People ask me “What is a niche?” A niche is a particular specialty in which a business or person finds they prosper. Niche strategy in marketing is to market to a small but lucrative portion of the market. The small size of the niche generally ensures efficient marketing efforts and few if any direct competitors.
There are two important factors to consider when you are determining how long to hold on to a particular investment. Make sure your investment still meets your investment objectives and continues to perform as well as or better than comparable investments. Evaluating your investments once or twice a year will help make that determination.
To evaluate your investments, you’ll have to determine whether a particular investment is still appropriate for your age, risk tolerance and financial goals. For example, perhaps you have been investing for retirement and now have the opportunity to retire at age 55 instead of 65.
If a large part of your current investment portfolio is in a growth company stock fund, you would want to consider moving at least part of that investment to a less volatile investment, like a money market fund. Your investment goal has changed, and you will need access to your investment
dollars sooner rather than later. You certainly don’t want to risk losing the opportunity to retire early because of a sudden downturn in the markets currently in place.
A common mistake among investors is to hold on to an investment because it has fallen in value, hoping to earn your losses back before moving on. A good rule of thumb is that if you aren’t willing to buy more of that investment at the lower value, it may be time to sell it. Just because the markets have historically gone up over time doesn’t mean that the funds you are invested in will go back up in value.
Aside from your changes in your financial goals, a good time to re-evaluate an investment is when changes occur in the management of a fund. You generally have no way of predicting what effect new management may have on the value of the securities. The additional risk or a change in investment objective, if any, may lead you to reconsider holding on to your investment.
For assets outside of your retirement plan, you may want to speak with a tax professional about the tax impact of the sale. You may decide to sell an investment that has really performed poorly to offset gains in a given tax year. In contrast, you may want to hold on to an investment because selling it now may result in short-term capital gains treatment, whereas holding it for longer than a year will allow you to qualify for more favorable long-term capital gains treatment.
Any person that accepts a management position must understand that acceptance of the position also requires tough choices must be made from time to time and are accountable for both tangibles and intangibles. A good manager understands this a coaching position which requires giving both, positive and negative feedback to build a strong team. A management position is not a popularity contest. However, it is a position where you must earn trust and respect from your subordinates. Earning and building trust involves being firm, fair, and consistent. A well respected manager will treat everyone the same way without showing favoritism and by being firm will establish with the subordinates that protocols, company policies, and directives will be followed and enforced without question including zero tolerance for failure to meet deadlines.
Most people know how good managers are suppose to perform and have great respect for those that know how to lead and coach a team. A good manager understands that you do not have to belittle, yell, or threaten during counseling sessions, in most cases, the point can be made in an firm, even tone voice. A manager understands you cannot force a person to think the way they do or even make them do something they do not want to do. However, a good manager will give someone options and communicate the repercussions for failure to comply or modify behavior. A manager has to be aware he/she is outnumbered and failure to earn respect of the team members will result in his/her own failure as in your career you climb the ladder. You do not go back down ladder, you go out the door for failing.
Thinking about going into business for too long and you’ll risk it from ever starting. All successful businesses offer their customers something of value, but that’s not enough. Customers constantly evaluate what they get against what they pay, and their criteria for making repeat purchases are very simple. They want everything better, faster and cheaper! Even if you’re clever enough to build a perfect business the first time and your product or service is ideal for your customers, your position will eventually erode because
the marketplace is not static.
