What differentiates our most successful clients from everyone else?
“To be in business is to be willing to take risks. If you’re not comfortable with risk, you probably shouldn’t be in business.”
—Karim Lokas, Co-Owner of RPM Experts
What differentiates our most successful clients from everyone else?
In preparation for this issue, I flew out to Charlotte to visit our cover story company and oversee the photography you see in this magazine. Since I had watched Karim’s company ascend to over 300 doors so quickly, I had a great conversation with him about how he had the courage to enter this new industry and move with calculated confidence.
You’ll read about his blueprint for a fast launch and continued growth in his article. But, on the flight home, I started thinking about how differently he acts than some of the other business owners I’ve met. This led me to wonder: What separates small, service-based business owners who successfully scale from those who get stuck?
With over five years of working directly with residential property management owners and over 20 years of working with small businesses on their sales and marketing, I’ve seen some patterns repeat themselves.
These four main characteristics stand out to me the most from my experience.
The Difference: Identity
Most owners of property management companies see themselves as a property manager, and that’s it. This is not uncommon in small businesses, as I saw myself as a “web developer” when I launched my first company—Pound Interactive.
This identity stayed with me through many hires and years as I grew the company. But then, one day, I realized that my time was best invested in hiring, marketing, partnerships, finance, and strategic decisions. I started to introduce myself as a business owner, and I scheduled my days accordingly. Things took off.
Our fastest growing clients have a leader at the top of their org chart—even if that entire chart contains only a single person—who views themselves as business owner instead of a property manager.
Jeremy Pound
Jeremy Pound is the CEO of RentScale and Juicy Results, two firms that help companies systematize and scale their sales. In the last decade, he has helped craft and implement online marketing strategies for countless companies that range in size from the smallest of businesses to Fortune 100 companies.
