Featured Community Member, August 2023
The Lenovo Pro Community is pleased to spotlight David Lintz, co-owner of Kidswear and community member since January of 2023, as August's featured member. David is a very hardworking, seasoned, and dedicated individual who's entrepreneurial insight and presence adds so much to the Lenovo Pro Community. Keep reading to see why we are so thankful to have David in the Community.
About David Lintz
Like most people I started out working a minimum wage job in high school. It did not take long for me to realize that I wanted to go into business for myself so I could be the beneficiary of the fruits of my labor. Upon graduating high school at 18, my brother and I pooled our money together and opened a business in a shopping mall. We moved to a few different malls across the country for the next 18 years and towards the end of that time we started investing money into rental properties. By the time we were 36, after having spent half of our lives and our entire adult lives in malls, we decided to get out of retail and devote our time to managing our rental properties full time.
Day-to-day Operations
I always joke that my day-to-day primarily consists of hoping that none of my tenants call me to tell me that something has broken. Over time, my brother and I have gotten very proficient at doing home repairs. I find that is it much more gratifying and cost effective to do these projects myself rather than hiring someone to do it for me. Overall, repairs take up the most of my time that is spent working with my properties while things like finding new tenants only occur a few times a year. We try to keep our rent competitive and that results in us having many long term tenants. It is not unusual for us to have have people stay for five+ years, and that means there is less "lost rent" as we transition between tenants. The goal is to always have as little time as possible where a property is vacant, because every day that a property sits empty is a day of lost rent.
Q & A
How long have you been a part of Lenovo Pro and what is your favorite Lenovo product?
I have been a member of the Lenovo Pro Community for a little less than one year. My favorite Lenovo products are tablets such as the Lenovo Yoga Tablet because I find that a tablet is a way to have a similar experience as I would have with a smartphone, but with a much larger screen. I like laptops and all-in-ones as well, but a tablet is much more portable than a laptop or all-in-one.
How has using your Lenovo equipment helped you accomplish things in your personal or professional life?
Lenovo has a line of products with great capability but at a lower price. I have never felt the need to buy a particular brand merely because it is trendy when I can get the same performance for less money. I think that is why Lenovo continues to gain in popularity. When you create high quality products, the consumer will gradually make the switch.
What do you enjoy most about the Lenovo Pro Community?
I think the community is a great resource for finding information, whether it be questions about existing products or an insight into products that are coming in the future. If you ask a question you will usually get a wide variety of responses from other users and moderators that will provide a variety of answers to your question. The best thing about having a community of like-minded individuals is the ability to make connections with people who may have more experience with certain topics.
What was one of your greatest successes in your professional life?
I think starting a business at eighteen is my biggest success. I attribute that mostly to being naive about how much work is involved so I did not hesitate to take the risk. I think my work ethic is what made it succeed because I was willing to work twelve hours a day for seven days a week if need be.
What was one of your greatest challenges in your professional life?
The biggest challenge and downside of being self employed is that you never clock out. There may be downtime, but you are always on call. You are the boss, so you do not get the benefit of walking away for a few days, because if you want to succeed you must always be engaged. You can hire managers, but they do not care about the business to the same extent that you do, and it is important that you actively manage the business yourself to ensure that things work as they are supposed to.
What was one piece of advice/encouragement that you got along your professional journey that inspired/helped you?
Most of the advice I received was negative because I was so young when I started. I had many people tell me that I would fail before I even got off the ground.
What is one piece of advice you would give other (IT) professionals, aspiring business owners or property managers?
Whenever someone approaches me about a business idea I tell them to sit down and consider all of the reasons why the business might succeed and all of the reasons why the business might fail. I then tell them that if they cannot think of any reason why the business might fail, then they should not open the business. They typically ask me why they should not open a business merely because they can see no downside to it. I explain to them that if they are not able to see the negatives ahead of time, then they are obviously not considering the new business clearly. They are in a frenzy and are convinced that the business cannot fail, and that will make them more likely to fail to recognize negative things that arise before they become catastrophic. When planning a business you need to approach it with a clear and pessimistic mind so you can anticipate potential pitfalls and recognize them as they start to arise.
Connect with David
Thank you for being such a valued part of the community, David and congratulations on being August's Featured Community Member!
Listen to the live version here!
Do you have any questions for David about his journey, interests or advice?
Leave your questions and comments below!