8 tips to evaluate, update and reinvigorate your annual business plan
By Donna Shryer
Think of your business plan as a map. It’s a route that should take you straight to your goals. Of course, without a crystal ball, you can’t anticipate changes in interest rates, legislation, tax policies, gentrification or any other number of unpredictable detours—including your own time and motivation. That’s why it’s imperative to periodically review your business plan and adjust as needed.
A quarterly review is a good place to start.
“Working with a quarterly action plan has helped our clients enjoy an average annual growth rate of 32.4 percent. It just works,” says David Finkel, CEO of business coaching company Maui Mastermind and co-author of SCALE: 7 Proven Principles to Grow Your Business and Get Your Life Back.
As Finkel explains, a quarterly action plan breaks your business plan into manageable units, giving you enough time to identify problems and consequences. Daily, weekly and monthly assessments are helpful, too. Eagle-eyeing smaller units of time gives you clues as to what might turn into a detour. It’s an opportunity to consider different scenarios and possible adjustments. You may never need to implement these adjustments, but if you do, you’ll be ready.
Here are eight tips to evaluate how your business plan is progressing and to know when it’s time to make adjustments.
1. Limit business plan reviews to one page.
Annual business plans are based on predictions—what you ‘think’ will happen within the next 365 days. But no one has time to review a 15-page document every week, month or quarter. To hold your staff’s attention, distill reviews down to a one-page plan of action.
A one-page action plan is easier to achieve if you limit your focus to the last three months, Finkel says. “With fewer facts and figures to juggle, you’re more likely to see if or when it’s time to pivot,” he says.
2. Maintain achievable goals.
In the Queens borough of New York market, Judy Markowitz, CRS, broker/owner, Energized Realty Group, set an annual business plan that included a certain number of transactions. After a few months, however, it became clear that the goal was out of reach.
“I created a new goal for the next two months,” Markowitz says. “You can’t keep looking at goals you won’t achieve. If it feels hopeless, you’ll just give up.”
It turns out that Markowitz is on the cutting edge of workplace trends, with today’s employees looking for more than salary alone. To attract and retain productive top talent, there needs to be a positive work culture. “Create a business plan with vision and don’t be afraid to modify that plan so you end the year with success,” Markowitz says. “It’s how I built a small but mighty group.”
3. Use data to identify gaps in your goals.
Whether your group meets weekly, monthly or quarterly to review your business plan, look to the metrics for truth. “Evaluating your business plan has to begin with evidence-based units of measurement,” says Sasha Farmer, CRS, principal broker/owner, Story House Real Estate, serving Charlottesville, Virginia. “Numbers don’t lie and there’s rarely room for interpretation. So, for example, let’s say our goal is 60 conversations each week that could potentially lead to buying or selling a home. At the end of the month, did we have 60, 50 or 40 conversations?”
Farmer’s strategy spotlights gaps between planned versus achieved business goals. “Seeing the gaps gives us time to figure out what ‘success’ looks like in today’s market—as opposed to the market last December when we first wrote our business plan. It’s a reality check so we can make adjustments and keep ourselves on a track to success,” Farmer says.
4. Assess market rumblings, whispers and rumors.
It’s a good idea to discuss the latest rumor buzzing around your business and ask yourself, “Can my business plan handle this rumor if it becomes reality?”
It’s an ongoing activity for Steven David, CRS, senior partner, Castelli Real Estate Services, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “Each day, I ask my managers and top-flight thinkers one question: What are people talking about?”
For example, David says, if clients are concerned about interest rates going up one-half point, that could drive thousands of people out of the market. “We may need to plan a tactical shift toward listings from sellers who are willing to hold the mortgage,” David says. “We may never incorporate this strategy into our business plan—there may never be a need. But if concerns become reality, then we have an adjustment in our back pocket.”
5. Purge your sphere of influencers annually.
“My agents and I connect with each person in our respective sphere of influence at least once a month. It can be a video, a Facebook message, a text, a mailer, an event or a pop-by with a small gift. These people are the heart and soul of our business,” explains Karen Hall, principal owner, @home real estate, serving the Washington, D.C., metro area.
