How to create a business that isn’t reliant on you

At the recent AREC conference, Hackett revealed how she broke the mould and created a business that could thrive without her being there to manage it 24/7.

It was a conversation with a long-term mentor that first inspired Hackett to make a change.

“He said, ‘Sarah, are you comfortable?’” Hackett recalled.

“I said, ‘Apart from the fact that I’m working too hard, I don’t spend enough time with my kids, and I don’t have enough time for myself, I’m doing OK.’”

The conversation revealed an ironic truth to Hackett: she was worked to the bone, yet her real estate business had also settled into a familiar groove.

To hit new heights of success and access a higher quality of life, she knew she needed to make major changes.

“I had to get out of what I call my comfort zone,” the principal said. “The old saying, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’? Well, I was going to break it.”

Her systemic overhaul of Place New Farm included these three core elements:

1. Grow specialists, not generalists

In a traditional real estate agency, it’s common for there to be just two categories of employees: sales agents and property managers.

Additionally, sales agents often double up on listings, with a main agent being accompanied to by a co-agent.

When she flipped her business around, Hackett sought to uproot this traditional model by employing a team of specialists, maximising productivity and allowing each agent to play to their strengths.

“We worked out that the traditional co-agent role is wasted. Attending meetings together halves your productivity,” said Hackett.

“Separate lanes create double time for appointments, double time for calls. And an executive assistant that has passion, persistence, and databasing can accelerate you exponentially.”

In Hackett’s new business model, each lead sales agent is paired up with a personal EA who assists them with coordination, reporting, and buyer management.

Specialist agents focus on unique market needs, such as off-the-plan sales agent, Charmaine McDonald; buyer’s agent, Lauren Marmotta; and marketing and social media coordinator, Adrian Daniel.

“If my buyer’s agent, Lauren, only ever saw me at opens and auctions, this would enable her to make more calls, match more buyers, create more sales, which enabled me to list more properties and negotiate more deals,” Hackett explained.

2. Know the market

For Hackett, one of the best ways to stand out from the competition is in the depth and authenticity of her team’s local network.

A “huge point of difference” for her at the listing table is a unique feature she has implemented called the “targeted client list”.

“We actively researched our clients. For every listing appointment, we were able to provide sellers with a well-defined list of potential clients for their home before we even got started. These were real people with real stories, details of how many kids, what schools, where they go for work – the more detail we could give, the more genuine and powerful the list became.”

The agency’s buyer network is so comprehensive that many high-end sellers will recognise people they know in the client list.

3. Supercharge with tech

Using tech intelligently to create real impacts for clients is another way Hackett takes her business to the next level.

Drawing from their extensive market knowledge, the team targets specific buyer demographics on listing platforms like REA and Domain, such as buyers from southern Australian states and South-East Asia searching for properties in Brisbane.

“Private schools and hospitals for medical professionals, who are key to our buyer demographic, were something we targeted,” Hackett revealed.

The team also works with mainstream media to secure coverage of their properties in “all major newspapers throughout Australia,” which Hackett reported resulted in 67 per cent more exposure than her nearest competitor.

They also work with their tech specialist to create four individual videos for each listed property, one for each week of the month-long auction campaign.

The result?

The agency’s program of change did not solve all its problems overnight. In the early years of the revamped business, Hackett found herself working more hours than ever before.

“For one project alone, I met 2,200 qualified buyers,” she recalled. “On top of that, I was meeting over 150 buyers every Saturday through my open homes. I was averaging 13-day fortnights to build relationships with thousands of potential buyers.”

“The business was completely dependent on me for everything, and I couldn’t keep going at this pace anymore.”

Over time, however, the new process-driven approach began to bear fruit.

“There was better attention to detail, we were able to develop menus to enable us to customise service for each sale.”

Their reputation in the local community also grew, allowing Hackett to finally take some time off for herself.

“The result of all this is that the business is less reliant on me,” she said. “I spend more time with my family, I take more holidays.”

The business is also more lucrative: last quarter alone, Hackett reported the Place New Farm team transacted “four times our going rate before we embarked on our improvement program”.

“My advice to you is get uncomfortable, challenge, be curious, break things, then build things, and most importantly embrace change,” she said.

“Be the person who makes things happen.”