual performance sport, it is the team that determines success or failure. And even in golf and tennis, you?ll hear ?Team Tiger? or ?Team Federer? when the analysts talk about the success of the top performers. At TEAM TYCOON?, my success is a result of the outstanding play/contributions of the people who surround me. Day in and day out, every member of TEAM TYCOON? contributes mightily to our continuing success. Yes, it?s taken time to find the right people, but remember, success in our field, and in any field or endeavor, is a marathon, not a sprint. It just takes time, a commitment to the concept of team and to the value of teamwork, and I am here to tell you, it is well worth it. (A word of caution ? even great players get ? or ask to be ? traded so don?t get caught up if/when a teammate tells you they are moving on! Just make certain the remaining players have what they need to make the necessary adjustments and continue scoring!)

A final word of advice ? it takes a while to build a championship team so don?t get frustrated or discouraged if you have to try out a number of players at many different positions. All great teams are built on a foundation of trust, fairness, honor, and honesty that takes time, practice, and patience before all of the elements gel. However, once they do you?ll have a solid base upon which to build, where every player benefits equitably, as an individual and as a team! Believe me, there is no better feeling than knowing the team still will be scoring even when you aren?t in the game! How do I know? For the past several weeks, I have been on sabbatical completing my book ? ?Success Is Not A Secret; It?s A System? ? and TEAM TYCOON? hasn?t missed a beat! They continue to notch ?W?s? and for that I say ?Great Job, Team? and a very heartfelt ?Thank you!?

Wahid ?Mr. Tycoon? Shakur is a Master Real Estate Investor and Chairman of TYCOON INVESTMENTS PLUS, a Multi-faceted Real Estate Investment Company located in Atlanta, Georgia. To learn more and/or for information on Mr. Tycoon?s new book, ?Success Is Not A Secret, It?s A System,? please visit www.tycooninvestmentsplus.com or send an email to info@tycooninvestmentsplus.com.