Mike Zagaris of PMZ Real Estate, Joe Duran of United Capital and Modesto businessman Dan Costa, led by Jason Gordo, shared their insights on business with the Modesto community Feb. 25.
MODESTO — Modesto’s business community received doses of inspiration and practical advice from three leaders with long and varied backgrounds during an event at the Gallo Center for the Arts Wednesday night.
Mike Zagaris of PMZ Real Estate; Joe Duran, CEO of United Capital; and Modesto businessman Dan Costa shared their insights into what it takes to succeed in the current economy with the audience of 1,000 people from the Modesto area.
Zagaris talked about the current state of the economy. He said the Central Valley offers many opportunities for success, but many people don’t see them because of limiting beliefs, particularly about themselves.
“There’s no reason why anybody can’t do well here,” Zagaris said before the event. “But at the same time, you can be held back from believing that because there’s a lot of challenging things here.”
Zagaris said agriculture is the bright spot of the region’s economy. The service sector, particularly health care is also doing well. Distribution is also growing. Manufacturing, however, is a challenge.
Zagaris told the audience that one way to overcome limiting beliefs is to surround yourself with positive people.
“Hang around successful people,” he said. Zagaris defines success as people with well-balanced lives who are engaged.
Joe Duran, CEO of the investment company United Capital, led the audience through an exercise to examine their biases about money. The quiz was based on a study released by the American Psychiatric Association, which found that 72 percent of people have an uneasy relationship with money and are driven by fear, commitment or happiness.
“People in their financial lives think about the money and really make sacrifices in their life that reflect a reality that isn’t there based in their biases,” Duran said before his presentation.
Duran, who grew up in a war-torn region now known as Zimbawe, said he is driven by fear.
“You think a lot about costs. You think about sacrificing your needs in order to find protection,” Duran.
He said people driven by commitment can be very generous but often put the needs of others above their own.
Those driven by happiness, the study found, are comfortable spending money but are not good savers.
So, what about the other 28 percent?
“The other 28 percent are either in denial or have figured out that the money serves their life and not the other way around,” Duran said.
Well-known Modesto entrepreneur Dan Costa told the audience when he considers a new business venture, he thinks of bananas: he gets in while the business is green, nurtures it until it’s ripe and gets out before it’s past its prime.
Costa, who started Velvet Creamery and 511 Tactical, now has four businesses in the works. Three are clothing lines, which he aims to sell as a bundle eventually. The other is a line of ready to cook, mix and match meals that will be sold at Raley’s starting in March.
He said he chose to pursue those businesses because they are scalable.
“The game I’m playing now, if it’s not national or global, I’m out. I’ve got to go for bigger stakes,” Costa said.
Costa said it’s also important to get into a business you understand. He has experience in both the food and clothing industries.
Costa may have started and sold many businesses but he’s always stayed in Modesto. He has a fruit analogy for that as well.
“If you were a fruit inspector and you took a watermelon off a truck and tested it, that would be a core test of what all those watermelons would taste like,” Costa said. He believes Modesto is a good test market for products. “If you could make it here, you’d probably be OK in St. Louis.”
After the presentations, there was a question and answer session followed by break-out session where people who get more targeted help with their business questions.
The event was presented by United Capital’s Modesto office.
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