Recently, there has been a surge of new real estate brokerage companies opening in the city. Exciting times indeed! The major disappointment for me is their common goal of aiming to become “the biggest in the business”. I wonder if it is the hope of a future merger or an acquisition that drives this direction.
Once again, I seem to be the contrarian and subscribe to Seth Godin’s prescribed business model. When I spoke to Barbara Corcoran a few years ago, she alluded to the fact that the future of real estate belongs to the boutique firms – ironic, indeed.
Through my eyes, the real estate business is qualitative, not quantitative.
More is less.
Less is more.
Small is powerful, innovative and creative.
Big is predictable, clumsy and inconsistent.
When our clients want something, we like to react – quickly!
It is far easier for us to act and adapt swiftly because we are unencumbered by a heavy load. An obstacle course is easier to navigate if you are nimble – 10,000 Pound Gorillas are heavy and can’t maneuver that easily.
History has shown that layers create bureaucracies, which in turn become inefficient. This makes everything political and hierarchal. When I want service, I don’t want to wait for a directive to trickle down from the top, watered down and filtered by other people not connected to the root. I like to speak to and get a response directly from the source because it is quicker, and more accurate.
The world keeps moving faster and we are living in the “now” generation. To be big and slow is risky and today’s consumer shouldn’t have to tolerate these inefficiencies. We should be able to deliver what you want, when you want it – and create innovative mechanisms to achieve your requests “now”.
David brought down Goliath with simple innovation, speed and the accuracy that his size afforded him.