Before you entered RE did you have a business plan? If so have you followed it, and do you think it's helped you reach your goals?

If not, do you think things would have been better if you had written a business plan before you entered the business?

I did not have a business plan when I started.

What allowed me to turn the corner was less a business plan and more a personal plan. I basically created a schedule of what I should be doing hour by hour each day and commited to it.

You want to set goals, etc. as part of any larger plan. However, just putting together a schedule you can make yourself stick to is a HUGE leap forward.

R

Simply put, a business plan will do at least two things:

1) Determines if a person has the experience, knowledge and skills to start a business.

2) Determines the capital outlay, expenses and gross income for the first year through at least 5 years.

If a person puts their time into developing a business plan, it will give them an idea if the business has a chance of succeeding. If not, it will save you time and money. If the plan emulates success, it will be a road map to reach your goals, looked at every year and tweaked.

I am oversimplying here and it should be stated that a buisness plan is not something you throw down on paper in two hours. It is a process. It involves a lot of research about the business and a hard look at one's weaknesses and strengths.

In todays market, more than ever, you need a business plan. Most of the real estate agent failure rate, 97% in 2 years is due to absents of an understanding and lack of planning for the business and even the lack of understanding that being a real estate agent is a business. I still am astounded by newly licensed agents walking in and asking how much I pay!!!!

A person that takes the time and makes the effort at establishing a plan will be so far ahead of their "peers" they stand a far better chance of being in the 2 to 3 % that actually make it.

Business Plans are a live thing, you will always need to tweak them but great caution should be taken before making large changes in them.

Ask yourself if you would rather do business with someone that has a business plan or one that just wings it all the time??? Who would you invest in if you were going to put money into a business? If your a buyer or seller.. who would you rather do business with?

A business plan is not something that is difficult to develop and it does not take a lot of time but does require understanding of the business and what your personal goals are. Those are the same two things the most failed real estate agent had no/ insufficient interest in defining and as a significant result.. fail.