Building a Bulletproof Business Plan

Summary

The Brian Buffini Show

Episode: Building a Bulletproof Business Plan

Date: April 7, 2026

Host: Brian Buffini

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Brian Buffini breaks down the process of creating a “bulletproof business plan.” Drawing from decades of entrepreneurial and coaching experience, Brian aims to demystify business planning and empower listeners — especially small business owners and real estate agents — to craft actionable, effective plans without requiring advanced degrees or expensive consultants. With practical wisdom, real stories, and his signature Irish charm, Brian focuses on three fundamental pillars: clear goals, time-related action steps, and a functional financial budget. The episode also features live coaching with real agents navigating the realities of business growth, boundaries, and building a sustainable referral-based enterprise.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Three Pillars of a Bulletproof Business Plan

(00:00–10:13)

• You only need three elements:
  1. Detailed, Written Goals (short, mid, and long-term)
  2. Time-Related Action Steps (by year, month, week, day)
  3. Financial Budget (what it will cost and what you want to achieve)
• Demystifying the Plan:
  Brian insists that creating a business blueprint should not be intimidating. It's about clarity and discipline, not complex theory or outside consultants.

  "You don't need an MBA to build a business plan. You just need three things..." — Brian Buffini (00:08)

• Blueprint Analogy:
  Just as a building starts with a drawing, your business should start with a clear, actionable plan.
• Types of Goals:
  • Short-term (next 10 days)
  • Mid-range (18 months)
  • Long-term (5 years) Note the shift from 10-year goals to 5, reflecting today’s rapid changes.
• Goal Setting Influence:
  Brian learned from Lou Tice and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (author of Flow), integrating baroque music to set the environment for focused goal writing.

Notable Quote

"Most people overestimate what they can do in a year, but they radically underestimate what they can achieve in five years." — Brian Buffini (approx. 09:45)

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Real-World Goal-Setting Story

(05:00–10:13)

• Brian shares a transformative story of a coaching client (“the ‘no mom’”—a single mother-turned-successful realtor), who broke a long plateau by setting a goal deeply meaningful to her (taking her children and their friends to Disney World).
• The story illustrates how a passionate goal can fuel massive action and breakthrough results.

  “She brought 12 people to Disney World in Florida, all expenses paid for two weeks and she paid for it all... that year she sold $15 million in real estate, tripled her production.” — Brian Buffini (08:30)

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Practical Details: Time-Related Actions and Budgeting

(10:13–18:21)

• On Action Steps:
  Plan from the future backward—start with the long-term vision and break it down into what you need to do in 10 days.
• On Budgeting:
  Forecast both income and expenses; never build your lifestyle on anticipated, not-yet-earned income.

  “You don’t build your lifestyle — ‘Oh, I’m going to make a million dollars next year, therefore, I’m going to buy the bigger house now.’ No, you’ve got to make the million bucks before you buy the house…” — Brian Buffini (18:05)

• Hope & Motivation:
  A clear, forward-looking budget gives hope and keeps actions grounded.

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Perfectionism: Paralysis vs. Progress

(16:29–17:17)

• Perfectionism as Paralysis:
  Brian emphasizes the danger of waiting for the perfect plan, citing General Patton:

  “A bad plan violently executed is better than the perfect plan never installed.” — Brian Buffini (15:46)

• Generational Risk-Aversion:
  Brian reflects on how younger generations are more risk averse, often mistaking perfection for a prerequisite.

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Live Coaching Segment: Boundaries and Growth (with Farah Spears)

(19:17–26:52)

• Farah, a high-producing solo agent, asks how to maintain client relationships and boundaries during vacations or absences.
• Key Advice:
  • Communicate proactively with both the referring client and the new lead.
  • Use systems and scripts to assure all parties their needs will be met.
  • Consider adding a buyer’s agent or team member for coverage.

  “You know how we help control freaks win is have fantastic systems in place.” — Brian Buffini (25:00)

• Systems Over Control:
  Build and rely on solid systems rather than trying to do everything yourself.

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Live Coaching: Growing Your Sphere as a Young Agent (with Zachary Tittle)

(26:54–34:15)

• Zach, a 23-year-old new agent, asks how to get referrals when his sphere is young and less likely to buy or sell.
• Key Advice:
  • Leverage your youth as an asset — present as “the first-round draft pick.”
  • Turn friends into advocates, not just clients.

