Boom or Bust – How Was Your 2016?
As 2016 comes to an end, it’s time to think about how business was this year. As you reflect over the past year, how did you do? Did you achieve your goals for your business and your income? What about your personal goals? Did you knock it out of the park or strike out? Do you even know?
Studies show that almost 80% of real estate agents do not have a concrete business plan. Even of those with a written business plan, over 50% of those admit to allowing themselves to get off track throughout the year. With these kinds of figures, it’s not a mystery as to why a very small amount of real estate agents are achieving huge success while the majority is only surviving. Which are you?
It’s too late to change 2016, but you can set the stage for a better 2017. Creating a business plan to guide your activities is the best way to remove chance from your professional life. It starts by identifying your goals or outcomes, creating a written business plan and budget and then tracking your results. These 3 simple steps will keep you focused in the New Year.
Set Your Goals (Outcomes)
Identify clear goals and understand why they are important.
- Clear straightforward goals
- Measurable
- Meaningful to you
- Attainable
- Realistic
- What are your timetables for achieving these goals? (by month or even year)
Write down your goals and keep them in front of you throughout your day. You’ll find motivation by seeing your goals in black and white. Having short term goals also helps encourage you as you accomplish each milestone.
Create Your Action Plan (Business Plan)
Your action plan is comprised of concrete steps you can take each day to achieve your goals. Build your plan around the shorter term goals and then expand from there. For instance, if a short term goal is to make 5 phone calls each week to past clients, then the action plan might include a two hour block of time on Mondays to make these calls.
If your goal is to take 1 listing each month, identify the marketing steps you must take to achieve this and build those activities into your plan. The Action Plan should have daily, weekly and monthly activities.
Measure and Track Your Results
You have no way to measure your progress if you don’t track your outcomes. This is why the Action Plan needs to have specific activities attached to it. If your business plan calls for those 5 calls to past clients, and you only make 1, you might not achieve your goal. Tracking allows you to recognize where you are falling short and make adjustments. You might need to have more discipline, or perhaps that action items isn’t bringing results and you want to change it. Either way, it’s important to recognize this throughout the year and not wait until the end.
2016 is almost over and 2017 is on the horizon. Now is the time to take note of what did and didn’t work this year and create a new plan to move forward. You can be one of the few agents who achieve great success in the coming year just by creating a plan to get there.
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