Systems and processes are essential because they are the veins that allow the flow of work to be efficient. Just like in any other business, real estate investors need to establish systems and processes, too. In this episode, Dallas real estate investor and the Owner/Operator at Atlas Transaction Coordinator Services, Casey Smith explains how systems and processes are essential to any business and how they have been very important to hers. She explains why you need to treat your investments like a business. She also shares why delegating tasks, doing a SWOT analysis, and learning continuously are vital to your survival as a business owner. Tune in and gain insights that will help you take your business to the next level! — Watch the episode here Listen to the podcast here The Importance Of Establishing Systems And Processes In Real Estate With Casey Smith In this episode, I’m joined by a local legend here in Dallas, Casey Smith. Casey, how are you? I’m wonderful. Thank you. Why don’t you tell the audience a little bit about yourself? I’ve been in Dallas and in Texas for many years. I have only been in real estate for a few years. However, I have an interesting background as a media analyst for a company out of Zurich. That’s a whole other life, but I do feel like I was groomed to be in real estate by my background. After getting a Master’s in Politics and Media Studies, I went into media analyst, eventually to sales, and tumbled into real estate. I’m a licensed realtor here in Dallas. I only work with investors and only people doing fix and flip or wholetails. I don’t deal with a lot of buyers. I’ve got that on the side. I own a company that does transaction coordinator services for investment companies nationwide. Most of the people reading this, basically handle the paperwork, the timelines, and communication. We do that and that covers my bases. I also do invest in properties myself. Casey, I start every week off with what we call the Bottom Line Up Front, the BLUF. When I was in the Marine Corps, they always said, “Never bury the lead.” When you go in to brief the general, make sure that he knows the most important thing up front in case he has to get up and leave, you take mortar fire or something like that. Bottom Line Up Front is the most important thing you see happening in the market now, things that you think investors should be doing, and things you think they shouldn’t be doing. On the BLUF, go. The bottom line is that a lot of things depend on a lot of things. I ascribed to Ray Dalio’s philosophy that if you’re worried, you have nothing to worry about. If you aren’t worried, you probably have something to worry about. You should be focusing on reality and what is happening in real-time because, at the end of the day, you can’t predict a lot. It’s important that you focus and treat investment decisions like you would a business. Even the stocks, you’re just purchasing tiny pieces of businesses. If you don’t have the mindset to understand the systems, the processes, and the supply and demand for whatever that business is, then probably you shouldn’t be investing in that. Most of the people that are probably reading this are either starting their own business, running their own business, or looking to invest. Those can be combined things. You can only really deal with identifying what’s important to your business and what you can know. If you’re making predictions, investments, or decisions based on fear or a prediction of what’s going to happen, you might find yourself in a little bit of trouble. I would highly recommend that you do that SWOT analysis that you would do on your own operation in any investment decision that you make. Lastly, I would say to focus on understanding that this is a long play. Investing in and of itself, money isn’t typically made on day one. You’re not looking for your cash returns up to 5, 10, or 15 years over that. If you start looking at your numbers that way, you’re not going to be as panicked about what’s happening in the first five. In keeping that overall perspective and looking at the microeconomics and things that are happening within your sphere, you will be able to identify certain patterns, pivot, move, and be agile. Bottom line is that you need to position yourself to be agile to be able to pivot when things shift and change and not be fearful. You got to buy right, pay attention, work in reality, and treat your investments like a business. Let me unpack that. Treat your business like a business. Are you telling me there are people out there that don’t treat their business like a business? It depends on what stage of business you’re in. I’ve got mentors that have helped me identify what stage I’m in and how to exit and enter the new one. Everyone has to understand where they are. Most of my clients with my transaction coordinating company are closing 5 to 10 deals, but we’ve got those guys doing the 1 to 4 that are in a different stage of business. They’re in the startup or perseverance phase where they’re surviving. They’re moving, transacting, and getting the money because they don’t know what’s going to shift. The companies that are in their viability stage are slowing down slightly. Maybe they’ve got some freedom where they’re not sitting in every seat and they can observe and watch what’s happening. Not everyone understands how to run their business or knows what to look at. Most of the mentorship that they’re getting in our sphere is from people in real estate, not necessarily people that have grown and successfully built or exited companies. Much of our businesses or businesses
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