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从女招待到地产女王

作者:未知    文章来源:财富中文网    点击数:    更新时间:2013-6-17 【我来说两句

From waitress to real estate queen

Barbara Corcoran's story would make perfect fodder for movies or TV: A diner waitress with moxie takes a $1,000 loan, uses it to build the first woman-owned real estate firm in New York City, and rises to the top of residential real estate in the city before selling her firm, the Corcoran Group, for $66 million in 2001. Sure enough, the woman who once owned 14 red suits -- her visual trademark -- eventually found her way to the small screen, with regular roles on the Today show and Shark Tank, a reality hunt for entrepreneurial talent. Her bestselling books share business advice, and today Corcoran, 64, who was once too terrified to speak in public, enjoys giving motivational talks. Her story:

芭芭拉•柯克兰的经历绝对是改编电影或者电视剧的完美素材:一名勇气十足的餐厅女服务生借了1,000美元,用这笔钱创办了纽约市第一家女性做老板的房地产公司,并成为纽约市顶尖的住宅房地产公司。2001年,她将其公司柯克兰集团(Corcoran Group)以6,600万美元的价格出售。当然,这位拥有14套红色西装(她的标志性着装)的女士,最终以另外的方式登上了电视荧幕,成为《今日秀》(Today)和《创智赢家》(Shark Tank)的常客。《创智赢家》是挖掘创业人才的真人秀节目。她在畅销书中分享自己的商业建议。如今,64岁的柯克兰喜欢发表鼓舞人心的演讲,虽然她曾经非常害怕在公共场合讲话。下面就是她的非凡经历:

I grew up in Edgewater, N.J., the second oldest of 10 kids, and even though it was a very poor town, I thought we were the Kennedys because my father wore a suit to work. He was a printing-press foreman, and my mother was a housewife.

我出生在新泽西州埃奇沃特市,家里共有10个孩子,我排行老二。埃奇沃特是一个非常贫穷的小镇,但我一度认为,我们属于肯尼迪家族,因为我父亲总是穿西装上班。他是一家印刷厂的工头,而我妈妈是全职太太。

I went to Catholic school, and it was an accomplishment for me to make straight D's. I say this because there's always a dumb kid in school who thinks grades have something to do with what you end up doing in life. They don't. It's street smarts that helped me succeed. I had 20 jobs before I graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas College in 1971, doing everything from selling hot dogs to being an orphanage housemother in my senior year.

我上的是教会学校,能全部达到D的成绩,对我来说是不小的成就。我之所以这么说,是因为学校里总是有一个笨蛋认为,分数与未来过什么样的生活有着一定的关系。但实际上没有任何关系。帮助我取得成功的是我的草根智慧。1971年从圣汤姆斯•阿奎纳斯学院(St. Thomas Aquinas College)毕业之前,我做过20份各种各样的工作。我卖过热狗,四年级的时候还当过孤儿院的女管理员。

After college, I met my boyfriend Ray Simone, a small builder in New Jersey, while waitressing at a diner. He gave me a $1,000 loan, and we started a business together called Corcoran-Simone in 1973. He got 51%, and I became a rental agent in Manhattan.

大学毕业后,我在一家餐厅当服务员的时候遇到了我男朋友雷•西蒙。他是新泽西的一个小建筑商。他借给我1,000美元,然后我们在1973年联合成立了一家叫柯克兰—西蒙(Corcoran-Simone)的公司。他占公司51%的股份,于是我成为曼哈顿的一家房屋租赁中介。

One day I started showing rentals to an engineer from Union Carbide, who said he wanted to buy a place. I had no listings, but walked him all over town, acting as though I knew what I was doing, and he ended up buying one. It was sheer happenstance. He paid around $50,000, which meant a $3,000 commission, more than 10 times a rental commission. I decided we were supposed to go into sales, and advertised for a sales agent the next day.

