Will You Have Regrets if you Stick With Your Current Plan?

Welcome back to another edition of the Business Freedom Podcast. Lars Hedinborg here, founder of Real Estate B School co founder of High Performance Real Estate Advisors. I've been at the real estate team building, I want to say game, for over a dozen years now. So I got into the business in March. March 5, 2007 was my last day at my cozy six figure corporate gig to get into the fascinating world of general brokerage real estate. And I've been at this training, coaching, building tools and systems for other team leaders, business builders since 2013. So today's podcast, I say all of that just to give you a little bit of context if you're new to the podcast. I have been down this path that I'm talking about and I continue to show up every day and do the good, bad, ugly of business building. And so today I want to talk about and I'm really kind of getting into this themed set of podcasts. The theme of this next set, especially this time of year, is around visioning and planning. And so that's like the big, I'll probably run four or five podcasts on this one. And you know, when I look at my journey in business, you know, it really came down to the fact that I was clear on where I wanted to be in the future and why I wanted to be there. And so I didn't always have, like, I didn't know how I was going to get there. Like, I didn't know how I was going to build a real estate business that helped buyers and sellers without me having to do every piece of the job. Back in 2007, I mean, teams were, they were definitely a thing. It wasn't as prevalent as it is today. And I think teams, even more so in the future, are going to be more and more relevant in terms of providing a service to consumers, to buyers and sellers. That's extraordinary. And that can withstand all the, the shifting that's going on and that's past podcast episodes. If you've missed those. I've talked a lot about the ultimate shift storm. That was October 29, 2019, if you missed that one. So get back there and get that one. So when I look at my journey and my decision to end up at a point in time that was different from where I was standing, there was a lot that was baked into it. So it's one thing just to decide. Let's say you're a top agent now and doing 40 to 50 sides and you have an admin. And let's say you're like, this is really hard. Because that is really freaking hard. The year I did 58 sides, yeah, I did 44 and then 58 sides. And both the first year I had an administrator part time for part of the year and then full time probably for most of that year. Then that next year I did 58 sides. And I only hired my first buyer agent late that year. So I did, I think 54 of those sides I did myself. And so basically I just had an administrator for those two years. So was that like 100 homes sold with just me over two years with me and administrator. And it was really tough. Let's say you're at that point in your journey or you could even be a small team leader doing 100, 150 sides, whatnot. What's the thing that's going to separate where you are today to where I decided I was going to be in three years? And at the time it was 2012, I just decided that in that year I wanted to do, I think it was like 150 sides or something like that. And I wanted to step from all the production being me to half the production being me or whatever I decided. And I think I was actually a third of the production. Two years later, we did 178 sides. I think I did 66 of those transactions. So my production went up for a period of time. Then by the next year, I think I did one transaction a year. We did 248 sides. The point of me telling you all of that is that I was super clear on where I wanted to be in the future. And I want to spend time over the next handful of podcast episodes here talking about how that comes to be. And the first thing I want to talk about, and this is the title of today's podcast, took me a while to get there. Will you have regrets if you stick with your current plan? So I do. Our entry point into real estate B school is a simple conversation about your business. It's a 45 minute conversation, usually ends up with a decision to enter our pilot program. We'll get into that more at the end of this podcast. And one of the things I do when we have several of our business coaches running those conversations now, one of the things that I would always say is, you know, we're on this phone call today. You know, John. So, John, three years ago, where'd you want to be today? And it's like, it's a weird question, right? It's like, what? What do you mean three years ago? Like what? Well, three years ago, your Three year picture. What did you tell yourself three years ago that you were going to achieve? And it's three years later you're sitting here on this day, or at least we're toward the end of the year as I record this. Like, what did you want to achieve in 2019? And usually there's crickets. And it's a provocative question. I'm asking it because I know 99% of people don't have a clear picture of where they want to be in the future. And that's the work we're going to do. I want you to have a clear picture of where you're