Hall admits her strategy takes patience. “It’s a long game, but last year 25 percent of my top influencers gave me a strong referral,” she says.
That said, connecting every month with top influencers takes time, thought and, in some cases, financial investment. So Hall evaluates and purges her list of top lead-generators annually. “If someone on my list never responded to any of the gifts I brought by, never posted anything about @home real estate on social media and never sent me a referral, they likely come off the list for the following year.”
6. If data dictates reduced goals, look for ways to decrease overhead.
During good times, it’s easy to invest in new technology, increase marketing efforts or expand your physical office. If, however, there’s an unanticipated shift in the market, it’s time to rethink goals as well as expenses, advises Farmer.
If we see an unpredicted downturn in real estate, we may not be able to hit our goal to sell 225 homes. We may need to adjust down to 200.
That doesn’t necessarily mean landing in the red. “If you lower expenses, you can still hit financial and income goals—even when the market tightens,” Farmer says.
7. Assessing yearly goals in 12-week cycles may make evaluations more manageable.
“Twelve-week cycles are bite-size,” explains Jennifer Yeo, owner/broker, Presidio Real Estate, headquartered in Pleasant Grove, Utah. “It’s a fair amount of time to make serous headway. So, if that’s not happening, you can re-evaluate and develop actionable steps for the next 12-week cycle.”
Evaluating your business plan at year’s end can be misleading, Yeo suggests. It may be difficult to remember February or why something went awry in July.
8. Look for opportunities to grow.
When you’re hitting every goal, push harder, says Joshua Matthews, CRS, associate broker with Coldwell Banker, serving New Hampshire and southern Maine.
In addition to his own resourcefulness, Matthews does have a strong team to help with the heavy pushing, including daily meetings with an accountability partner and monthly meetings with his business coach. The team helped him close 2018 at 110 percent of his sales goal and every other goal was met as well.
After a brief celebration, it was time for the tough question. “Did you push yourself hard enough?” his coach asked. So as Matthews planned 2019, he inspected his numbers.
“The easier the goal, the more opportunity I had for growth. I wanted to set a plan where I could challenge myself and hopefully raise my numbers.”
Create a plan to ensure a smooth landing
When not landing a real estate deal, David is pursuing his second passion as a private pilot. “Flight planning is akin to business planning,” he says. “I start with a destination, plan a route and anticipate unknowns—be it weather, airplane issues, airport closures, etc. But I only alter my course if and when anticipated changes become facts with consequences.
“In the real estate business, there are also influences outside our control, like interest rates, legislation and tax policies. The trick is to recognize detours and adjust your business plan so you still reach your destination,” David says.
Annual business plan revisions may not have the urgency that a suddenly rocky flight plan demands, but the gist is similar. When you schedule routine business plan reviews and figure out ways to fly around turbulence, you’re much more likely to close the year with a smooth landing.
Size Matters
Condensing a hefty annual business plan into a rolling quarterly one-page action plan may seem like a daunting task. However, it comes down to a two-task strategy, explains David Finkel, CEO of the business coaching company Maui Mastermind.
Identify your single biggest opportunity for growth in the coming quarter. For the REALTOR®, Finkel says, this might be referral opportunities. “You’re getting word of mouth—but not formal referrals. So create a formalized system that means you touch every possible referral at least twice a year.” And, Finkel adds, that doesn’t mean a mass email, direct mail campaign or holiday party. It means a one-on-one connection.
Define your single biggest limiting factor. “Ask yourself, ‘What one ingredient would do the most to grow my company.’ For a REALTOR®, that might be a limited capacity to cover every incoming lead. The solution, he adds, is doing what you can to remove the limiting factor—whether that means increasing staff, re-delegating responsibilities among existing staff or investing in technology that quickens the ability to respond.
Meet your Designation Maintenance Requirement today! Read this article, take a 10-question quiz and earn 2 credits. Go to CRS.com/trs-quiz to get started.
