Do You Run Your Business Like a Business?

Many agents spend a lot of time working in their business but not much time working on their business, and it shows. In fact, nearly a third of REALTORS® in the U.S. made less than $25,000 last year—and that’s before expenses and taxes.

The good news is that if you’re seeking higher levels of success, the path is clear: Treat your business like a business.

Be Curious and Flexible

When I started as a residential agent, I was typical. My business was disorganized and chaotic. I would spend frantic time generating business and then get so busy that I did not have time to generate any more. It was a vicious cycle: one month up and the next month down. I was only able to move ahead when I faced my chaos head-on.

Even as an agent, you run a small business. Do you see yourself that way? You need to be curious about every facet of what you do and then be willing to adjust how you do things. Here are the major areas to explore.

Training Is the Key That Unlocks Your Potential

Yes, you need a certain number of classes to get and stay licensed, and TREC rules require competency across many aspects of your activities, but the training you need to grow your business goes far beyond that. Here are some questions to ask yourself.

• Where are you lacking competency?
• Do you need mentors in specific areas—or overall?
• Are there classes that will improve your sales, negotiation, marketing, technology, or other skills?
• Is there a new practice area—like farm & ranch or commercial—that you want to become competent in?

Once you identify areas where you desire growth, you can seek out mentorship, classes from your local association or Texas REALTORS®, certifications and designations, or design your own method of learning.

Good Accounting Helps You Track, Assess, and Plan

Do you know how much income you’ve made this year? Are you tracking your expenses? You need a handle on your key financial activities to even know if you’re making a profit. Beyond that, keeping track of your finances helps you adjust your business activities, maximize profit, and plan for the future.

• Do you have a separate business bank account?
• Do you pay your taxes on time? How can you make that happen?
• Have you talked to your accountant about business structure and whether it benefits you financially to set up an LLC for compensation?
• Are you paying your bills on time? How about quarterly tax payments?

I am not a saver, but I do pay my taxes. I figured out that creating a set-aside savings account did not work for my taxes. Instead, I pay my taxes after every closing through the IRS’s Electronic Federal Tax Payment System. EFTPS drafts money directly from my business account. This is not the solution for everyone, but it works for me.

How Can You Leverage Technology?

Are you a technology person? I am not. I still print out the agent full comps to get my brain around the suggested list price. Despite that, I know that this business is animated by ever-changing technology. Your business needs to keep up. If you can’t use technology to serve clients efficiently and run your business, you need a vendor or assistant to help.

• Have you set up templates in your contracts software and other workflows?
• Is your online presence complete and consistent, including social media?
• Do you have an online system to collect reviews and testimonials?
• Do you have systems to track client activity, follow up, and meet deadlines?

Your Operations Plan Helps You Deliver Value

During COVID, listing agents could hardly make a mistake in pricing, and effective marketing was sometimes not critical. Things have changed. You have to have an operations plan with the systems that work for every transaction. This consists of templates, checklists, and tools, but it all starts with your ability to articulate the value you bring to the transaction.

• Why should a client pick you? How do you position yourself against your competitors?
• How do you communicate your value to clients?
• Do you have a set of written standards for customer service?
• Have you created listing and buying presentations that focus on value?
• Do you have a system to manage the search process for your buyers?
• How do you ensure you don’t miss any deadlines?
• Is your contract-to-close plan documented and repeatable?

Marketing and Lead Generation Keep Your Pipeline Full

The most successful agents have a consistent marketing program. New ideas come and go, but what has never faded away is marketing to your sphere of influence and past clients. That’s the place to start for every agent.

• Have you created a long-term follow-up strategy for past clients and your sphere of influence that you can execute consistently?
• Are you setting aside time every day to look for listings? (The buyers will come.)

If you have mastered all this, talk to other agents about their success buying leads, FSBO marketing, cold calling, and other strategies you can consider. But don’t abandon your efforts to your sphere of influence.

When it comes to social media, you don’t have to be an influencer. You can just be a real estate agent who consistently posts about your business to keep your name in front of potential customers. If you want to be an influencer, go for it, but you can have great marketing success without devoting your life to generating followers.

Yes, Human Resources is Part of Your Business, too

Do you want to get to a much higher level of business success? Even if you’re a solo agent, you have some hard personnel questions to answer.

• Should you really be the person managing the money? Are you CFO quality?
• Are you good at transaction coordination? Could you bring in someone better to help?
• Do you make a good VP of Marketing? Do you have time for it?
• Is delivering lock boxes and signs the best use of your time?
• Are you creative enough to find personalized client appreciation gifts and create events?

Also ask yourself what the things are that only you can do. Many agents are convinced that they are the best person to handle every aspect of their business—that they have more knowledge and a bigger stake in the success. That may be right, but that overlooks the high opportunity cost to get to a level of perfection that might not be needed. Spending time doing things that others can do well means that you cannot do the things that you need to do.

Many agents do not delegate because of fear. But if you think you can’t afford to delegate, consider that your insistence on handling the $10-an-hour tasks may take away time to focus on the activities that will bring in many thousands of dollars.

Selling real estate can be an expensive hobby or a lucrative business. Take some time to take a hard look at your business at every level. If this all seems overwhelming, create two or three things in each area that you can do over the next 90 days to make a difference. Do not be afraid to take a critical look at yourself and what you bring to the table as well as where you may be an obstacle to your own success.

Of course, you cannot change the course of your business in a short amount of time. The key is to start to move in the right direction today!