Prior to writing a real estate broker business plan, market research and expense planning should be completed. In addition to identifying potential competitors and customers, a real estate broker needs to determine how his business and personal expenses will influence his desired income. A typical business plan includes sections that summarize the company’s purpose, its intended target market, its list of services, and competitors. When writing a real estate broker business plan, it is sometimes helpful to include graphs, charts, and concise bullet point lists that explain projected five-year income and expenses.
The first section of a real estate broker business plan typically states the brokerage’s background, reasons for formation, and mission statement, which is a brief synopsis of the company’s overall strategy or reason for existence. Within the first section of the business plan, there is usually an outline that lists the owner’s main objectives. Examples of these goals could be growing sales volume by a certain percentage, increasing market share, establishing an additional location within three years, or building a customer base through online social media tools.
A crucial part of any real estate broker business plan is market research data. This section contains information about the geographic region that the business will be located in, characteristics of the population segments the business will focus on, and sales potential. Sometimes referred to as a target market, the population segment’s average income, education level, and lifestyle preferences should be included. Market data can also be used to support the organization's goals and ideas.
How an owner plans to distinguish his brokerage's services from those of competitors is another important part of a real estate broker business plan. The section usually contains a brief description of what features and benefits the firm plans to offer its customers and how it will establish a unique brand identity that will encourage repeat business. A strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis for the firm may be presented in this section, along similar analyses for major competitors.
Most potential investors and financial institutions are interested in seeing a projected list of expenses and income in a real estate broker business plan. An owner should try to do his best to project his sales volume and operational expenses for the first five years. Some find it is easier to read this section if it is illustrated with numerical tables, pie charts, and volume graphs. This section can also include expected profits or losses within the first five years, in addition to the approximate dates that any loan balances will be paid in full.