How you can build a profitable, efficient and successful real estate business.

One of the most frequent questions I’m asked about is ‘how to build an EBU’. It’s also one of my highest sought-after skills when I work with the agents and agencies that I coach.

Building an EBU or Effective Business Unit and building a team can provide you with the financial freedom that you dream of and help you build your best life!

BUT… one of the biggest mistakes that I see is agents who build it in the wrong way, both structurally and financially. And putting the wrong people on at the wrong time in the wrong roles and not keeping them in alignment with your values and goals can cost you financially big time.

So, I’m sharing with you today how to build an EBU in the correct way so you can take control of your business, your life, have longevity in your career, make the right the revenue and bank profit. Doing it correctly will give you the freedom to take days off, have holidays, work more flexible hours and work less.

The other reason you should look to build a team is it gives you an exit plan. Working as an agent typically does not lend to building a business that you can sell, but if you groom the right co-agent, then you can transition out of the business while still making an income, and essentially build a database, systems and structures and loads of goodwill by building an attraction business.

What EBU model should I use?

There are two models that I most commonly use in building or restructuring an EBU with my clients. The first is a selling principal model and the second is a model designed to fit a high performing sales agent.

In breaking them down:

• A selling principal model uses a selling EBU and co-agents as a feeder program to build the agency. A selling principals’ sales are imperative to this business and go to financially supporting and growing the agency. In this model, it's super important to keep selling while managing the business.
• The high performing agents’ model is made up of a Co-Agent and Personal Assistant. Stability is key here and you want to build a long-term team with all members remaining part of the team for a number of years.
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Defining roles.

One of the most important things you need to do for your EBU is to clearly define the roles each person in the team has. It’s essential to do this so that you can set up a clear structure and routine for each member of the EBU to successful do their jobs and not become overwhelmed or burn out.

Now each EBU that I help set up has its own unique requirements within the team roles, it’s not one size fits all. However, I’ve outlined a baseline to work off for each role.

The PA is the backbone of the team and their role is to hold all team members accountable, including the lead agent! They are the operations manager of the team and oversee tasks such as accounts, marketing, appointment forms, listing presentations, contracts, settlements, gifts, customer service and everything and anything else that you can think of.

 A co agent's role is to free up the lead agent's time to ensure that they are the most dollar productive entity in the team. They handle buyers, inspections, open homes, contract signing, photo-shoots building and pest inspections, valuations. They oversee the marketing including copy and photo order, brochures and ads, listing presentations CMA's and find potential listing opportunities. A more experienced co-agent will also be listing in addition to selling properties.

Find the right people.

If you’re looking to grow and start building your EBU, a great shortcut is hiring somebody who is already working in the industry. That person will have a head start by understanding the industry legalities and rules, have knowledge of the guidelines to follow and importantly what paperwork need to be done. Finding someone who is already working in the same role for another high producer is even better if you can! Your goal is to find someone who can add to your team instead of having to invest time and money into training them and learning as you go.

Look for people that have different skillsets to you so you can diversify your team. This ensures your team is more rounded and you have a greater set of abilities to list and sell properties and service your clients. It’s important to also note that you need to like the people you hire! You’re going to be spending so much time with them, often more than your own family and friends, so it’s really important to ensure that they are the right fit.

 Lastly, a game-changer I implemented into my business was personality testing. You're looking for traits, such as industriousness, conscientiousness, and how their traits marry up to your own. There are many companies that personality test in our industry the likes of Julie Davis at Agents Dynamic does it. I've personally always used Phil Jauncey who is a performance psychologist and is very, very well known for working with big businesses and high-profile sporting clubs like the Broncos and the Olympic teams. Make sure that you are personality matching when building your team so that you avoid personality clashes which brings inefficacy to your business.

I deep dive further into EBU’s and share with you ALL my learnings on my podcast ‘Build Your Best Life', tune into Episode 9 to hear it all!

Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/BuildYourBestLife_ApplePodcasts

Spotify: https://bit.ly/BuildYourBestLife_Spotify

Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/BuildYourBestLife_GooglePodcasts