BUSINESS PRACTICES & STRUCTURE
ASSET PROTECTION
A LITTLE MORE ABOUT PROCESS MAPPING W hy Process Mapping? The answer is simple: It helps you understand and analyze your current way of working. It allows you to redesign and improve the process. You can use process mapping to implement a standard way of working and to train new employees. There are two categories of pro- cess maps: “As Is” maps and “Should Be” maps. We use “As Is” maps to truly understand how a process works in the real world. Use your “As Is” map to really learn about your own process. I use these maps to remove waste, improve efficiency, and automate when possible. When I’m done, instead of an “As Is” map I have a “Should Be” map. We use “Should Be” maps to establish performance standards, service level agreements, standard processes, and process expectations. They are also great for training purposes and to help determine and set customer expectations.
long-term vision as well. This meeting helps define the culture of the business and helps motivate the staff weekly. With all meetings, you should set up a routine. Each meeting needs to start on time and end on time. They need to be at the same time every time, and the weekly meetings should always be on the same day. KEY COMMUNICATION QUESTION: • Is everyone in your company on the same page about goals, company vi- sion, and how they contribute to each? THE RIGHT SYSTEM CHANGES EVERYTHING When companies have inefficient systems in place, it hinders employee productivity. A great employee working with an inefficient system is not only an inefficient and ineffective employee, but you are essentially paying for an employee to do work they cannot fully accomplish. This leads to high turnover rates and lack of confidence within your organization. Once you have these systems in place, you will be able to: • Scale properly • Bring out the best in employees • Reduce employee stress levels • Stop micromanaging • Reduce employee turnover • Dial in your business processes • Create the right culture in your
6. COMMUNICATION Proper communication reduces com- plexity and adds accountability in any busi- ness process. Good communication starts with having the right meetings to ensure you are delivering value to your company. Good communication prevents bottle- necks and train wrecks where the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. It allows you to review goals and provide accountability to your vision. Three meeting structures are crucial to effective communication: 1 Daily Huddle This meeting has a simple agenda: good news, daily expectations, announcement/ introduction of visitor, and a compilation of needs from each department. 2 Weekly Business This is the meeting where you work on the business. Review the current state of the business by evaluating goals and metrics, identify key issues, and spend the next hour problem solving. 3 Town Hall I believe this may be the most im- portant meeting of them all. This weekly meeting allows the visionary/owner the ability to share their vision to the whole company. This meeting should last no more than 30 minutes. Start off with public praise, then communicate com- pany wins, then end it with the vision for the quarter and month. Include your
ADangerous Assumption about Your Real EstateAssets THIS FALSE BELIEF CREATES HUGE PITFALLS FOR YOUR PORTFOLIO.
coverage by Carole VanSickle Ellis
A
Medical professionals are the top-sued individuals in our country, followed by real estate investors,” he said. 2 LLCs are useless if you fail to mini- mize exposure. Most real estate investors who set up business entities set up a single LLC for their investment activities, believ- ing that this will be enough to protect personal assets. In many cases, multiple LLCs will provide better protection, if they are used correctly. 3 Asset protection can be expensive. Most real estate investors think they are required to set up their asset
up business structures to keep things that way. Unfortunately, most fail to set them up correctly, relying on advice from friends or their own internet research to handle this vitally important and somewhat technical process. “96 percent of small-to-medium-size business owners do not have the correct structures in place to fully protect themselves, and that includes most real estate investors,” said Stephen Broadley, executive director at Legally Mine LLC, a Utah-based company dedicated to helping business owners protect their personal and business assets from litiga- tion and tax liabilities. Broadley added there are three tough truths about asset protection that most investors fail to acknowledge until it is too late: 1 Most real estate investors will get sued eventually. “In 2016, there were about 100 mil- lion lawsuits in the United States alone.
sk any real estate investor what the safest asset class on the
planet is, and you’ll almost always hear a variation on the same answer: real estate! Real estate and real estate-related assets are among the most predictable and reliable of all sanctuaries for your investment capital. However, if you make a certain common and extremely dangerous assumption about real estate investments early in your investing career, you could jeopardize not only your future portfolio, but your current assets as well. Often, new investors simply assume that they do not need asset protection. After all, most new real estate inves- tors have few physical assets, although many do have personal savings, a home of their own, and maybe even one or more retirement accounts. They usually believe that their real estate investing business is somehow separate from their other assets, and many do attempt to set
business • Create a Vision for all to follow • Get your team all on the same page and pulling in the same direction •
> Continued on :: PG 112
Gary Harper is the owner and founder of Sharper Business Solutions, where he specializes in helping real estate investors and other entrepreneurs operate their businesses with optimal performance
Stephen Broadley is executive director at Legally Mine LLC, a Utah-based company dedicated to helping business owners protect business and personal assets from litigation. Learn more at
through customized Business Operating Systems. He may be reached at gharper@sharperprocess.com.
www.legallymineusa.com.
32 | think realty magazine :: january 2018
thinkrealty . com | 33
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs