One matter to hold onto and take serious perspective when working in the Real Estate Business:

Are you executing just a small bit of marketing and promoting and just hoping and wishing that a good deal will flow in your hands, or are you maneuvering and operating your Real Estate Investing Business in a mode that makes certain that a good Real Estate deal will materialize. If you do not have a cognitive process for making sure Real Estate deals materialize, you do not yet understand the importance of possessing a marketing plan.  A  without a marketing plan isn’t.

The pitiful fact is that even after all their conditioning, less than one percentage of all real estate businessmen and investors actually possess a marketing plan. Even though it’s very simple, do not underrate the power of a good marketing Investing plan.
The most crucial matter regarding Real Estate Investment Marketing is to posses a Marketing Plan to begin with.

1) It is a substantial attitude you have for your intellect to grab on and strive to achieve.  Attitude determines your altitude.
2) It allows you to clarify exactly what you want to achieve in the coming 30 days.
3) It allows you to map out the activities needed to excute the Real Estate Investing Marketing plan.
4) It allows you to plan in advance to delegate off the lower paying activities, so you don’t end up doing them.
5) It allows you set time deadlines, to hold others accountable so everything gets done and done well.
6) It results in you being free to concentrate on your highest payoff activity: Making Offers on Great Deals.
7) You have a business that operates consciously, not by accident.  Real Estate Investing requires consistent concous effort and work.

More people fail in real estate investing because they simply do not have a plan or goals. You should have a detailed real estae marketing plan of what you want to accomplish and how you are going to accomplish it.

And, don’t be vague, either. Things like, I want to make more money than I can ever spend is too vague, and I want to be rich, and I want to make ,000 a month, are not plans. They are too vague, unclear and they won’t help you in getting there in the Real Estate Investing Business. Be as specific as you can possibly be to insure your Investment Business’s success.

In planning for monthly revenue, try to put your money goals in cash income, not gross revenue. I know gross revenue is what you’re used to thinking in, but cash in the Real Estate Investing business is obviously more important. It’s what you take to the bank, and it’s what pays bills and in fact keeps your Real Estate Business going and growing.

First, examine your current numbers. More than 80 percent of all real estate entrepreneurs and real estate investors know how many houses they are buying each month or quarter, but they don’t know where those houses came from and how many leads they had to process to develop them into the single deal. And, this is very dangerous and can put an end to your real estate investing career.

You Simply Must Know How Your Business is Currently Doing

You should know:

1) The total leads that call each month (each week is more manageable though you can experiement with different time periods ),
2) Where those leads come from.  In any business, not just the real estate investing business, you need to track markteing efforts.
3) How many “qualified” seller prospects (i.e. those that you are willing to invest follow-up in if they don’t sell now; they have motivation, you are interested in the house.) you get each month.
4) The ratio of total to qualified leads is another factor.
5) The number of deals you close in your Real Estate Investing endeavors.
6) The ratio of closed deals to qualified leads – for each real estate lead source
7) How much you make from each seller of the real estate investment transaction.
How much it cost you to acquire a new seller. A very important aspect in any investment business.  Not just Real Estate Investing.

With this information you can look at your current resources, look ahead, and then plan out what you want to have happen. The number of deals you want to do, the amount of money you need to make in your real estate investing business month by month.

For example, let’s say for instance you are bringing in around ,000 a month or so your average deal gives you about ,000. Yes, I know that’s low, but for the sake of example let’s use these figures. That’s two Real Estate deals a month. These are cash proceeds and after expenses you net 50 percent of your gross or ,000 a month. And let’s say that you want to double your net income next month.

You will have to get twice as many deals to double your investment business. Goal? Four deals a month, or one a week.  Sounds like planning doesn’t it?

Let’s say you currently get one deal a month from a classified ad, and one deal a month for mailing expired listings. But, you get ten qualified calls a month from his classified ad and 10 qualified prospects calling a month as a result of mailing expired listings. So, you currently close ten percent of your sales and investment prospects.  Again, keeping track of the business aspect of marketing.

First, you can improve on this situation by improving that twenty percent closing ratio. By improving your closing ratio by things like more precise targeting, the present lead-flow would stay the same; you’ll  get your same twenty real prospects and achieve your goal of doing four  invesment deals next month.

But assuming that’s not something you have control over right now, the other way to double your gross income in the next month is to double the number of qualified transaction prospects  that you talk to and make offers to. So instead of getting 20 qualified leads to call, you would need 40.  This is of course, providing that you utilze the fory leads just as efficiently, if nor more, than the twenty.

Your plan to get forty qualified prospects for a residental or commercial transaction would need 10 to come from expired listing mailings, 16 to come from flyers in target neighborhoods, 4 from business cards handed out everywhere, 6 to come from signs placed in the ground at high traffic count intersections, 10 to come from classified ads that drive people to the website. Total 46 real estate investment prospects. Cool! That’s six to spare.
With this number of leads coming in you have what is needed closed four good real estate deals and reach your goal of doubling your net income. Actually, it’s more than doubling because your fixed expenses don’t increase with the income.

