By Mark Burgess, CEO of Iceberg Digital
Many people believe that the process of starting, building, and eventually exiting an Estate Agency business is unique to everyone, with Estate Agency owners themselves being the most fervent believers in this idea, as everyone wants a business that is unique. However, by focusing on the perceived uniqueness of their journey, they often get lost in the details and overlook the broader patterns that all companies use to lead through to success. Through my experience working with thousands of Estate Agencies and businesses across various industries, I have discovered that the Estate Agents Journey is far more predictable than commonly thought and have come up with an easy way for agents to see where they are now and how to get to where they would like to be.
Whilst on your journey of building an Estate Agency, specific problems and frustrations arise at predictable times, regardless of how unique your offering may be. However, if you are aware of the journey ahead, there are effective ways to overcome these challenges. These are one of five areas where your business is currently sitting:
1. Start-up – Just getting going, you are nervous but excited for the future. Any listing is a big win.
2. Challenge – Struggling with low fees, Nothing unique to offer, juggling multiple roles.
3. Operational – A team of 3 – 12 people, you work less hours and have more freedom but still work in the business rather than on it.
4. Pressure Tank – Too big to be a small business, and too small to be a big business.
5. Excellence – Steady growth, high valuation, investable, great team culture, very profitable. Owner doesn’t need to work there.
Based on the experience of taking 100’s of companies through this journey, and also the Big Data we hold on the patterns of Estate Agency from our software, we’ve created a test to help business leaders such as yourself to find out where you currently are in your own Estate Agency Business Journey and how you can strategically plan and move forward. You can take the test here.
If you want to accelerate your position on The Estate Agency Business Journey, keep an eye out for our next Estate Agency X event EA X 9 in London, to be announced soon, where we’ll be providing you with the tools you need to prove the value you offer to your market, establish yourself as an industry leader, get the fees you want and formalise assets in the business to grow exponentially.
