Some find excuses why they can’t be more efficient and yes, I think they are excuses rather than genuine reasons.

I think the first step in becoming more efficient with your time, is admitting you are not as efficient as you can and should be.

Most of us will agree, but in the same breath will state “I don’t have the time nor quality of staff to be more efficient”.

The first one is absolute rubbish and the second one, very worrying when owning a business.

Of course, you have the time to learn, understand and be more efficient – everyone does, you are just not prioritising it. Maybe because in order to be more efficient, you have to let go and THAT is the main issue with business owners, they won’t let go of the day-to-day operations.

If you have staff that can’t help you be more efficient and take the work load off you, then you have got the wrong staff in place.

Just make sure it’s their ability, and not your lack of training or lack of will to delegate that is the issue.

Once you come to the realisation that you can get back hours, maybe even days per week just by tweaking a few things, then you can start the process of “doing the do”.

Being more efficient and productive is not a one-time thing, it has to be a passion or a cause that you follow religiously.

It runs in to all aspects of your life, personal, social, business. You can’t be totally efficient in one area and not in another, it doesn’t work like that.

The best and most successful people I know, value their time more than money. It’s the only commodity you can’t get more of no matter how successful you are.

Thoughts?

The post How To Be Highly Productive first appeared on The Agency Roadmap.

No business EVER sold for its full potential when the owner did the everyday jobs in the business or a portion of them.

When you sell, and 99% of us will at some point, the idea is to make it so you can sell with as little earn out as possible.

That aside, you may operate the business for another 20 years before you sell.

Do you REALLY want to be dealing with all the day to day stuff of dealing with staff issues, customer complaints, ordering the stationary, paying the rents, marketing etc?

That’s not owning a business, that’s owning a JOB, and no one ever started an agency and said, “Hmmm I think I’ll build a job for myself”.

We all went into agency with the hope and dream of building a good solid business.

It’s NEVER too late to systemise your business and it’s not hard in all honesty.

Of course, like everything, there are tips, tricks, hacks to get to the end goal more efficiently and effectively BUT in the main it’s not rocket science.

So why are 99% of agencies not systemised?

What are your thoughts?

The post Making Yourself Redundant first appeared on The Agency Roadmap.

Well, if you are then you are employing the wrong people.

If you run it from an operational perspective then you have a job, I’m afraid to say, NOT a business.

Of course, if you have just started and or are small, then as long as you know this nuance and are working towards making yourself redundant, that’s fine.

BUT most people who have been in business for a couple of years or more and who are still doing vals, paying the Landlords, dealing with minor complaints, speaking to vendors, have not made enough difference in their business to break the self-employed barrier – nothing wrong with that.

It’s not a criticism, just pointing out an observation and if that’s what you want to do then great, job accomplished (pardon the pun).

However, if at some point you want more time, more options, more income and build a true business you can sell, then you really need to start, honestly, looking at your business and what you can do to get yourself from running it on a day-to-day basis.

It’s NEVER too late for you to systemise your business.

You just need to start. Don’t use excuses. Re-prioritise things so you can find and make the time.

The post You May Not Be The Best Person Operationally To Run Your Business first appeared on The Agency Roadmap.

It’s the curse of the entrepreneur. We go from opportunity to opportunity and take them, without completing the previous one and leaving other people to clean up the mess.

Business owners are like that. We don’t finish systemising, testing, and tweaking something then we move onto the next new thing.

In this industry a good example of this is to open a 2nd or 3rd branch before you have the first one nailed on.

That’s why having multiple branches might not work for some people – not the theory, just the application of it.

We are not detailed people. We like the cut and thrust of the deal, of the opportunity, of starting something.

The better business people, either finish something before moving on to the next thing or they surround themselves with what I call “finishers”, those types of people that are detailed orientated and get a kick out of making a sure thing.

Thoughts?

The post How Do You Know When And What Opportunity To Take? first appeared on The Agency Roadmap.

1. Your team will disappoint you as well as amaze you, don’t be surprised.
2. The larger you get as a business, the more people issues you will have. Your team are the weak point in any business.
3. Invest in training and development and you get more from your team in terms of loyalty and performance.
4. Write a process to suit the business NOT to suit the team.
5. Give them the best tools to do the job. Do no skimp on this.
6. Never keep your team longer than necessary. Hire slow BUT fire fast.
7. If they deserve a pay rise then give them one. If they don’t then don’t. Don’t wait for them to go elsewhere before you do, if they deserve it.
8. People are motivated by progression be that hitting goals, new projects etc.
9. People hate uncertainty and feeling insecure SO create routines as early as possible.
10. You can’t over communicate with your team BUT you can over share.

The post My Top 10 Tips For Your Team first appeared on The Agency Roadmap.

1) Stop being an estate agent and start being a businessman/woman.

2) Recruit people better than you in every position.

3) Learn to let go of your unhealthy ego.

4) Make yourself redundant as quickly as possible.

5) Build the business you want to own, not the one you currently own.

6) There’s a fine line between being passionate and being combative.

7) Be open to new ideas – You don’t know everything and never will.

8) Build a business around your TEAM.

9) Loyalty is underrated and not as common as it should be.

10) Don’t take things personally.

Thoughts or comments?

Any more you would add?

The post My Top 10 Tips for Becoming A Great Leader first appeared on The Agency Roadmap.

It seems that some people have strong opinions based on nothing sometimes!

The best leaders and operators I have seen are always open to new ideas and ways of working.

It doesn’t mean you have to trial and implement absolutely everything but what it does mean is that you don’t say “Computer says NO” at every turn!

Robust business planning and proposals are always crucial to new ways of working.

A lot of decisions can and are made on “gut feeling” but that can be dangerous.

Facts and evidence make the best decisions over time, so whatever your opinion, that’s all it is – until it’s backed up.

Facts run businesses, facts make businesses successful, facts influence decisions in the best way.

Let’s look at the self-employed model as an example…

We don’t do it, BUT I’m open to it. So, I don’t comment when people say how amazing or bad it is. As we know, the model is sound, it’s the implementation (the person) that can be faulty. I do see traditional agents, in terms of branches, having a pop at it…. Why?

The only conclusion is that it’s different and they feel threatened.

We all feel this way when change or a difference of opinion occurs. Our default position is “No, it will never work”.

Wrong… be open, embrace change, work with it rather than against it. See how it can improve your business. Look at it as an opportunity rather than a threat!

Be an open book not a closed one.

Agree, disagree?

The post Are You Open To New Ideas? first appeared on The Agency Roadmap.

The post Team Roles first appeared on The Agency Roadmap.