When Newcastle went into partial lock-down along with the rest of Australia, a lot of stores or food outlets were reduced to take-away, or closed completely.
Despite this, one day last week I found myself at my favourite spot in Darby street, seeing if I could grab a take-away espresso as I passed through.
It wasn’t easy.
Council works meant that the road was more or less shut, they had the typical “one in, one out” policy inside the café, and skeleton staff meant that everything was taking 3 times longer.
So, why did I bother?
An “asset” is defined as a “useful or valuable quality, person or thing; an advantage or resource.”
Another definition: “a valuable item that is owned.”
In both of the above, we get a feeling of “hard” assets – or what are known as “tangible” assets, that we feel might appreciate in value.
Something we buy. Maybe a house, maybe some land.
However, it’s also really helpful to consider other “intangible” assets, such as reputation.
After all, the trust and reputation that a good café can cultivate over time becomes their main driver of business.
It’s why we seek out our favourite spot time after time.
Here are some other intangible assets:
- Intellectual property or models
- Attributes such as consistency or grit
- Networks and network effect
The thing about “hard” or tangible assets is that usually they are bought. It’s a “one or zero” thing. You either have it, or you don’t.
With the intangibles, we can make the choice to create them.
