Business plan time already...?

I hope that this note finds you being very productive this weekend! It’s Oct and you’ve been following your 2020 business plan to a T, right? Oh, by the way my weekend note is about business plans. (See what I did there… nice segue, right?) I heard a talk from a pretty talented team leader last year and it stuck with me (this is props to you MD, if you are reading this!) about planning ahead. The whole “we reap what we sow” philosophy. Basically, what we are doing today affects our business in 90 days. Hence the business planning for 2021 starts this month!

The first time I was asked to complete a plan 5 lifetimes ago at this point, I really didn’t see the value. I knew that I was going to work hard help as many families as I could, so why write it down? What difference would it make? I didn’t get “what gets written done gets done” yet. To my mentor’s credit, I didn’t have a choice. Thanks to him I developed perspective and understanding of the value of a well thought out and constantly changing plan that is consistently followed. (I still struggle here)

There are a variety of formats we can create a business plan. Any of them can help your business grow if you follow these guidelines: lay out your plan so that it is easy to follow and follow it regularly. (I am a KISS kinda guy)  

• Analyze your past numbers- Use the past two years. Take into consideration any anomalies such as relo business or family, 2020 in general, etc.… Keep track of the number of referrals and families helped, (I have some great forms for this if you need) referral sources and average time from referral to celebration day along with marketing dollars spent on activities. This will help you to consider what marketing has worked (and what has not) and where business originated. Decide what worked and what didn't as you plan what marketing strategies to let go, implement or continue using in 2021.
• Work on your business plan over a few days to a week- Take time to consider where you want your business to go over the next twelve months and how you will get it there. Consider getting away from the hustle of the office to put all your focus on this activity. Draft your business plan, set it aside for a few days, and then review again before you finalize.
• Ask for input- Involve your manager, assistant, coordinator, partner, me... Let them know you are working on your business plan and want their input. Where do they feel your strengths lie? What do they recommend you do to increase production? Be open to suggestions and ideas. After all you are a team, right?
• Push yourself- If your business in 2020 was not enough to meet your goals, then you have a challenge and you should be working on this consistently. You must be willing to step outside your comfort zone. Hire a coach or get an accountability partner to help you stay on track with your goals. Get out of the mindset that you need to do “X” before you invest in yourself-you are worth it now.
• Review and revise- This is one of the things that I need to improve on as well, review monthly or quarterly. I have some samples for you if you like. Both a basic version as well as one that dives deeper. I am happy to share! My business plan is much more encompassing and includes monthly marketing activities based on the season or the month. So, I need (should) to review more often. If you complete a business plan but then throw it in a drawer or computer file until next Oct/Nov, you have wasted your time. I recommend a monthly appointment with yourself to “Review and Revise.” This is a 30-minute time block where you go through the previous month’s referrals, showings and celebrations to make sure you are on track to meet your goals and if needed, revise the next month’s activities to make sure that you are hitting what you want to hit!

I am not sure if I am a firm believer in reports/stats as you can really word/tweak them to get the result that you want but these are interesting numbers nonetheless:

Interviewers asked new graduates from Harvard’s MBA Program about their goal-writing habits and found that:

• 84% had no specific goals at all
• 13% had goals but they were not committed to paper
• 3% had clear, written goals and plans to accomplish them.

10 years later, the interviewers again interviewed the same graduates of that class. Here are the staggering results:

The 13% of the class who had goals were earning, on average, twice as much as the 84 % who had no goals at all.

Even more impressive are the 3% who had clear, written goals were earning, on average, 10 times as much as the other 97% put together.

What would it mean to you and your family if you increased your 2021 income 10-fold?

Thanks for reading and as always, if you are working, so am I! I am available today and all week if you need me! Remember about my upfront COMMITMENT letter with our process, it really helps in this crazy competitive market that we are ALWAYS in especially when we can close in less than 2 weeks!!

PS: The next time you're in a conversation with family or a friend at work, the gym, church or even your club and they mention that they may need some mortgage help and education, please don’t keep me a secret!