Creating a successful property management business is no happy accident. It starts with clearly defining vision, values, and goals and comes to fruition with systems designed to create cohesion within an organization. In the property management space, it’s easy to get started with a small portfolio of doors, doing much of the day-to-day work yourself, but once you exceed your own personal capacity and begin scaling your business, suddenly you’re not just a property manager, you’re a business operator. Making prudent decisions to guide your company toward success is now crucial to your role as a leader. In this article, we will explore the importance of establishing a clear vision, company values, and goals as well as some of the systems that helped Evernest grow from 300 to more than 15,000 doors.
Establish a Vision
As the old adage says, “if you don’t know where you’re going, you could end up anywhere”. Even if you didn’t start your property management business with an explicit goal, once you have exceeded your own personal capacity and started scaling the company it’s important to determine explicit goals for success. Perhaps you want to grow your company to employ 100 persons and manage 1,000 doors or you want to grow your business to achieve a certain revenue goal. Getting clear on your company’s vision will allow you to ascertain the goals and milestones that will help you achieve that goal and over what timeframe.“Setting a bold vision can not only inspire others but also stretch you as a leader,” said Matthew Whitaker, CEO and founder of Evernest.
Determine Your Company’s Core Values
Once you have established a vision, think beyond the scope of your daily responsibilities as a property manager and try to drill down into the values that you want to distinguish your company culture and team members. These are the values, like hard work, honesty, and integrity, that will define your customer service, product, and employees. Your company should hire and fire based on these values, and they should become an integral part of the interview process.
Create Structure with EOS
Having a clear vision and strong core values has been essential in shaping Evernest's success. The vision serves as a guiding light, inspiring and motivating the team, while the core values create a cohesive company culture that attracts the right people. To facilitate this success the company has used a goal-setting strategy based on the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), which involves setting a long-term aspirational target, followed by defining three-year and one-year plans, and breaking them down further into 60-day "rocks" and weekly "sprints." The EOS model includes the Vision Traction Organizer (VTO), another tool that allows business leaders to communicate their goals, targets, and values effectively within the organization. The VTO serves as a playbook, ensuring everyone in the team is on the same page and working towards the same objectives. For more from Evernest leaders about establishing a vision, determining core values, and steering toward success with the EOS system, listen to this episode of the 300 to 3,000 podcast with CEO and founder, Matthew Whitaker, and Director of Marketing, Spencer Sutton.