“The merger and acquisition that EDI helped us with was probably the biggest deal that’s happened in our local real estate market. It was executed perfectly, and it probably wouldn’t have happened without their guidance.” 

— Gary Miller
RE/MAX of Pueblo Inc.

The Challenge

FINANCIAL INSTABILITY STALLS GROWTH 

Gary acquired a real estate brokerage and was eager to put his growth plan into action. However, once he assumed control of the company, he realized the assets were not as robust as expected and the bookkeeping had not been well managed. 

Without a clear picture of the financial state of his new business, Gary was unable to create a budget, make projections, or hire staff. His growth plan stalled. 

“It was an ongoing problem and we needed to do something, but we had no idea what because we didn’t know where we were financially. We didn’t know if we could afford to hire help. We really didn’t know anything. It was awful.” 

As Gary and his team worked hard to make sense of their financial position, expenses continued to grow while revenue diminished after some of their top producers retired. 

“We were headed for deep trouble, and I didn’t know how we would keep going. Our future was looking bleak.”

The Solution

BRING IN A SPECIALIST TO MAKE A PLAN FOR LONG-TERM SUCCESS 

A few months into his new venture, Gary’s partner heard Wayne Einhorn, President of EDI Enterprise Performance Group, speak at a broker conference and knew that Wayne could help them through their challenges. 

Gary reached out to Wayne and was immediately impressed by his vast experience, his forthright appraisal of Gary’s circumstances and his warm demeanour. Gary knew that in Wayne he had found someone who would be as invested in his success as he was. 

“It was so nice to find a coach that would become such an integral part of my team. From the start, Wayne was encouraging and helpful which was great because it was all so overwhelming. I knew that I had just found a coach, a mentor, and a friend.” 

Wayne got right to work helping Gary and his partner determine what their goals and priorities were for their new brokerage. Then they sorted out the finances. With a clear understanding of the company’s cash flow, Wayne and Gary created a budget and developed an effective growth, acquisition, and recruiting strategy that would allow the brokerage to grow their profitability—and meet their targets—faster. 

“I needed someone to help me figure out where we were going and to help me make a plan on how to get there. Wayne was so helpful. To have someone beside me who has seen it all is fabulous.” 

The Result

OPPORTUNITY LEADS TO MASSIVE GROWTH + INCREASED PROFITS 

With Wayne’s insight and guidance, along with Gary and his team’s hard work, the brokerage got back on track and maintained its position as top producer in Pueblo County. Wayne helped Gary strengthen his growth mindset and sharpen his business sense and it didn’t take long before Gary identified a great opportunity to expand again. 

Gary hired Wayne to develop an accurate valuation and a solid strategy while guiding him through the acquisition. With Wayne’s direction, Gary was successful in buying the brokerage which had a significant impact on his business. 

“This merger and acquisition was a big, big deal. Wayne helped me develop a clear picture of the value and what I should offer. He structured it really well and we were able to retain almost all of the new agents.” 

The acquisition grew Gary’s agent count by 50% and skyrocketed his profitability. Together with Wayne, Gary and his team developed a recruiting program that transformed their talent acquisition process tremendously. 

Gary values Wayne’s extensive knowledge, breadth of experience and targeted solutions. He intends to continue working with Wayne to maintain his forward-thinking approach while focusing on growth. 

“Wayne’s on my side, he’s my teammate. Since working with him, we know where we’re going. My team and I have a much, much brighter future.”

“My partner and I were very successful agents that didn’t have a business. We wanted to build a brokerage that we could operate at 30,000 feet and not be involved in the day-to-day operations. EDI helped make that happen. I feel more comfortable in business than I ever have before.” 

— Larry Schottenstein
RE/MAX Revealty

The Challenge

LACK OF BEST PRACTICES SLOWS EXPANSION PLANS 

In 2016, Larry and his partner were ready to expand their brokerage. Their goal was to build a business that didn’t require them to be involved in the day-to-day operations or rely on their real estate transactions to be profitable. 

“You can’t be a successful transaction agent and run a highly successful brokerage at the same time unless you have more than 24 hours in a day.” 

Larry and his partner knew that recruiting the right agents was critical to building a thriving business. When Larry set out to expand their team, he quickly learned that finding suitable agents was more challenging than he’d anticipated. 

This roadblock was the first of many. The partners had yet to develop a business model, mission statement, or processes. Fortunately, they recognized early on that they didn’t have the expertise to do it effectively on their own. 

“I didn’t realize how complicated and involved recruiting is. And how difficult it is to put a plan together. I had underestimated how much I had to learn about the whole process.” 

The Solution

INVEST IN AN EXPERT TO CREATE A STRONG FOUNDATION 

After wasting time and money on their flawed recruitment plan, the partners learned that trial-and-error was not the way to build a solid business foundation. They realized that hiring a coach early in the process to assist with their expansion would be a wise investment. 

When the partners found EDI Enterprise Performance Group, they knew right away that they wanted to work with them. 

“There were other coaches out there who knew a lot, but they were aggressive or too salesy. Our EDI coach has street cred, he’s solution-oriented, and our personalities and temperaments match. We never doubted that EDI was the right company for us.” 

Together, EDI, Larry, and his partner built a business model that would be profitable and pay them dividends, then developed a plan detailing objectives, strategies, and core business activities to achieve their goals. 

Their coach then helped the partners create and implement a financial forecasting and reporting system and an operational plan to deliver the results they wanted. 

With a solid road map in place, EDI, Larry, and his partner executed an efficient recruitment strategy that would free the partners to concentrate on growth initiatives.

“Our coach has seen it all and done it all, and we haven’t. We had to unlearn our old way of doing things. He helped us start looking and behaving like a business.” 

In 2018, Larry and his partner sought EDI’s guidance to successfully execute a merger and acquisition strategy that grew the business even more. 

“We had an M&A opportunity, but we had never done anything like that before and having our coach’s perspective and advice was instrumental in pulling it off.” 

The Result

ASTRONOMICAL GROWTH + ADDITIONAL REVENUE STREAMS RESULT IN A BIGGER BOTTOM LINE 

Larry and his partner’s investment in coaching has paid off. With EDI’s guidance, their brokerage has grown 435% in just 5 years, making them the largest RE/MAX brokerage in Central Ohio.

Since hiring EDI, the partners’ business has been on an upward trajectory with no sign of slowing down. Because the day-to-day operations don’t consume them, they’ve had time to develop ancillary services that bring in additional revenue, further increasing their bottom line. 

Their EDI coach was instrumental in ensuring that the partners consistently applied their mission statement and value proposition across all their services and worked seamlessly in conjunction with one another. 

“We needed someone to help us do the hard things. Our coach helped us achieve our goal of having a successful real estate business. Now he’s helping us navigate the implementation of these new services. We started offering mortgage services three months ago, and it’s already making money. It’s off to a good start.”