A mortgage brokerage shop is just another small business, and like many small businesses, quite a few are suffering in the current economic environment.
Yet, as a recent article in the Broker Section of Origination News proclaimed, brokerage owners need to run their shops just like any other business.
A recent study from Intuit Inc., Mountain View, Calif., said that for today's small business to success in the future, the ability to innovate is a necessity.
Meanwhile, Robin Fisher Roffer, the chief executive of Big Fish Marketing, said small business owners can't let themselves, or their business become paralyzed by fear. "In times like these it's more important than ever to maintain your brand identity and focus on what makes your company stand out, what makes it great. You have to be what I call a 'fearless fish out of water' - shining a light on those qualities that make your company different and more desirable than the other businesses in your industry," she said.
Ms. Roffer has seven steps to being a fearless fish out of water in the small business world, and how they will help you survive and thrive in this economy:
- Go fishing for the real you. It's time to focus on what your business does better than your competition and put that out there to your clients and prospects.
- Use your differences as a lure. Don't just hunker down, do the work, cut back on expenses, and try to keep as many clients as possible, she said. "Small business owners get so caught up in stressful economic times like this that they essentially just start going through the motions to keep their doors open. Unfortunately, often this means they start giving their customers the bare minimum. Now is the time for you to hone in on what has always made your business great," she said.
- Find a few fish like you. Now is the time to build relationships with your clients so that you can anchor yourself in these rough seas.
- Swim in their ocean your way. It's okay to tailor your ideas to fit a clients particular needs or style; just make sure you hold onto the core of what makes you, you.
- Put yourself out on the line. Businesses that shine a light on what's different about them are perfectly positioned to make a difference.
- Evolve by casting a wide net. As any business owner knows, each year can be vastly different from the one before it, and 2009 is already a whole new world compared to 2008. We have a constantly changing economy and a new president, and our clients will certainly have different needs this year from last. In tough times many business owners hold strong to doing what has always worked for them in the past, but Ms. Roffer says refusing to change with the times can have disastrous effects on your business's success.
- Reel in your unique power.
At Intuit, Roy Rosin, vice president of innovation, said, "Small businesses instinctively use innovation to create new products and services, efficiently manage their business or find and acquire customers. These innovations are the keys to their future."Small business owners are natural innovators, the study found, with their inspiration driven by three needs: necessity, opportunity and ingenuity.
Their smaller size makes it easier and cheaper to try new approaches faster than larger businesses. These six enablers include:
- Personal passion: Personally invested, most small business owners are willing to try new approaches to make their business more successful.
- Customer connection: A deep and direct relationship with the market and customers helps small businesses understand customer needs, identify new opportunities, and fix problems quickly and efficiently.
- Agility and adaptation: Unlike large corporations, small businesses can quickly adapt to changing market conditions and implement new business practices.
- Experimentation and improvisation: When pursuing new opportunities, many small business owners and managers aren't afraid to experiment and improvise, accepting failure as part of the path to success.
- Resource limitations: Small businesses are adept at doing more with less. And these resource constraints lend to their innovative mindset.
- Information sharing and collaboration: Small businesses traditionally rely on strong social networks to share information and inspire innovative thinking.
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