Business Mistakes You Need To Avoid
There is some euphoric bliss when you are entering any new endeavor. You are excited that you finally took a leap and are willing to risk failing on this journey. Being a self-employed real estate investor is one of the greatest professions in the world, but it doesn’t guarantee success. There are many minefields that you need to avoid. Just when you think you have everything figured out something comes out of nowhere to blind sight you. As an Investor you are the Boss & in charge of your Real Estate Business. You steer the wheel as to what direction you would like your boat to travel. You cannot let one poor decision set you and your business back with fear of recovery. You don’t need to labor over every single decision you make but you should know that everything will inevitably have consequences. Here are a few business mistakes you need to avoid in the beginning of your euphoric journey.
- Thinking you climbed the mountain. There is an old wise saying in sports that becoming successful is the easy part, maintaining the success is the tricky part. As hard as you worked to build up your business and grow your garden you need to work twice as hard to maintain it and help it grow. For many Investors & Entrepreneurs getting to a point where you commit to the business full time is the top of the mountain. You think you have finally made it simply because you are now investing full time. The reality is that now is when your work really starts. Without maintaining the same edge, you had to get to this point you will quickly fall behind your competition. You are not the first Investor to leave the common 9-5 Job and jump into the Business Full-Time. All the other investors on the block have the same vision. If you let your foot off the pedal you will lose deals & opportunities that used to be available to you. Entering the business is just the start of your real estate journey. It’s how you take tips, rainy & sunny weather throughout your growth that will help you flourish.
- Emotional decisions. There are many decisions that must be made on the daily. Some are obviously more important than others but everyone is important in its own certain way. It is essential that you base your decisions on facts and logic rather than emotion and instinct. There will be times when you come across a property that you love personally but it may not be the best investment for your company. The numbers don’t quite add up or the seller won’t budge off their number. You look at every possible angle to try to make the deal work but deep down you know it just doesn’t make good business sense. As difficult as it may be these are the deals you need to walk away from. Sometimes, some of the best deals you are those that you don’t get involved in. It is ok to say NO if you need everything to break right just to scratch out a small profit or the deal will engulf too much of your day. Never let your emotions influence the important decisions in your business. When you let your emotions get in the way of your sensible decision making that is when you will begin to face problems in the Business.
- Lack of action. If you are like most business professionals you probably have dozens of ideas floating in your head every day. What separates success and disappointment is to not build expectations. If you set expectations you are more thank likely setting yourself up for disappointment in the long run. Is exactly as the wise man said.” don’t talk about it, Be About it”. Instead of creating Lists, Plans, What’s Next… get up and do it! There are days when you don’t want to spend a few hours at a local networking meeting or want to drive to partake in a business engagement. And this is YOUR Business so there is nobody telling you that you have to do so choose your action based on how you feel. That being said if you want to feel and make this Business successful you have got to put in the work. If you find ways to justify not doing something it will slowly impact your business. The action you take is the one thing you can control that separates you from the competition.
- Putting all your eggs in one basket. There should always be an equal balance between Apples and Oranges. Just because something may be going well in your business now doesn’t mean it is going to last forever. There should always be room for market shifts, unexpected budget adds and a safety net for unexpected changes. Foreclosures & Short sales were a great source of business last decade but have since come back to Earth. If you put all your resources to marketing and generating deals in these areas you may have had a tough time finding good deals and generating a profit. Conversely if you marketed in several areas and had a diverse portfolio you can weather almost any storm the market brings you.
- Poor time management. As obvious as it sounds you need to focus on doing the right tasks. There are only so many hours in a day. It is easy getting caught up on a simply task for hours if you are not careful. Before you know it half of your day is gone and you haven’t been nearly as productive as you would like. It can be effective at times to create “To-Do” Lists, whether you complete them or not it will help you to stay on track and focus on what needs attention right away. You need to take time to plan your day so you can be as efficient as possible. Wanting to act is great but you need to be able to fit everything in on your schedule. Something as basic as time management can influence how productive you are throughout the day!
****Being your own boss and running your own business can be a difficult adjustment. It is important that you keep working every day and understand the potential pitfalls out there. Of course, you are able to slack but remember what slack is given won’t be gathered by your upper Management. You are the Management and in control of all inner aspects of the Company.