I’ve been looking at ways of expanding operations, and moving into a few different lines of business lately. It’s probably my undergraduate degree in Biology at work, but I think that the healthiest companies are those with a range of products and services (as well as clients).
So, with that in mind, one of the local areas I’ve been looking at is real estate (not becoming a Mayne Island land baron, but rather doing some work for Realtors). The with this area is that there is no denying that the real estate market is hurting nationally right now, and so Realtors aren’t as flush with cash as they used to be.
So how do you pitch doing work for someone that is feeling very risk-averse? It’s easy really, deliver a quality product, and be flexible on payment. In the case of Realtors, they don’t get paid for their work until a sale is finalized, so it’s risky for them to invest large amounts of money in marketing a property when it’s coming out of their own pocket.
Enter your flexibility. I am definitely not a proponent of doing work on spec. But in this case, I don’t think that doing work any other way would be appropriate. Why not offer Realtors a “no money upfront, just a percentage of your commission” arrangement? Sure, you’re shouldering some risk: if the listing gets pulled, or some other catastrophe happens, you haven’t been paid yet, but if you spread your risk over a range of listings, I just don’t see it as being that bad.
I’m working on something along these lines now, I’ll keep updating as things progress. The initial reception has been good, next comes the pitch. More to come.