How can you create an innovation ecosystem that supports both internal and external innovation?

A couple of days ago, I was asked by LinkedIn to be eligible as a Top Real Estate Voice... what's my opinion about innovation in real estate,. In fact, the title was:

How can you create an innovation ecosystem that supports both internal and external innovation?

LinkedIn only allowed me 750 characters... not much, so I'm going longer here for a reason, I’m passionate about this subject. I founded a startup to provide services to the real estate industry and I’m an investor myself in real estate.

I would start by pinpointing the challenges within the industry that need innovative solutions. Is it streamlining property transactions, enhancing sustainability, or redefining the customer experience? Simultaneously, identify emerging opportunities—areas where innovation can catalyze growth and efficiency.

In my case, for one of my businesses in Spain, the key was to innovate in lead generations, as that business specializes in flipping properties.

Once that you have decided your area, you need to craft impactful solutions.

Are you going to focus on enhancing operational efficiency, reducing carbon footprints, or revolutionizing the customer journey? You need to clearly define the tangible outcomes you aim to achieve through your innovation initiatives.

In my case, I focused on automating our process in our CRM for continuous follow-ups, bold ads in social media, etc.

Then, you need to establish and measure key performance indicators (KPIs) to gauge the success of your solutions. Whether it's increased customer satisfaction, shortened transaction times, or improved resource efficiency, having measurable metrics is essential for tracking progress and making data-driven decisions.

As we wanted to reduce the time of sales, we implemented that KPI. Of course, for our CRM and our marketing strategy we implemented other KPIs of the marketing industry: lead generation, traffic to the website, etc.

This is not a super innovation, I agree, but there are many ways you can innovate. Your innovation can be incremental, radical, or disruptive. In the real estate industry, I’m a fan of incremental innovations, i.e. gradual improvements that boost your performance in the long term. It is a balance, of course, you can try something really disruptive and be lucky, but I think that success in real estate is a long term game.

Moreover, innovation for the sake of it is not for me. I think that whenever you want to implement some innovation or improvements (as I call them) to your business, they need to be aligned with your business strategy. If you do flipping, as it’s my case, the flow of the business is: finding deals, close them, finance them, rehabilitate and sell. I won’t be investing in anything that is not fully aligned with any of those areas.

And for this to be successful, you need to foster a culture of innovation. In my businesses, we are 3 partners. I’m the most innovator. The others are always willing to learn, but are more risk averse. To implement the right culture for exploring and implement those improvements has been a key element for our successful flipping business.

Finally, iterate, iterate, iterate. Regularly revisit and reassess your innovation strategy to stay agile and responsive to market dynamics. Something that worked well 1 year ago may not be OK for your next 12 months. Be aware of trends. Now, for example, we have realized that there are new investors trying to grab opportunities for apartments that can be rented by rooms… This is an interesting trend that we are exploring as dramatically affects your options for the design of our rehabilitation.

In summary, the journey to create an innovation ecosystem in real estate and proptech begins with a clear vision, well-defined goals, and a strategic roadmap + culture.

I hope you enjoyed.