System for Success

What will you do when things don’t go as planned? Will you flounder, or will you be able to put into motion a clear set of actions? In other words,

Do you have a System for Success?

Recently, a colleague of mine had two contractors burn him on a job. It should have been a quick fix, three days maximum, light work… paint, cleaning, and light bulbs. But neither contractor had a system to get the job done right, and he did not have a system to fire contractors and still come in on budget. The upshot is that, without a system, you risk losing time and money.

Often, when things don’t go as planned (and this can be often!), we have fear. We become paralyzed, perhaps we focus on the negative. To be successful, we need a plan that keeps us from feeling this way because what we want is success.

What does a good system give you?

Recently, I heard on NPR that most venture capitalists look at the experience of the owner when they’re looking for a major upstart business. They ask if the owner can get through the minutia and come out with success. The venture capitalists threw out the financials and the description of the market projections. Why? Because that is speculation, and most of it is inflated. They want to see a plan.

So how do we get a decent plan that’s going to allow us to succeed quickly and efficiently?

It’s very simple: you must have a great coach, someone like me with years of experience. Here is an example of what I did for one person. This person wanted to buy a 100 unit complex expecting that he could live on the income it generated. He was investing half a million dollars and wanted to earn $100,000 annually. With me working as his mentor, we realized that this would not work. I found that he would have to continue to work and invest $25,000 every year for the first three years. This was an important piece of information for him and for his future plans.

Coaches such as myself should look at the market every quarter to find the hot spots which allows them to give you a well-rounded plan. Having a person that will walk you through transactions and tell you how to get rid of liens, IRS problems, and other hurdles is worth its weight in gold. A good coach can quickly give you multiple strategies to solve any problem.

This brings us back to systems. A mentor can help you create a system based on your knowledge. When we rely on systems we don’t know, be it technology, marketing, or people skills, we need to question whether we will actually use them. Understanding your ability to use a system is more important than having no system, or buying a wonderful system and never using it. For example, there is a scraper that is a fabulous tool and is being promoted heavily, but it doesn’t work unless you have a deep technology background. It’s a waste of money if you fail in understanding HTML code!

Simple systems are ok! I started out that way myself. I sent marketing, answered and made calls to sellers, wrote contracts, followed up with the attorneys, and closed deals. That was my system!

For the fix and sell, you’ll need a system with lead generation, deal qualification, transaction funding, property repair, and closing the deal. Wholesale is even simpler… lead generation, deal qualification, finding a buyer, and selling the property. Each one of those steps has innumerable smaller steps. Find out what feels good for you and do just that. Then hire out the rest.

Taking the first step towards achieving any of the steps above is paramount to your success. You do not need to reinvent the wheel. You simply need to know your strengths and do the jobs you are good at.

Build a system that you will use. Take one aspect of the four points in wholesale and find a partner who will do the other three. I have several people that I work with who do just that. They are focused on one job and one job only until they become experts. Once they are an expert, then they will move on to the next task. They will build their self-confidence and experience, allowing them to learn how to complete the next task.

Join me and other successful investors at my Creative Financing Structuring training on Oct 17, 2015. Let me coach you to learn the market and find your niche!