  “Everyone you know has a mom and dad, has an uncle and an aunt, and works for somebody. So your job is to go create advocates.” — Brian Buffini (28:22)

  • Tap into withdrawn listings: reach out to former sellers for fresh opportunities.
  • Dive into local business networks, open houses, and community groups to expand reach.

Memorable Idea

• Creative Outreach:
  Leave moving boxes and a note at a withdrawn seller's home:

  “Give me a call this time. We’ll get your home sold for real. Start packing.” — Brian Buffini (34:08)

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Memorable Quotes by Timestamp

• On Simplicity of Business Plans

  “You don’t need an MBA to build a business plan. You just need three things.” — Brian Buffini (00:08)

• On Setting Goals That Matter

  “The passion that will move you, goals that will stir you…” — Brian Buffini (09:39)

• On Overcoming Fear of Imperfection

  “A bad plan violently executed is better than the perfect plan never installed.” — General Patton, cited by Brian Buffini (15:46)

• On Risks of Perfectionism

  “Perfect’s more of a judgment though, isn’t it? It leaves you open to judgment…” — Brian Buffini (17:17)

• On Systemizing for Growth

  “You know how we help control freaks win is have fantastic systems in place.” — Brian Buffini (25:00)

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Useful Timestamps

• 00:00–10:13 — Fundamentals of a Bulletproof Business Plan (goals, actions, budget)
• 05:00–09:30 — Transformational story of breakthrough through goal-setting
• 10:13–18:21 — Real-life implementation & adjusting for perfectionism
• 19:17–26:52 — Coaching: Creating boundaries & scaling with systems (Farah Spears)
• 26:54–34:15 — Coaching: Building your business as a young agent (Zachary Tittle)

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Tone & Style

Brian Buffini’s style is optimistic, practical, motivational, and laced with Irish wit. Throughout the episode, he focuses on distilling complex business concepts into actionable steps, using real-life success stories and warm encouragement to drive his points home.

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Actionable Takeaways

• Write your goals — short, mid, and long-term — and revisit them often.
• Break each goal down into time-related, specific action steps.
• Create a budget to forecast income and track expenses, but never spend based on hypothetical success.
• Don’t aim for perfection — launch with a solid plan and improve as you go.
• Build and trust repeatable systems; they’ll outwork even your best efforts.
• Communicate openly with clients and referral sources, especially when setting boundaries.
• Young or new? Be proud of your energy, build advocates, and pursue creative outreach.

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This episode is a masterclass for anyone feeling overwhelmed by “business planning.” Brian Buffini provides a clear framework that balances vision, action, and financial reality — making success approachable, actionable, and deeply fulfilling.

Transcript

[A]