有一天,我正在向一位来自联合碳化物公司(Union Carbide)的工程师介绍出租房屋,但他说自己想买一栋房子。当时我手头并没有房源,但我还是陪他跑遍全城,表现得好像自己非常专业。最后他真的买了一套。这件事纯粹是偶然。他支付了大约50,000美元,这意味着我可以得到3,000美元的佣金,是租房佣金的10倍以上。于是,我绝的我们应该涉足房屋销售,第二天就开始打销售代理商的广告。

I had this routine. In 1973 a three-line New York Times ad cost about $180. Whenever I had more than $180 in receivables, I'd hire a new agent. If you could pay for an ad with your new agent's name on it, the agent was happy. The minute I had enough to hire a new person, I rented double the space needed. I was getting a taste for the higher commissions, and by 1975 I was doing only sales.

我摸清了一个门道。1973年《纽约时报》(New York Times)上三行字的广告成本约180美元。只要我的应收款项超过180美元,我就会新聘一个代理人。如果花钱做的广告上带有代理人的名字,代理人会非常高兴。每次有足够的钱雇佣一个新人时,我就租用两倍的广告空间。我尝到了更高佣金的甜头,于是到1975年的时候,我就只做房屋销售业务了。

We had 14 agents and our annual revenue was about $560,000 when Ray told me he was marrying another woman. As we divided the company in 1978, he said, "You'll never succeed without me." Those words branded my soul. I started the Corcoran Group to prove my ability to succeed.

等雷告诉我他要跟另外一个女人结婚时,我们已经有14位业务员,年收入约560,000美元。1978年,我们分割公司的时候,他跟我说:“没有我你永远别想成功。”我始终将这句话铭记在心。为了证明我有能力取得成功,我成立了柯克兰集团。

Back then there were no female-owned real estate firms in the city. The business was worked by women and owned by men. I wore short skirts and bright colors to stand apart from the crowd. I was not welcome, but I was noticed. That first year, I had seven agents and revenues of $350,000.

当时,纽约市还没有一家女性当老板的房地产公司。所有房地产公司都是女人打工,男人当老板。为了让自己与其他人区别开来,我常常穿上短裙和亮色的衣服。即便我不受欢迎,也已经得到了关注。第一年,我手下共有7名业务员,收入350,000美元。

It was fun building a business. We never had a Christmas party in December. We did it in February because I could get a cheap price for a fabulous place. I'd have massage guys give people 15-minute massages at their desks. It's a high-stress job selling real estate, and anything you do for an employee above and beyond says "I love you." When you love people, they love you back. Those at the top of the food chain got along because people forgot they were competitors. That culture made us different from everyone else.

开公司是个有趣的过程。我们从来不在12月份举办圣诞节派对,而是选在二月份,因为在二月份,我可以以非常便宜的价格找到一个很棒的地方。我会让每位员工在自己的办公桌上接受15分钟的按摩。房地产销售是压力很大的工作,你额外为员工做的任何事情都在表达“我爱你”。如果你爱别人,别人也一定会用爱来回报你。处于食物链顶端的人都能和睦相处,因为他们忘记了自己也是竞争对手。这种文化让我们与众不同。

The biggest challenge was cash flow. When things were good, I spent money quickly to invest in the business. But in 1980 I owed a lot and needed $10,000 to keep going. In a moment of desperation, I almost sold 50% of my business to a French gentleman I'd done some work for. I don't remember his name. We shook hands, but he changed his mind, and a couple of months later, the market changed. I was able to hang on.

最大的挑战是现金流。一切顺利的时候,我会很快把钱投入到公司当中。但在1980年,我欠了很多钱,还需要10,000美元来维持公司运营。当时正值经济萧条,我差点就把公司50%的股份卖给一位与我有过业务往来的法国人。我已经不记得他的名字。当时我们已经握过手,但他却改变了主意。几个月后,市场有所改观。我终于挺了过来。

I never knew what the revenue was. I left that to Esther Kaplan, the first agent I hired after leaving Ray. She eventually became a 10% partner in the Corcoran Group. Esther had her finger on the overhead and was a genius at increasing our credit lines with the banks. She'd do cash projections, and if she knew that we'd have an extra $80,000 in August, she wouldn't tell me. She was right, because if I knew it, I'd have spent it.