going to be in the future. I want you to build. So that's a three year picture, one year plan, 90 Day World. And then we're going to break that thing down into a week. That's going to be the last of this podcast series is I'm going to unpack what a 319013 and how we use it to help our members and how I use it to achieve goals not only in my business life, but in the other areas of my life that are important to me. And so today I want to talk about, and really kind of dig deep on this question about will you have regrets if you stay with your current plan? So if you don't have a plan, the answer is you're leaving the answer completely up to chance. So that's not great. I'm going to hit you straight on that one. That's not great if you don't have a plan. Like if you're not following any kind of planning process whatsoever and you're not breaking that down from a sort of a midterm to a year, to a quarter to a week, to a day, to an hour by hour sort of plan, then you're definitely got some work to do. No worries. It's literally what we do in our pilot program. So this ultimately is not a pitch for the pilot program because it's only if you qualify for it. I just want to say that there is a method to our madness and I'm going to go through it on a podcast. I'm going to dig deep on what that 319013 looks like. Like. And so one of the question, one of the questions I want you to sit with here as we kind of get into this first part of this series is do you have a business planning process in place that will allow you to build a profitable and leveraged real estate business that gives you true time and money freedom? So that's A pretty simple yes or no answer. And if you answered yes and it's not working, then the answer is actually no. So the question again is, do you have a business planning process in place that will allow you to build a profitable and leverage. Those two words are key. So leverage is actually the first part of that. Leverage means that the business doesn't revolve around you and your production to stay in business. So you can't get to 2 million GCI and do 500,000 GCI yourself, and your profit is 600,000. That's not a sustainable business. It's not leveraged. You want to get to 2 million GCI, you want your profit to be 750 to 800 and you're out of production. That's the goal. That's the vision that I had for my business anyway, that I achieved and gives you true time and money freedom. So are you tied into your business? You know, when you're not in not at work, you're still working evenings and weekends. You know, is your. Is the money you're making tied to the hours that you're putting in? So real estate, B school, we talk a lot about time, money and stress. We really want to disconnect time and money. We don't want you to have to make money with the time you put into your business. And in real estate, 99.9% of real estate agents, it's the only way you can make more money, is to put money, more hours into the business. So as I consider this question and as I talk this through with you, there are a few things that I want you to know that I know because I've done it. And the first thing is that this is really hard. And I say that if you're in the midst of, if you're a team leader and you're anywhere from a million and a half to 3 million and you've got an established business, it's really hard. I know it's really hard. I've been there. We're at the 3 million plus mark at this point in our journey. That's really hard. It's hard to do it profitably. It's hard to do it where you're holding your people and your expenses accountable. There are always hard decisions to make. If you're at the 3 to 500,000 point in your journey in terms of GCI and you're just having an administrator and you're looking to hire that leverage through a showing agent or your team, you want to get from 500 to a million it's really hard. So I don't say that to turn you off necessarily. I say it more to acknowledge that the pain you're going through is real. It's that uncomfortable feeling that you will have forever as you continue to push yourself in business. And so the pain you're experiencing is real. As you break through another level in your journey, let's say you're going from 500 to a million, you're in that point of the journey or you just sort of, you've gotten to 3 to 500,000 GCI with a part time administrator or full time administrator. Getting there is super hard. And this next phase of the journey, it's going to be hard in a different way. The thing that I want to make sure doesn't happen to you and it happens to a lot of real estate agents that are, you know, they're so far out of their comfort zone that this fear sets in that ultimately paralyzes them. And a paralyzing level of fear, the byproduct of that, will have you continue to sort of retract or retreat rather than advance in the business. And so you've got to really sort of the level of EQ emotional intelligence that you need to be a business owner and to grow a business. As you get through these, as you get to these uncomfortable points in the journey, you need to really check yourself to see if fear is really showing up for you. And then the last thing I want to say on this, as