Give me just a minute. I'll teach you how to build a bulletproof business plan. You know, you don't need an MBA to build a business plan. You just need three things. The first thing you need is a set of detailed goals. The second thing are time related action steps to achieve those goals. And the third thing you need is a financial budget of what it's going to cost and what you're trying to get accomplished. The fact of the matter is a business plan sounds daunting to people. Oh, I need a consultant, I need an expert, I need an mba. None of those things are true. I've hired a bunch of consultants over the years to try to help me build business plans. And it always came down to things I already knew. A set of detailed goals gotta be in writing. The time related action steps to achieve those goals by year, back to month, back to the week, back to the day, and then what's it going to cost in time and treasure? What's the money? What are you trying to achieve? What's it going to cost? You got a business plan? Top of the morning to you, I'm Brian Buffini. We have a great show lined up for you today. From framework to financing, Overcoming fears and meeting marketplace needs. Believe me, I get it. Building a business plan can be overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be in today's blueprint. I'm going to give you three key areas to focus on to set up your business for long lasting success. A blueprint by its very definition is a drawing, an architectural drawing, something you're trying to build. Well, so is a business. And that's why the three elements we talk about for building the blueprint for a business are a set of goals, time related action steps and a financial budget. So what types of goals? Well, you need short, mid and long range goals. The short term is really 10 days. Okay, like what am I doing for the next 10 days? It's very important, you know, people are predisposed to write goals based on how they see time. Now in our coaching program, one of our secret sauce is we have this profile we call our real strengths profile. This does an analysis of how people see time. So for example, my wife, when our first child was born, she started asking about, I wonder what his children will look like now. I was trying to think about how do we get this baby home. Because I'm a short term planner, she's a long term planner. So everyone's predisposed to write goals a certain way. We need all of the above. We need Short term, which would be something like what am I doing for the next 10 days? Mid range, which would be the next 18 months. And then long range is five years. Now I used to have 10 years, long time ago. But the way the world works today, it's very hard with technology and the speed of life. Five year goals, boy that's an awfully long time. So typically you set the long term goal, go out whether if you're a short term planner, you go out at 18 months. That's huge for you. If you're a mid range planner, you go out the five years. That's cool. If you're a long term thinker, you're able to do the five years. The key for you is what are you going to do the next 10 days. And so in coaching people, this is what we found to help people have breakthroughs. Short, mid, long range goals, 10 days, 10 months, five years. And I'll give you an example how goals just transform everything. It did for me. My first set of goals, I wrote 25 goals. When I went to a seminar, I learned from a gentleman by the name of Lou Tice, very powerful methodology on how to set goals. And I set 25 goals and within a very short period of time I had achieved 19 of those goals. And that's when I became hooked on goal setting. In fact, I've taught over 4 million people in 47 countries in live events how to set goals. I've actually put more people practically to the art of goal setting than anyone else in the world. And the style is built on a science. One of the gentlemen who contributed to that was a Nobel laureate named Mihaly Csikszekmihalyi, a brilliant professor out of the University of Chicago and he wrote a book called Flow. So what I encourage people to do is when they're setting the goals, we play this soft classical baroque style music which relaxes the entertainment seeking side of your brain. And by the way, in today's world with scrolling and being on our phones all the time, that soft classical brokestile music is huge. Allowing the linear, logical left side of your brain to go to work. Short, mid, long range goals, they ultimately bust through your self imposed ceilings. Tell you a great story. I'm doing an event in Chicago and as always I get to a point in the event where I'm going to have people set goals. I set up the environment, I set up the context for setting these goals. I have a couple thousand people in a convention center. We play the soft classical baroque style music. You could hear A pin drop. And typically, I will walk off stage and I'll come back on. I'll let people write for somewhere around 12 minutes. So I ran outside in the convention center. I'm going to the bathroom, and I see this gal who's been in our coaching program for a couple years. And I see her outside on her phone. Anyway, I go to the bathroom, wash my hands, come out, and now she's just scrolling through her phone. I go, what are you doing? Why aren't you inside writing goals? She goes, brian, I love you. You've really helped my business grow. She goes, but I just can't really write goals. I'm stuck. And I go, what's going on? She goes, I just. I'm stuck. And I said, why is that? She goes, well, you've helped me. I used to sell one to $2 million a year in real estate. Now I sell five, which probably makes you making about $140,000 a year in gross commissions. I say, okay, that's great. But I said, why is it you can't write goals? She goes, well, I was a single mom. And she goes, I had three young kids, and I was the no mom. She goes, I had enough just to put food on the table, and I worked hard. But she goes, I never got to do anything with the kids. I was always, no. Oh, our kids. My friends are going, here. Can we go? No, we can't afford that. Can we do this? No, I can't. I want to go to camp with my friends. No, I can't do that. And she goes, so I've just kind of always been the no mom. And she goes, I feel guilty now that my kids are a little bit older that I didn't do those things for them. I said, well, there's the fuel for your goals. You don't have to be the no mom. I said, you already went from 2 million in production to 5 million. She goes, yeah, but I've been stuck there for four years. I go, the reason is you don't have any goals. And she goes, well, you know. She goes, I just don't get motivated by, like, being number one in my office or this. And I said, what would be something if I could wave a magic wand, what would be something you'd love to do? She goes, well, every year for, like, five years, my kids ask me to go to Disney World. She goes, but they're older now. They're seniors in high school, and I don't know if that's their goal anymore. I said, if I Could wave a magic wand if I was to write you a check right now. She goes, and she instantly said, I would take all three of my kids and their friends and go to Disney World for 10 days. I'm like, really? I said, why don't you go inside and write that? Why don't you write it with the passion and power you just said to me? So not only did she write that goal, but she said, I'm going to bring one parent from each family. Here's the true story. I got a picture from her 14 months later of a trip. She brought 12 people to Disney World in Florida, all expenses paid for two weeks and she paid for it all. Now, for someone, that might be a nightmare scenario for her. That was a fulfillment of a goal. Listen to me. That year she sold $15 million in real estate, tripled the production that she'd been stuck at, because she wrote a goal that moved her, that stirred her. And then once she had the goal, what do I need to achieve that? How many people do I need to call? How many referrals do I need to get? How many sales do I need to make? What net income do I need to make in order to afford that? You know what, to go from 5 million in production to 15 million, where she made about $430,000. She paid for that trip 20 times over. The fact of the matter is, goals are powerful and the most essential part of your business plan. Now most people overestimate what they can do in a year, but they radically underestimate what they can achieve in five years. So you got to set those goals short, mid and then long range. Then there has to be time related action steps. What's it going to take? What are the action steps to achieve these goals? What's, how much time is that going to take? You start with the end in mind. You go out five years, then you come back 10 months and then you come back to the 10 days. The 10 days is really the first step on the journey. And then you have to understand what's important. Now. My mentor, Lou Holtz used to say, w I n win. What's important now? Now we gotta have the budget. You gotta have the budget. You gotta have the funds to support and invest to achieve the goals. How much do I need? What's it going to take? How much do I want to achieve and what's that going to make? We want to make you no longer overwhelmed about having a business plan. We want to demystify the business plan. You don't need to hire Consultants, you just need a set of goals. You need the time related activities to go get it done and then the budget to support it. With those three things I'm telling you right now, I ran a small real estate business and I ran a company employing 400 people. And I was able to be excellent at both because I had the business plan. You don't have to be a PhD, you don't need an MBA. You just have the will to find the heart behind your goals. The passion that will move you, goals that will stir you, and then the action steps. It takes the price to pay to get it there. And if you do that, you'll have not only a great business plan in writing, you'll have a great business plan in mind and heart and you'll go out and achieve it. Hopefully. This has demystified having a business plan. That's why we do the blueprint for you.

