How this one simple “Routine” elevated our real estate business to over $6 million.
I will never forget when Alex and I decided to start CC Solutions. We quit our jobs, bought a tri-plex, and started CC Solutions in the same week. After the extremely busy period of transitioning out of our old job, closing on and painting our new tri-plex (yes we prepped and painted the entire house ourselves), and moving into that same tri-plex, we were ready to conquer the real estate world! Only problem, we didn’t know what the hell we were doing. While we ran a division of a company before, we never started a business ourselves. In our other jobs, we always had “structure” to follow, even if it was loose structure. We were finally free, on our own, free birds! And we were going to enjoy it!
We woke up when we wanted and we worked on what we had to that day (usually 12-15 hour days).Then we retired for the evening feeling tired but accomplished. Only problem was that we worked our butts off but never really knew what we accomplished or if what we accomplished was even getting us closer to our ultimate goals. We went on like this for a while, struggling to gain traction.
After a few weeks of loving this new life, we quickly began to resent the lack of structure, and more importantly the lack of results. The change we made from there was to implement the “routine” that literally changed our business overnight. After we implemented this routine we were able to work less and achieve far better results.
This simple routine is now known to my team as “The Daily Huddle.”
Every single week-day we commit to meeting at our office (our living room), or through Google Hangout for our virtual teammates, at 9am EST and going over 4 things:
1. Your highlight from yesterday
2. What’s up today?
3. What is your number one goal for today (KPI as we call it)?
4. What is your biggest roadblock (where are you stuck)?
This helps us for various reasons but the 3 biggest benefits this had and continues to have for our business are
1. Helps us know EXACTLY what we are doing that day and when we are doing it
- I personally hour by hour my entire day, every day.
2. Keeps a steady flow of communication between all members.
- Even when it was just Alex and I, things get lost in the hustle of the busy day. It is good to reflect on the good, the bad, and the ugly of the business.
3. It keeps us accountable and consistent.
- There is something about the flow of a daily huddle that makes everyone much more accountable to the rest of the team. If you are slacking or stuck, it won’t last very long.
And the absolute best part about this routine? It takes us 15 minutes. No matter what, we end our huddle at 15 minutes. Ain’t nobody got time for long, drawn out meetings.
“What if I only have a team of one?”
If you only have a team of one, I suggest you do this exact routine every single day with yourself. It will still achieve all of the above benefits. You will know exactly what you are doing that day, you will be able to reflect on business issues, and it will keep you consistent and accountable (even to yourself).
We keep track of this daily huddle in a simple Google sheet where everyone writes in their KPI and roadblock each day. At the end of the day each member marks their KPI red or green depending if they hit their goal or not.
If you are starting out, or have been in this business for a long time, implementing a daily huddle will dramatically increase your company’s results. It is one of the biggest reasons CC Solutions has been able to grow so rapidly in the past 18 months. Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
In order to be excellent and have an excellent business, you have to be consistent and form great habits. The “Daily Huddle” is the foundation of all the other habits you will build in your business.
Here's to building your future!
-Christian Chasmer
