If you’re looking to reinvent the business of your dreams, take what you already know and expand it into a new market.
This was the important message delivered by Shannon King in the recent Homes.com webinar “Reinventing Your Business from Scratch.”
Known as the “Real Estate Road Warrior,” King has relocated six times as a result of her husband’s military career. At each new location, King revamped and reinvented her business to cater to a new market. Based in Kailua, Hawaii, King is now celebrating 20 years working in real estate, and has helped more than 1,000 families in multiple states with their real estate needs. In 2005, she was recognized in REALTOR® Magazine’s “30 Under 30” and released a book in 2010, “Real Estate Road Warrior: 101 Technology Tools for Business on the Go.”
Whether you’re bored with your current business or marketing, looking to switch markets or moving to a new location, King lays out a plan to help you rebrand yourself and your business. By breaking the steps down into preparation, moving and domination, you can set down new roots to grow a successful business.
1. Where to Start
King says that, when thinking about your move, you need to start with the end in mind. Instead of approaching your business with the mindset of “Where’s my next buyer?” or “How do I get my next listing?”, focus on referral-based business. By having a continual stream of clients from those you’ve worked with in the past, you can start to generate passive income.
In addition to this, think about the end game of that market, rather than your immediate needs, when setting your goals. When setting goals for your move, reflect on the ones you have already. King suggests having a journal specifically for this and spending a little time with it each night. Consider how long you want to and are able to work the area. Since success doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time and resources to build a business.
2. Choose Your Market
King says that, any time you move into a new market, there’s a lot of brainstorming that needs to happen. If you’re moving to a new location, your market is already determined for you, but you are able to choose your niche. Your niche should be small and focused to allow you to keep balance in your life. To determine it, King says you need to look at your life and what’s happening in it at this very moment. For her, it’s helping any families who are relocating to the Island, since that’s her experience and what she knows the most about.
When you choose your market based on your lifestyle and personal interests, research and learn as much as you can about it. King’s approach to this was looking at the sales over the last 5-10 years and seeing who sold each of the listings. Then, she learned more about these agents to determine who was still living in and working the area and who had retired or moved. These clients that were left became opportunities for her to contact.
Once you’ve found your niche and your market, define your ideal client. King tells listeners to be as specific as possible. After you’ve done that, you know where they are and how to reach them. This will allow you to find them faster and do more business.
3. Business 101
When planning your budget, the first step is to reflect on how much you spent and where you spent it. If you can do this at the beginning of the year, that’s ideal, so you can see everything that happened over the course of the previous year. King suggests setting up three banking accounts: personal, business and tax. This will help ensure that you’re not living paycheck to paycheck and that you have money to spend on marketing. Lastly, create your budget for the year.
Next week, check back for the rest of King’s “Business 101” tips, as well as how to launch and grow your newly developed business. To learn the rest of King’s tips and strategies, you can join the Secrets of Top Selling Agents Facebook Group here. For more free real estate education, visit the Secrets of Top Selling Agents website.
Joe Sesso is an author and national speaker for Homes.com. For more information, please visit marketing.homes.com.