[B]

So unfortunately, a huge number of small businesses fail in the first 10 years. In your minute, you gave us three steps and made it sound kind of easy to build a business plan. But in reality, what's it like?

[A]

Yeah, and I think it's more than half fail in five years. And it's in real estate. 85% of all businesses fail within five years. So we have the highest casualty rate, even more so than restaurants. And I would say the restaurant business is the hardest business in the world. Real estate is not. A good buddy of mine, Joe Nigo used to say most agents aim for nothing and hit it with amazing accuracy. And I was the same way. And so I got exposed to a guy by the name of Lou Tice. He ran a thing called the Pacific Institute and a brilliant human being and any books you can get by Lou Tice get. But he taught me how to write a goal in an extremely powerful way. And he would teach you to write a goal as if it was in the past tense. So you'd pick a date out in the future and you'd write a goal as if it had already happened. So I'll give you an example. My very first goal was your older brother had been born and I hadn't managed to get home to Ireland. Mom and I had newly married, we just bought a house. So you know, we're scrapping along, trying to make a go of life. It was the first grandchild. So I attend this seminar and I he asked me to write this goal and it's pick a date in the future as if the goals happen. So I write this very powerful goal about going home to Ireland. Bringing your mom there for the first time. Having my mom and dad meet their grandson for the first time. I was going to bring all my brothers and sister home and rent a cottage down in Clare. And I was. So it was this beautiful picture, and it was great. It was a moving goal. But then he said, you need to write down the cost of what it's going to take to do it and the cost of what is if it doesn't happen. Now, I'm. And believe it or not, I'm a very positive person, but I'm negatively motivated. So when I wrote down, what if my mom and dad died and never got to meet their first grandchild, I didn't have another second sentence underneath that, by the way. Was that a possibility? It was. So I had this beautiful goal. What's it going to take? What would be the payoff if it happens? That was all lovely, but when I wrote down, oh, my gosh, like, this is real, this could happen, then all of a sudden, what have I got to do? So that's the action steps. What have I got to do to make this happen? So here's what I did. Now imagine this is 30 plus years ago. I talked to your mom. I said, mom, I want to go home to Ireland. I'm going to put it on American Express card. I'm going to bust my hump and find a way to pay for this. And she goes, that sounds great. Your mom's never really worried about the details. So I booked all of the expenses, all the flights, all the travel, everybody for five boys and a girl. My brothers and sister, my mom and dad, bring me and Bev and the baby home to go to Ireland, go to our house in Dublin and then rent a cottage down by the ocean in Clare, which is always my dream. And I put it on an American Express card. Now, the reason, the significance of that is at the time, American Express didn't have the function where you could pay it off over time. So I had. I booked it in such a way that I had like 27 days until the next bill, and then I had 30 days in order to pay that bill. So I had 57 days to come up with the money to pay for the trip.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

