We love tools! We love technology! The best business strategies are inspired by both of these. But, implementing and applying new goals can sometimes be lost in the fast-moving pace of bright and shiny, and we can lose focus. As the old Robert Burns quote says “The best laid plans of mice and men go awry.”

So, for Week 3, of 10 Weeks and 10 Strategies, we will be using a classic business tool that provides 4 steps to quickly assessing where you should be setting your NEW goals of 2013. This will involve some critical thinking skills, so if you aren’t up for the challenge, you might want to move on.

Tips: Print the downloadable PDF to work on, or use this as a whiteboard brainstorming session:) This is meant to be a quick tool, don’t over analyze! 

The S.W.O.T. Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats in your real estate business

The basics: In business we all have strengths and weaknesses, these are internal to your business. We also have threats and opportunities; these are the external factors. When you step back to answer what these are, you can uncover some amazing things about you and your business, that can help you prioritize and focus your efforts on the areas that will provide the most ROI for you, and your business. For example; should all your focus be on social media? What is having a bigger pay off; online activities or offline?

Build on what you do well; learn from what you don’t

Strengths:

• What do you do better than your competition? (social media presence? better video marketing?)
• What do your colleagues, team members, clients see as your strengths? (knowledge of the market? tech-savvy? great at using the phone?)
• What is your best personal strength?
• What factors help you get the listing, sell the home, or close the deal?

Weaknesses:

• What could you improve?
• What service could you add to stand out in your market? Be a paperless agent?
• What should you delegate to someone else?
• What should you avoid doing?
• Is there something your competitors are doing better?

Is there a better way?

Opportunities:

• Is there a trend with your buyers and sellers that you can act on? Lifestyle changes? Use of social media? Reviews and feedback websites?
• Is there an area that you stand out in in your market that you can really become the expert in?
• Is there an untapped resource you can utilize more? (relationships with local businesses? New networking possibilities?)

Be proactive, not reactive

Threats:

• Is technology threatening your market position?
• Are there more tech-savvy agents accomplishing more in year?
• What are your obstacles to achieving your goals?
• What is happening in the real estate industry? Nationally? Regionally?
• How do these threats affect your strengths and opportunities?

It’s time to set some goals. Prioritize your goals based on what you’ve learned, and add them to your weekly, monthly and yearly goals. Set some milestones to have each goal implemented and break them down into implementable steps. You’ll have some built-up excitement and momentum going into 2013, and some awesome clarity! One app I love for finding new exercises for business strategizing is Mindtools.com

I’d love your thoughts and to know one goal you are implementing next year, leave us a comment! Did you miss Week 1 or Week 2? << There ya go! Until next week!