Who's The Boss?

I am an avid reader and a curiosity junkie. I often find inspiration for my blogs from the books, magazines and articles I read. Today is no exception.

I love "Success" magazine (if you are not a subscriber, I highly recommend it success.com). The July issue was chock full of content for entrepreneurs. One of the things I found to be interesting was a pie chart on page 14. The label was: "Success.com Asks: As an Entrepreneur, what freedom do you enjoy most?"

• 44% A sense of purpose from living their passion
• 24% Owning their own time
• 11% Controlling their income
• 11% Being their own boss
• 10% Freedom from the corporate world

44% of entrepreneurs choose to start a business to live their passion and fulfill their purpose. How can people become professional Realtors, do two transactions per year and be living their passion and fulfilling their purpose? When you are passionate about something, you want to tell the world about it....yet the majority of agents I have met hate prospecting (telling people about their passion-selling real estate).

24% wanted to own their time - yet most agents are susceptible to the whims of their buyers and sellers. As a result, their lead generation, planning and ultimate success are in the hands of someone else.

11% wanted to control their income. I imagine that means having unlimited earning potential and controlling expenses to ensure there is money to take home. Again, many the agents I have met could not tell me whether or not they are running a profitable business, or even tell me for sure what their income was.

11% wanted to be their own boss. The word "boss" by definition is a person who makes decisions and exercises authority. Yet most agents struggle with whether to release an ineffective team mate or de-hire a crazy client.

10% wanted freedom from the corporate world. Yet in most real estate firms, you can't even participate in social media because it is "against company policy". Newsflash: if someone else holds the power to make decisions that affect your bottom line, you ARE in the corporate world.

Freedom is NOT free. Everything in life is a trade off. Freedom from one thing usually demands restraints in another area. If you want to OWN your business, then you have to OWN your business. The buck stops and starts with you.