So here's what I did. All of a sudden, I. I had never sold more than six homes in a month. That month I sold 13, and the next, I sold 12, which paid for the trip and then a lot more. It also expanded my horizons to show me what I was capable of. And people said, where'd you get the leads. Turns out I had the leads all along. I just became maniacal about calling anyone who'd ever raised their hand and said I was interested in looking at a home. I called to all the people who said, oh yeah, I'm thinking about putting my home in the market. I called through my database and I got face to face. And I worked in an intensity and a focus, not in a pressuring my clients, but a pressure on myself. Way sold 25 homes in two months. And then I realized I can do this every month. So the goal and the specificity of writing the goal and what happens if you do and what happens if you don't, then the action steps and then what was the budget to make it happen. So everything I talked about writing a plan is set aside in that one goal that convinced me, okay, A, I'm capable of more, but B, what if I actually took a longer term approach to things and I had an actual plan? The plan has to be a dream and has to be aspirational. You need to think about what happens if it happens. And you need to think about what happens if you don't do it. Some cases it might be someone having a goal about health. Well, what if you don't do this? Oh, you continue on the path, you're going to have a heart attack or this or that, you won't be there at your daughter's wedding. You know, those kinds of things. You gotta have the vision, which is the goals, you gotta have the action steps and then you gotta have the budget to go make it happen. I learned on that one goal and now it's evolved to the point where, you know, I have a pretty good sized company, almost 200 staff. And so I started working on our business plan for a three year business plan. I started working on it late November. It'll be ready to be implemented June 1st. So five and a half, six months to build a business plan for three years. Now I have a bigger business than most of the people watching today. Some, I'm sure, are bigger. So I would just say as your business grows, as your opportunity grows. That was a goal for a trip that was taking place within 60 days. But that led me to the bigger plans. The bigger plans. The bigger plans. And so General George Patton said this. He said a bad plan violently executed is better than the perfect plan never installed. And one of the things actually I'd love for you to share is I think there's a lot of people, younger people especially, are stuck in perfectionism. And it's that Perfection. And I've never had a perfect plan. The plan I've been working on for six months is not perfect. It's going to be adjusted. Your principles are written in stone, your tactics are written in pencil. You have to adjust. But I'd be curious to know your take on this whole perfectionism thing, because I think perfectionism in younger people is leading to paralysis.

[B]

Yeah, I think it definitely can. I mean, I was an example of it in basketball in high school. I would dribble down the court and turn around on a free, a fast break and pass the ball to someone else when I was wide open because I was like, if I miss this, everybody's going to look at me and I'm not perfect. And I think in that sense, like when I started shooting the ball, like half of them went in and then it helped me, helped out our team. So in a small way, like that's where perfection really paralyzed me. And then when I got into my sport, and then my sport turned into a business too, like trying to be too perfect would always get in my way. And I'm still on the side of I want to try and be as perfect as possible, which still gets in my way a little bit, but it keeps your standards high. So I think figuring out a way to keep your standards very high while not trying to be perfect.

[A]

Perfect's more of a judgment though, isn't it? It leaves you open to judgment because here's the stats are, you know, they've, you know, they do all the generational work and your generation is the most risk averse generation in a hundred years.

[B]

Well, what do you have to say to that one piece where you have to have a budget to make the plan happen? Yeah, and maybe my generation doesn't quite

[A]

have that yet, but you have resources. I mean, like we talk about the Monarch app. I mean there's a way that you can manage your budget and you have it on your phone. I mean, I was doing all my budgets, reconciling my checkbook. I mean, good grief. Yeah, it's brutal. So there's tools available to you. Where people get stuck on a business plan is you forecast income, you budget expenses. So that's especially for someone who's self employed or in a commissions business. You have to forecast your income, you budget your expenses and people say, well, I don't know what to budget because the commissions come in or the income comes in intermittently. And so you forecast what's coming and you, you have to forecast what is and you have to forecast what can be.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Now, you don't build your budget on what can be. You don't build your lifestyle. Oh, I'm going to make, you know, a million dollars next year, therefore, I'm going to buy the bigger house now. No, you got to make the million bucks before you buy the house, but I think you got to forecast that income, and that's got to be part of your. Part of your plan. And also this. It gives you hope. You know, I've been through three very tough years in the real estate business. This business plan took all of that sober information in, but now it also has a forecast of things we're doing projects, we're doing initiatives. We're doing things we're doing with and for our customers. And so it also gives you that hope. Oh, this is where this is going to go. And you forecast that out and it puts a little wind in your sails. You know, it's got to be aspirational. It's got to be, oh, my gosh, if I do this and this and this, something good's going to happen.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Top of the morning to you. Welcome to Coach him up on the Brian Buffini Show. Farah, tell everybody who you are and where you're calling in from today.

