Business Planning Advice for Real Estate Agents

Your business plan is the GPS for your career. It’s the path that will lead you to success, and one you shouldn’t ignore. Knowing the steps to take when business planning can make all the difference in the outcome. These tips will help ensure that you are on your way to success.

Develop Attainable Goals

You should figure out your personal, business, and financial goals.

Personal Goals

Personal goals will cover where you want to improve, things or events you want to save up for, something you want to try, etc.

Business Goals

A business goal can be something as simple as becoming a better public speaker or as complicated as building a detailed marketing plan with email automation and getting in depth with social media advertising. Education and development also falls under this umbrella. You should always be learning something about your business.

Financial Goals

You’ll need to know your current lifestyle and living expenses. Then figure out how much you budget for advertising and other business expenses. A basic list includes email marketing software, desk fees, commission splits and transaction fees, printing costs, Facebook advertising, website and landing pages, NAR dues, and more.

Next, you’ll want to set aside a lead generation and nurturing budget. Email marketing and automation is a great place to start. Will you use postcards, door hanger campaigns, billboards, or sites like Realtor.com? Whatever you decide, make sure you take those costs into account as well.

Financial Plan to Action Plan

Once you have your expenses, it’s time to develop a realistic financial plan. Take your total expenses for the year and divide by twelve. This gives you the amount you need per month to maintain your lifestyle. You need to determine how many deals you must close to reach that monthly goal. Let’s say you require 26 deals a year to break even. That’s one close every two weeks. If you have variable expenses, add one or two more closes to compensate. This is the point where you determine if you’re being overly ambitious.

Now that you know how many you’ll have to close, it’s time to figure out the number of leads you’ll need to generate per week. Consider the idea that it will take 30 warm leads to generate one close. Cold leads, those who are months away from purchasing a home, may take even more. In our example, we would need 15-30 warm leads or 40-60 cold leads per week.

Now it’s time to create action steps. What will you do every week to ensure you gain new leads? It’s time to figure out how you stand apart in your area. You want three to five action items per day. Engagement on social media, cold calls, and creating automated sequences for your mailing list are just some ideas to get you started.

Once you have a warm lead, it’s up to you to convert them into clients and close deals. It’s a good idea to know your competition, average sales and rental prices in the area, local demographics, and more.

Adapt

Remember that your business plan is a living document that adapts with you. As your business grows, it’s normal to shift strategies, reevaluate goals, and make changes to your plan.

Keep your business plan close at hand and go over it every quarter to ensure you maintain your goals.