我从来不知道收入是何物。我把这个问题留给了艾斯特•卡普兰。她是我离开雷之后招聘的第一位业务员。后来,她成为柯克兰集团的合伙人,持有10%的股份。艾斯特负责公司的开销,非常擅长提高我们在银行的信用额度。她会进行现金预测,如果她知道我们在八月份会有一笔80,000美元的额外进账,她肯定不会告诉我。事实证明,她这么做是正确的。因为如果我知道了,肯定会把这笔钱花光。

By 1993 we were selling real estate online, two years before our competitors. I also registered all the URLs for my competitors who had a brand so that they'd have to come to me when they wanted the name. I didn't charge them for the URL. I just wanted them to call and ask for it so that I'd know when the competition started selling online. The little guys, who had to be creative, called first. The largest companies called last.

1993年,我们开始在线销售房地产,比竞争对手提前了两年。我还抢先注册了有商标的竞争对手的所有URL,等他们需要的时候,就不得不来找我。当然,我并没有利用URL向他们收钱。我只是想让他们打电话来讨要,这样我就能知道竞争对手开始在线销售的时间。最先打来电话的是那些不得不在创意上下功夫的小公司。最后打来电话的则是大公司。

In 1988 I had married Bill Higgins, who was running his parents' real estate firm at the time. After eight years of in vitro treatments, at age 46 I gave birth to our son, Tommy. That was the biggest challenge in my life and a dream come true. It also led to selling my company. Back then -- before there were multiple-listing services -- I kept tabs on listings weekly. One day, in 2001, I saw that we had more listings than all our competitors in every category. I had reached my goal of being the No. 1 broker in New York. I realized I wanted to be there 150% for my family in the office, and 150% for Tommy, and I couldn't do both. So I decided to sell. I had 850 salespeople, and revenue was about $97 million.

1988年,我嫁给了比尔•希金斯。他当时正在经营父母的房地产公司。经过八年体外受精治疗,我在46岁的时候生下了我们的儿子汤米。那是我一生中最大的挑战,我终于美梦成真。这也是我出售公司的原因。当时还没有多重房产挂牌服务,我每周都要密切关注房产挂牌情况。2001年的一天,我发现公司各个类别房产的挂牌数量都超过了竞争对手。我已经实现了成为纽约最大房地产经纪商的目标。当我身在办公室的时候,我意识到自己希望拿出全部时间陪伴家人,尤其是汤米,我做不到工作和生活两不耽误。于是,我决定卖掉公司。当时公司有850名销售员,收入约为9,700万美元。

NRT [now part of residential real estate giant Realogy] was the big buyer in town. So I hired an attorney on its board and told him I was interested in selling. He, of course, went to NRT. When he called and said he'd gotten me $20 million, I said, "Tell them I'll take $66 million," and hung up. Sixty-six is my lucky number. We signed the contract on Friday night before 9/11 and closed two weeks later. I convinced Henry Silverman, the chairman of NRT, that he was buying the best company poised for shooting forward in the industry.

NRT(目前已被住宅房地产巨头Realogy收购)是当地的一个大买家。我聘请了一位了解NRT公司董事会的律师,告诉他我有意出售公司。当然,他去了NRT。后来,他打电话说可以出价2,000万美元,我说:“告诉他们,我要求的价格是6,600万美元。”66是我的幸运数字。我们在911事件之前一个星期五的晚上签署了合同,两周后交易完成。我让NRT董事长亨利•西尔弗曼相信,他购买的是一家前途无限的业内最棒公司。

I started reflecting and decided to write my first book [If You Don't Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails]. After a year, I was going crazy with no people around me. I realized I love attention. Since I'd been interviewed on TV a lot as head of the Corcoran Group, I became a political contributor for Fox TV. It wasn't a good fit, and I went to Good Morning America as a real estate contributor. In 2007 I moved to the Today show. I think I'll die with my boots on there.

