How to Build a Real Estate Business Without Going Broke or Insane

This special report was created at the urging of many of my clients and students. Apparently there is a myth that as a Realtor you must do everything yourself. Too often there are articles written touting the super strength of a Realtor who is being featured. He/she is bragging that the customer can always feel confident knowing that he/she is doing it all.

I honestly feel bad for this person however heroic or honorable their intentions are. Sadly, this person is simply trading hours for dollars which is basically having a J.O.B. Many real estate investors I also speak with are in the same boat. The worse part of this is that if they want to take a vacation, it’s tough if not impossible if they are the do-it all person. If they want to increase their income, they will have to spend more time working to accomplish that. There is nothing to sell when they want to move onto something else or retire. There is no income if they are sick or become incapacitated. The stress of being a soloprenuer is daunting and often overwhelming. It’s one of the reasons that many don’t make it long in the business. Besides, no one can great at everything.

It doesn’t have to be that way and the information I’m about to share with you will probably revolutionize the way you think about your business. Notice I said BUSINESS, that’s exactly what you should have, not a J.O.B.

Before I share with you how making small changes can help you can create the business of your dreams without going broke, I want to share this simple yet eye opening example how much doing it all yourself is costing you financially. Let’s say that you want to earn $75,000 per year, after expenses. That’s about $37.50 per hour based on a 40 hour a week work week. With that said, do you think you are paying yourself too much for some of the activities you do? Is sending faxes, stuffing envelopes or following up with the title company a job that you should pay someone $37.50 an hour to do? I don’t think so and I’m sure you don’t either – so what’s a busy real estate business owner to do? There are ways to change this and I’m going to cover a few of them in this report. I’m also going to go into detail about the pros and cons of several of them as well as how to implement others. Remember this report is REAL information to help you see your real estate business as just that, a BUSINESS.

Leverage is one of the most powerful things you can add to your business and perhaps your life. It’s how you increase your income without working more hours. It’s adding people to your business help you grow it and to enable you to generate more sales and also enjoy more free time. It’s using systems and tools to ensure that the people you bring into your business are effectively doing the job you’ve assigned to them the way you designed it and that each of your customers is receiving the best service, each and every time.

Let’s look at People first – this is often the most challenging yet the one that most business owners jump right into without doing a great deal of research. It’s often done wrong and yields less than desirable results. This leads to negative feelings about this and often stagnates a business’s growth because if it. For many reasons this is understandable. Bringing someone into your business requires you to take on another role “manager”.

There are several ways you can bring someone into work with you, as an employee, independent contractor or as virtual contractor. While I’m not entirely against employees, don’t get me wrong, it’s not perhaps the best first choice for a small growing business. I am very aware of the challenges and expenses involved with hiring one especially too early in your business. Nonetheless, it is an option so let’s discuss how it’s done effectively.

• Solicit applicants – advertise the position
• Screen applicants – It’s suggested that you interview the person over the phone briefly to pre-screen them then two additional times before hiring them
• Negotiate salary - this salary won’t just be what you’ve agreed upon with employee, you have to pay taxes on both the federal and state level
• Provide training
• Manage the work they do
• Provide work space
• Provide benefits.

Bringing people into your business is a huge expense and it’s easily understandable why many people feel they will never get to that point, or even want to. Additionally, having another “mouth to feed” is also quit overwhelming. But without people, you are always going to be the one doing ALL THE WORK.

The other alternative is to hire non-employees or contract labor. This is the method I prefer but a word of caution, contract labor has it’s draw backs also. You are limited in the control you have over the person’s time, because if you set hours, then they are employees. The benefits however are of course you can bring this person in for special projects or events and when those are done, you don’t have to be obligated to continue to employee this person for other activities. Many of the same above apply such as:

• Solicit applicants – advertise the position
• Screen applicants – It’s suggested that you interview the person over the phone briefly to pre-screen them then two additional times before hiring them
• Negotiate compensation
• Provide training
• Manage the work they do
• Provide work space
• You may also have to pay a retainer to keep this person available to you on a regular basis

The last is to go into cyberspace and locate a virtual nonemployee. Usually this person, also called a Virtual Assistant will have general office skills however in recent years we’ve seen this expand. Now it’s pretty easy to find someone who indicates they have specific knowledge in a certain industry. When using this option, please keep in mind here are the basics you’ll need to do:

• Solicit applicants – advertise the position – or search for them online
• Screen applicants – It’s suggested that you interview the person over the phone briefly to pre-screen them then two additional times before hiring them
• Negotiate compensation
• Provide training
• Manage the work they do

No matter which option you choose to help you grow your business there is no doubt, you will have to have help enjoy the freedom that owning a business can afford you as well as helping you maintain your sanity. Before you add any one to your business you first must determine what jobs can you give this person, what are you comfortable delegating?

