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Change is good! What changes are you making? | Valerie Fitzgerald | Beverly Hills & West L.A. Real Estate

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Real Estate Agent with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
What changes can you make to positively move your business forward? Without getting overwhelmed with the idea of restructuring your entire business model, think of simple changes, or additions, you can make that will positively and effectively grow your business.

Take a look at your systems, your schedules, your expenses, and your goals. Each of these areas could use a little ‘touch up’, so without getting overwhelmed, take a look at these suggestions and decide to make the positive change.

Systems – Systems are the foundation of which you work from. You can think of systems as the guide or rules for each particular area of your business. When your systems are effective and in place, you can spend more time generating business than crawling out from under piles of paper.

What happens when you go away on holiday? Do you come back to a huge ‘pile’ of things to do before you can even dive into your work load. When your systems are in place, you can effortlessly assimilate back into work mode and take off running.

How do you write and implement your ‘to do’ list? How do you monitor your contact with clients? How do you keep records and important data? How do you organize your office, including your computer? What simple changes can you make to get more organized and efficient?

Schedules – They say, if you have a task to complete – give it to a busy person. It seems there are those who can do 1,000 things each day, and there are those who can’t get 1 thing done. Usually the person who can’t get 1 thing accomplished has the most available time. Setting your schedule enables you to focus on what you need to get finished and weeds out ‘time wasters’. Set your weekly schedule on Sunday and allocate tasks to specific days.

Each night, review what you need to do the following day and get together anything you’ll need to complete those tasks. Of course, things get shifted throughout the week, but once the plan is in place, you can clearly see how to rearrange things to be sure everything gets finished.

Be sure to put an “end time to your day”. Set a time you leave the office, or if working from home – your “stop” time. You’ll find you’ll still complete your ‘to do’ list because you’ve set parameters on your time. It’s a trick I’ve played on myself for many years, and I find I am finished around the same time every day and I’m able to complete the things on my list.

Are you setting your schedule the night before, noting things that must get done and including things ‘if you have an extra minute’? Are you being reasonable with the time it takes to complete your tasks? Are you allocating time to ‘return calls’, ’send emails’, and other daily tasks. What are your “time-wasters”?

Expenses – It’s not just in today’s economy, this an important arena to pay attention to. Every little bit adds up. I tend to use this example often because many can relate to it. Let’s say you buy yourself a $3.00 latte each day before going into work. If you multiply that by each day, and each week, and each month – you are spending, on average, $600 a year.

Although, you need to make about $900 – before taxes -to ‘take home’ $600. That’s just for coffee! Ok, so you allow that, but what about all the other $3.00 expenses that add up the same way. No matter what the expense, every little bit adds up and you need to ‘get real’ with your budget.

Do you have a personal budget? Do you have a business budget? What unnecessary expenses can you cut? What changes can you make in how you run your business, in order to save on expenses?

Goals – I saved the best for last! It’s not too late to write your business goals for 2010. This is an important component in reaching success in your business. What do you want to accomplish this year? Do you want to increase your database by 500? Do you want to close (4) deals each month? Do you want to generate enough business to hire an assistant? or two? Do you want to extend your on-line marketing efforts? Do you want to make an additional $_____ (fill in the blank) each month? Regardless of your goals, write them down, visualize them, and take the necessary steps to make them h happen.

Have you written your goals for 2010? Can you see your goal list while sitting at your desk/laying in bed/driving in the car? What changes and action steps do you need to make to reach your goals?

It may seems like a lot to ask of yourself, but aren’t you worth it? I urge you to make the necessary changes that will enable your business to grow in 2010. Establish your systems, set your schedules, respect your budget, and reach your goals. Be the change you need in your world!

“Failing to plan, is planning to fail.”

~Anonymous

The Valerie Fitzgerald Group specializes in luxury residential real estate in Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood, Santa Monica and Malibu. Valerie has more than 20 years of real estate experience and is known for her solid reputation in the West Los Angeles brokerage community. She’s also the author of Heart and Sold: How to Survive and Build a Recession-Proof Business. Buy it here.

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