Why do I post so much about profit?
Top New Agent Award in 2016 that I threw in the garbage. Read to the end to find out why.
Why do I post so much about profit? This is the main call I receive from agents in the marketplace – they are frustrated with their financials. And I get it! I do post a lot about profit. That's because, to me, the purpose of a for-profit business is profit. And I believe profit is a very good thing. It gives you more options. You can maximize your impact and do a lot of good for your friends, your family, and your community. Profit also provides stability to a family, reduces stress, and gets you better healthcare.
Agents building a wealthy life has had meaning to me since I was in my 20s when I earned my way to financial freedom in just a few years. I was in an industry I did not know, in a location I did not know, with no network, and I was in debt. Starting from below $0, I had to crawl out of a financial hole - and that's what I did. And that's what I enjoy helping others do today. Not only to get out of the financial hole, but to build a strong financial foundation so that you never go back into it.
Frankly, I still have money fears daily. It never really goes away. But now I know that anyone who asks the right questions, gets the right information, and networks with the right people, can make it over the financial hump and be on their way to living a bigger life, and live with less fear.
Along my journey from getting out of debt to millionaire status, I had a lot of good advice, but even more bad advice. A lot of the bad advice strangely came from brokerage team leaders, who never had financial success themselves, and from speakers at real estate conferences who often had massive sales businesses, and while they were idolized in the industry, they had next to nothing positive to show for it in profit and lifestyle.
Thankfully, I was aware enough at the time to not go blindly ahead copying their business models because I would get their same mediocre (but seemingly amazing - if you don't ask any questions) results. I felt this same way when I was an investment banker: if I stay here working the next 20 years, following the footsteps of my bosses and taking their advice, does that mean I'm going to live my whole life at the office, being grumpy to everyone, and have no family time or life outside of work? There's got to be a better way. There is. It starts with awareness.
Awareness comes from asking hard questions.
To be honest, I was jealous of the vanity metric numbers of volume and units and the opportunity to be the star. Who isn't? It's sexy to be on stage. Yet as I asked the hard questions, I frequently found that I was netting more money... and doing much less work than those being idolized. Why would I copy a high volume, high time intensive, low margin model? Is that really the goal? To satisfy my ego? I'm not selling the most homes or even at the highest volume, but I'm working less and making more profit.
Which one is better?
What's amazing today is that I frequently have agents at our company message me saying: wow, I'm working less and making more money, what do I do now? I just smile and respond: Exactly.
It took me time to gain confidence and double down on what I was doing that was already working versus looking for external solutions. I kept asking: what is the goal? Is being #1 in volume and units really the goal? Or is making profit so I can save, invest, start a family, and retire young and do whatever I want in life the goal?
That's when I decided to throw away the slew of medals I was given as a top producer. These don't mean anything to me, I told my wife Brittany, who just sat there being like, yeah, they really don't matter to me either. Why are so many trophies given out? Probably just to stroke everyone's ego? Yeah, probably. Maybe to distract them from the variables that matter so they keep working? Maybe. To me, recognition feels good for a moment, but what I really want is more opportunity. The focus then became: what matters to ME? Not - what society THINKS matters.
So I wrote down: serving more people at the highest level, then netting more profit, so I can have more options and freedom.
So, why do I post so much about profit?… Freedom. It’s the variable that leads to freedom.
jon@movewithmomentum.com
Momentum Realty
Best Real Estate Brokerage in Florida
