Goal Setting

I've been thinking a lot about goals for my real estate business recently. I've read that most people never set goals of any kind and fewer than 5 % of people actually write down their goals. I guess I have been one of the few that do this but not sure why I haven't achieved all my goals.

At the corporation where I work we have been forced to set goals (and document the results at year end) for many years. We use the S.M.A.R.T methodology.

SMART stand for:
# Specific
# Measureable
# Attainable
# Realistic
# Tangible

When I was involved in the Amway business, the successful people constantly discussed goal setting and writing goals down. They would even supply specific formulas to attain each type of goal. For example to make X$ you had to:

* Sponsor XX people
* Show the business plan to XXX people
* Contact XXXX people
* Meet XXXXX people

I would write down these extensive plans about how to achieve my goals. I could easily make call, show the plan and sponsor my fair share of people. But I could not meet people and never generated enough momentum to keep new people coming in faster than others dropped out. For me, meeting XXXXX people was an unrealistic goal because I did not believe that I could achieve it.

So after attending a real estate seminar I am again writing down some goals

For 2007 our goal is to purchase 4 single family homes with at least $20K profit potential and sell at least 2 of the properties I own.

To break that down into details:

1. Find sources of funding of at least $500K
* develop relationship with a loan broker
* get a source of hard money financing
* develop some sources of private money funding
2. Create a source of motivated sellers
* work with Realtors to find old listings, desperate sellers
* direct mail 50 letters per week to people filed in lis pendens (pre-foreclosures)
* direct mail 100 postcards to absentee owners per week
* put up bandit signs
* set up website (www.JinnaProperties.com)
* business cards
* install phone line
3. Make 3 purchase offers per month
* call all contacts from advertising
* look at 10 properties per month (use Realtors if not enough from ads)

I'm still in the process of reading The E-Myth Revisited and I decided that I needed some other goals. Gerber has us ask "How must my "business-as-a-product" work in order for it to successfully attract not only customers but also employees who want to work there?"

1. Create a business mission
2. Create systems to automate all of the above so that the business does not run me

I was reading a blog by StevePavlina today and read this statement

"I remember the moment when my financial situation began to turn around for the better. I can trace everything back to a specific shift in my mindset that happened in late 1998. Up until that point, my focus was largely on ego-driven goals, and no matter how hard I worked, my financial situation kept getting worse. Eventually I was so fed up that I abandoned that mindset and replaced it with a new one. I said to myself, “Living just for myself is getting me nowhere. I’m going to concentrate on making a contribution instead. If I go broke, then at least I’ll go broke doing something worthwhile.” "

I can remember when I was in Amway and the people that made it to the highest levels of success were on a mission. They were not in it just for the money anymore but seemed to have a higher purpose that allowed them to overcome their fears and move outside their comfort zone. I remember I had that sense for the first 3 months I was in the Amway business, but somehow started having a fear of success, fear of failure and no longer could see the people I was talking with as successful. In fact, I inwardly was very cynical of most people I talked with despite their braggadicio attitude. So it became more and more difficult for me to talk to anyone about the busines.

So part of my overriding concern for my real estate business is that I just not focus on the specific monetary goals, but develop a mission statement. I think, just like in Amway, I need to be able to convince the sellers that I am not just there to take advantage of them but have a greater purpose to help them solve their problems.