Here’s an exercise to help you get started:

– What feeds your passion? (What do you like to do the best?)
– What are your core competencies? (What are you best at?)
– What is drudgery? (What do you dislike doing in your business?
– What are you using to leverage yourself? (Be honest)

If you could hire someone to help you with your business and money were no object – I’d have them do the following: This is one of my favorite eye opening exercises; I hope you found it helpful also.

Before you bring someone, anyone into your business, you have to have systems in place to ensure that the work this person is doing is consistent with the work that you have been doing. This is another stumbling block that many encounter.

One of my favorite books is The EMyth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber. If you haven’t read this book please take the time to do so. It will give you a whole new perspective on your business. The book tells the story of why many small businesses fail and offers suggestions on preventing it. Much of it has to do with systems or lack thereof. Systems are what can help you take your business to the next level. They enable you to consistently deliver top quality service to your clients always and from each member of your team. They also empower those that you’ve hired to work on your team to do their job effectively and with little supervision form you.

Here’s a few suggestions on using systems to help you grow your business and regain or retain balance in you life; • Use check lists. NEVER rely on your memory. Sounds simple, but often overlooked. Lists will help you ensure that all activities on a listing or transaction are complete. Checklists are also a great way to communicate with your clients and team members. This will eliminate unnecessary repetition of others on your team. Using them to communicate with clients will also help your clients know exactly what you are doing and where you are on their listing or transaction.

• Develop a written procedure for all of the activities you do. Document everything from how you input a listing, to how to close out a file after closing. Having a written plan will not only make it simple to hire an assistant or add to your team in the future, it will give you a reference point to help you discover where your time is being best spent.

Hint – an easy way to start this would be to buy an MP3 recorder and dictate all that you do. Email it to an online dictation service where many will type your dictated word and email it to you in a word format for about a penny a word.

• Devote time for income generating activities DAILY. Don’t over look the power of this system. Review your business, determine the steps necessary to create the results you want then daily take steps toward that goal. If it takes you 100 cold calls to generate a new listing, then daily you must set aside time to do these calls. 25 or 50 a day and you’ll be on your way to the results you want. Putting it into your calendar and making it a system will increase the likelihood of these activities getting accomplished.

• Focus! Start day with a plan (system) and stay focused. It’s easy to get off on something else as soon as the phone rings but, staying true to your plan will help you grow your business. If you have an article to write, a proposal to prepare, cold calls to make or anything else that takes focus, turn OFF your email, and tell yourself you will spend the next hour or however much time you think this will take on this activity only. Then focus, focus, focus. You’ll be amazed at how much you’ll get done in a shorter period of time without any interruptions or distractions.

• Schedule time to work on your business rather than in it. That’s right, put it on the schedule, just like you would with any other important activity. Spending time developing goals, new systems and solutions for implementing them is a surefire way to increase your business. Don’t get stuck in the day to day and confuse busy time for business building time. Many top professionals take one day off a month and work on their business. They do not take calls, emails or any interruptions during this time. They simply work on building their business.



This special report was created at the urging of many of my clients and students. Apparently there is a myth that as a Realtor you must do everything yourself. Too often there are articles written touting the super strength of a Realtor who is being featured. He/she is bragging that the customer can always feel confident knowing that he/she is doing it all.

I honestly feel bad for this person however heroic or honorable their intentions are. Sadly, this person is simply trading hours for dollars which is basically having a J.O.B. Many real estate investors I also speak with are in the same boat. The worse part of this is that if they want to take a vacation, it’s tough if not impossible if they are the do-it all person. If they want to increase their income, they will have to spend more time working to accomplish that. There is nothing to sell when they want to move onto something else or retire. There is no income if they are sick or become incapacitated. The stress of being a soloprenuer is daunting and often overwhelming. It’s one of the reasons that many don’t make it long in the business. Besides, no one can great at everything.