Are You Ready for Some Business Planning?
May 20, 2009
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?!”