Submit Feedback
Member Login
Blogs Homepage
Featured Entries
Recent Entries
Recent Comments
Tags
My Starred Entries
Create A Blog
RSS Feed |
Part II: To Chauffeur or not to Chauffeur |
May. 11, 2008
Categorized in: Welcome to my Blog!
A recent post by Donna Yates, a Georgia REALTOR® was right on! She understands that another element of putting a potential (and that is the key word, potential) buyer into your car not only wastes your valuable time as a business person (and that is what we should be), it also wastes gas which is an expense. Thank you Donna for checking in!
The first thing you need to do, if you want a long and successful career, is to understand and set yourself up as a business and then run your career as a business.
Let’s take a look at the benefits of putting together and executing a business plan, versus the disadvantages from my perspective.
Benefits:
1. Gives you a specific plan to focus your energy and resources on a yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly and yes daily basis; not only for this year but for the next 3, 5, or however long you anticipate a career in real estate. Once your plan has been written you need to be committed to keep it updated by reviewing it on a quarterly basis.
2. Reduces waste of precious resources and helps you to gauge better where to spend your valuable time and money; i.e. identifying activities or tasks that help you to make money and save you time.
3. A business plan that is followed helps to insure that you stay away from time wasting activities; activities that are not income producing
4. Identifies what you want to make ($) or need to make as income and your expenses; not just on an annual basis but also on a quarterly and monthly basis. You put together a yearly budget that helps you better decide where you are going to spend your money and more importantly identifies the key activities and habits that will bring you the income to pay expenses including taxes; and of course brings you a profit.
5. Planning helps to even out your income stream; many people in this business complain about the ups and downs of their income. When you have a plan that you follow, you can avoid the lows and increase the highs. Following your business plan helps you reduce those lean times and forces to you to keep focused on income producing activities for the near and long term.
6. Includes putting together a comprehensive marketing plan on a yearly/quarterly/monthly basis that not only helps to design “your brand,” (distinguishing you from the rest of the people in your area with a license) but identifies where and when you are going to spend your hard earned dollars in marketing you, and advertising your clients’ properties
7. Gives you control over your money, career, and more importantly your life. (Wouldn’t that be nice?)
8. Insures that you are working for your long term success; read here insuring that you are working with clients today that will be clients for the long term.
9. Helps you put together and work an exit plan that includes retirement planning; something that is sorely lacking in the real estate business
10.Plans for growth in your business career whether you intend to expand with the hiring of a licensed assistant or two or three, or to put together a team of other like-minded REALTORS®.
Disadvantages:
1. Takes time to set up right
2. You have to work the plan to make it work for you; a plan that sits on the shelf is no good to anyone;
3. Gives you what you need to do on a daily through yearly basis (Wait; that might be a benefit! J)
That should give you something to think about for the week!
Next week we move on to practices of the REALTOR® business person and how to establish yourself as the trusted advisor for your clients!
Take care!
Word of the Day
Ask the Experts
Question of the Day
Member Login
Join RealTown
Request Password
RealTown RSS Feed