Whether you’re new to the real estate industry or a seasoned investor, you’ve probably come to realize that success doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, if growing a successful business is high on your list of priorities, you must be willing to put in the hard work and grueling diligence.
However, If you can commit to long hours and sleepless nights, growing a successful business won’t be as hard as you think.
The problem is painfully obvious: we sometimes make business far more difficult than it has to be. People spend more time over-thinking a strategy, complicating processes, or worrying about others around them than they do focusing on their business’s bottom line; that’s a problem.
While processes, strategies, and the members of your team (among other things) should be of high importance, they should not eat up a majority of the business day or week. The question then becomes a simple one: What should you focus on? Fortunately, the answer is equally as simple: seize only the opportunities that tangibly affect your goals. The key to success for any real estate entrepreneur is selling your service better than the competition. Concentrate less on those daily processes that should be running themselves (if you’ve properly built business systems), and more on getting the word out about your business in order to increase cashflow and profits.
Sit down, put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and write down everything – and I mean EVERYTHING – you do on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. Whether it’s that 30 minute coffee break meeting you have with your go-to private lender every month or the five hours you spend managing your social media accounts once per week, write it down. Next, work out the average time it takes you to complete every task or process. Then, highlight only the duties that directly relate to customer acquisition. Finally, set a goal to triple the amount of time you spend on those highlighted tasks. Don’t say you’re too busy, don’t protest about having other things to do – just try it! You won’t regret going that extra mile once you see your business bottom line reaping the rewards.
Growing A Successful Business: How To Think Like An Entrepreneur
It doesn’t matter if you were born an entrepreneur or you recently grew tired working towards someone else’s dream (aka the boss at your last nine to five job), investing in real estate is one of the best and most efficient ways to achieve financial freedom and a stable retirement.
Growing a successful business is possible, so long as you execute these four essential mindset “shifts” on a daily basis:
1. Prioritize Education: The key to success as a small business owner is continual education. I’m not talking about a college degree – although that never hurts – but rather taking the time to educate yourself. In a business as volatile as real estate, trends, technologies, strategies, and best practices are constantly evolving. A breakthrough in technology could drastically alter the way you manage your marketing systems. An innovative investing strategy has the potential to reshape your entire portfolio. The point is this: If you want to continue to get ahead of the competition, it is essential to keep yourself up to date on the latest and greatest. Start following business blogs, listening to podcasts, reading self help guides, watching relevant documentaries, and attending industry seminars. Take advantage of whatever piece of educational material you can get your hands on. Do this, and you’ll become the go-to expert in your market, thus increasing your number of consistent leads. Invest in your growth, you won’t regret it.
2. Focus On The Client: Too many investors spend so much time reveling in the internal processes of their business that they forget who they are even working for: the customer. It doesn’t matter if you have the most up to date website, the best marketing materials, or work with the most highly-rated construction team in your market. If you can’t generate dependable leads, your business won’t survive. Something worth your time: figuring out what is the number one problem the majority of your clients face, and subsequently, how to solve that problem. Focus your efforts on offering a solution to a common frustration, and customers will come flocking.
3. Be Present: In a world where people favor screens over faces, it can be hard to not let technology get in the way of day to day life. While the advances in technology have paved the way for a brighter future, they have also caused people to be more attached to a device over a human being. The last thing any clients wants is to be working with an investor who is so distracted by everyday noise that they are incapable of meeting customer needs. This means, avoid answering phone calls, emails, texts, etc, when face to face with a client. When you are present with the task at hand, you are more likely to achieve a successful outcome. The best way to do this is to create a schedule and stick to it. Because an investor is required to wear many hats, they days are often jam packed with to-do’s (aka, your calendar should be your best friend.) If you take the time at the end of each week to plan out the following week, you will not only complete every task on your list, you will complete each task more effectively and efficiently.
4. Be Passionate: If you want to be a successful real estate investor, you must be passionate about everything you do; from your chat with the mailman every morning to an official meeting with your contractor. Why? Because everyone is a customer and everyone can see through insincerity. When you’re an investor, you never know where your next lead will come from. While it could come from your direct mail marketing campaign, it could just as easily come from your next door neighbor who heard you chatting with your business partner in line at Starbucks. The point is, so long as you exude enthusiasm, profits will follow. Clients – and anyone else you work with, for that matter – will be able to feel your gusto and will therefore be more likely to work with you and recommend your business to others.
Growing a successful business will take time. However, if you can shift your mindset to think like an entrepreneur – and ditch those processes that are hurting your business’s bottom line – you’ll be able to accomplish your wildest goals.
