Many new franchise brokers assume it’s a solitary endeavor. In fact, this is often an appealing aspect of the business - especially if you come from the corporate world. FBA broker Gino Beccherini is an example.
“It didn't matter if they wanted to talk Friday night or Saturday morning. I got pulled into meeting after meeting, and because they felt they were paying a certain amount every month, they figured they could reach out to me whenever they wanted. So yes, I gave it all up,” said Gino on a recent mentoring call.
Our broker's experience working in the corporate world may bring up memories of a familiar past - or a current reality. The feeling of never clocking out has worn on countless professionals.
All this to say, the prospect of a solitary business can sound promising. Yet, the irony is, that very autonomy can chain professionals to their business and make them miss out on treasured moments.
"To go on a cruise and take five days off, that was nice. I've never done that before. It was weird not to make calls for five days," Gino said.
But here’s the catch. While on his vacation, Gino’s pipeline was still managed by our team - qualifying leads and setting appointments for when he returned.
This is the balance of working for yourself, without being a “lone-wolf.”
The million-dollar question for determining if a business has true long-term value is: can the business easily scale? Meaning, can it grow with or without me?
Most franchises have this figured out. But as a franchise broker, the business is NOT typically scalable. It is one person, operating as a high-level professional and handling it all.
Some brokers have done it, but most have not. That’s why we, at the FBA, invested in changing this. Brokering is such a great business but it did lack that scalable component until the last few years.
In that time, FBA set up a few programs to create scale.
The first is an agent program where the broker can build a sales team to transfer that high-level knowledge to a junior team who can mimic the skill and finesse of the sophisticated broker.
We built into our systems the ability to have teams, to manage them and see their work. We also went through compliance and legal effort to protect the broker. Finally, we prepared the contracts for them to use in working with Agents. These contracts give the broker the ability to enforce protections while developing these junior agents.
The second thing we did was dive into a deep and arduous programming process of working with Hubspot to customize the Hubspot product for the franchise brokering business. This customization is what we call BOS (the Broker Operating System) and it has allowed our brokers to finally achieve scale.
Now through the system, FBA BOS brokers have access to:
…And so many more resources to effectively run their businesses!
The BOS system is powerful and shows the broker exactly who to call each day, gets the buyers responding and engaging with content, and creates opportunities where brokers in the past would have lost those deals.
The visibility is crazy and it gives the broker the freedom to live their life, have time to manage their business, take time for themselves, and go on that vacation! Because now they have a team behind them, working the business with them.
That is scale without the responsibility of managing - the very best kind!
Striking a balance between work autonomy and personal freedom has remained an elusive dream for many professionals.
Our broker, Gino Beccherini, shares a glimpse into his “aha” moment leaving corporate and becoming a broker where scale means the freedom to live a fulfilling life.
The evolution of the FBA's strategies and its innovative BOS system demonstrates the feasibility of achieving scale in what was once deemed a non-scalable business.
So, remember this, as you either journey further in your broker career or embark on a new one - you are not alone. With the support of systems like those of the FBA, professionals can reclaim their time and freedom, all while their businesses thrive.
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