Just so we’re clear here:  real estate is hard work.

I don’t care if you’re wholesaling, flipping, buying and holding, or new construction, this business is hard and can be brutal.

But it can also be a piece of cake.

The Dichotomy of The Business

Why do I say that real estate is hard? Well, first off, because it is. No one hands you the keys to a massively successful, run-on-autopilot real estate business. You have to create it. YOU. And that’s hard because you don’t know what you’re doing. None of us did when we started either. 

Real estate is definitely a learn-on-the-fly business. If you think you’re going to study hard, figure out all the details, and THEN start a highly successful real estate company, you’ll never get past a couple of deals, max. If that much. Because you have to dive in and DO IT, not read about it. Taking action is the most important thing you can do to build a real estate business.

When you’re starting out, you have to do it all. You’re both learning and building, and every day presents something new. YOU’RE DOING THINGS. While that can be overwhelming, once you get a couple of deals under your belt, you start moving faster. You identify deals more quickly, you learn how to close more deals, and you anticipate potential problems and either avoid them or handle them before they’re problems.

The Build Out

As you get established, close deals and start bringing on employees, your company begins to take shape. You find the niche(s) you like or are good at, you’re dialing in your marketing, and you’re building buyers’ lists. You’re getting your groove on. 

This is still a busy, busy time. You’re handing duties to other people, but you’re still running the show. You have added tools and technology, processes and policies, and generally have a way of doing things.

Now is when the grind can begin to wear you down. It’s often difficult to see, because you’re too close to the situation. And you have a big appetite, seeing how much more business you could be doing, and kicking yourself for all the deals you missed while you were learning how to do it. You don’t want to slow down, because that’s for the weak. Plus, you see BIG numbers just on the horizon.

This is when it is important to keep yourself grounded, to see the forest from the trees. You can grind, but you need to let others take some of that grind off of your shoulders. This is when you need to ensure you have processes and people in place to handle things. Putting those systems in place is when you’re really building the company.

The Payoff

You’ve worked hard building the company, putting in long hours many, many days. Some days were amazing. On others you were pulling your hair out. Sometimes the cash was good, other times you didn’t know if you were going to open the doors tomorrow.

Now the business is handling itself — marketing is consistently bringing in good leads, acquisitions are signing them up, and dispositions are closing them. So why are you working so hard?

This is the key moment, when you recognize that you don’t have to be there doing everything every day. Your business rolls on without you touching every aspect of it. You can actually step away from time to time, and the company is still there when you get back!

Most entrepreneurs have a tough time slowing down. They love doing the work, building the business, making the deals. But no matter how much you love it, eventually the grind will wear you down. At some point, you will resent your business if you don’t get away from it occasionally.

Remember the Reasons

You started this business for specific reasons:  money, time freedom, not answering to anyone, or whatever other reason you had. Don’t lose sight of those. It’s easy to get stuck in the grind, working every day just focused on the next deal.

Taking time off is actually a crucial part of growing your business. That may sound counterintuitive, but if you’re always there to solve every problem, then how is the company going to become a COMPANY and not just some people who follow you around? After all, you don’t want to do everything all day, every day, do you?

I know people who work very part time in their businesses and still make incredible money. Check out my recent Real Estate Disruptors podcast with JR Piper, who travels the world while his business produces $20,000/month. They put in the time to build their companies, and now have both the money and time to do what they want — travel, spend time with their family, expand to other ventures or charitable organizations, mentor young people, all manner of activities. It’s truly inspiring to watch how they used real estate (a business they love) to do some really incredible things.

So force yourself to take vacations.In order for your company to grow, you have to not be there occasionally. Get away from the work. If you have trained your people well and documented your processes, then they can do it. Let them. Give them the opportunity to take charge, to do their jobs, and make you proud. 

And let them do it while you relax on a beach somewhere…

Check out my weekly podcast at www.realestatedisruptors.net, every Wednesday at 2 pm MST. Also, we have our free wholesaling workshop at DisruptorsU.com. And visit more free information we have at www.realestatedisruptors.com!