Jas Takhar has been in the sales and service industry for 26 years. He is the founder of REC Canada under Royal LePage and has kept his team in the top three in the country for more than five years. With more than 50 realtors and 11 support staff, the team advises and assists more than 625 buyers, sellers and investors yearly across the Greater Toronto area. Jas is the author of Real Estate Intelligence, hosts The Jas Takhar Podcast and founded From the Ground Up Media, where he helps other real estate agents produce quality content. 

No matter where your business is in its lifecycle, marketing strategies are critical for growth in a crowded marketplace. Marketing can raise brand awareness and build a pipeline of qualified leads that turn into sales. With a small business, getting the word out can be challenging due to less visibility and a lack of resources like budget or time. There are key strategies, however, that can help you scale your small business’s marketing efforts. 

Understand your “why.” This is not just what you do. As yourself “What’s the benefit of that?” Once you answer it, ask yourself that question again. And again and again until you reach the core of your “why.” People who are confident understand their “why.” In the real estate industry, it’s a roller coaster and some days just don’t work out. If you’re not pushing yourself outside your comfort zone, then it’s playing a role in your success.

Go “all-in.” Knowing your why is key. Going all-in will mean working 60-80 hours a week for the first few years. When things get tough, remind yourself why you’re doing it. We have all been given inherent talents and when you use that talent to its greatest potential, the results will be amazing. What is the thing that you are burning to do? Do you want to see how far you can take it? What is that thing that keeps you up all night? That is when you will spring out of bed in the morning excited to tackle the day. That’s when work becomes play.

Build your business around your life rather than the other way around. Balance can be difficult for everyone, but particularly in real estate when clients demand your time constantly and at all hours. Take time in the first few years to explore every aspect of the business and find your strengths. Later you can hire team members to take care of the things you don’t enjoy or don’t want to do. Get home for dinner with your family a few nights a week. Take a day off and truly unplug. Focus on your passions.

Provide next level experience. In every transaction, we want to make the experience better for our clients. It might be moving day and things are crazy and the client just can’t make it to the attorney’s office to pick up the keys. That’s when a team member picks up the keys and delivers them to the client, bringing pizza and drinks to the tired family. It’s going the extra mile so that your client becomes your brand ambassador, telling everyone about the service your team provided. You can’t pay for that kind of advertisement. 

Create a podcast. Hands down, this is the best way to market your small business. A 30-minute podcast will create 16-17 different pieces of contact you can then share on your social media channels.  

Ready. Fire. Aim. Wait, isn’t it Ready, Aim, Fire? The problem is that you can be stuck in Aim for so long you never actually pull the trigger. Just jump in and get started! The more you fire away, the sooner you will hit your target. 

Watch the full Time to Thrive episode featuring Jas Takhar HERE: