With most countries in the world experiencing marked economic fluctuations, we have seen a rapid increase in people wanting to start their own businesses. Not only are second incomes looking more and more attractive to full-time employees battling to make ends meet, but there has been a marked shift in the way people want to earn money.
Real estate has been a remarkably attractive option to people for years due to the constant market for it and the ease of getting into the business as a sole practitioner. Although the property market is, like the rest of the economy, fluctuating in most areas, the fact of the matter is that savvy entrepreneurs can still take advantage of the market and make a name for themselves in the business. So, we thought we would take a look at how you can do that and help you make your business a success in the least amount of time.
Start With a Business Plan
This is a stock standard suggestion for anyone who wants to start a business, whether real estate or other. You need to go into your business armed with the right information to not only attract clients but investors and stakeholders too. This is where a real estate investment business plan comes in. In this, you need to achieve several things.
- Who are your clients and who is your target audience?
- What is your USP and what sets you aside from your competition?
- What are the current market trends and will you be able to meet your clients’ needs?
- Who are your main competitors and what is their business model?
- What is your capital, your business model and what business milestones have you accounted for?
- What social and economic factors have you factored into your model and your future plans?
- What is the expected industry growth over the next decade?
From there, you will need to factor in a marketing strategy, an operations plan and a detailed financial breakdown of your business.
Not only will this document help guide you with the momentum and strategy of the business, it will also help you land investors and crucial funding to get the business running.
Read: How A Business Bank Account Can Grow Your Small Business
Make Use of Technology to Automate as Much as Possible
The great thing about this digital day and age is that you can go online to find tons of solutions and platforms that can help you make your job easier. Essentially, the more you automate, the more time you will have and the less physical work you need to do. It will also help you reduce your overheads, reduce the number of staff you need and save you time and money while you are actively searching for stock and clients.
And, you can automate almost everything in your business! From your marketing processes, to finance and even CRM processes, there are solutions for pretty much everything you need. A high-quality real estate CRM, especially for a start-up business would be one of your biggest investments with the highest ROI.
With this type of CRM, you are able to effectively manage calls and prioritize leads quickly and efficiently. You are able to create call lists, keep these lists categorized according to lead source and customize these lists should you have different agents or teams that you can assign them to. Some of them also allow you to make calls directly from the platform which allows you to make more calls in less time, widening your reach for clients and stock.
Focus on Your Website
You need to know that your website is your calling card, your sales pitch and your storefront all rolled into one. So, you need to make sure that not only is it in optimal shape for your clients but that it can actually find an audience who are trawling through hundreds of search results for their perfect property.
Start with focusing on the content on your site. Your copy needs to be simple, descriptive and packed with keywords for your clients to actually find you and want to convert. Your images need to be of high quality but also optimized for SEO in order for them to pop up in image search results and be easily traced back to your site.
SEO is going to be your biggest ally in finding new clients. It helps you increase your reach organically, which means that targeted audiences will come across your site and most likely convert. You just need to get the basic principles of SEO right from the outset.
Luckily for you, it is not as complicated as it sounds, and once you have the foundations right, you will be able to build up from there. The key is to get those keywords right and in place in your content, and from there, ensure that they are marketed correctly across all of your channels and social platforms.
The Bottom Line
When starting off a business, start by knowing what you want to achieve and what your brand will be representing. Remember, your customers will remember your branding and messaging, so know what you want to convey and your key messaging from the start of the business.