Just start
A little morning ride or run just sets me in the right mood for the rest of the day. The most difficult part for anyone not used to exercise is to start and keep the routine until they see the benefits. The same applies to business.
Through the years I’ve learned to start. It’s so easy to procrastinate and feel that there isn’t enough time to take that dream project from idea to reality. Distractions snowball into excuses that get harder to stop as time goes by. In many cases, we end up working late hours that Elon Musk would be proud of. It was one morning when I woke up from my chair, keyboard imprinted on my face that I realised I needed to take a step back. Work can wait. Health is wealth and focus is everything.
Narrow focus
It’s easy to say “focus” as you could end up juggling your focus between 10 different projects. The key is narrow focus. Through the years I’ve learned to say no to the shiny things, not only material things but the opportunities & partnerships that look great on paper but end up distracting you from your overall goals. To some, it will look rude but your time is your most important asset. I see this with our clients too, the top agents will walk away from unrealistic sellers:
When you have a more narrow focus it enables you to raise standards that will bring more value to your clients. At Entegral we’ve narrowed our focus to building the most efficient real estate platforms. That extra feature looks great on paper, but will also end up serving only 20% of clients, end up in our technical debt bin and make you slower.
Get comfortable failing
Through the years I got into the routine of working faster and transforming ideas into working prototypes and real products. People mull over ideas. A month or a year later it is still just an idea. Just start. Figure it out as you go and get comfortable to fail. The compound effect of failing and learning is underrated. So is funding your own projects or business. You end up giving that project a lot more love.
Forget about money
Too much money will likely ruin your great idea. Less money makes it easier. Less money makes you more laser focused and gives you the freedom to be more agile. No one to report to but yourself and your clients.
With the tech available today, it’s never been easier to prototype great ideas. You don’t need a detailed 12-month plan, shiny offices or big teams, you just need a narrow focus. Yes, you can take on the big guys.
Learn to sell from the start and earn real money. Real money in your pocket is better than handing it back to investors who have little interest in how you manage your time or your team. Reinvest that money and your time.
Stay frugal
If you are frugal from the start, you get into a routine of delivering real value. When your company is 10 or 20 years old one day, you will stick to this winning recipe and it will make you unstoppable.
I remember sitting with bank executives one night in a dark boardroom at a big round table (a long time before starting Entegral) who was faced with the tremendous challenge of turning the bank around. The one guy mentioned that when he started at the bank, they were still small so had to be extremely frugal. As the bank grew it got bloated, slowed down and became inefficient with. They had lots of external contractors overcharging to get the basics done and wasn’t part of that narrow focus. Stuff like that scares me, I never want to become slow.
This is how we build culture at Entegral, by weathering the storms as an independent company and being laser-focused on building great products with a small but efficient team. We fail a lot, but we get up quickly and eventually make it work.
It’s a more rewarding journey.
Just start.
BTW if you love talking real estate and technology, let’s connect on LinkedIn.
