Can You Run Your Real Estate Business with a Smartphone? YES!

Recently, I've been hearing how companies are suggesting that entrepreneurs and startups can completely operate their businesses with only a smartphone. This got me to thinking and reminiscing about how business has changed in my lifetime. For now, let's just focus on the past 20 years and how personal computers, laptops, Palm Pilots, Blackberry, smartphones, iPads and tablets have changed the way we do business.

When I started working with REALTORS in 2000, my main goal was to help agents understand how the Palm Pilot assisted with how REALTORSthey did business, This was the birth of mobile technology, in my opinion. Laptops have been out for a while, but in early 2000, we started seeing agents carrying many of these then-huge monsters around.

Some agents were early adopters of mobile technology, others fought it for a while, but finally lost as consumers raised the bar on technology in the industry. My plan is to create a series based on the title of this article. As I am doing research for this article, so many things I was teaching REALTORS® from 2001 to 2008 are the backbone of running your real estate business with a smartphone. For many reasons, the industry has taken a turn on how we do business, adding expensive, sometimes cumbersome apps and programs that promise results never achieved by the majority of users.

There is a reason REALTORS® are spending more on apps and programs looking for a better way to do business. The venture capital investment in real estate technology in 2012 was $31 million. By 2017, that investment number was $1.2 billion. Real estate professionals are being bombarded with marketing ideas, programs and apps to change the way they do business. My goal is to help you use what you already have and, in some cases, to improve the effectiveness of programs and apps you have decided to incorporate into your career.

This entire series was started hearing a company telling prospective entrepreneurs that you can build and run your entire business with a smartphone. "No need for expensive computer equipment, no brick and mortar buildings. All you need is a smartphone." My first fact checking took me to the U.S. Small Business Administration where I found an article explaining that yes, you can start and run many businesses completely on a smartphone. After reading a few other articles, I am ready to start building this series.

When I read what "experts" say you should have available on your smartphone, I thought, WAIT A MINUTE! These are skills and practices I preached for the first eight years of my career. What goes around comes around and, luckily, I have most of my presentations from as far back as 2001. Don't worry, I am not going to be teaching you how to beam your info from your Palm to someone else, but will cover how to Airdrop or Bluetooth the information.

Let's have some fun!

Dick Betts is a national speaker, trainer and consultant. Learn more at www.DickBetts.com