Are you part of the 80% of real estate agents earning just $40K to $50K/year? Then there’s a good chance that you’ve considered growing your business. Growing from a single-person shop to perhaps building a team and becoming a rainmaker. There are fundamentals that will help along the way. That’s why coach and real estate entrepreneur Jeremy Herrman has put together his hard-learned lessons that have transformed him into a successful business owner.
Lesson 1: Build a Clear Vision with Clear Values
Decision-making becomes more complex and more convoluted without a clear vision and a clear set of values. People get hooked on a vision, not a concept – business decisions should be made based on your personal and professional values, expected projections, and the company’s objective benefit.
A company is only as strong as its foundation, so Jeremy advises more research than you think necessary before diving in – including “drowning” yourself in books, podcasts, and pertinent information to your business. Essentially, know what you’re selling long before you sell it. With this being said, also make sure not to quit your day job too soon, as cost and time commitment in building your business will likely take 2-3 times as long as you imagine.
In conclusion, when values are made clear, decisions are made easy.
Lesson 2: Prioritize Effectiveness Over Efficiency
In learning from his singular business venture failure, Jeremy admits that his primary mistake was failing to prepare for what could go wrong. Instead of utilizing cheap resources at hand as effectively as possible, he tried to be too efficient, too fast.
Effectiveness comes down to preparing for what could go wrong, learning how to learn, and hiring the right people for the right role. Another way of prioritizing effectiveness is within yourself: learn to use your time wisely and ingest only the most helpful information that you could apply right away – i.e., you may only need one chapter of a book, so don’t waste your time overeducating yourself when all you need is the specifics.
Jeremy further highlighted that the most critical aspect of effectiveness comes down to hiring. Always hire the right person for the right role, based entirely on how well they could execute that role without help. Think of hiring specialists (i.e., software engineers, marketing managers) as investments and not expenses. They will prove to be highly effective in accruing capital in the long run, even if they are costly in the short term.
All in all, the future is where the goal is, so think of long-term effectiveness over short-term efficiency.
Lesson 3: Strategize, Plan, and Execute Consistently
Time is a precious commodity, and until you are well-established, sacrifices are just another part of the entrepreneurship game.
As Jeremy points out, the most successful entrepreneurs and Rainmakers all share one common trait: they prioritize and focus. We learn so much more from our actions when we reflect on them, meaning that reflection is critical. Every Sunday at 9 pm, Jeremy plans out his week using a 1-10 scale of priority, with 10 being something that needs to get done this week, 9 being what needs to get done next week, and so on.
Planning provides the groundwork for future success, and entrepreneurs must be willing to make consistent sacrifices to make things happen. This means sacrificing time after your day job to do research and get tedious workloads done. One must reflect on their prior actions to appropriately and continuously execute business planning goals.
Tune in to the podcast for a deep dive into what it means to be the founder of a SaaS startup and how to transition from a real estate agent to a business owner. Jeremy left us with the following recommendations of his favorite books, shows, and podcasts that could help you gain the knowledge you need to excel as an entrepreneur:
- Video: Succession (HBO Max) – a show about the media business
- Books: 1) Start-Up J-Curve and 2) Blitzscaling by Reed Hoffman (founder of LinkedIn)
- Podcasts: Tim Ferris interview with Daniel Ek (CEO of Spotify)
Starting a business is no simple task, but with some guidance and hard work, your dream company can succeed! Be sure to check out ClarityNOW’s powerful real estate business management tool if you’re looking for a smarter way to transform yourself from real estate agent to business owner.