[C]

Yes, I am Farah Spears, and I am from College Station, Texas, which is the home of Texas A and M University.

[A]

Oh, yes. Giga Maggie's.

[C]

That's right. We're gonna have to get you here to a game. You haven't seen a football game until you've come to College Station.

[A]

I actually have been to College Station because when my son played at smu, we went down to College Station one time. So pretty cool. Great stuff. How you doing?

[C]

Doing pretty good.

[A]

How long you been knocking around the Buffini system here, Farrah?

[C]

14 years.

[A]

So what's the one question I could help you with today?

[C]

Well, I lead a group called five Circle Fit with Farah. I stole your name.

[A]

Nice.

[D]

Nice.

[C]

And so we actually, every week we talk about different things. And this week we talked about boundaries, and we were talking about how we all. It's everybody that does this is in the Buffini system. And this is about to be the time for vacations and also the time I'm going to be at peak for 10 days.

[A]

Awesome.

[C]

We talked about how you're able to really get away and truly get away if you don't have a team and you're a solo agent. I sell about 50 houses a year, so I stay pretty busy. And they all are in different levels as well. And what we were talking about is because we do work by referral, you get referrals that come in all the time. You can't time them. And so if someone were to call while I'm in Hawaii, say, and they were to want to get started on the process because their friend had said how great myself or one of the other agents was, and they say, okay, well we'd like to meet tomorrow. And I'm like, well, I'm going to be gone for 10 days. Well, in that amount of time, a buyer can get pre approved, they can look at, they can do inspections. So what do you do when you pass them off basically to someone who's taking care of your business while you're gone? And they spend time with that person, that's part one, to keep that relationship going when they've never really met you. And then two, the person that referred them says, hey, how's it going with Farah? And they're like, oh, we actually have, we haven't ever met her. We talked to her once and she passed us off. And so then that refer goes, you

[A]

know, so, yeah, so great stuff. I mean, obviously this is. We have a number of different dynamics of how we help people build teams and whatever else. Long term, 50 transactions is a very good production fair. And at some point in time, you may be a good candidate for a team. By the way, okay, do you have an assistant?

[C]

I do have an assistant in a transaction.

[A]

Great. So you have a great setup there. And to start with, so you need an agent who's going to be able to cover for you when you leave. Right. And you have one of those. So I think the most important relationship in the business relationship in our system is the person who sent you the referral. And so the key component is. So let's say you refer me, Farrah, to John, and I'm. Brian is going to Maui for 10 days. Okay, I'm calling you up and saying, farrah, just so you know, the greatest compliment you can ever pay me is to send me a referral. It's the greatest thing there is. And just so you know, you know how it is. I work pretty hard. I'm selling 50 homes a year, and a couple times a year I take a little break. So I'm taking a little break. But what I have is I have an agent who's absolutely fantastic who covers for my business when I leave. And she's going to be taking care of John for you. And I just want you to know I'll give you an update I certainly keep my eyes on everything that's going on. And I want you to know they're well taken care of. Okay? So I appreciate the referral. Can't thank you enough for that. And just make, just so you know, they're in great hands and I'll be watching how they take care of everything and wait until I get back into town. That takes it. You know, one of the ways to. You're talking about boundaries is the establishment of an A boundary. And that's where you've established it. Right. So don't be afraid to tell the referring source, hey, I'm taking a break. I sell 50 homes a year like anybody. If anybody went through the buying process and they're going, this gal sells a home a week, that's a hell of a lot of work. And so, yeah, so she needs to take a break and she needs to take a vacation. And by the way, I've got you covered. I have my assistant, I have my transaction coordinator, and I have someone who covers for my business when I'm gone. And then you do the same conversation with the lead that's coming in. Okay? You come to me by way of referral. Referrals are my businesses built. You need to know the person who sent you is a big deal to me and I want to do a great job for you. Now, I sell a home a week. So I do, I work hard and then I take a break. And I'm actually taking a break right now while you're coming to me. But I have someone who I trust implicitly who takes care of my business. My transaction coordinator and my assistant will be involved. And when I come back to town, I'll be here to help you as well. So just so you know, you're in great hands. We want to give you the white glove treatment. You come to me by way of referral and I want to make sure we take care of you. So that's how I'd handle it, if that makes sense for you. And the other thing, I think for you at this stage, at some point in time, it's probably beneficial for you to look into either having a part time buyer's agent or actually someone you bring on long term. And they can be fully commissioned, they don't have to be on a salary. They're learning from you. There's someone who's going to get mentored by you, someone who can generate their own leads, but someone who also, if, when you're like this, see what happens is it's like you could probably Even generate a few more leads if you had places to send them permanently. Is that true?

