Your Business is to Complicated!

Your Business is to Complicated!.

I know this because I hear it, and see evidence of it when I talk
to Realtors and Lenders from all over.

Almost without exception, you're trying to do too much.

Spreading yourself too thin.

When you try to do too much, cover too wide an area, serve too
many markets, and be all things to all people, it's hard to juggle
all that complexity.

It's all that variety that causes you to feel like you're spinning too
many plates in the air at the same time.

I know why you do it.

You want to grow your business (which is the socially acceptable
way for us to say we want to make more money), and it seems to
make perfect sense that if you have a little piece of a lot of markets
you should be ok.

I mean if you just work with one first time buyer, one move up
buyer, one relocating buyer, one luxury home buyer, and one
investor a month - things would be great.

Trying to keep up with all that variation is complex. You have to
juggle all the knowledge of those markets in your head, all the
inventory, and all the needs of those individual clients.

What I'm going to suggest for you today, is to do something
radically different than you're doing right now.

What if, just for the next few months, you tried something different.

What if, instead of working ALL markets in all areas, you focused
on only working with one single target market.

I know this sounds difficult, and the longer you've been a complexity
driven business the harder it is to think of changing, but if you're
doing less than 2 or 3 transactions a month, this change will be easier
and it will be the easiest way to double or triple your business.

"But I'd starve if I only worked with first time buyers!"

Really?

Some of the most successful companies in the country right now,
are serving very specific markets and doing very well.

Have you ever heard of a company called Sunglass Hut?

They only sell sunglasses between $50 and $200. Not the $10
sunglasses you find at the drug store, but the name brand sunglasses
like Oakley, Ray Ban and Maui Jim.

They don't sell anything else, they have little stand alone stores
and kiosks in high traffic malls, and when dot coms and traditional
retailers are dropping like crazy, their earnings were up 39%.

They have a sister company called "Watch Station" that uses
the same operating model, and sells only watches between $50
and $250.

They have similar stores and kiosks in malls.

Now, here's the interesting thing. Why don't they mix the stores?

I mean they're both going after that $50 to $150 price range.

Well, they have some stores (as a test) that do just that, but on
average they do something like 50% LESS business than the
stand alone stores!

FOCUS!

In the stand alone stores, there is no confusion (am I looking for
a watch or sunglasses?)

The staff only have to know everything about a single product line,
and the customers feel like this MUST be the place for me to
get my sunglasses - it's all they sell.

Confidence!

That focus means only one thing, increased sales.

Sunglass Hut isn't the only business like this.

Now, how does this apply to you?

I like to use examples from other businesses for you because we
all tend to get very closely attached to our business, and all of our
influences come from what other people are doing in our business,
so we should do it too, and pretty soon everyone is doing the
same things.

When you take a look at what's going on in other industries, you
can learn fresh lessons to apply to your business. (Or you can take
the shortcut and just read my articles where I do it for you : )

What if just for the fall, you decided you were only going to work
with people who wanted to buy homes between $250,000 and
$350,000?

Or, maybe you'll specialize in the townhomes in
your marketplace.

Just think for a minute what your business would be like if all
you did was one simple thing?

Sometimes there is as much freedom in knowing what you
DON"T do, as there is in knowing what you DO do.

Suddenly, you don't have to run around all over on Caravan to get a general sense of the entire market. You can focus all of your attention on the townhouse market, and know intimately everything about every townhouse on the market.

It's easier to find buyers when you narrow your focus on a very
specific market.

It's much more likely that if you have a proven system for finding
buyers for townhomes that you will find more townhouse listings.

This may sound radical, but I truly believe Simplicity is the real
key to growing your business exponentially.

Focus vs. Variety.

The real purpose of this article is to get you to think a new thought,
even if just for a few minutes. Look at your business and see if
simplifying fits for you.

If you're searching to find a way to make your business more
profitable and consistent, this may be the answer for you.

Just try it for a couple of months and let me know what
happens...

Until next time, happy marketing!!