Legalized bondage is nothing new as millions of workers used to be called “indentured servants”. The fact is they were under contract to serve someone else, just like “independent contractors”. Of course the laws compressing their lives were quite different than the regulations that compress the lives of Realtors.
Certainly, there is no way we can consider ourselves as “indentured servants”… can we? We are free to make a living… aren’t we? Many of us joined the industry because it is the only viable way we might make money after we turn 50. Our prior employers, private and government, don’t want expensive, experienced mature workers anymore, so we must find a way to become somewhat self-unemployed rather than totally unemployed and unemployable. Real estate was definitely the road to the promised land during the past 25 years.
But looking back where we came from, at where we are now, and where this industry is going, is what my rants will attempt to share with you. Since our industry (residential structures, land and mortgages) represents more than 25 per cent of Canada’s Balance Sheet Asset Value, we are a cornerstone of Canada’s (grossly undervalued) $24 trillion asset value. Our 113,000 workers represent only six per cent of the work force, so our 13 per cent contribution to Canada’s national GDP of about $4 trillion makes us relatively significant players in Canada’s economy.
With about 500,000 home deals a year, there is a “one million deals” market up for grabs in the residential market alone. As independent contractors, most of us are experiencing a rapid acceleration in multi-independent contractor team competition. (I was going to share your competitive advantage later, but I feel you may need the basics right away. Your clients need to know that you work for their interests more than a team member can. Team bench members must score the most deals, whilst individual salespeople are more like your clients’ all-star goalies on the defense and gold medalist superstars on the offense.)
Of course, many salespeople need to be on a team to survive. With almost 80 per cent of deals going to teams, it can’t be ignored as a good career option.
But if teams gobble up 70 per cent of salespeople, our industry will drift into another oligopoly run by major associations, corporations, government agencies and lawyers. Without a clear strategy to stop and turn these forces, independent family business people could soon be cut out. Certainly we don’t want “ageism” and “indentured services” to become the career path of the next generations of real estate salespeople?
Another competitor for individual salespeople is the technological functions seeping through our operating processes. We are not only developing our own technology competition weapons, but so are those who wish to control every aspect of this industry. Regulators are working 24/7 with their legal corporations to leave no loose ends in our working environment. Governments have assumed we are a corporate giant needing controls instead of thousands of small family businesses. They don’t realize how much they are driving this industry into monopolization. When the most competitive industry left in Canada is perceived as corrupt, according to their naïve perspectives, there is no other conclusion than the government’s Competition Bureau is farcical… duh, do Realtors fix prices, mark-ups and commissions like the oil industry?
Oh, yes, there is another competitor invading our arena. The real estate services sector for both our clients and us is booming in Canada. Technology has enabled lots of new business models. These will certainly influence the competitive weaponry in our industry. (Hope you don’t mind the frequent military terminology, but if time permits, we must develop our strategic planning skills to a more professional level or look for another career elsewhere.)
The best small family business that can keep us fed in our senior years is facing a formidable corporatization foe. It is time to become strategic, which requires a vision for our industry in 25/50/75/100 years. Perhaps we can begin to design our future.
Ring a doorbell!
Jim Reid is a strategic planning consultant and has been a corporate executive, university and college lecturer, business owner, real estate broker and wilderness canoeist. “Your average Canadian failed entrepreneur, wage slave, divorced former Realtor,” he says. Visit his website, or send him an email.
