Springfield Business Journal_2021-05-10

SPRINGFIELD BUSINESS JOURNAL · 11 MAY 10-16, 2021 SMALL BUSINESS T he Alpha Realty story begins in high school. That’s when Adam Johnson and Aaron Owens sparked a friendship that has turned into a 50/50 business part- nership. The early-stage growth of the startup real estate bro- kerage even surprised the founders, who say they’re blending life and business throughout the company culture. Five questions with Owens: What are ways you and your team have demonstrated small-business grit? Grit to me is taking a risk and sticking with something until you accomplish your goal. There are sometimes when people have too much grit and they probably should pivot. Me and Adam had people discourage us from starting a brokerage. We decided to make that jump anyway. We knew that what we wanted was more important than someone telling us it proba- bly wouldn’t work. The real estate market is tough; there’s a lot of competition. For us, it’s that idea of being resilient, having a positive attitude, keeping expenses low and providing that good customer experience. What’s your No. 1 survival tip? We are big proponents of running a lean business. When it comes to marketing in our industry, there are a lot of expensive and traditional ways to market. We just tried to find creative ways for cheap or free marketing. Social media was big, and strategic partnerships and networking early on, using our sphere of influence. What that did was allowed us to keep our price point low for agents coming in. What’s one trend your company has bucked? A lot of real estate agents think they have to do billboards and get their face out there, in radio and TV and magazine. For us, the very first thing we wanted to do was create video con- tent. We have not done any traditional marketing. What’s the one thing that will propel you forward in the next year? Our goal is not to be the largest brokerage in town. But all of the new agents, the ones that have recently gotten their li- cense, making sure they are equipped and trained properly to accomplish their goals is really going to help. The five-year plan was to have 40 to 50 agents. We hit that a lot sooner. The most important thing for us is keeping that relationship with every agent. You start losing that once you start getting hundreds of agents. Secrets to recruiting and keeping quality employees? We have not done any recruiting. Me and Adam have not reached out to any agents to come join Alpha. It’s really important for me and Adam to have personal relationships with every agent. We ended the first year with 20-some agents, ended the second year with 40-some and we’re up to 55, 56 agents. Maybe it’s cliche, but if you build a business and a system that people want to be a part of, you don’t have to recruit be- cause there’s no convincing needed. Our industry is a little bit different, because agents are 1099 contractors; they’re not employees. But if I have a secret to recruiting and re- taining, it’s making people feel valued. Interview excerpts by Editorial Vice President Eric Olson, eolson@sbj.net. TALK TO US TODAY MissouriSBDC.org COME WITH QUESTIONS. GO WITH CONFIDENCE. Every business can use a little support. The Missouri SBDC is here to help you get the information you need to make confident decisions to help your Missouri business succeed. Services available include: It doesn’t matter if your business is a metro area start up or a rural company looking to expand. The business experts of the Missouri SBDC are your neighbors, dedicated to helping your business grow as far as your vision can take it. Personalized, One- On-One Consulting Online and On-Site Training Help with Pandemic Financial Assistance EVENT TITLE GOES HERE AND MAY USE A SECOND LINE Subtitle Goes Here The Missouri SBDC is funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. SBA. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Contact (add center contact information here.) DATE Day Month, Date, Year TIME 00:00 PM - 00:00 PM COST $XX LOCATION TBD Adress City, State Zip Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, cons ectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea comm do consequat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliq ip x ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, cons ectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi e im ad REGISTER TODAY | URL LINK GOES HERE MISSOURI Business Grown Here. The Missouri SBDC is funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. MCKENZIE ROBINSON 1 3 Aaron Owens Alpha Realty MO LLC Title: Co-owner and agent Years in Position: Co-founder Founded: January 2019 2 4 5