My Real Estate Business Success Tips – Debo Adejana

Last week we talked about the time it takes to succeed in real estate business. This week, we begin a series that will be delving into tips that come handy if you are to succeed in your real estate business.

The foremost and most consequential success hint to any human endeavour is having a road map; You need to work with a plan. As the saying goes; If you fail to plan then you’ve planned to fail, there’s are no two ways to that.

You can never embark on any business no matter how small it is without a plan or you can actually start a business without a plan but if that’s the case then it is obvious you are on a wild goose chase; a journey to nowhere. That‘s how important it is to have a plan for any venture you want to embark on in life. You can’t go on a journey without planning about the routes you ought to take to get to your destination.

I remember when I was still a hustler not that I don’t sometimes still view myself that way but you may want to think twice before calling me a hustler now; those days when I had to go through the hopelessly busy roads in Lagos hopping, sometimes floating into jalopy danfo buses or diving into hell-customized suicide lorries popularly called ‘MOLUE’, I had to plan every inch of my trip. I had to put into consideration the dead-end traffic in Lagos coupled with the inter connectivity of roads, bus fare and of course the ease in getting to my destination, when planning my movement. CMS and Oshodi bus stops puts your mental faculty in a complete mess when planning the aforementioned because of the various options available to you in reaching your destination.

For instance, if you have to get to Ogba from Oshodi, you are confronted with a barrage of options. Emeka may decide to stop at Oshodi-Oke, walk a few metres to avoid the ‘KAI’ guys if he decides not to take the pedestrian bridge then cross over to the other side of the road and takes a direct bus to Ogba, parting with 200 naira only. Debo on the other hand chooses to take a very long walk to Oshodi Isale then takes a bus to Ogba for 150 naira. While Sikira, prefers to avoid the Oshodi madness by going through Ikeja for a fare of 100 naira, then takes a bus to Ogba for 100 naira.

The difference in all of these is the fare and the routes the trio decide to take but one unifying factor is that they all planned their trip beforehand. This is the same way we tackle life’s challenges, and Real estate is not any different.

We all have different plans,aspirations and all of this should take different course for each individual. What works for me may necessarily not work for you but ultimately, you must have a plan to succeed in Real estate business and your plan must start with your answers to these questions; “Where am I going and where am I currently.”

As for me, I discovered while in the banking sector managing real estate portfolios, that I was a real estate enthusiast, so I knew where I was going when I left the banking sector having discovered my profound passion for real estate business and where I am currently is a product of my findings on real estate in relation to where I was while working in the banking sector.

Also, for the fact that I had my first degree in Engineering, you could say in a way I studied a related course. Again, I worked in a bank at some point in my life, plus I have a knack for figures, all these put together opened my eyes to the financial angle of Real estate business.  That was where I was, now I had to figure out where I was going with all of these. I had to decide what aspect of real estate I wanted to delve into.

It was clear in my mind that I didn’t want to become a real estate agent neither did I want to be a real estate writer. True, I may write and even own a blog called www.nigeriarealestatehub.com that may grow so big that it would be competing with the top-ranked blogs in the world pretty soon but that’s just a tip of the ice-berg. I do a lot of other things in bits and pieces; presenting, public speaking, I’m an author, I run a mentoring program, I teach sometimes but that’s all there is to it. That’ not where I want to be, I have a grand plan that I’m working with and every other thing is just a part of the raw deal!

All I want to do is to be a renowned real estate developer. My destination in real estate is to contribute meaningfully in the area of adding housing units to the housing stock thereby reducing the housing deficits we have as a nation. That’s my primary destination as a real estate enthusiast, every other thing will have to fit into that.

Therefore, the moment I knew where I was and my destination, I just had to take some time out to create a plan that will ensure I realize my objectives. I had to figure out the things I lacked, my strengths and weaknesses, how I could work with my strength optimally in achieving the set aside goals, how I could mitigate my weaknesses so it won’t stand in the way of success, how I could effectively maximize the opportunities available on my platform and also deal with the threats. Subsequently, I had to do a ‘SWOT ‘analysis to entwine around those four parameters of life; I had to weigh the pros and cons.

Your plan has to reflect your DNA; you have to make room for your persona in your SWOT analysis. You cannot overlook the aspect of your personality make up in whatever plan you put together. However, if the persona of a mentor or someone you admire greatly or even a friend is the focal point of the plan you’ve worked out then the goals you’ve set aside will not see the light of day except you want to call on the person to run your plan for you.

In summary, let your plan revolve round your SWOT analysis, your persona and your resources then you’ve made a head start to that real estate business in the offing.
In Realty point limited, we started the business with 5 million naira obtained from the investments of other individuals and it took us a few months or years to re-coup that money but look at where we are today. Though our success thus far didn’t come to us on a platter of a gold, we had to project into the future with our 5 million naira investment.

In getting to our proposed destination which is ‘REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT’ we had to take a step of faith by starting with agency which became the core part of our real estate business when we first started. This opened doors for bigger investments in Real estate, this was the drive that propelled us to real estate development.

It all started when we stumbled on a developer who was putting together landed properties, site and services for low income earners and we were the main agents to them. That was how we understudied and transcended from our previous Agency platform to Real estate developments. More so, coupled with our marketing strength and ability to impact knowledge via our various seminars on real estate business, we were able to come up with a marketing network that made our entry into real estate development worthwhile even though the company initially started with just four persons.

Presently, we are our own developers, developing our own estates. Though we are still learning the ropes; we are still on the road as our final destination is afar of. However, the beauty is that we know where we are going because we have a road map we are working with.

You can’t achieve success without a plan and even when you’ve worked out a plan, there should still be a grand plan. Then don’t stay too much on a plan, so you won’t spend the years you should spend succeeding, still planning.

Time waits for no man you may have lost the opportunity at your disposal while you were still planning.

Debo Adejana
MD/CEO Realty Point Ltd