Making Money is Killing Your Business- How to Build a Business You'll Love and Have a Life, Too by Chuck Blakeman. This book was awarded the #1 Business Book of The Year in 2010 by The National Federation of Independent Businesses. I had the pleasure of meeting Chuck a few months back before I ever knew that he had written a book. I had signed up for a class that Chuck teaches, called The Double Your Income in 90 Day Challenge. This class has not only done incredible things for my business but for our company on a national level. We were asked to take a survey at the end of the class, I told Chuck that I wanted to take this course to Realtors on a national basis, he loved the idea, so stay tuned.
Over 90% of all Realtors that take this class double their income in 90 Days!
Back to the book, this is an absolute must read, regardless of whether or not you own a 10,000 agent brokerage or you are a brand new sales associate, WHY? Because you are in business whether you like it or not. Treat it like a business. A little of my background, I have managed or owned 5 businesses since college, in college I studied small business management and the tools that Chuck teaches in this book are more valuable than my 27+ years experience as a business owner/manager. This includes a very detailed franchise business model that I purchased in the early 90's.
Most people get into business, or start a business because of their love, or passion for an idea or service, we like to help people buy and sell homes, but did you get into business so that it would run your life, probably not, and yet it does. Chuck relates it to raising a child, you do not raise a child with the intention of keeping that child for the rest of your life, you give them the tools required to mature so they can survive on their own, this is exactly what you should be doing with your business, with one exception, you should be able to grow to maturity in 3 to 5 years instead of 18-21. Imagine having a mature real estate business that makes money while you are on vacation. If you have plans on retiring, then you probably do not truly love what you do, if you did you would not ever want to retire, this book will teach you how to make your business work for you instead of vice-versa, then you can enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Here is the layout of the book-
- Part I- Get Control- Conquering The Tyranny of The Urgent
- Part II- Get Clarity- Focusing on The Priority of the Important
- Part III- Get Equipped- The Key Tools for Growing a Mature Business
- Pulling It All Together
My favorite takeaway from this book is to put a Business Maturity Date on your business, I had the pleasure of sharing in Chuck's, in his book he wrote February 18, 2011 at 10 AM he will have a mature business, so he intended to meet with his staff and facilitators (not knowing what that would look like when he wrote the book) on that date at that time and pop the cork on his bottle of champagne that he purchased a couple years in advance before he boarded his flight to New Zealand for four weeks, all the while his business will be making money for him. He told me it is amazing when you put a date on something, how much more involved you get in making that "thing" happen. My BMD is June 3, 2013 at noon, at that time I will take a long awaited trip around the country, while my business is making me money!
I am giving Making Money is Killing Your Business $$$$$, this is a must own book for everyone in the real estate profession.
I rate books with a $-$$$$$ rating based on how valuable the book is to my business and how valuable I feel it is to the audience.
- $$$$$ means that the book is a must have for any library and a good book to refer to anytime you need sound advice
- $$$$- means that the book is very good and worth reading
- $$$- means there may be a few nuggets of information, and if you can't find something else to do go ahead and read this book
- $$- do not waste your time
- $- I am sorry I wasted my time and be thankful you saw this book report before wasting yours
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