Are You Ready for Some Business Planning?

Is your current business plan an underachiever or even worse, non existent? Here’s 3 GREAT strategies for turning that under achieving business plan into an overachiever!

#1: Let “Purpose” Drive Your Plan

As much as you may LOVE real estate, you can bet there’s going to be a day when you question whether there’s an easier way to make a living! Just ask the most experienced agent in your office.

Let’s say a close friend or your favorite client buys a home without you, or the sale that you’ve been working on for months falls apart just days before the closing day. What greater purpose is going to wake you up the next morning, motivated to start all over again? What desire or dream do you have in life that’s important enough to forget the pain of rejection or disappointment that can come with a real estate career?

Most of your hopes and dreams will require a commitment of your time, money or both to accomplish them! That leads you to the first step in the business planning cycle…the life budget, where you define the costs associated with creating this life you want to live, then you build a plan to FUND it! THIS is where your reasons for doing this job and your business plan are connected!

#2 – Know Everything There Is to Know about Yourself!

Business planning, in its’ simplest format is a cycle of interrelated activity. Once you’ve completed the first step…finalizing your life budget, subtract any other income source you have in order to determine what must come from real estate. You’re now ready to calculate the number of sales needed, the sources you’ll target, and the marketing budget necessary to make your plan a success.

Keep in mind, having no marketing budget is like driving a car with no gas in it. Just accept the fact that it’s going to be a short trip to nowhere!

Statistical information is at the foundation of this business plan. It’s basically impossible to convert your income goal into the number of sales needed without knowing key statistics such as your average sales price or average commission per sale, and these are just the start!

#3 – Keep Focused on the End Result

I love this old adage: “No one really cares how often the captain of the ship weathers the storm. What really matters is whether he ultimately brings that ship into port.

What a great analogy to our daily lives in real estate and the importance of an effective business plan. Done correctly, it will serve as the compass that consistently realigns your course each time the latest crisis or problem in your business demands your time and distorts your focus.

Remember, making it into port is what really matters! And what part of the plan keeps you engaged in the process of getting back on track? Your Purpose …those areas of your life that you’ve defined as your reasons “why” you’re doing this job in the first place…and that brings us full circle.

So, if you really want to win at the game of success, then define your purpose, know your stats, and keep focused on the end result.

Now you know I have to ask you an important question…

“Are You Ready for Some Effective Business Planning?!”

Meet Your Team Dynamics Instructor - Pam Ermen

Pamela Ermen has spent her entire business career in real estate, obtaining her license at 18 years old. Starting at such a young age, she quickly learned the important role industry and product knowledge played in earning credibility with clients and customers. Her intense focus on acquiring that knowledge, combined with award winning sales production, opened doors to full time management by the age of 24. Since then, she has spent nearly 25 years coaching individual agents and teams to their highest levels of productivity.

Pam brings a unique perspective to the classroom, having accomplished successful management careers in both a traditional privately owned and a fixed fee franchised branded company business model. She has spent the past 5 years as Vice President, Senior Trainer and Broker/Owner of one of the top 20 companies in the country.

Pam is the author and creator of two well-defined training series, specific to real estate business planning and the dynamic growth of real estate teams. She has been a Senior Instructor with the REALTOR® Institute for more than 13 years and was selected as the “Real Estate Educator of the Year” for the state of Virginia. Pam was recently accepted as an Instructor for the National Association of REALTOR’s® Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) Program, focused on Business Planning for the Residential Realtor®. She is also president of Real Estate Guidance, Inc., which oversees her personal coaching and training opportunities.

Meet Your Team Dynamics Instructor - Will Carder

Will originally obtained his real estate license in 2000 and quickly became one of the top real estate teams in the Unites States. Since 2002, The Will Carder Real Estate Team has closed over 1500 transactions and over 300 million dollars in sales volume. The Will Carder Real Estate Team is currently one of the top 50 RE/MAX real estate teams in the U.S. Will also serves as a division president for one of the largest real estate brokerages in the world.

With a passion for the real estate business and the agents who call it a career, Will mentors and coaches real estate agents and teams across the country. With the ability to assess strengths and weaknesses of an organization, Will finds his coaching of agents, teams and companies very rewarding.

Will is the author/creator of “The Smart Office”, a manual and guide for creating profitability for all real estate models in today’s marketplace. Will currently holds awards for The RE/MAX Hall of Fame, RE/MAX Chairman’s Club, and the Circle of Excellence just to name a few. He has also been featured in numerous publications such as RIS Media’s Power Team Report.

Will resides on the east coast with his wife and two daughters.