Aliso Viejo, CA – November 10, 2008 …I remember watching an interesting episode of Mythbusters sometime ago and they were trying to find the proverbial needle in the haystack – it took them forever. Likewise, it can be a true challenge for brokers and agents to find and use a great business plan - sometimes harder than trying to find that needle. 

 

It seems that around Thanksgiving my mind starts to think about planning for the upcoming year, which of course requires some reflection on the past year and if I haven’t been following a well laid out plan I have to spend a lot of time trying to recreate last year.

 

Like every other business, real estate requires constant analysis of a variety of factors including the evaluation of key market trends, keeping a pulse on cash flow and maintaining a strong team accountability structure. Failure to establish a sound foundation in this area has been identified as the #1 reason agents do not achieve their dreams of success - not to mention large commission checks.

 

I was discussing the subject of business planning with Allen Wright, the creator of CreateAPlan, and the first thing he said was, "If you don’t have a detailed, weekly plan of attack, how you are going to convert 52 weeks into a crystal clear roadmap that ends in Top Producer status? When market volatility strikes and tough decisions are required you are going to hesitate and miss opportunities or lose focus and lower your productivity without a clear strategy.  It is critical that agents and brokers set aside the time necessary to examine their strengths and weaknesses, scrutinizing vision, focus and objectives to discover the best course of action.”

 

In developing CreateAPlan Allen created the only Web-based business planning software designed specifically for real estate professionals. And for the last 7 years CreateAPlan has placed thousands agents on a career path to a destination of their choosing – in the short span of 30 minutes.

 

With CreateAPlan’s planning tools that have been especially created for sales managers, brokers  and owners, business planning is as simple as clicking one bookmarked link. With the entry of some basic information an entirely new world of revenue analysis, performance tracking, scenario modeling and commission structures opens up. The program enables brokers and leaders to view their financial situation and track their agents’ production with more clarity and precision than ever before.  They can assess, track, project and achieve superb team performance, productivity and most importantly, profitability.

 

Brokers often struggle to motivate their agents to create a business plan because, for the average agent, understanding the mechanics of that plan and the factors that influence it can sometimes be more aggravating than trying to find that needle in the haystack. It’s simply not something that is high up on the to-do list.  That is why Allen developed CreateAPlan, to provide: brokerage-level assessment; a precise definition of future focus and strategic intent; a clear vision of desired results; a list of action steps required to achieve those goals; and a simple mechanism to track all progress. Brokers and sales managers benefit from the system because it allows them to predict agent production and manage team sales efforts more precisely. Company owners can model future trends and effectively determine how to grow their business - particularly when the need to recruit new team members arises.

 

Now is not too early to start thinking about 2009, especially with the uncertainty surrounding today’s market.  To learn more about CreateAPlan and how it can move you through the process to develop a solid plan with built in accountability throughout the year to keep you on track you can visit www.CreateAPlan.com and take a tour … it just may be the best step into next year that you can take.