Agents and Brokers – Why your financial wishes don’t match your bank account

This blog post stemmed from a conversation I had the other day with one of my clients. I asked Amanda (named changed for confidentiality) what her dreams were for future. She said she wanted to grow her clientele and increase sales.

When I asked by how much, she paused and then answered she’d like to double them. 

I asked by when. She paused again. Then, hesitantly, responded within a few years.

I asked, so what would it take to get there? How many sales would you need to make? How many clients would it take to get there?

She responded that she hadn’t really thought about it.

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This is a very typical response and nothing to be ashamed of. We all have goals, dreams, hopes, and desires… and let’s face it, money is a common one! 

Here’s the thing though, if you want more money, you need to not only determine how much more you want and when you want it by, but you need to have a plan of how to get there. 

For Amanda, when exactly is doubling sales in a few years? Is this 2 years, 3 years, 5 years? And how is Amanda going to get there? Does this mean obtaining a new client every two weeks, every month, every few months? 

My tips for you are:

1.  Make short and long-term money goals. Be specific with your goals – both in amounts and in time frames.

2.  Map out how you will achieve the goals. Example: my goal is to sell X amount of homes in the next X amount of months. 

3.  As you increase your income, don’t increase your lifestyle by the same amount. Put that extra money towards investing in something else, whether that be your business, a new rental home, mutual fund, stock, savings account, etc.

4.  Assess, improve, assess, improve, asses. If something isn’t working, figure out why and keep going. For example, if you don’t sell the number of houses you planned to sell, what is going wrong? Are you reaching out to enough people, are you making yourself available, are you providing quality services? Determine where you are going wrong and improve. 

Katie Thomas is a CPA, real estate enthusiast, who is passionate about helping individuals achieve wealth through maximizing profits and minimizing tax.