Are you ready to run your own business?
It should not be lost on you that as a real estate investor you are the CEO, CFO, President and Principal of your business. You are directly involved in every decision you make, every property you pursue and every partnership you are involved in. Your ability to make decisions and navigate the waters of business directly define your success.
Running a business means more than having knowledge of real estate. You need to understand the how, when, why and what of the decisions you make. The more you can get inside the head of everyone around you the more successful you will be. There is much more to developing a business than understanding formulas and numbers. Here are five tips to help develop your best real estate business.
- Maximize your time. The best investors know how to maximize their time. This doesn’t mean you have to work for twelve hours straight. In fact, this will often be more of a negative than a positive. Instead of working hard you need to work smart. Start by planning out exactly what you want to accomplish for the day. Additionally, you need to make a coordinating action plan. Knowing what you want to do and when you want it done takes out much of the guesswork to your day. It will make you more focused and streamlined and avoid wasted time. It is not a stretch to say that with the right focus you can get much more done in 6 hours than you can normally in eight, even ten. There are only so many hours in a day. What you do with them separates you from your competition.
- Act. There is a fine line between taking necessary due diligence and finally taking action. You can plan all you like, but ultimately you need to act. Nothing will help you learn the business more than doing. This doesn’t mean you need to make reckless decisions, but you do need to take a leap of faith. Even if you are wrong, you will gain valuable lessons and experience from it. The alternative is sitting on the sidelines watching the parade go by. You can read everything you can get your hands on and listen to stories, but you will never have to face real life drama. Action is always much more valuable than thought. What you will find is that dipping your toe in the real estate waters is not nearly as intimidating or uncomfortable as you may have thought. After you do it the first time, things will only get easier. Your business will truly take off once you are willing to act and make difficult decisions.
- Master communication. Business is really all about communication. Your ability to communicate with motivated sellers, potential business partners and networking contacts will make or break your bottom line. There are several ways of effective communication. You don’t need to be a wordsmith or have a silver tongue to be an effective communicator. In fact, communication is much more about listening than it is talking. The best speakers listen to what is said rather than thinking about what they are going to say next. They don’t interrupt, diminish or deflect things and they pick and choose their spots to chime in. They also know the power of returning phone calls, emails and texts in a timely manner. Something may not be pressing to you, but it can be important to them. By making it a point to return all communication asap you will help solidify relationships and improve your reputation.
- Follow up/appreciate partnerships. It is not enough to generate referrals and build contacts. Anyone can get a referral or partner with someone on a one-off deal. The goal should be to make an impression on them, so they want to work with you for years down the road. Many times, the simplest things you do have the greatest impact. If someone gives you are referral, simply pick up the phone and thank them. Even if the deal doesn’t end up closing by showing appreciation you improve the odds of getting another opportunity down the road. The same is the case with your current partnerships. When is the last time you thanked your contractor, attorney or real estate agent for a job well done? The simply minded person will say that your thanks is reflected in what they make off the deal. The savvy business person knows that the more appreciation you show the harder they will work for you moving forward.
- Work/life balance. Your best business isn’t one where you work all the time and ignore your friends and family. Sure, you need to sacrifice on some dinner dates and Sunday afternoons if you really want to get to where you want to go, but you can’t only focus on work. Every successful business person has something they like to do in their free time. Whether this is spending time with their family, working out, golfing or traveling they use this as motivation to work harder. They know when they need to take their foot off the pedal and do something else. Working hard is an essential component in success, but so is spending time with friends and family.
The macro is just as important as the micro when it comes to running a business. Focus on these five areas to help develop your best possible real estate business.
