Creating your own Business
- Jan 29, 2018
- 3 min read
Starting a business isn’t always the easiest thing to do but in some cases, it may be the right thing to do. You may have heard the question, “If money didn’t matter, what would you do?” and wondered to yourself, what would I do if money really didn’t matter? It’s not the easiest question to answer but today I’d like to discuss two things that may help you figure out what it is that you would do for free. As our primary audience is real estate agents, I will be giving a few examples in the field. However, the principles can be applied to any area of business you may be in.
It’s true that many people find themselves in real estate out of necessity. In many cases, selling homes offers supplemental income to support your family and lifestyle. For others it may be the only source of income you have, and you are working hard to turn it into a successful business that can support your family. Whatever your situation, what’s important to note is that what you do everyday has the power to define your future. Taking time to really think about what you are doing and why can help you make the right decisions that can transform your life. So, where do you start?
As Simon Sinek says, always start with why. Why are you in real estate? Is it because you enjoy selling homes? Is it out of necessity? Is it because you have a dream of building a successful real estate business? Figuring out the why of what you are doing will help you understand better your motivations and whether you have the depth of purpose to go for it over the long term. You see it’s easy to do something as a hobby when there aren’t any major obligations like deadlines to meet, taxes to file and so on. However, for you to turn your hobby into a business, you need to start with the right why otherwise you will burn out and end up not enjoying what you do. If you love selling homes, the thrill of it and the excitement of pitching to new clients, then you may have the right why.
However, if you are only selling homes to get some extra cash and are always hoping you won’t have to sell another home, then perhaps you may be in the wrong field.
After figuring out the why, the next important question to ask is how. How will you create a business that you will love? How will you ensure that you survive even as you work on building it? For instance, you need to have at least 6-12 months of living expenses saved up before starting your business, especially if it will be your primary source of income. Why? Because most businesses take around 6 months to start generating any meaningful income and 12-24 months to break even. During this time, you will need to have put in the right structures in place to tide you over to when the business can pay you. As a real estate agent, this means figuring out how many homes you need to sell per year to make enough to pay yourself. If this is one home per month, work towards that. You may start with one home per year as a new real estate agent but digging in and building up that number is what will define your success.
Starting a real estate business can be the one thing that changes your life forever, giving you time to spend with your family, sufficient resources for the lifestyle of your choice and peace of mind. Having the right why and how to begin with, however, is what will determine your success and whether you will wake up every day loving what you do.
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