You should have a monthly plan. Schedule thirty or forty minutes out of one day to make upyour monthly plan and see how you did last month. Schedule this time and keep to it. Don’t do any work or take any calls during this time. Keep it strictly for planning. If you do this and you allow yourself to get into the whole spirit of planning, and making things happen on purpose, you will easily double your income in twelve months.
Your Monthly Plan Should Include The Following

1) A goal for total net income from your investment transactions.  Either foreclosures, short sales, regular sales or other wise.
2) A goal for number of residential or commercial deals signed up
3) A goal for number of appointments made for potential real estate transactions.
4) A goal for number of qualified, interested residential or commercial property sellers.
5) A goal for total number of  leads in commercial, residential, foreclosures, flips, short sales or other deals.
6) Average net income from each real estate deal.
7) The number of prospects you have to generate to reach your financial investment goal.

A detailed plan to generate the number of prospects you need. Your plan doesn’t have to be typed out or put into a computer. It can be handwritten on paper. It doesn’t have to be a work of art, just useable.

Simple note – pad plans are good enough. The important part is that you do a plan every single week and keep on top of things and not get behind in your real property investing marketing plan.

Setting up a a marketing plan is a simple thing to do, but it is just as easy to not do, and this you need to be aware of it. Blowing it off is the equivalent of you absolving yourself of responsibility for your real property investing business. On the other hand, taking the time to think through your goals each month, both for income, and marketing activity, then committing them to paper will make things start happening by plan and put you in control of your real estate business.

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Along with your business plan, your small business marketing plan is one of the most important long-term plans you’ll make for your small business. Some small business owners choose to ignore that advice, instead preferring to fly by the seat of their pants, so to speak, to “wing it.” While some of those small business owners are successful, they’re not nearly as successful as they could be had they laid out a well-defined small business marketing plan. Brandt Stohr advises business owners to create a well laid out marketing plan

Small business marketing strategy step 1: Know your market

The first step Brandt Stohr advises in developing a successful small business marketing strategy is to make sure that you have a really solid handle on your target market. Ask yourself: Who are my customers? Once you’ve identified who they are, ask yourself: What are my customers’ problems? What are their dreams and aspirations? The surest way to answer those questions, of course, is to ask your customers themselves. Even if you can’t afford to hire a small business marketing firm that will conduct focus group tests for you, you can do your own simple survey by hitting the streets and talking to those people you plan to sell to (and make contacts at the same time!). You’d be surprised how powerful that simple task is yet how few businesses do it. Brandt Stohr advises to find a starving market first and then feed it!

Small business marketing strategy step 2: Know yourself

The second step in developing your small business marketing strategy is to get to know yourself (your business), once you’ve gotten to know your customers. Ask yourself: What does my business do? How is my business different than my competitors’? How does my business help solve my customers’ problems or help them achieve their dreams? Brandt Stohr advises answering these questions will help you to define your unique selling proposition – those aspects that set you apart from your competitors.

That unique selling proposition should become your brand – your business’s identity. Your brand is what will pervade all of your marketing materials and what your customers will use to identify you. Brandt Stohr advises his clients on the importance of diligently developing your brand as part of a successful small business marketing strategy can’t be overstated.

Small business marketing strategy step 3: Analyze your competitors’ small business marketing strategies

Once you’ve developed your brand – that unique identity that tells your customers who you are and how you’re different – you can begin thinking about how you’re going to actually market your business. First, look at your competitors’ small business marketing strategies. Are there obvious gaps that you could fill (and thereby stand out among the competition)? For example, if you see that none of your competitors have websites, you could stand out with a small business marketing strategy online.

Wherever you market your business, it must be where your customers are. For example, small business marketing online will be a waste if none of your potential customers use the Internet. Likewise, you may think that writing a monthly column in your local newspaper would be a great way to advertise your services and establish yourself as an expert; but if none of your potential customers read that paper, that small business marketing strategy will fail. Brandt Stohr teaches his clients to get to completely know your clients lifestyles, hobbies, habits, attitudes intimately.

At this point, your small business marketing strategy will not only be defined by where your customers are and what your competitors are doing, but it will also depend on your small business marketing budget. A full-page spread in a national magazine may be the best way to reach your target audience, but if you can’t afford to shell out tens of thousands of dollars, it’s not the small business marketing strategy for you.

Wherever your small business marketing plan takes you, the careful development of your small business marketing strategy – by knowing your market, knowing your business, and analyzing your competitors’ strategies – will be a critical determinant of your long-term business success.

Getting a small business loan for the first time can be a stressful experience, especially during these hard times. Getting a loan from the bank, especially now has also fallen into hard times. So here are plans A and B to help you start your own small business. Plan A is for acquiring a small business loan from the bank, and plan B is your contingency plan, so take notes,

PLAN A

Know yourself. Before approaching a bank or any other lender, be sure you know your own history in terms of personal credit. Is your credit history good or bad? Due to the current recession, you can be sure to see that banks have become more strict in reviewing records before making any decision for business loans. You can obtain your credit history from companies like TransUnion, Experian, or Equifax via fax, mail or online.  Also, be sure to check if the records are right. Companies with credit card services sometimes make errors in logging cancellations or adjustments to your credit limit. These misreported transactions in the past  may appear as available credit to the bank.