you consider where you are now, where you want to get in the future, is that thinking. The thing I'm going to take you through, and this is the next podcast episode. I'm going to go through eight things you have to know about crushing your goals. And then the next one is the key mindset shifts you need to become a true business owner. I'm going to force you to think a lot. Thinking is not normal. People don't normally think about their life the way that I've done. And I'm going to challenge you to do, and I challenge our members to do. It's really just slow your frickin role down enough so you can take some time every week to think about where you are in your business and personal growth journey. And so just know that this process that I'm forcing, hopefully I can't force you to do it. And I feel like if I could, I would. I'm asking you to go through a process that is not normal. And a lot of people don't think about, you know, where they are in their journey and as a result of not thinking, they end up where they end up. And it's this process of, you know, luck. Like if you're successful, it's not a byproduct of you thinking through your success. And the cool thing about this process that I'm going to take you through is that you'll get real clear on where you want to go. And as a result of having that clarity, you'll be able to filter opportunities that come your way as a result of the clarity that you have, if that makes sense. So a good example is. What's a good example? Like a business opportunity. So I'm pretty clear that I love business. Having two businesses is super challenging. I just know that I don't want to have a third business. So maybe that could mean I had a thought at one time that I wanted to do take the real estate B school concepts and just roll it out to small business owners in different verticals. And I'm like, that seems like a good idea. At the same time, it's a totally business, totally different dynamic. I don't really understand a pizza parlor owner or a painting subcontractor. I don't understand. I've never done that. And so for me, I had that thought and I'm like, no, that's just outside of my sweet spot. Two businesses is plenty. I've got kids, I've got a wife, I've got my physical body, a spiritual journey. Like I've got these lanes. I've already got a seven lane highway that I want to keep going at high speed in all the lanes and I don't need an 8th, 9th, 10th lane. And I see that a lot of times, a lot of times guys are all over the place. It's like, wait, you're doing that now? Was that in your plan? That seems odd to me. Like you never talked about doing that and all of a sudden you're doing that like, you know, changing websites all the time. You know, someone be like, oh, I change over my websites. And I'm like, you changed your website? Like, what was wrong with the old ones? It wasn't working. Like it wasn't working. Like I used the one you changed from. I've used it for like 12 years, you know, and it didn't work. And so they're looking for the next best thing, the easy button or the thing that satisfies their urge to have newness and uncertainty. And the dopamine hit that you get when you try something new. So hopefully this wasn't Too vague of a lead up into what we're going to get into. Please keep showing up here and if you're at the point in your business growth journey, and I will say just as much, your personal growth journey where you like, I know I need help. I don't have a three year picture, a one year plan. Like all I see is the deal that's blowing up in front of me. Then we've got to have a conversation. If you achieve that level of success at a minimum that sort of 3 to 500,000 GCI, you've got some administrative support, maybe you've got some leverage on the buy side. You're starting this team building process all the way up to our best members come in. Well, I wouldn't say our best members. We've got members coming in at 4 to 5 million GCI that are, that need a lot of work and help in all the basic business areas. So I love getting into business with someone that's earlier on in their journey because we can really impact their ability to set the thing up right. And all that being said, the only thing we have to offer you is a 45 minute conversation about your business and we're going to dive deep into what it looks like today, what you want it to look like in the future and what is holding you back. What obstacles have you seen to growth in the past? And just go to realestatebschool.com There's a bright orange banner across the top. Just ask about our pilot program. It is our entry point into real estate B school. It's a 30 day free program for you to really experience what we're about and build out this three year picture, the one year plan, the 90 day world. You do all of this, you crush your mindsets and all that good stuff. And so it's a free program for those who qualify. So make sure you inquire about that, a brief application you'll fill out to make sure you're a good fit and off you will go and we'll have a conversation and we'll enroll you in the pilot program if we agree it's a good fit. So go to realestatebschool.com right now. We'll see you over there. Sa.