What I've learned growing my business
Thanks to the inspiring contest, I've given some thought to what has changed in my business over the past 6+ years in business and WOW. I came up with a lot. Since graduating college in 2006, I've learned far more than I had the previous 17 years of schooling.
"Experience: That most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn" - C.S. Lewis
When I started in the mortgage industry, I was as green as they come, but anxious to learn everything I could. I had little money but wanted to market, so I spent hours hand-making flyers, calling and re-calling leads that cost pennies for hours on end, and I thought I'd be at that first company for the rest of my life. But I learned. My God did I learn.
I decided to list the top 10 lessons I've learned that have helped me grow my business into a successful, happy, and productive enterprise. Hopefully over the next 5 years I'll be able to add to the list, and continue to use what I've learned to grow and prosper.
1) Always do the right thing - My career began amidst the sub-prime boom. It seemed if you wanted to borrow 900% of your home's value 1 day after bankruptcy, we had the program for you! I saw a lot of guys around me prey on people for a quick (and pretty large) buck. They'd lie, take advantage of people's ignorance, and commit fraud to get more loans done or cover their own back. I never did. I also never made as much money as they did back then. But I'm still in business, I still have a career, and they're long gone. Never cheat someone for your own gain no matter how bad you need it. You ALWAYS need your clients referrals and recommendations more.
2) Keep learning. During my first year in the business I had access to about 5 lenders. I thought when people said they were getting a lower rate, or a program I didn't have that they were being scammed, not realizing there were 8 gazillion other lenders out there I knew nothing about. I now look back and laugh at my naivety. Know your products, know guidelines, and when they change, know they've changed and what they are. Learn new technology BEFORE it's popular, don't KEEP UP WITH marketing trends - keep AHEAD of them. Knowledge is power, and knowledge earns trust. Nothing is more important than trust.
3) Learn how to take a punch. Depression. For days. The feeling of losing a deal. Of having someone ready to close the day before they lose their job (and your paycheck). When someone inexplicably turns into a flake and stops returning your calls after spending hours helping them. When a short appraisal kills the deal you've worked on for months. The real estate & mortgage industries can throw a HELLUVA punch, but I've learned how to take it, how to brush it off, and how to keep going - it still stings, but I've learned that when I take a punch to the face, I need to move forward and hit back harder.
"It ain't about how hard you're hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward...that's how winning is done!" - Rocky Balboa
4) Get started! I had some great idea's on how to grow my business. I'd write them down, meet with management, and never get started. I'd try to perfect something before doing it. I've learned that you've got to make like Nike and JUST DO IT! Fix bugs/errors along the way toward perfect, but GET STARTED. That new marketing plan, that new idea, the SEO on your website, your BLOG. Just start. Little by little, perfect will come. Starting is the hardest part.
5) Stop micromanaging. You may well be right in assuming NO ONE on the entire planet can do something as well as you. I used to want to micromanage my sales, my processing, my underwriting, and my closing. And my business stayed stagnant. Sometimes, good enough is good enough and in the end your way might not be the best way. If you don't trust your team to be good enough, you'll micromanage yourself to nowhere. You need to grow your business. Put a team in place and trust them to do their jobs. Hold them accountable, but DON'T MICROMANAGE. Time is our most valuable asset, we need to use it on more important things.
6) Have standards. When I started I was THRILLED when a realtor wanted to talk or meet with me. Any realtor, didn't matter who they were. I quickly learned all realtors are not created equal (I'm sure you know the same of LO's) - too many people in the world are out to inject negativity and vampire suck the time from your life. If you want to be the best, surround yourself with the best - market to the best - meet with the best. Don't just MEET with a Realtor (or LO) - have a REASON to meet. "Why should I meet you?" isn't pretentious, it's a valid question and shows you value your time. I welcome that question, and it's led to much better referral partners and has saved me countless hours that could've been wasted with time vampires.
7) Write small checks to cash large checks. In the beginning, I did all my own marketing, had a free website, used a free blog (I was at least ahead of the curve with web marketing!) and was afraid of spending money. I since learned that while it's not ok to waste money, INVESTING money into your business is not only good, it's VITAL to growth. When I started writing checks for training, education, a website, blog, and other marketing avenues, revenue started to increase and VOILA!, I had more time to focus on other areas - a lightbulb went off when I realized that when I pay someone to do something for me, I not only free up the time I'd have spent doing it, but the time I'd have spent learning how to do it!
8) Pick your battles. I've spent hours trying to reach an underwriter because they're requesting a stupid condition rather than calling a client and just asking for it. 90% of the time, a client is more than willing to send (or resend) a document that isn't really necessary. It's often not worth the headache, the stress, and the time in reaching an underwriter and starting a fight. Save your energy for a battle worth having (sometimes, as we all know, a fight is necessary to get things done).
9) Sometimes the grass is greener. I thought my first company was the best company on the planet. I thought my second company was the worst company on the planet. I now think the company I'm with is better than my first company. I've learned that an employer isn't one size fits all. It's important to look at a business model, philosophy, and direction before making a change, but that sometimes a change is all you need to really take things to the next level. Change is scary, but often change is good.
10) Don't worry, be happy. I used to stress. I used to worry. I used to get so emotionally invested into each and every deal because I know how much the mortgage process is affecting people's lives (or is if E-ffecting? I can never get that right) , and it would DRAIN me. I've learned that it's not worth it. No deal, no mistake, no angry client is worth a heart attack at my age. I work my hardest, try to always do the right thing by and for people, and I've decided that that is enough. Life is too short, and at the end nobody is going to care about that $50 million you did in May, and even less people will care about that $0 you did in June. Or what car you drove, or if your house had granite countertops. They'll remember that you smiled a lot, and laughed a lot, and really cared for others and for life. I've learned that that is what's important.
Comments(69)