The end of the year can be a challenging time. Some brokers are in a mad rush to get deals done before Christmas. Others are still scrambling to find leads and meet that goal they set themselves back in January.
Unfortunately, the reality for many mortgage brokers involves little if any break at all. Christmas arrives all too quickly and passes just as fast, and before you know it you’re back on the hustle in January, chasing your tail and getting by as best you can.
I’ll let you in on a little secret. Few brokers will do this, but those who do will be reaping the rewards next year. Start planning for 2025 now. By the time Christmas rolls around it will be too late. Trust me. Set aside a few hours, or even a whole day if you can, and dedicate that time to preparing for the new year.
Prepping: the big payoff
Brian Tracy is a self-development coach who has worked with some of the most successful business leaders on the planet. He has a few words of wisdom on the value of preparation.
“Every minute you spend in planning saves 10 minutes in execution,” he says. “This gives you a 1,000 per cent return on energy.”
Planning requires us to slow right down. To breathe. To turn off any distractions, unplug and focus. Set your intentions and write them down. What sort of year do you want 2025 to be? What does success look like? Is there anything preventing it from being your most successful year in mortgage broking?
An honest inventory
Ok. So you’ve set your intentions for 2025. You want it to be your best year in broking. You have a good idea of what success looks like and are starting to get clear, measurable targets down on paper.
You now need to honestly ask yourself whether your business, in its current state, is capable of achieving those goals. Don’t be disheartened; accepting our shortcomings is one of the most valuable things we can do as business owners.
Grab a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle so you have two columns. Writing this out by hand is preferable. Typing it on a keyboard just doesn’t have the same emotional connection to the words. At the top of one column write ‘Strengths’ and on the other write ‘Weaknesses’. Try to write at least five for each, like this:
As you can see, some strengths can also be weaknesses. While it is great to be a hard-worker, it can also lead to overworking and burnout. The same goes for having dedicated staff. If you don’t make time to train and develop them, they’ll eventually move on to greener pastures.
Revitalise your business
Having an honest inventory of your strengths and weaknesses is the key to unlocking your success over the next 12 months. What you’re ultimately looking for is a solid backbone for your business that will enable you to scale and thrive sustainably. This is where you probably need some help.
My team and I work with hundreds of brokers throughout the year. In my experience, brokers who engage us in December really set themselves up for success in the new year. And if you can step away from the tools for a week or two, much of the heavy lifting can be done while you’re away.
Once we know what your process looks like, we can go away and document it, analyse it and optimise it for maximum efficiency. Again, this can all be done while you’re at the beach.
By the time you return to the office we’ll be ready to get you across your revitalised business. This includes training and upskilling your staff. We make sure they each have dedicated roles and are working as a team towards a common goal: to make 2025 a record-breaking year for your brokerage.
