Introduction

I'd been doing it pretty much all by myself for the last six years.  I was burnt out, discouraged, frustrated, and very unhappy. I thought to myself...

"There has to be a better way!  This just isn't working anymore!"

I've always been a voracious reader.

Over the next two years I read 4 books that transformed me, my life,  and my business: 

1. E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber. In it I learned about three business personalities (Entrepreneur, Manager, and Technician) and what it means to work "on" a business.
2. Traction and Get A Grip by Gino Wickman. In them I learned about a professional management system for small businesses and how important strategic planning is for long-term success.
3. Work The System by Sam Carpenter. In it I learned how our entire lives are governed by systems and how to look anew at my business as a set of interdependent systems.
4. Scale by David Finkel. In it I started to learned about what it takes to scale a business, why a few companies make it, and why many don't. 

 Based on things I learned in these books, several high-end coaching programs, and a couple of mastermind groups, I was able to 5X my appraisal practice, growing from 6 to 7 figures, and ultimately selling for 7 figures, all cash, in late 2022.

The following four steps form a simple framework which, if followed step by step over 1 to 2 years, can totally transform your business and your life.  They did mine!

Shifts

The first thing I had to do to change the way things were was shift my mindset and mental paradigm in terms of how I viewed myself: from a Technician to a Manager, and finally to a CEO.

Technician

Most appraisers are died-in-the-wool technicians. I was no different.

Fifteen years working as a senior appraiser for Cushman & Wakefield and CBRE Group, with an MAI designation and hundreds of major appraisals under my belt, it was hard for me to think beyond the next appraisal.

The hardest thing for me to do was hire my first employee. I couldn't afford a full-time appraisal assistant or administrator, so I hired one person and had them do both of those functions.  

Manager

Wow! Now I was finally a manager!  But I was still working as the sole appraiser in my, now, whopping-big, two-person business.

But I kept on hiring... First, my first appraiser. Then my second appraiser. Then a dedicated appraiser assistant. Then two assistants.

We then outsourced bookkeeping and accounting, payroll and benefits, HR administration, and computer networks to an IT managed services firm.

The last tactical job on my plate was quoting on RFPs from clients.

Once I finally got that off my plate, I could now focus on the vision and strategies for achieving my vision for the futue, what ultimately turned into Valbridge Property Advisors.

CEO

Once I had a Marketing Manager, an Appraisal Manager, and an Administrative Manager, I had finally arrived at the top of my org chart... the coveted CEO role. 

I was finally able to focus almost all of my time on vision, strategy, systemizing, and scaling the business for a possible exit.

As CEO, I finally had a leadership team in place and we implemented a professional management system into our business.

That professional management system relied very heavily on a strategic planning process and meeting rhythm.

Strategy

Self-implementing what was presented in Traction and Get A Grip, I learned how vitally important an initial and then ongoing strategic planning process and meeting rhythm is to a successful professional practice like my commercial real estate appraisal business.

 Annual Strategic Planning Retreat

Our leadership team would meet annually offsite for two days to go through a professional strategic planning process focusing on the following items:

• Core Values
• Core Focus
• 10-Year Target
• Marketing Stratgegy
• 3-Year Picture
• 1-Year Plan
• Quarterly Rocks
• Issues List

 The first time we did this, we weren't very good at it. But as the years rolled on, we became expert at strategizing, forecasting, and executing to our annual growth plans.

The result was a simple two-page strategic plan every year that every stakeholder could hold in their hands and understand. It was truly our blueprint for future success.

Quarterly Review Offsites

Every quarter we would meet offsite for a day to go over our past quarter's strategic plan, our accomplishments, and forecast and plan out our next quarter.

At the end of the fourth quarter, we would do another annual planning retreat where we would review the past year and plan out the next year, and also review the last quarter and plan out the next quarter.

Weekly Leadership Team Meetings

Every quarter was made up of roughly 12 weeks. Every week, we would meet same day and time for 90 minutes focusing on the following:

• Check-in
• Scorecard
• Rock updates
• Client/Employee headlines
• To-do list
• Issues List
• Wrap-up

 We used Ninety.io software to help us manage this process and the results speak for themselves.

I'm free today and financially independent in semi-retirement, in large part due to implementing a strategic planning process and meeting rhythm into my appraisal business!

Systems

I think most business owners know that they should have their important recurring processes documented and their businesses more or less "systemized".

The reasons are many, but I will point out three that top the list in my mind:

1. You don't want the critical knowledge in your business walking out the door when a key employee leaves.
2. Having your roles and their responsibilities documented makes training new talent much easier and better.
3. Having a truly systems-dependent (not owner-dependent) business increases its enterprise value significantly.