Prepare a competitive business presentation. A good presentation should initially be able to make the bank understand what you plan to do with the money and not simply WHY you need the money. Remain objective in your explanations and try not to attach too much personal reasons in your answer. The bank’s concern is not with you, but with the money they will give you. A cash flow projection will be of good help during your presentation because the bank can quickly assess the benefits and risks for them. However, a cash flow projection is different with a cash flow statement. The projection is an expectation on how money will come in and out, while a statement shows how money arrives and leaves the business. You can make a projection on a monthly basis over one year for a better outlook of your expectations for the business.

Prepare other documents. You may need to present other documents like a credit rating report. Though this is not an actual requirement, it will still be useful for the bank to know your loan payment history and other dealings with other credit card services. After all, most banks only approve businesses that are able to accept credit cards.

Get to know the bank. It is also important to do a little research on your lender’s point of view. Again, the first question in the bank’s mind is, “what are you going to do with our money?” The second question would be, “Why should we risk our money for your business?” Providing the bank with the right answer boosts your chances of getting that business loan by more than 50% of the time.

Bear important facts. You need to be honest to the bank on certain areas like, how much money are you willing to put in to the business, the collateral you currently have, and how much do you really know about the industry you’re planning to venture in. Enduring the bank that you’re not completely in the dark on your planned business will somehow put their minds at ease with regards to the loan they will be giving you.

PLAN B

If all else fails with the bank, do not despair. There are other means of acquiring small business loans for yourself. Many business cash advance companies are now available to serve you. Borrowing money from these companies are relatively easier than getting one from a bank. They will review your credit record but they are less strict in terms of seeing a few bad records on your history. With a business cash advance, you will be able to start your own small business, expand, pay off debt or taxes, and get emergency funding. However, make sure that the company you will be applying to is legitimate with negotiable terms with payment.

Good luck!

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My neighbor asked me, “Why would anyone sell a successful company?”. He could not understand why anyone would leave a business that was doing well. Of course successful companies get sold all the time.

So why do these business owners sell? The short answer is that most closely held businesses sell for human reasons, such as burn out, retirement, illness, partnership disputes, family issues or other personal reasons. Usually the business is fine but the human being running the business needs a change. To understand this better it is key to understand the other options for exiting a business.

Close the Business/Liquidation

Closing a business that is profitable never makes sense. Even if the assets are liquidated the price is likely to be pennies on the dollar versus selling the business as a going concern with employees, customers and a reputation that is intact. Not only does the business owner get the lowest value but the employees, vendors and customers are hurt by this type of exit.

Accident, Illness or Death

No one wants to exit their business this way, but many do. The loss of an owner not only creates tremendous issues for the family but also creates a leadership void in the business. Even the most competent management can struggle when a key business leader is lost to a serious accident, illness or death. No one plans for this type of exit but many end up exiting the business this way because they failed to create an alternate plan.

Succession

Succession by a family member or key employee has its benefits. They know the business, its product or service, employees, customers and vendors. Succession can be operationally successful for the exiting owner if they make sure the successor is carefully selected, qualified and groomed for the position. The owner must be careful not to make an emotional choice of a relative or favorite employee but instead choose the successor with the right skills to lead the company into the future. You are not seeking an “Employee” mentality but an “Owner” mentality. If that rare person can be found in the business who can make the transition to Owner, they often do not have the cash needed to purchase the business. They are also likely to want to pay less for the business as familiarity will blind them to many of the value drivers of the company. So although succession can be operationally successful it is rarely a financial success for the outgoing owner.

Sell

Closing or liquidating the business minimizes the value to the owner. Accident, illness or death forces the issue on the owner. Succession provided a very limited pool of options with limited financial reward.

Selling on the other hand allows the business owner to decide their ideal timing, maximize the value of the business they worked so hard to build, coordinate the use of the sale proceeds for financial planning and align their personal goals with the sale of a business. Selling the business allows the business owner to create a wealth event and often significant on-going passive income without having to run their business.

Whatever they are, human reasons are always pushing and pulling on a business owner. Burn out, stress, divorce, illness, partner disputes and limited growth capital are some of the human reasons that push owners out of the business. Retirement, enjoying life, relocating, a new business opportunity and passive income are some of the reasons that pull a business owner out. Whatever the motivation, the fundamental reason a business owner chooses a sale as their ideal exit plan is control. The business owner chooses to understand the value of their business and to proactively pursue the right buyer and the right price. By selling a business you choose to exit your business by choice, not by force.

The professional team at Sunbelt Midwest can help you confidentially sell or buy a business in Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, and surrounding areas. For more information check out our site at http://www.sunbeltmidwest.com.