What's the difference between creating a job and building a business?

Don't know? Well, for Realtors the distinction is absolutely crucial to the success (or failure) of your business.

Creating a job is when you have a series of business-related tasks for which you are responsible. In other words, you as an individual are working on every last detail of the business, and ultimately you're the one who sees it through.

Conversely, building a business entails creating a system in which others enable you to reach a desired goal. You certainly take on the lion's share of the work, but it's not completely up to you to get everything done.

Notice the difference. With a job you're doing all of the work. With a business, you're initially doing a lot of the work, but are gradually moving to the point where others can help out.

Why is this important? Because if you're a Realtor and you're either:

• Feeling overwhelmed with everything that needs to get done.

• Unable to get a decent night's sleep.

• Feeling overly tired.

• Having health issues.

• Not spending enough time with your family (or away from work).

You're the head of Marketing, the Director of Sales, Office Manager and CEO all rolled into one. Your "job" is making sure the tasks of each of these positions are handled on a daily basis.

So on a typical day your "to do" list could look something like this:

• Make sales calls to potential and past clients.     -1 Hour

• Attend a networking event at the local Chamber of Commerce.     -2 Hours

• Update the website with the latest marketing collateral.     -1 Hour

• File paperwork from a recently closed deal.     -½ Hour

• Brainstorm new markets to explore.     -½ Hour

• Follow up with key prospects.     -1 Hour

• Publish the marketing newsletter.     -1 Hour

By my math I've got seven hours, and that's not counting lunch, phone calls, meetings and other interruptions that are a regular part of every Realtor's day. By the time it's all said and done, you could be looking at a ten-hour day, easy.

So what do you do: Cut back a little?

You still need to do the sales and marketing stuff since that's the lifeblood of your business. So all of those tasks stay.

Maybe you could hold off on filing the paperwork (1/2 hour savings) and brainstorming on new markets (1/2 hour savings), but where does that leave your business in the long run? With a desk full of papers and no new markets in which to grow. I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound too promising.

Bottom line: When you approach your business as a "job" you're stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place. You can get everything done, and feel overwhelmed, tired and detached from anything outside of work. Or you cut some corners, and seriously jeopardize the long-term viability of your business.

So how can you build a better business and still have a life outside of work? Delegate.

• Make sales calls to potential and past clients.     -1 Hour

• Attend a networking event at the local Chamber of Commerce.     -2 Hours

• Brainstorm new markets to explore.     -½ Hour

• Follow up with key prospects.     -1 Hour

• Publish the marketing newsletter.     -Delegate

• Update the website with latest marketing collateral.     -Delegate

• File paperwork from recently closed deal.     -Delegate

Some tasks, you as the Realtor or business owner are personally responsible for. But other tasks can easily be delegated to other people.

What other people, you ask?

The people on your team who might not be full time employees but share your vision, and passion for seeing your real estate business succeed. Examples include:

• Your spouse/significant other.

• Your child, cousin, aunt, uncle or other family member.

• An intern from a local area college.

• Part time, temporary staff.

• Virtual assistant

"But I can't afford to hire another person!," you say. You can't afford not to hire someone. Remember our choices from before.

1. Work a job and do everything yourself, resulting in loss of sleep, family life, and increased anxiety levels.

2. Work a job and only engage in the "essential" sales and marketing tasks, effectively leading your company to long-term ruin, or

3. Build a business, which means creating a system (read: team) to help you out on an as needed basis.

The choice is up to you. Besides, if you play your cards right, it won't even cost you all that much.

With your spouse or your child, you could probably talk them into a couple hours over the weekend without paying a dime. With your cousin, aunt, uncle or other family member, perhaps some type of revenue sharing program is in order, where they get a percentage of the company's proceeds. I've seen clients who've even paid this out on a quarterly basis to help ease the financial burden. And with an intern or part time temporary help, you're talking about $10 to $20 in hourly costs.

Skip a few lattes over at Starbucks, and you'll be good to go. Believe me, when it's all said and done, both you and your business will thank me for it.

Published: February 22, 2005

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As a popular speaker and author of the resource How to Get More Business in Today's Tough Market, Brian specializes in helping busy agents get more leads and close more deals - even in a market as "challenging" as this. For a free report on 2 Easy Ways to Get More Business in Today's Tough Market, just email my office and we'll send it right over.