If continued or enhanced success is what you want in 2006, the consider using CreateAPlan, an inexpensive online real estate business plan that helps agents discover what activities generate the most business, how to focus on each activity and then to stay on track the whole year.

CreateAPlan recently agreed to become a sponsor of the national real estate grants program coordinated by The Real Estate Apprentice Foundation. In a special interview the Foundation had with Allen Wright, Vice President of CreateAPlan, Allen was asked how this real estate business plan could make a difference for both rookies as well as seasoned real estate professionals.

Foundation: There is much disappointment when agents set real estate sales goals and don’t achieve them. How can CreateAPlan help?

AW: Real estate business planning is totally different from goal setting. Goal setting is “I want to do 100 sit-ups per day”. A business plan is the road map to get you to do those 100 sit-ups on a continual basis. You are not doing sit-ups because they are so much fun, but so that you can achieve your ultimate “6-Pack” abdominal results. Written goals are commendable, but they are not a road map or a plan. A real estate business plan maps out the exact details necessary for achieving a desired result. New agents don’t usually understand that getting rich not only requires time, but a step-by-step procedure for becoming successful. The most important new agent business focus must be activities that create contacts with the accompanying “Why this is working” revelations. Agent survival is perpetuated by watching expenses and more importantly seeing clearly where you should spend your money vs. simply following a Top Producer just because they are successful. What is working for them may not work for you. Strategies and business plans must change as you change and grow in knowledge, wisdom and abilities. CreateAPlan helps agents see clearly what is working for them and to monitor expenses and activities.

Foundation: Your real estate business plan has been described as agent proof. What does that mean?

AW: You don’t need to be a financial genius to use a real estate business plan. If you can answer basic questions like: What is my commission structure?; What is my average earning from a buyer or a listing?; What is my average sales price or what is the average sales price in my area?; you can succeed. The CreateAPlan real estate business plan was designed not to exclude agents that were new in the real estate business but to make it easy for them. Now real estate agents without any results can enter basic numbers and financial goals, and then the online real estate business plan will crank out the key numbers and instructions so that each agent knows what they must do daily to succeed. All a new agent will need is to know is what some basic costs are, such as: Mail costs on just listed or just sold cards, newspaper and internet advertising, flyers and brochures, signs, business cards, cell phone, lock boxes, auto expenses, closing gifts, meals and entertainment.

Foundation: Why is a business plan so necessary for new agents?

AW: It is not only necessary for new agents but for every agent. Successful agents normally choose to be involved in a variety of sale generating activities like cold calling, farming, canvassing, sphere of influence development, media advertising, stealth internet site traffic capture, drip email campaigns, and open houses. The difficulty is in determining what specific activity has been responsible for generating revenue to your bottom line. By using CreateAPlan as an activity log to track agent actions and decisions, you can easily see where you are getting your appointments and ultimately what your source of generating transactions is. You can also see what activities at keeping the agent busy but yield absolutely nothing in revenue. For existing agents, use of the CreateAPlan tool provides not only a totally accurate methodology for a quick and painless business analysis, but it provides seasoned agents with a fool proof mechanism for forecasting retirement revenue streams and workload projections to reach retirement goals. Selling the business becomes much easier when compelling, hard number statistics accompany the deal.

Foundation: CreateAPlan is said to make the identification and recommendation of specific success strategies easier. How is that achieved?

AW: CreateAPlan is done totally online and has no software to install, no books to read and no new programming language to learn. Simply by going to the CreateAPlan.com website and logging in, agents will find how easy it is to develop a real estate business plan that will guide them to success. It is step by step process and basically requires answering some questions about your market and expenses. CreateAPlan will show you how to reach the particular level of income you need by doing certain daily tasks and closing a specified number of listings and buyers/sellers. The business plan will account for overhead and transaction costs, and enable even the newest rookie to make better business decisions.

Your own online business plan for 2006 is now available for all agents. For more information go to http://www.createaplan.com.