YoungsterInc Live with Real Estate Guru Stewart Hsu - Part 2
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Hello, welcome to the YoungsterInc Live. We will continue our interview with Stewart Hsu, an ex-Silicon Valley High Tech Pro turned Real Estate Entrepreneur.
Profile of Stewart Hsu: Born and raised in NY, Stewart attended university in the Mid-West, and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1998. Three “start-ups” later, Stewart realized he could not depend on an IPO to create his wealth, so he committed to taking full responsibility for his own results. Since then, Stewart has invested in over 15 properties in 6 states over the last 3 and half years. His latest transaction is a 60-unit apartment building in Dallas, TX. Stewart has 3 passions in life 1) investing in real estate, 2) continuous personal development and 3) sharing his experiences and insights with people. Stewart’s working on sharing those ideas on his website www.stewarthsu.com to be launched May 2007, come check it out.
Interview Continues:
Youngster: Stewart, you probably get this question a lot… If you can start your career & entrepreneur all over again, what path would you take?
Stewart: That’s a tough one. I feel fortunate to have majored in Accounting and Finance in college, even though I didn’t use that knowledge when I first got out of college. That knowledge has come in more useful since I’ve made the switch to real estate investing full time. Accounting is the language of business; understanding the numbers for any business is vital.
If I were to start over, I would have placed more emphasis on Sales & Marketing skills, with the underlying theme of always seeking ways to add value. Also, without a doubt, I wish I had started investing in real estate a lot sooner. Over time, owning real estate is very powerful. I know I will be investing in real estate for the rest of my life and will definitely be teaching my kids the same. Start early. Start now youngsters!
Youngster: What age is a good age to start your own business? And why? Can our youngster fan really start their own business?
Stewart: Youngster of course can start! You guys should do it as soon as possible. I think you can start learning the principles of running a good business when you’re very young, whether it be a lemonade stand, selling cookies, delivering newspapers, etc. I’ve got a good friend who started his own “lawn care services” business when he was 13, he had a few of his friends help out (i.e. his employees). His customers received excellent lawn care, his friends made money, and he made a profit, it was total win-win all around. It was awesome. As a bonus, he even understood the importance of “giving back” and employee appreciation, i.e. each month, he would treat his employees/friends to an all you can eat pizza lunch. You’re never too young to start to learn how to manage money and to figure out ways to provide value-add products & services.
Youngster: That is a great advice. Our youngster fan can read more about the lawn care business on our site. Stewart, it is easy to say to start now, but I am sure you had some challenges when you first started. Can you tell us about that?
Staying focused and managing my time. We live in real-time world that is constantly bombarding us with new information. I get plenty of e-mails and phone calls, and sifting through on the high priority ones while keeping my life in balance can be a challenge. We need to learn how to figure out what’s important to each of us as an individual, set our individual goals, then don’t let anything distract or get in our way of achieving them.
Youngster: I am sure lots of our youngsters can echo that.
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