How to Scale Your Business with CRE Technology
Blog 3 of 4 in the ‘How to Build a Data-Driven CRE Company’ Series.
In order to thrive in this new digital era in the commercial real estate industry, businesses need to move from a growth model to one hyper focused on scaling. In our minds, there is a clear distinction between firms that grow their business (increasing input and output at the same pace) and those who are able to scale (increase output without increasing input). Growing revenue without tacking on expenses might seem like a pipe dream, but hear us out. With modern technology and a little bit of guidance, you can turn your CRE company into a scalable powerhouse.
Here is the #1 problem that we see with CRE firms that are looking to grow. As they acquire more revenue streams in the form of property acquisition, they are simultaneously increasing their headcount. Now don’t get us wrong, some new hires are inevitable and can even be advantageous to your business operations. The problem is that most firms are hiring personnel to handle processes like data collection and analysis, which historically have been manual processes, until now.
Fact: In today’s day and age, technology has completely changed the way that CRE firms do business and its usage can have a direct influence on your ability to scale. Hiring more personnel to collect data and run analyses can not only prevent you from maximizing NOI from your new acquisitions but can also have adverse effects. All it takes is one “fat thumb” to do nearly irreversible damage in the form of spreadsheets.
There is, however, a way to protect your investments from manual spreadsheet errors and reduce expenses to help your portfolio scale – CRE technology.
Investing in the right technology will not only make scaling your CRE company realistic but also will reduce unnecessarily repetitive processes in your firm. This will prevent you from having to increase headcount and free up your team to focus on NOI boosting activities. Technology like Lobby CRE allows CRE owners to establish standardized and repeatable processes to reduce manual errors and help save time. With data collection and reporting automated, you can use those timely insights to help drive growth in your CRE firm at scale.