[C]

Yeah, probably. So. Yeah. It's just, you know, my name is Farah, and I'm a control freak.

[A]

Yep. Well, great. And, you know, so here's the key. You know how we help control freaks win is have fantastic systems in place. Who do you work with at Buffini Co. Pharaoh.

[C]

Oh, the best guy ever. Coach Will.

[A]

Okay, well, Coach Will, who's been with me for 29 years, who not only knows this, coaches this, but teaches this, and actually speaks on behalf of the company. He's helped a lot of people like you go through this transition and bring on one of these referral agents. Will has the scripts to give your buyer's agents the way to account for it, the way to follow up on it, the way to do it. You're already handing your business off to somebody, so apparently you're not as much of a control freak as you say you are. And if you want to be 100% control freak, it means you're never taking vacations or time off. So what we want you to be is in control of the systems, and we have the systems for you. Will is going to be watching this call. This is great for peak experience, but I want to set you up for the long haul. I get it. I've done it myself. Nobody can do it like me. And then I found out there was a. When I had a system, that there was a lot of people could do it like me. In fact, people can do it better than me. And I like to coach him up. But Will Tyler, he's been a coach for 29 years, and he's better at this stuff than I am. And that's because I'm not a control freak. I built a system to produce Will Tyler's for me. Does that make sense?

[C]

Oh, absolutely. And he and I are already starting to work on some of those components. Right.

[A]

You got it. So I'd say for right now, educate the referral source, educate the new lead, make sure the new the buyer's agent does a great job for you, the person handling your business. And then come to Maui. Have a heck of a good time with me. We'll have a few Mai Tai's. You need to relax, recover, and then you go back and go hard.

[C]

Sounds great.

[A]

Great being with you today, Farrah. Thanks for being with me all these years. Our best days are yet to come, girl.

[C]

Absolutely. And we'll see you in just a couple of months.

[A]

Yes, ma'.

[C]

Am.

[A]

Top of the morning to you welcome to coach him up. You're on the Brian Buffini Show. I know this face. This is Zach. Zach, tell everybody who you are and where you're from.

[D]

Thanks, Brian, for having me on. My name is Zachary Tittle. I'm from Escondido, California, and I am a new agent, almost about seven or eight months now. Been working on a team with my mother who's been in business for over 30 years. It's a great mentor, great parent, great to do business with every day. And I just really get fired up every week.

[A]

Well, your mom has been a client of mine for what, 27 years?

[D]

Maybe, I don't know. That's your client.

[A]

Yeah. Right. And you've been coming to the seminars since you were a kid, haven't you?

[D]

True story. True story.

[A]

That's great. So now you're in the biz. Well, welcome in. I'm excited for you. And I'm sure we have a lot of new agents listening in today. What's your question, kid? What can I do to help you?

[D]

So my question is, is that because I'm a new agent, I'm finding a lot of difficulty with my sphere being under 30. I'm 23 years old as well. And so my question is, is how can I get referrals from my friends who are one broke and two, who have broke friends? So I'm a new college graduate and all of us are either just getting into our fields, just gathering money, or are still in the master's programs.

[A]

So here's the good news. Everyone you know has a mom and dad, has an uncle and an aunt, and works for somebody. So your job is to go create advocates. And to some degree, this has always been the case with younger folks who get into business. I was 19 when I got in the business. Okay? So the first thing is to make sure you use your youth as your advantage.

[D]

Okay?

[A]

So I'll give you an example. Do you like. Do you like football at all? Are you into. What sports are you into?

[D]

Baseball.