然后,我开始自我反思,并决定写第一本书【《利用你拥有的一切》(If You Don't Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails)】。离开前呼后拥的生活一年以后,我几乎要抓狂。我发现自己喜欢被人关注。担任柯克兰集团领导人的时候,我经常接受电视采访。因此,我成为福克斯电视台(Fox TV)的一名政治撰稿人。可惜,这份工作并不适合我,于是我成为《早安美国》(Good Morning America )的一名房地产撰稿人。2007年,我加入了《今日秀》节目。我想我应该再也不会离开这个节目。

In 2009 I got a call from Mark Burnett Productions, asking if I'd be interested in being one of the investors on Shark Tank. I signed the option agreement without even reading it. I e-mailed Mark Burnett and told him he should fly me out for a tryout. He did, and I was hired. Later he told me I was the only shark who e-mailed him about their interest in being on the show.

2009年,我收到马克伯内特制作公司(Mark Burnett Productions)打来的电话,问我是否有兴趣成为《创智赢家》的一名投资人。我毫不犹豫便签署了期权协议。我给马克•伯内特发去了邮件,告诉他应该让我参加一次试镜。他同意了,于是我被录用了。后来他告诉我,我是唯一发邮件告诉他自己有兴趣参加节目的嘉宾。

I'm always asked what makes a great entrepreneur, and I was curious about who's starting businesses in America today. So we did the Corcoran Entrepreneur Report, which shows that in 2012, 67% of all people starting a business during the preceding year were immigrants. Thirty-eight percent of those starting a business today didn't graduate from high school, which begs the question of the emphasis put on MBAs.

总是有人问我,怎样才能成为一名优秀的创业者。我很好奇如今都是哪些人在美国创业。于是,我们推出了“柯克兰创业报告”(Corcoran Entrepreneur Report)。2012年的报告显示,之前一年创业的所有人当中,有67%是美国移民。目前,38%的创业者没有高中毕业,这也引起了关于重视MBA的问题。

I think business plans are overrated. To this day I can't read a financial report. You're better off having a picture of what you want in your head. Half of business is planning, and half is reacting. It's always changing. So visualize what you want and stay motivated by your dream.

我认为,商业计划书的作用被高估了。到今天为止,我也没有读过一份财务报告。你最好能在自己脑海中规划出自己想要什么。一半靠规划,另一半则靠临场应变。因为一切都在不断变化之中。所以把自己想要的东西形象化,并始终保持为梦想而奋斗的动力。

My advice

我的建议

Have the courage to seize opportunity. The first time I met Donald Trump, I'd produced a report called the Top 10 Condominium Survey in New York, and his building was near the bottom. He was so upset. I quickly thought up a solution. Instead of looking at what a room would sell for, the way it was done then, we could calculate price per square foot, which would put him on top. He became my biggest advocate.

拥有抓住机会的勇气。第一次遇见唐纳德•特朗普(美国投资人,真人秀《学徒》主持人——译注)时,我准备了一份名为《纽约市十大公寓楼调查》(Top 10 Condominium Survey in New York)的报告,其中他的大楼几乎垫底。他非常不满,但我很快就想出一个解决方案。我们可以不看一个房间的出售价格、出售的方式等等,而是可以计算每平方英尺的价格,这样就能让他位居榜首。于是,他成了我的头号拥趸。

Don't let rejection stop you. I spent $71,000 to videotape all our listings. My salespeople wouldn't show the tapes for fear a buyer would take them to another broker, and they'd lose the sale. So I posted the tapes on Corcoran.com, and we had our first online sale within a week. I'd stepped into the next big thing by trying another angle.

不要让拒绝阻碍你前进的脚步。我花了71,000美元录制了所有挂牌房产的视频。但我的销售员却不愿意播放这些录像带,因为他们担心买家会将这些录像带转给其他经纪公司,这样他们就会丢掉业务。于是,我把录像发布在Corcoran.com上,结果一个礼拜之内就产生了第一笔在线销售。我从另外一个角度,打开了一个更大的市场。

Protect the optimism of your firm. The minute I spotted a chronic complainer, I'd fire them. I didn't care how much money they brought in because negativity kills optimism and belief in the future.

保护公司的乐观情绪。一旦我发现经常抱怨的员工,肯定要把他辞退,不论他能给公司赚多少钱,因为消极情绪会扼杀乐观的氛围和对未来的信心。

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