The 7 habits of highly entrepreneurial team members

As we are currently working on growing our team, we have a number of job postings running for experienced agents. Unfortunately, the majority of responses are from unlicensed individuals who either did not read the job description (which states an active real estate license is required) or are desperately fishing for any kind of a job that might provide income.

This process has graphically illustrated that the general populace has absolutely no understanding of what being a Realtor actually involves. 

To illustrate, a recent text conversation went as follows: 

Me: “Thank you for responding to our job posting for experienced real estate agents. I see that you currently do not have a real estate license. Are you considering a career in real estate?” 

Respondent: “Hi! I would love to! I do have a lot of knowledge about real estate — I haven’t gone through the process of buying three homes when I was married for nothing. I bought the training books, but life happens, and as a single mom, I’ve just been struggling to get that in place. I work full-time, and I just need a side hustle. I’m great with people; I’d be great as the first face of open houses showing homes and that sort of thing. People feel safe and comfortable around me, so I’ve been told. I’m enthusiastic about homes in general. I do love real estate, especially in our area.”

Me: “Sounds great! I understand your need to secure additional income, however, to be honest, real estate is a very difficult side hustle, especially in the current market. If you want to pursue a career as a Realtor, I can get you plugged into our training program to obtain your license. We offer the program at a reduced rate. Once you have completed the training and passed the state exam, I could direct you as to how to effectively get started.”

Respondent: “Well, I’m always open to learning new things that can only potentially better my life for my kids. I’d love to hear more about this program, and if you ever need someone to sit in a beautiful house and let people walk through it, I’m your girl.”

Without doubt, this mindset is prevalent among consumers who do not understand how difficult it is to actually succeed in this industry. Unfortunately, many Realtors seem to have the same mindset.

This could help explain why, nationally, 49 percent of agents in 2023 sold either one home or less the entire year. I’ve often joked that if and when I retire, I might get a less difficult job such as a Navy Seal or alligator wrestler. 

To truly succeed in real estate, you have to be willing to put in the time and activities required to build a business. When I hear of individuals thinking they can do real estate “on the side,” it brings up two issues.

First, it demonstrates a lack of understanding of the actual job description, and second, it presupposes that a person with limited or no experience can effectively shepherd a homebuyer or seller through the largest financial transaction of their lives.

The Consumer Federation of America echoes this concern, stating, “The agent ‘glut’ means part-timers are now the majority, leading to ‘widespread incompetence and pressure to maintain high commission rates.’”

In his book, How I Built This, Guy Raz provides some helpful clarification by explaining the difference between a hobbyist, tinkerer and entrepreneur. He defines a hobbyist as someone who creates something purely out of passion. A tinkerer takes this a step further, defined as someone who creates something out of passion that solves a problem particular to themselves. The ultimate step, Raz explains, is someone who creates something out of passion that also solves a problem shared with numerous others. 

The hobbyist

In the real estate arena, a hobbyist is someone who gets a real estate license as a side hustle to get a bit of extra income. These individuals always have another source of income and are simply looking to augment what is already coming in, thus solving a personal problem: the desire for more money.

They are usually not interested in doing the behaviors that will generate a solid career; if a deal falls in their lap, great. They will do the minimum required, which might include doing a few open houses, spreading the word to friends and family that they have their license and so on.

They will say they love real estate, but their mindset is not conducive to building an effective career as a Realtor. As a result, if a team is looking to build their roster, this is not the type of person they would want to hire. Brokerages are littered with individuals such as this. The only money a broker makes off of them is usually their franchise or desk fees. 

The tinkerer

A tinkerer is someone who is also more than likely employed full-time but is using their real estate license to do some investing for themselves or friends. Their passion is to find deals for personal gain.

Instead of focusing outward on building a career as a full-service agent, they prefer to use their time looking for investment opportunities, flips and the like. Additionally, if a transaction opportunity stumbles into their laps they will usually take it, but it will be the exception, not the norm.

If they become effective over time, they might manage enough business to transition to full-time, but they will more than likely never become regular agents and will not typically strive to do any of the things required to build an effective full-service business. 

The entrepreneur

An entrepreneur may also initially be employed full-time, but their goal is to become a full-time agent as quickly as possible. They not only love real estate but also love the idea of helping others meet their real estate goals.

You can spot an entrepreneur by watching them: They show up for training, follow directions, work hard to build their database, eagerly embrace open house opportunities as a way to build their businesses effectively, and are typically burning the candle at both ends, realizing that building a successful business takes hard work, discipline and time.

