The Problem Everyone Accepted: Tina Larsson on Building a Business by Asking Why

Most people who discover that their building is wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars complain about it.My guest today helped organize a board takeover, fixed the problem, and accidentally discovered a business opportunity hiding inside the chaos.Some businesses begin with a carefully researched idea, a detailed plan, and a founder determined to become an entrepreneur. Others begin with a frustrating question: Why do the costs keep going up when no one can explain where the money is going?My guest today wasn’t searching for a business opportunity. She was trying to understand why her New York City co-op had raised its fees year after year while the building continued to be poorly managed. Drawing on their backgrounds in financial analysis, she and her husband began examining the building’s operations. What they discovered led them to organize their neighbors, replace the majority of the board, and uncover hundreds of thousands of dollars in unnecessary expenses.But solving the problems in their own building revealed something much larger. Co-op and condo boards throughout New York were facing similar challenges, often without the experience, information, or time needed to address them.That realization became the foundation of The Folson Group, a consulting firm that helps New York City co-op and condo boards reduce expenses, oversee major projects, improve governance, and protect the value of their buildings.Tina Larsson is the co-founder and CEO of The Folson Group. She’s also the author of Living the High Life: How Smart Co-op and Condo Owners Protect Themselves and Their Investment.Today, we’ll talk about how a Wall Street analyst became an accidental entrepreneur, what it took to turn one building’s problems into a successful consulting company, and why some of the best business opportunities are hiding inside problems everyone else has learned to accept.The Folson Grouphttps://www.thefolsongroup.comLiving the High Life: How Smart Co-op and Condo Owners Protect Themselves and Their Investmenthttps://a.co/d/0fIJoH6A