Relocate and Reinvent Your Business in Five Steps

If you're looking to reinvent the business of your dreams, take what you already know and expand it into a new market. This was the important message delivered by Shannon Williams King in the recent Secrets of Top Selling Agents webinar, "Reinventing Your Business from Scratch."

Known as the "Real Estate Road Warrior," King has relocated six times as a result of her husband's military career. At each new location, King revamped and reinvented her business to cater to a new market. Based in Kailua, Hawai'i, King is celebrating 20 years working in real estate and has helped more than 1,000 families in multiple states with their real estate needs. In 2005, she was recognized in REALTOR® Magazine's "30 Under 30" and released a book in 2010 titled Real Estate Road Warrior: 101 Technology Tools for Business on the Go.

Whether you're bored with your current business or marketing, looking to switch markets, or moving to a new location, King lays out a plan to help you rebrand yourself and your business. By breaking the steps down into preparation, moving, and domination, you can set down new roots to grow a successful business.

1.Where to Start

King says that, when thinking about your move, you need to start with the end in mind. Instead of approaching your business with the mindset of "Where's my next buyer?" or "How do I get my next listing?" focus on referral-based business. By having a continual stream of clients from those you've worked with in the past, you can start to generate passive income.

When setting goals for your new market, reflect on the ones you are or were already working towards. King suggests having a journal specifically for this and spending a little time with it each night. Consider how long you want to and are able to work the area. Success doesn't happen overnight; it takes time and resources to build a business.

2. Choose Your Market

King says that any time you move into a new market, there's a lot of brainstorming that needs to happen. If you're moving to a new location, your market is already predetermined for you, but you are able to choose your niche. Your niche should be small and focused to allow you to keep balance in your life. To choose a niche, look at your life and what's happening in it at this very moment. For example, King helps families who are relocating to the island, since that's her experience and what she knows the most about.

When you choose your market based on your lifestyle and personal interests, research and learn as much as you can about it. King's approach to this was looking at the sales over the last 5-10 years and seeing who sold each of the listings. Then, she learned more about these agents to determine who was still living and working in the area and who had retired or moved. These clients that were left became opportunities for her to contact.

Once you've found your niche and your market, define your ideal client. King tells listeners to be as specific as possible. After you've done that, you know where they are and how to reach them. This will allow you to find them faster and do more business.

3. Business 101

When planning your budget, the first step is to reflect on how much you spent and where you spent it. If you can do this at the beginning of the year, that's ideal so you can see everything that happened over the course of the previous year. King suggests setting up three banking accounts: personal, business, and tax. This will help ensure that you're not living paycheck to paycheck and that you have money to spend on marketing. Lastly, create your budget for the year.

4. Launch

King pushes for authentic and intentional strategies that impact the community. This can be creating opportunities to give back to the community through fundraisers, donations, hosting educational or environmental events, etc. Investing in your community will help you become more well known and show you in a positive light.

Another important key to launching your brand in a new market is finding and engaging your tribe. Keep in mind that your tribe isn't just your friends who help with your referrals; it's also the people you work with. If you're choosing members for your team, it's important to be very intentional about who you pick. You want to surround yourself with people you want to work with and who have the same goals as you.

5. Growth

Your growth as an agent and as a business is determined by what you learn. Because of this, you should focus on continual improvements. This could be attending webinars, reading books on marketing strategies, or taking a class on social media engagement. It can be beneficial to look outside of real estate for ideas and inspiration. King also suggests finding out what other agents are doing outside of your market and implementing what they've found successful.

The final key is finding your work-life balance. King emphasizes how important it is to set boundaries with clients and own your time. If a client asks to meet with you at 6:00 PM on a Wednesday night, she says to give them another option because that time is your time at home with family. If you don't maintain this balance, you will start to burn out and resent your work, and it will show in your performance.

To learn the rest of King's tips and strategies, you can join the Secrets of Top Selling Agents Facebook Group here. For more free real estate education, visit the Secrets of Top Selling Agents website.

To view the original article, visit the Homes.com blog.