[A]

Baseball. Okay, well, and baseball does it a little different than most people. But baseball, when you get into the draft, right? Or when you hire, they signed some kid coming out of college who was this, like this skiing's kid for Pittsburgh, right? People get all excited in sports when the new draft choice or the new talent hits the ground running. So when you're talking to people, you want to present yourself as you're the first round draft choice. You follow me? I understand. Yeah. I'm young, I'm enthusiastic, I'm fired up. I may not have all the answers for you, but I'm going to get you all the answers you need. And by the way, my mom's been in the business for 30 years, so when I need help, she comes right alongside me. And she's, she's a total pro. So you use all those things to your advantage. The next thing is what you're trying to create out of your friends and family. Are advocates more than clients? Okay. And so it's, who do you know if you know someone who's thinking about buying or selling the home? The average age of first time buyer is 40. The average age of a repeat buyer is 64. And the number one reason those folks are buying and selling homes at 64 and the average age of a seller is 62 is to be closer to family. Are they trying to be closer to older family or younger family? What do you think?

[D]

Younger family?

[A]

Younger family, always. Right. So the one thing that your generation has is the chance to get married and have babies. And so. And older folks want to live closer to those. Also those folks want to help with multi generational homes. So your job is to turn your friends and your acquaintances into your advocates and let them know what you're looking for. Okay. I'm the fired up young guy who's enthusiastic about real estate. I'm not, I'm not beat up and burned out. This is my fourth recession type thing. I'm, I'm ready to go. So I think that's, that's an important first step. I think you need to do whatever it takes right now to build your database. You know, you're in Escondido. Well, let's say. What office are you working with out there?

[D]

I'm working with my mother's office.

[A]

So she's in Esco.

[D]

No, no, no, no. In Orange County.

[A]

Okay. So what happens is, let's say you have someone who's got a listing there and you're like, hey, I'll hold your house open for you. Here's another dynamic. One out of every seven homes that was listed in San Diego last year was pulled off the market. Now, typically it was an unrealistic seller trying to sell based on 2022's prices. But here's my encouragement to you. I would pull up every withdrawn listing in the last 12 months in the MLS. Okay. So just search specifically for withdrawn listings. And then I would reach out to those people and say, hey, are you ready to relist? Surveys show that 92% of them are. Are you ready to relist? Are you ready for a fresh approach and a fresh face to, to help you market and sell your home? Oh, by the way, little uptick. There's some sales happening in San Diego right now. And so you have one out of seven people, they tried to put their home on the market, they withdrew it, which means the market rejected their price. So now you can come in with a new pricing strategy, a new marketing strategy, and that's a great place for you to look for business. Okay, so focus on the withdrawn listings. I would try to expand my database. If you can do open houses, I would join the Escondido Chamber of Commerce. I would join a local business network international group. In fact, there's one that meets right in the IHOP off Nordell Road there. El Norte Parkway, actually. So I know right where that is. And I would connect with people and other business people and let them know I'm new, enthusiastic, fired up, and never too busy for your referrals. And so you just make the commitment to it. I will say this. I was told what I couldn't do over and over again as a 19 year old real estate agent. And by 23 I was top five in the city. And by 25 I was top five in the state. And by 28 I was number five. I kept being number five, by the way. I was number five in the country. Okay, so I'm fired up that you're fired up. You got a great mentor in your mom. You know, the working by referral system. Just make the commitment to do that. Okay? Build your database, grow it, get it going. You'll be just fine.

[D]

Just to expand on the withdrawn. So almost step away from, to initially get the rocket started and lift off with, with those.

[A]

I mean, I think it's a great way to do it. Like if somebody raised their hand and they tried to put their house on the market and didn't sell it, that's somebody who you reach out to the person say, I saw you tried to sell your house and it didn't quite work out. You know, I put this in a, in a, in a letter to him. And then I'd say, saw that you tried to sell your house. It didn't quite work out. If you're ready for a fresh approach, I'm ready to talk to you about how you can get moved.

[D]

Got it.

[A]

Watch how many of those respond right away.

[D]

All right?

[A]

And just be relentless. Send them a letter, write them a personal note, leave my gift on their front doorstep. Okay. You know, one thing I would do is kind of a ballsy younger person thing to do. I would get some moving boxes and some packing tape, and I'd put a little note next to it and say, give me a call this time. We'll get your home sold for real. Start packing. Put your personal note business card in it. Leave some moving boxes and some packing tape at their front door. How about them?

[D]

Wrote it down right away.

[A]

All right, bud. Great to talk to you, Zach.

[D]

All right. Thanks, Brian. I appreciate your time.

[A]

You bet.