Outwork Any Problem: Daryl Owen On Indie Brokerages, Perseverance & Not Letting Identity Block Change

Next Level Agents: The Kevin & Fred Show - Interviews with the best and brightest minds in the real estate industry

To have staying power in real estate, mindset and the ability to pivot is key. We have to be willing to make big changes to our models, and have the courage to do things differently. The problem is: many business owners get their identity so wrapped up in what they’ve been doing that making such a change is too hard.

We get so caught up in what we’ve done for the last 2,5 or 10 years that we won’t budge from a model, even if it isn’t serving us or our agents.

Daryl Owen has always been committed to where he wants to go, not where he’s been. That has meant shifting from the brokerage model to the team model. His mindset on his real estate business was forged in his early days, where a serious head injury nearly destroyed his dream. His ability to outwork hardship quickly paid off, and this mentality has been instrumental in his success.

Daryl shares his story, how he got started, the struggles of running an indie brokerage and the power of pivoting, identity be damned.

Quotes

You want to have ancillary businesses when you have a brokerage firm to make it worth it because there’s a ton of liability and overhead. -Daryl Owen

Most agents underestimate how relentless you’ve got to be with the follow up. -Daryl Owen

Key Points

Leaning into the team model

The turnover rate of agents joining and leaving the industry is high. No matter what a brokerage does, you’ll be burning through money and resources, pouring in as much as you can, but still not moving the needle. A lot of people underestimate getting into this industry and what it means to be successful. They think it’s the Million Dollar Listing Lifestyle, but the truth is, you spend the majority of your day drumming up business.

You can always outwork the problem

Daryl went from thinking his real estate dream was over after suffering head trauma in an accident to being the top agent in his office. He was cold calling 500 people 7 days a week, and even though he couldn’t speak well, no one was doing as well as him in his office. What facilitated his breakthrough was a massive perspective change, the realization that it could have been worse, he was saved for a reason and he was going to make the most of it.

How to take an agent from 0 homes sold to #1 in the office

You can’t make an agent productive, you can only provide an environment that facilitates growth. But if you’re dealing with an agent who has the drive, but just needs the structure, standards and handholding, that’s something you can provide. You’re giving them the scaffold to succeed, but not the fuel.

The indie brokerage challenge

In an independent brokerage, there just isn’t enough money to go around to get everyone the tools and support they need. It’s hard to service agents with the way the splits are structured. You can be an independent brokerage with 1000 agents (one of the biggest ones), but even at that point, you’re still not big enough to make it work at scale. In a team, the financial model is set up so it benefits the owner as well as the individual agent.

Commit to where you’re going, not where you’ve been

Real estate agents and business owners in general get in the way of their own growth because it’s in a new direction. Many of us have our identities so wrapped in what we’ve been doing, we’re not willing to budge even if it would be better. By untangling our identity from our business models, we’re able to pivot effortlessly.

For more information, head to https://www.darylowen.com/ and follow @darylrowen on Instagram

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