Turn Your Business Plan Into Reality
By Paul Esajian on August 9, 2019
As Mike Tyson famously said, “everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” This is certainly the case in the world of real estate investing. It is common to spend weeks, even months, plotting a course of how you want your business to go only to have it change on a dime. What most seasoned investors can tell you is that constant change is par for the course. Things will change and when they do you need to be able to quickly react.
Without the ability to handle some adversity or turn your plans into action, you will never have the success you anticipate. There are many different paths to building a successful portfolio, with most of them winding and unpredictable. Everything starts with a plan, but nothing happens without action. Here are five ways to turn your business plan into
reality.
- Education: The best entrepreneurs in any business are constantly learning. They know that the minute they become lazy with their education they instantly fall behind their competition. On the flip side, the more education you have in real estate the easier it is to make decisions. Instead of being paralyzed by fear or the unknown you can confidently move forward without regret. Education can take many different forms. You can read a handful of blog posts every morning or attend local investment club meetings for the keynote speaker. You can look back on deals you may have missed out on or simply talk to a veteran investor. Every day you should do something to improve your education or sharpen your skills. You can truly never have enough education or know enough about your business. You will never master real estate, but you can arm yourself with education to make smart decisions.
- Experience: There is a big difference between planning and doing. The best education you will ever get is from personal experience. This doesn’t mean you should make reckless decisions just to get your foot in the door. It means that when you are confident in your education you should take a leap of faith and act. Even if you get started with a partner and don’t make a lions share of the profit you will gain valuable experience. That experience will serve you well at some point in the future. When you do get a deal, you should totally immerse yourself with every aspect of it. Learn what is going on, why it is happening and who it may affect. Don’t be afraid to ask questions to your attorney, real estate agent or mortgage broker. If you hit a roadblock find out why and be open to every suggestion. Never blindly take someone else’s experience as your own. Every deal in real estate is a little bit different and the more experience you gain the stronger your business will be.
- Network: You need a good team around you to put your plan into action. Even the best investors will rely on their real estate agent, attorney, contractor and accountant. The best way to build your team is by constantly networking. Showing up at local networking events or asking agents out to lunch can be tiresome and boring, but it is a necessary evil. The more people you meet the larger your network grows and the easier it will be to find the right fit. Not every successful real estate agent will be a good fit for your business. If they can’t dedicate enough time to you or don’t know the ins and outs of investing, you need to find someone else. This applies to everyone on your team and everyone associated with your business plan. Constant networking does get old quickly, but without it you will have a tough time turning your plan into reality.
- Adapt: Think about where your business was six months ago. There is a good chance that you make at least one sizable change over that time. If not, there was probably a reason you didn’t that is holding your business back. As much as you may love your plan right now, things are constantly changing in real estate and the market. You need to have the foresight to know when you should shift gears, and the courage to actually do it. This is something that many investors, and people in every business, struggle with. It is never easy admitting that your originally plan wasn’t as good as you thought. Even if you don’t make wholesale changes, you should be open to small tweaks that will have a big impact. If not, your business will never reach it’s potential and you will end up having regrets over not acting sooner.
- Spend Wisely: Making money in real estate is different than making money as a traditional wage earner. Instead of getting a paycheck every week or two, you may get a few lump sum closings a year. It is essential that you are smart with your money. If you don’t spend wise any plans you want to make will be hamstrung by capital. There is an old financial adage in that it is not how much you make, but rather how much you keep. You need to think about every expense you make and how it impacts your business. Short sided expenses will leave you wondering where your money went and what all your hard work was for.
Turing your plan into reality is something every aspiring investor can do with a little focus and determination. Use these five tips to turn your plan into reality.