How To Use Self-Evaluation To Grow Your Business
By JD Esajian on January 13, 2017
There is a different mindset that comes with going into business by yourself. As a self-employed real estate investor the buck stops with you. There is no boss pushing you to hit a quota or telling you to stay on top of your clients. There is usually nobody in the office to bounce questions off of when a difficult scenario pops up or to run deals by when you are unsure how to proceed. To get the most out of your business you need to take a look at yourself. Honest self-evaluation is never easy but it is essential when you are making all the decisions. Knowing how, when and even where you work best will put you in the best possible positions to be successful. From there it is up to you to make it happen. Here are five areas of self-evaluation that every real estate investor must look at.
- When Do You Work Best? Every investor is different. There are some who wake up at the crack of dawn and accomplish more before breakfast than others do during the whole day. On the flip side there are some investors who are night owls and prefer to get a bulk of their work done after traditional work hours. As long as you are available during the day there is truly no right or wrong way to go. You should recognize when you work best and tackle your big projects during that time. This doesn’t mean that you should ignore the other hours of the day but if you are more efficient at night than by all means do your heavy lifting then. Knowing when you work best allows you to schedule your day accordingly and be as efficient as possible.
- How Do You Handle Stress? Temperament is an important character in business. As any experienced investor can tell you the real estate investing business is not always easy. For every moment of elation there will be an equal number of times of despair. How you handle the ups and downs go a long way in defining your business. If you fly off the handle every time something doesn’t go your way the people around you will be far less inclined to work with you moving forward. On the flip side if you are a problem solver and bring everyone together people will remember that and be drawn to working with you again. By knowing your personality and how you handle stress you can allocate people on your team to help you out. A property manager can deal with all of the issues with your rental properties. A virtual assistant can handle scheduling and organizing marketing. You can put your contractor in charge of your rehab projects and let them run the show. If you don’t handle stress well find people on your team that do.
- Where Do You Work Best? There is typically plenty of isolation involved as a real estate investor. Having a dedicated office space may have made sense last decade but isn’t as necessary today. The increase in technology has made real estate something you can do anywhere. There are many investors who work in their home offices, living rooms, kitchens and local coffee shops. You need to figure out where is best for you. Working in isolation has defined pros and cons. On one hand there is nobody bothering you which allows you to get more done. On the other hand there is much more down time which leads to boredom which can lead to a lack of productivity. If you are the type of person that can work from home you should do it as long as you can. If not you should find places that will balance out the stimulation you need with the privacy to concentrate. This may take some trial and error but eventually you will find a few go to work places that you will call your own.
- What Motivates You? Humans are often motivated by different things. What pushes you may not move the needle for someone else. You need to ask yourself what motivates you to work as hard as possible. Are you driven by money? Do you want to provide a long term nest egg for your family? Do you like the freedom that real estate affords? Are you scared of failure more than the joy of success? Whatever it is that motivates you use it to your advantage. Make it the vehicle that drives everything you do and every decision you make. If used properly motivation can be a wonderful force that propels your business to great heights.
- What Are Your Strengths And Weaknesses? Everyone has their own set of strengths and weaknesses. There is always something or some area where you excel and some places where you are just not as strong. The sooner you recognize these areas the quicker you can apply them to your business. If you are great with people and enjoy talking you should set up as many networking events as possible. If you excel at marketing you should use this to grow your business through online or print lead generation. If you do not have a good grasp of numbers you can rely on applications and programs to help you out. Don’t be afraid to acknowledge the areas that you need help in. What you will find is that there are many ways you can mask your weaknesses and play to your strengths.
By taking some self-inventory you can make dramatic changes in your business which will lead to startling results. Self-evaluation isn’t always easy but is good for any business.