business plan

Sep 24
0

Business Plan Development Rule #1-Start with the Numbers

By | Mortgage Business Tips, Uncategorized | No Comments

numbercrunchingI can tell you from a Business Coach’s perspective that forecasting one’s sales numbers and setting clear income goals is an exercise most often overlooked by solo-entrepreneurs and is exactly WHY it is the 1st step in my own, proprietary business plan development process with my clients.

If you don’t set your earnings goal, and you don’t break it down to numbers you can
track on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, how are you holding yourself accountable to the grander visions of your business?

How do you gauge when you need to put the pedal to the metal, or when you can give yourself some deserved time off? You can’t! Hence, the feeling of overwhelm, and eventual burnout.

When determining your income goal this year, avoid being too conservative or getting mentally stuck in the here and now. Remember, you are embarking on a new adventure of building your business. Opportunities will spring from the goals in your business plan that you simply cannot predict right now. So go ahead, astonish yourself and set the bar a bit higher.

For example, if you made $82,500 last year and you’re thinking that there’s a good chance you can make $100,000 this year, push yourself a bit beyond what you think you know to be, “realistic.” Tack on another 10% to cover all the unforeseen possibilities that your new business focus will generate. The number you choose should feel like a stretch but still motivate you.

Have you ever heard the saying, “The numbers never lie?” Well, there couldn’t be a truer statement when it comes to your mortgage business.

Knowing your numbers and tracking results is the ultimate way to treat your business like you mean business! So charge into 2019 like the C.E.O. you truly are and eliminate all excuses to attaining your grander visions of your life and career.

Nov 02
0

What’s Holding you Back from Growing your Business?

By | Mortgage Business Tips | No Comments

If you’ve ever found yourself trying to forecast which one of your business growth plans is sure to give you a return on investment, you’ve also likely found yourself pondering too much time away and engaging in very little action.

How do I know this for certain? Because fear of wasting time, fear of wasting money and fear of failure are what keep us from implementing new business growth strategies. In an attempt to mitigate these losses, we try to predict what’s going to work and spend countless hours thinking, planning and researching, but many times, don’t end up pulling the trigger.

Here’s a statement I’ve heard repeatedly from Mortgage Professionals that illustrates this dilemma of trying to foresee the future, “I know I should attempt to meet more Realtors, but I want to know what’s really going to work and what’s really going to entice them to send me business.”

My response to this statement is always the same, “There is no way of knowing what’s going to work. You don’t have a crystal ball. All one can do is to decide what they are willing to try, do it consistently for a period of time and measure the results. If your actions gain results, then we keep pressing forward. If they do not, we try another strategy.”  

It’s important to remember, one size does not fit all when it comes to the growth of your business! What works for one or even what is proposed to have worked for thousands, may not work for you for the simple fact that you are an individual with your own set of interests, strengths, natural ability, etc. When it comes right down to it, what’s going to work are the strategies and approaches you are most willing to implement, which align with your deeper, “Why” or grander, future vision of your business and personal life.

So, stop staring into that crystal ball you bought at the Renaissance Faire, hoping it will illuminate what’s going to work and instead, determine what one or two new business growth strategies you’re willing to try and consider the following questions to ensure you’ll be dedicated to taking massive action…

  1. Is the tool, system or strategy that I’m considering, one that excites me? Do I feel interested? Do I feel challenged?
  2. When I speak about my idea to others do I find myself saying, “I really should try XYZ” Or do I say, “I’m going to try XYZ.”
  3. Does it fit my current capacity? Can I realistically implement it alone or do I need help?
  4. Am I clear about what it will take to implement my new strategy from A to Z?
  5. Do I have a plan?
Oct 27
0

Business Planning Season Part I-Keep it Simple!

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There are plenty of excuses for why things don’t get done in our businesses. The best tool in combating those uninspiring justifications is a personalized business plan that fills us with purpose, gives us direction, and most importantly, motivates us to take action.

Ya Gotta Keep it Simple!

Start your business planning process by considering the following ten foundations, which are critical to the growth of your mortgage business.

  1. Time Management
  2. Sales scripts and presentation
  3. Marketing/Lead Generation
  4. Database Management
  5. Customer “Wow” Service
  6. Tracking/Metrics
  7. Building Referral Partnerships
  8. Standard Operating Procedures
  9. Team Building

10. Specialized Knowledge

Select those foundations that you feel will make the biggest impact on your business next year. Once you have decided on the foundations that you will include in your business plan, then, simply write five goals for each foundation.

But, don’t stop there!

Under each of your 5 Goals for every Foundation you selected, you must then give yourself 5 specific Action Steps to take that will help you achieve each goal.

Here’s an example:

Foundation: Building Referral Partnerships

Goal: Add 20 new Realtors into my database who are actively sending me leads by the end of 2017.

Action Step #1: Select 3 networking events that I can attend every month in which I will be around Realtors and enter into my calendar.

Action Step #2: Ask my current “raving fan” Realtors to provide me with a warm introduction to 1 or 2 of their peers.

Action Step #3: Schedule one weekend per month to pop-in at open houses.

Etc….

You can have as many goals and action items as you like, but a good number to start with is either 3 or 5. If you’ve got some support from an Assistant, then go with 5. Otherwise, start with 3 so that your Business Plan is manageable.

Remember…Goals without Action Steps, is like a buried treasure without a map-If you don’t know how to get to it, you’ll likely just give up on it.

Be on the look-out next Thursday for Business Planning Season Part II-Why Having a, “Why” Matters!

Oct 06
0

The 1st Step in Developing your 2017 Business Plan

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Much how Corporations use Mission Statements, Solo Entrepreneurs can define their purpose by developing a Vision Statement.

A vision statement is a story of how you paved your own unique road to success. I personally learned about this extremely powerful exercise from Brian Buffini while at one of his Mastermind Summits in San Diego, CA over 10 years ago.

Now this exercise has become one of the most powerful pieces that I walk my own coaching clients through as part of their business planning process year after year. And, year after year, my clients are always astonished at just how much of what they wrote into their vision statements comes to pass in a mere 12 months.

If you’ve never written a vision statement before here are 10 great questions to answer that will help spark this creative effort. Once you have completed the questions, go back and string it all together into a cohesive narrative and make it the first page in your 2017 Business Plan.

Quick tip before you get started: Write as if you have already accomplished these changes. So, answer these questions as if it’s December of 2017 and you are looking back on all that you have accomplished.

1. What tasks have been taken off of your plate and delegated to someone else?

2. What do you spend 80% of your time engaged in, in order to continue to grow your business?

3. Who are your clients? Describe your “best” client. A client profile, so to speak.

4. What juices you up about starting your work day?

5. What systems helped you get to where you are today?

6. Who are your referral partners today and how did you go about making and cultivating those relationships?

7. What positions have been filled in order to expand your team?

8. What new avenues have you paved to increase your wealth?

9. What worries have been lifted from your mind?

10. How have you celebrated your victories? What “toys” have you purchased? What memories have you created with friends and family? What dream gift did you get just for YOU?