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Junkyard Management

Celebrating Abelardo

It was nearly 20-years ago when Goble Properties acquired Hopyard Village in Pleasanton. Along with the property came the perpetually smiling maintenance man, Abelardo. Always willing to take on any challenge, eager to learn, and ready to break into song when he wasn’t making small talk, Abelardo has been one of our most popular employees.

So when we found out he was just one history test away from becoming a US citizen, we knew we had to throw a party to celebrate. After daily jokes about his knowledge of Bunker Hill or how many justices sit on the Supreme Court, …

Goble Properties, Junkyard Management,

Ignore the Naysayers

Some of the best business advice I’ve been given is, “Ignore the naysayers.” The naysayers are the folks who are ALWAYS negative.

Most of us have an internal pendulum of confidence and fear. Our fear dreads failure, is unsure of the future, and hates risk. When naysayers talk, our fear is inflamed.

Naysayers point out the reasons to not make a business decision, and fear makes the reasons seem foreboding: the timing isn’t right, tough times ahead, not enough information, too risky, it won’t work, you can’t afford it.

Sometimes those warnings are reasonable and even accurate. There’s nothing wrong …

Goble Properties, Junkyard Management,

What’s the Worst Business Decision You Ever Made?

What’s the worst business or job related decision you ever made?

If you hesitate and can’t think of the answer right away, then here’s some advice: figure it out fast. Be completely honest with yourself.

Not understanding your poor decisions results in repeating them. You might repeat them even if you fully understand them, but you’ll at least have a chance of avoiding them if you are honest with yourself.

I like using the who, what, where, when, and why process. The who is obvious (it’s you, because you made the mistake). The what is a little tougher because, if …

Junkyard Management, Junkyard Wisdom Book,

Why Aren’t the Rich More Generous?

Recently read that the wealthiest Americans — those in the top 20% of income earners — give an average of 1.3% of their income to charity. By contrast, those in the lowest 20% of income earners give 3.2% of their income to charity.

How does that make any sense? Well it doesn’t, actually, but there are two theories attempting to explain it. And I’ll add a third minor theory.

The first theory is that the rich are just greedy and don’t want to give up their money. Paul Piff, a psychologist at UC Berkeley, told New York magazine, “…the …

Junkyard Management, Junkyard Wisdom Book,

Solutions of Privilege

Several years ago I wrote a post about the problems of privilege. These are problems that become evident when people complain about meaningless things — my new iPhone is now outdated, the waiter didn’t bring us water when we asked, or I can’t get the dog groomer appointment at a certain time. Problems like these can be irritating, but they don’t exist if you aren’t privileged enough to own an iPhone, dine at a restaurant, or pay somebody to wash your dog.

I call these issues “POP” for problems of privilege. I’m guilty of being so self-absorbed I get …

Goble Properties, Junkyard Management,

We Could Always Rely on Phyllis

Last week Goble Properties sold Perez Business Park in Cathedral City. It brings an end to a great experience operating the property. Perez was the perfect property type for Goble Properties: all small units, occupied by small businesses, mostly locally owned, and deeply connected to the community.

One significant downside is it means our long time manager, Phyllis, will be retiring at the end of this week. Well, retiring in the sense she won’t have a full-time job in property management. Something tells me she’s going to be an incredible volunteer for several amazing nonprofit organizations. I can’t wait to …

Family, Goble Properties, Junkyard Management,

Ernie Casseta

It was the late 1930’s when my Dad first came to San Jose, and one of the first friends he made was the legendary Ernie Casseta. They were part of the automotive business community that thrived along South First Street. My Dad sold parts to Mr. Casseta, who used them to fix up the inventory on his used car lot. They were lifelong friends.

I lost touch with Mr. Casseta when Dad passed ten years ago. But just recently Aimee at the Goble Properties office sent me a note saying Ernie Casseta called and he was looking for me. I …

Family, Junkyard Management,

Pop’s Pool Hall

For as long as I can remember a pool hall was somewhere nearby. Or at least a table. Whether in our home, our garage, one of the sheds at the Sunol Ranch, my Dad’s “secret” office at work, or even my Uncle’s private gambling palace in south San Jose, the cracking sound of billiards wasn’t far away.

In the late 40’s my father opened a sandwich shop in Manteca. According to my Mom, it didn’t take long for a pool table to show up and for my grandfather to start hustling people. Dad sold sandwiches and sodas, Grandpa played pool. …