Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Mike Opyd, Co-Owner of NEXT Bluprint, located in Chicago, IL, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
NEXT Bluprint is an educational company designed to offer real estate agents real-world education on how to build a successful real estate business that brokerages and associations do not provide.
Tell us about yourself
I have been a Realtor since 2009. I joined the industry right after the housing market crashed and during the great recession. Throughout my career, I have noticed how easy it is to enter the real estate industry and how little practical education is provided to Realtors on how actually to build a business and how to advise consumers properly. This frustrated me, considering we are helping consumers with the biggest financial decision of their lives, and the bad advice a Realtor provides can have an enormous effect on a family for generations. Seeing this made me want to do something about it. So my partner and I opened up NEXT Bluprint to help agents by sharing our knowledge and experience with them so they can avoid the mistakes so many new Realtors make when they are starting out. Every day I am working to make the real estate industry better. That is what drives me to get up early and stay up late. When my time comes, I want my legacy to be known as the person who changed the real estate industry for future buyers and sellers.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
To me, seeing the success, our agents are having with our mentorship program is. On average, our agents (most of them are brand new to the industry) have sold $1,563,584 in real estate in their first 12 months after completing the program! This is 3X the industry average of $500,000, according to the National Association of Realtors. To me, teaching these agents how to build a business and seeing them go out and do it is incredibly rewarding.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
When you are starting out selling a product or service, getting those first customers is incredibly difficult. Asking people to trust you with their hard-earned money is not easy, especially when you don't have any credibility yet. From that part on, once your reputation grows and more people want your product, the next challenge is scaling. A good company is going to put a plan in place for this from day one and build its systems to handle future growth, not be reactionary, and try to adjust when it happens. The long-term vision is vital to any company's success!
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Have patience; there is no such thing as overnight success. ALL success takes time!
- Have a crystal clear vision of what you are looking to achieve.
- Have a relentless determination to achieve everything you want to achieve.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.nextbluprint.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MikeOpyd
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikeopyd/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeopyd/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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