 I became an expert at business systemization and it is the one thing I think I am most passionate about.

That's because it set me free within my business, resulted in an average appraiser tenure of over seven years, and helped onboarding the new owners and transitioning the business over to them so much easier.

(Not to mention the ultimate 7-figure payday!)

The key areas we documented and systemized included:

• Professional Management
• Marketing & Quoting
• Appraisal Production
• Appraisal Review
• Appraisal Delivery
• Banking & Finance
• Bookkeeping & Accounting
• Payroll & Benefits
• HR Administration
• Facilities Management
• Information Technology
• Insurance & Legal
• Regulatory Compliance

 Scaling

I scaled my appraisal business by leveraging marketing, technology, people, and systems.

This allows you as the business owner to do more with less, faster, more cost effectively and profitably.

Scaling is a good thing!

Marketing

An old real estate investing mentor of mine, Dave Lindahl of RE Mentor, reminded his REI students that they were NOT in the real estate investing business, they were in the marketing business.

So, I will say this to you appraisers out there: YOU are NOT in the appraisal business, you are in the Marketing Business!

If you don't have an "always-on" marketing program, you should start today to develop one.  Some of the things we did in my appraisal business, marketing wise, included:

• LinkedIn Profiles
• Professional Website
• Email Marketing CRM
• Outsourced Marketing Expert
• Client & Prospect Segmentation
• Referral Source Database & Tracking
• Quarterly Market Trends Newsletters
• Property Owner Database & Direct Mail
• Client Retention and Reactivation Programs

 There's an old adage in business that "If you're not growing, you're dying!"

Make growing and diversifying your client base your number one marketing focus.

Make recruiting, hiring, and retaining top talent a strong second.

Technology

Oh where would appraisers be without their software toys?

• Drones
• Laser Devices
• Appraisal Software
• Integrated Templates
• Third-Party Data Services
• Assignment Management Systems
• No- or Low-Code Relational Databases

 The list goes on and on.

Today, it is even accelerated with generative AI and machine-learning (ML) tools and add-ons.

The point here is to leverage technology to the max!

Your focus should be on integrated software platforms like Google, Microsoft, Zoho One, etc. 

You want to integrate and automate wherever possible!  Zapier and Make are two of the best cross-software automation tools available.

It is easy to ignore automating routine tasks.  I know... it takes time!  And that next appraisal has to go out! 

However, when you automate a task that takes one, two or five minutes, and you do that task several times a day, the time savings are astronomical!

Every CEO, Manager, and Technician should have TextExpander.

This one software tool can save your company tens of thousands of dollars a year in reclaimed productivity.

Talent

Your biggest leverage comes from other people using systemized processes.

Most appraisers are not expert at recruiting and hiring.

That's why I recommend your read books like Hire Train Retain by Michael Matalone, CEO of XP3 Talent.

 Hire firms like his to help you with this critical component of your business.

 My new digital course will have an entire module on Recruiting & Talent Management, it's that important!

Systems

I touched on this earlier, but it bears repeating... Systems are the key to business success. Learn how to do:

• Process Flowcharting
• Process Documentation
• Continuous Improvement
• Integration and Automation
• Generative AI & Machine Learning

 Conclusion

If you are an appraisal business founder/owner, I highly encourage you to think about these four areas of your business and how you can start to develop and improve each of them:

• Shifts - Make the shifts from Technician to Manager to CEO
• Strategy - Implement a Strategic Planning Process & Meeting Rhythm
• Systems - Systemize Marketing & Sales, Operations, and Finance & Administration
• Scaling - Learn how to leverage Marketing, Technology, Talent, and Business Systems

 The sooner you do, the sooner your business will really start to work well for you.

You'll have more free time and more money to enjoy that free time with. 

You will have a team, working systems to scale your business for you.

You will finally be a CEO, and you will have a business that no longer depends on your for the day-to-day operations.

Your business will be both valuable AND sellable should you ever choose to want to exit.

Now, wouldn't that be a nice option?

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If you're an appraisal business owner and like these newsletters, please share these with other appraisers or business owners you know.

Also, please consider working with me as your business coach. I truly care about you and your business and your future success.

Help for you or your peers is available two ways:

1. Newsletter - Go to www.CalvinCummings.com, click on Newsletter at the top, and Subscribe to our Weekly Newsletter where I share what I did to grow, scale, and ultimately sell my commercial real estate appraisal business.

2. Business Coaching - While you're there, go to the Coaching page and Book a Free Consult Call with me to see if our Founder Coaching Program is a good fit for you and your business.