They are looking for the opportunity to leave their other job as quickly as possible and launch their career. This is the type of person you are looking to hire if you lead a team. While ideally, you would want them to start full-time immediately, in some cases, they cannot. By adhering to the correct activities and putting in the work, however, they should be able to leave their other job behind them fairly quickly. 

Ironically, this is how I started in real estate. After a 24-year career, I realized I reached my growth limits and was also burned out. I resigned, went out and started a construction company. Since my business partner and I wanted to buy investment properties, I realized that a real estate license would be critical.

Running a construction company during the day, I built a database of over 700 contacts and began to market to them. Before long, I was doing construction during the day and working part-time evenings and weekends building my real estate practice.

My wife helped as my transaction coordinator and marketing department, and before too long, I sold my shares in the construction company and focused entirely on my real estate career. 

The definition of an entrepreneur is “an individual who starts their own business based on an idea they have or a product they have created while assuming most of the risks and reaping most of the rewards of the business.” 

So how exactly do you identify an entrepreneur? Investopedia gives us seven key characteristics: 

Versatility

Put succinctly, while others give excuses about what they cannot or do not want to do, entrepreneurs figure out how to get things done. They might not be good at certain tasks and have to do things outside their preferred skillset, but they adapt, put in extra hours, think outside the box and do whatever research or training is necessary to learn new skills — anything to figure out a way forward. 

Flexibility

Tom Peters famously said, “Ready, fire, aim.” Although there is a lot to be said for effective planning and execution, when speed-to-market is critical and you exist in an environment that is constantly morphing and changing (such as the real estate market), if you do not get it right the first time, the ability to shift is critical.

While many are willing to sit and let things happen around them, entrepreneurs are looking at the leading indicators to assess whether changes are in the offing and are strategizing to stay ahead of the curve. 

Money savviness

It takes time and money to launch a new business. True entrepreneurs know the value of money and will sacrifice, scrimp and do whatever is necessary to fund their endeavor. Startups come replete with stories of owners enduring Top Ramen for as long as it takes to get things off the ground and running. With limited available finances, effective money management is critical. 

Resiliency

Quoting Investopedia:

“Running your own business is extremely difficult, especially getting one started from scratch. It requires a lot of time, dedication, and often failure. A successful entrepreneur must show resilience to all the difficulties on the road ahead. Whenever they meet with failure or rejection they must keep pushing forward.

“Starting your business is a learning process and any learning process comes with a learning curve, which can be frustrating, especially when money is on the line. It’s important never to give up through the difficult times if you want to succeed.”

Focus

Any new venture comes with a significant number of distractions and focus can be very difficult to maintain. This is where coaching and mentorship can make a huge difference. It is important to discern which activities will have the highest dollar value return and then lock them in and focus on them alone. Once those are producing results, then you can expand.

Gary Keller echoes this sentiment in his book, The Millionaire Real Estate Agent: “The trick for getting the most out of our creativity is to always start with a set of proven foundational models for success. Once we find success with our initial models, we can then allow for creative thinking.”

Hobbyists can be unwilling to do the basic behaviors, while Tinkerers can be all over the map; entrepreneurs, on the other hand, figure out the basics and then lock in the behaviors required to succeed. 

Business smarts

I have lost count of the number of Realtors who think real estate is about selling houses. In fact, it is about building a vital and dynamic business. Correspondingly, most agents I know do not know how to keep effective books, read financial statements, do not have a business plan and so on. An entrepreneur is one who understands the need to run a business like a business and takes the steps necessary to learn the skills required. 

Communication skills

Communication is key. Entrepreneurs recognize the need for effective communication and demonstrate a willingness to learn the skills to improve as necessary. 

Years ago, a friend of mine shared a frustration he had about locating talent. He stated, “There are a lot of people out there who want to be real estate agents. The problem is, not many are motivated to do the work required to be successful. Once in a while, however,” he clarified, “someone comes along who has ‘it.’ I can’t explain what ‘it’ is,” he continued, “but I know it when I see it, and I will move heaven and earth to hire them.”

What he was saying is that those with entrepreneurial spirit and attitudes leave clues. Our job, as team leaders, is to recognize them when they show up and do what we can to get them onboard. 

There is no end to those hoping to get into real estate. Unfortunately, only a small percentage have what it takes to launch a successful career. When hiring, increase your odds of success by hiring only those who have the best chances of going the distance.