MPA brings you advice from the industry's successful brokers on their biggest business challenge and how they tackled it.
MPA brings you advice from the industry's thought leaders on their biggest business challenge and how they tackled it. This week we speak with Sarah Wells, of Rate Detective Finance.
MPA: What has been one of your biggest challenges in business to date and why?
SW: The toughest test has been to let go and grow. Some people come into this industry as business people and others as technical experts. I class myself as the latter. I have since spent time and educated myself to be a better business person and have taken on a number of mentors who have what I want.
Letting go of trying to be perfect at everything and surrounding myself with people who can complement me and help me grow is where I am at now.
MPA: How did you overcome this challenge?
SW: Moved to WA and joined an amazing team. Yes, it sounds a tad extreme. Some may call moving to a new market bold and are confused by my choice. In truth, it was about two years in the making. I had looked at merging my business back in Sydney and couldn’t find the correct fit. Luckily enough, I managed to find the right fit for me to grow and be part of an amazing brand, it just happened to be on the other side of the country.
Luckily our business is very transferrable and my East Coast clients are happy to see me every now and then (when I travel back to see them) and technology makes geography less of a challenge these days.
MPA: What are some of the key lessons you learned from this experience?
SW: Back to basics, this is a numbers game. The more people you sit in front of, the more loans you write. Sometimes we can find ways to really overcomplicate this basic part of our business.
Find a small pool of great referrers who have a similar vision as you and your business. Money and referral fees are not always the clincher in these relationships. Similar people and similar values will always find working together rewarding in areas other than financial gains.
Growing does demand us to look at our model and make sure we are really clear on what our value proposition is to our clients and why we are different to the rest. Make sure you pick the right people to join and lastly don’t take yourself too seriously, everything always works out in the end. Success in business, yes, is about being profitable, but it is also about surrounding yourself with people you trust, respect, like and most importantly can laugh and cry through the good and the bad.
MPA: How have those lessons benefited you in business since?
SW: These lessons have most definitely benefited me in business since. I have a great team and am growing and stepping outside my comfort zone daily. Taking my business from a micro business to being part of a team certainly has taught me a great deal about myself and has helped me become a better business person, broker and person. Perfectionism is not always the greatest trait to have when you are growing. Processes and patience will help ease the transition and allow the letting go and delegating to a great support team easier.
MPA: If you were to tackle this again would you do anything differently?
SW: I would probably have done it sooner than I did. With that being said, I am a big believer in experiences leading us to the next destination in life. So, quite possibly, I needed some of the wrong experiences to then recognise the right opportunity when it presented itself.
MPA: What advice would you give to other brokers facing a similar situation?
SW: Be wise, take some time and write where you want to be in one, two, three and five years’ time. Be as specific as you can. Draw pictures if easier. Once you are clear on your vision, look around you and see who is already on their journey to a similar destination. Have a chat and see if this is something you can do together. Growing businesses are always looking for great talent and sometimes great talent is looking for the right environment to shine.
Then be bold and take a leap of faith, you never know it may just work out. Sounds a tad philosophical, we are all looking for happiness and success and we can’t always achieve everything on our own.
Would you like to share your toughest test with MPA? Email [email protected].
MPA: What has been one of your biggest challenges in business to date and why?
SW: The toughest test has been to let go and grow. Some people come into this industry as business people and others as technical experts. I class myself as the latter. I have since spent time and educated myself to be a better business person and have taken on a number of mentors who have what I want.
Letting go of trying to be perfect at everything and surrounding myself with people who can complement me and help me grow is where I am at now.
MPA: How did you overcome this challenge?
SW: Moved to WA and joined an amazing team. Yes, it sounds a tad extreme. Some may call moving to a new market bold and are confused by my choice. In truth, it was about two years in the making. I had looked at merging my business back in Sydney and couldn’t find the correct fit. Luckily enough, I managed to find the right fit for me to grow and be part of an amazing brand, it just happened to be on the other side of the country.
Luckily our business is very transferrable and my East Coast clients are happy to see me every now and then (when I travel back to see them) and technology makes geography less of a challenge these days.
MPA: What are some of the key lessons you learned from this experience?
SW: Back to basics, this is a numbers game. The more people you sit in front of, the more loans you write. Sometimes we can find ways to really overcomplicate this basic part of our business.
Find a small pool of great referrers who have a similar vision as you and your business. Money and referral fees are not always the clincher in these relationships. Similar people and similar values will always find working together rewarding in areas other than financial gains.
Growing does demand us to look at our model and make sure we are really clear on what our value proposition is to our clients and why we are different to the rest. Make sure you pick the right people to join and lastly don’t take yourself too seriously, everything always works out in the end. Success in business, yes, is about being profitable, but it is also about surrounding yourself with people you trust, respect, like and most importantly can laugh and cry through the good and the bad.
MPA: How have those lessons benefited you in business since?
SW: These lessons have most definitely benefited me in business since. I have a great team and am growing and stepping outside my comfort zone daily. Taking my business from a micro business to being part of a team certainly has taught me a great deal about myself and has helped me become a better business person, broker and person. Perfectionism is not always the greatest trait to have when you are growing. Processes and patience will help ease the transition and allow the letting go and delegating to a great support team easier.
MPA: If you were to tackle this again would you do anything differently?
SW: I would probably have done it sooner than I did. With that being said, I am a big believer in experiences leading us to the next destination in life. So, quite possibly, I needed some of the wrong experiences to then recognise the right opportunity when it presented itself.
MPA: What advice would you give to other brokers facing a similar situation?
SW: Be wise, take some time and write where you want to be in one, two, three and five years’ time. Be as specific as you can. Draw pictures if easier. Once you are clear on your vision, look around you and see who is already on their journey to a similar destination. Have a chat and see if this is something you can do together. Growing businesses are always looking for great talent and sometimes great talent is looking for the right environment to shine.
Then be bold and take a leap of faith, you never know it may just work out. Sounds a tad philosophical, we are all looking for happiness and success and we can’t always achieve everything on our own.
Would you like to share your toughest test with MPA? Email [email protected].
