Perhaps you’ve been handed a great, long business plan to complete? You look at it and think, ‘How can I do that’? Well, you’re right. You can’t. Why? Because:
1. You don’t have a sales history to review (a large part of the business planning process). You don’t have a frame of reference.
2. You don’t have a need to think out 3-5 years.
3. You don’t have a need to make complex marketing plans.
What you do need: A prioritized business start-up plan. If you don’t have that, you will do meaningless activities like:
- get organized–all day
- attend classes–all day
- preview properties–all week
- observe others–all week
- do research and follow-up
A friend of mine observes that agents who fall into this action plan seem to be “getting ready to get ready”.
The very dangerous thing about agents creating a daily plan without good business-start-up principles, is that they create habits of failure. In effect, they created their own start-up plan—one that assures low production.
Dump that Long-Term Plan and Look at your Start-Up Plan–If You Have One Why not rate your plan now to see which path you are on? Simply add up the number of hours you spent last week in the activities above. Now, add up the sales producing activities (lead generation, showings, listing presentations, sales, and listings gained). Which of the categories has the larger time block? What does that tell you about the job description you have created? Is it a job description that leads to sales?
Attributes of an Effective Business Start-up System
So, then, what is an effective business start-up plan? And, what else do you need? An effective business start-up plan has these attributes:
1. An organized activity schedule that has certain activities prioritized first, so you can manage your time effectively—throughout your career
2. A schedule that has certain activities scheduled secondarily—and why—so you don’t teach yourself to be a failed agent
3. A road-map for a continuing plan, so you can continue growing your business to the next level. (These are all attributes of Up and Running in 30 Days, the new agent’s business start-up plan).
Plan must be integrated with training and coaching. But, that’s not all you need. You need integrated programs with a skilled coaching professional (it can be your manager, or an outside coach), to help you implement successfully.
When to Switch to a Bigger Business Planning Process
1. When you’ve completed 8-12 transactions in a year (now you know how to organize and implement your prioritized day-to-day activities)
2. When you have a track record so you can review your previous year to see patterns and make changes
New Business Planning Series
If you’re unsure how to start your plan, if you don’t see the benefit of planning, I’ve got some answers for you. I’ve been working on business planning for years……and I’ve just come up with a series that I think answers questions like, “How do I get started? How do I know what numbers to put in? How can I make my plan useful? How will I know that it works?”
I call this big program Come See 2012: Beyond the Basics of Business Planning. In it, I’ve created 2 webinars to walk you right through the planning process. I’ve made it simple and straightforward–but not so simple it won’t work! Along with that, I’ve provided the most updated versions of my planning documents–15 of them!
In addition, I’ve added several bonuses:
- From the Coach: 53 Pointers for your Business Plan
- Biggest Marketing Dos and Don’ts
- Especially for teams: How to use the planning process to teamify and inspire
All for a VERY affordable price of $79. Why not let me walk you through the process, provide inspiration, and confidence that your plan will work to give you a great 2012? Click here for more information and purchase.
