Avoid These 4 Mistakes | Tips From A Top-Producing Realtor

When starting a business, it’s important to be willing to take risks and make mistakes. As somebody who has painstakingly perfected the art of messing things up and figuring it out, I’m here to share the top things I did that you should definitely… not do :)

Howdy everyone! It’s Or Yochanan, in my previous article I had shared the 5 core values that helped me build a successful business, so today I’m going to tell you the 4 things that have been holding me back.

TL;DR? I got you! These are my main mistakes:

1. Branding
2. Marketing
3. Processes
4. (my) Time Management

(full video is available on my YouTube channel)

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1. Branding

Your brand is the first thing people see, and if you’re doing it poorly their perception might be wrong.

It took me a good 2-3 weeks just to select a name for the business, and eventually went with a name that encapsulates my belief that every home is both an Investment and a Story, and as a bonus I even got my name embedded into the thing: INVESTORY! I thought it’s cute and clever!

Well, in reality - the brand can be confusing; many people think I only deal with investments, the underlying message is missed, and I miss market cap because of it 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️.

My takeaway: Building a brand should be aimed for your future clients, keep it clean & simple, don’t try to be too clever - remember that the brand is built for people who don’t know you nor understand your train of thought.

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2. Marketing

I’ll be the first to admit: I absolutely SUCK at marketing. I don’t know how to make a quick sound bite from a long topic, I will not sugarcoat anything, I'm not willing to bend the truth to make me look better / story become "sexier", I find it hard to promote myself since it makes me feel like a douchebag, and I’m too awkward to ask others for help. I had been so busy building my business that I severely neglected all marketing aspects, and if it sounds to you like a lame excuse - well, that's only because it's indeed a lame excuse!

I got to where I am today without using any traditional tools such as CRM and mailing lists, with no marketing campaigns or newsletter, and a half-baked website - which means I most likely left a lot of unrealized opportunities on the table… Heck, I'm embarrassed to admit that up until six months ago I did not know what a "lead" is. Seriously.

My takeaway: The best service in the world means NOTHING if no one knows it exists. Spread the word, and if you suck at it - build a system or hire a professional. Don’t be shy to ask for help, if you have done your job well people would be glad to leave a positive feedback - which reminds me to kindly ask you to Like this article if you find my content helpful :) :)

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3. Processes

When you start a business on your own the process is simple, and every time you make a mistake you can learn and apply it moving forward. The problem starts when you build a TEAM - your experience doesn’t just magically propagate to them, you need to train them.

This turned out to be one of the most difficult tasks - and in retrospect it was mostly because I did not put the required emphasis on building the process in a concise, easy to understand manner. I did a lot of 1x1 sessions and shadowing, instead of building a documentation center and workflow dashboards, which in retrospect was inefficient for everyone involved. Having a well documented source of truth will help you and your team avoid misunderstandings and bridge knowledge gaps.

My takeaway: Implementing processes should take place as early as you’re starting to scale and delegate. Today I have an internal Wiki portal and workflow Dashboards, along with training videos to complement the missing pieces, and it helps a lot. The help is two-fold, since when I’m spending the time to build a process A to Z I find a lot of optimizations that can improve it moving forward.

(!)And a pro tip from the software world: Start with the top level design BEFORE you jump into the documentation and implementation. Have a general workflow scheme prior to writing down the individual steps. 

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4. (my) Time Management

Building a business is extremely time consuming, and slapping on top the fact Real Estate action is primarily focused on the weekends - had a severe impact on my free time.

I had learned that a lot of focus needs to be implemented, in order to avoid getting burnt out. The main problem is that there are so many things happening all at once, and as a business owner who implements EXTREME Ownership as a core value- I need to be super attentive to all of these things while keep being fun to engage with, and balance it with sufficient time to spend with my family and friends.

Unfortunately, I had done a poor job in keeping my work/life balance healthy. Heck, I’ve recorded this week's episode at 1AM so obviously it’s still work in progress.

My takeaway: The business owner is a critical resource for the company, so keeping time aside for a day off is an important long term investment, even at the cost of short term losses. Using a calendar to manage your time is crucial, and keeping some immovable blocks there for personal life is good practice. I take my daughter to gymnastics & date every Wednesday, I don't care what else is going on - this activity is locked TIGHT.

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So that pretty much sums up the “big ticket items” I wish I would’ve done better while building my business, I can make a list of 200 items but let's face it - it's already too long and I'm already looking too incompetent! 😅

I hope you can apply some of these lessons to your own situation and improve your growth potential accordingly.

I’d love to learn from your experience - what are the things you wish you had known 5 years ago? Let me know in the comments!

If you find the content insightful please consider liking and/or sharing it with others. Follow me here or on YouTube if you'd like to get more of my insights, if you're considering a move-to or investment-in Austin (or just wanna connect!) - you're welcome to reach out :)

Cheers!

Or Yochanan || oryo@theinvestory.net || youtube.com/theinvestory

#realtor #austintx #austinrealestate