Introduction

In this edition of our Founder2X newsletter, I'm going to break down what the crucial business functions are for a successful appraisal practice or business and how I would go about systemizing and automating them if I had an active CRE appraisal business today.

The four main business areas or functions in any appraisal business include:

1. Leadership & Management
2. Growth (Marketing, Sales & Recruiting)
3. Appraisal Services (Operations)
4. Finance & Administration (Back Office)

I grew and scaled my CRE appraisal firm from 6 to 7 figures and successfully sold it with a 7-figure, all-cash exit in late 2022.

Since then I've been engaged by several small and mid-sized CRE appraisal business owners as a business coach to help them systemize and automate their appraisal firms.

The following are the solutions I am recommending to the appraisal business coaching clients I am working with today.

1. Leadership & Management

In my coaching practice for larger appraisal businesses, I teach the owner or partners and their leadership teams a complete professional management system.

This professional management system includes a structured strategic planning process and ongoing strategic planning meeting rhythm.

This entire professional management system is detailed in Gino Wickman's two books: "Traction" and "Get A Grip".

I highly recommend these two books to all my appraisal business coaching clients.

I also highly recommend they read Michael E. Gerber's book: "E-Myth Revisted".

In terms of software, I recommend Ninety.io to my larger clients to manage their leadership and management processes.

Ninety.io

Ninety.io is the software I highly recommend to manage the leadership and management functions for any small to mid-sized business.

Ninety.io is an all-in-one integrated relational database for small businesses, allowing them to manage the following key areas:

• Data
• Rocks
• Vision
• Issues
• To-Dos
• 1-on-1s
• Meetings
• Directory
• Org Chart
• Headlines
• Processes

Ninety.io allows a firm to have a complete business operating system (BOS) and...

• Manage it's strategic planning process
• Develop KPIs and scorecards for key business areas
• Manage and run very effective and efficient meetings
• Manage goals, projects, and to-dos across the organization
• Have a central place to house all of its process documentation
• Create an effective org chart with responsibilities liked to processes

I am a Ninety.io affiliate and partner, so if you are interested in this, please reach out to me.

2. Growth (Marketing, Sales & Recruiting)

In order to grow effectively, you ned to acquire and retain: (1) new clients and (2) new talent.

Most smaller CRE appraisal firms have limited or no ongoing marketing or recruiting processes.

In my opinion, it is critical for you to have "always-on" marketing and recruiting for your CRE appraisal business!

HighLevel, or GoHighLevel.com, is a true all-in-one CRM marketing and sales platform for small and mid-sized businesses. 

(Note: Recruiting will be addressed later in this newsletter.)

Online marketing (social media & paid ads) is becoming the go-to-solution for small business marketing efforts today.

Businesses also need an effective CRM to help them manage manual outreach via calls, emails & text messages.

Prior to HighLevel, a small firm needed to cobble together numerous individual solutions to do the following:

• Call Tracking
• Website Building
• Email Marketing
• Surveys & Forms
• Document Signing
• Tracking & Analytics
• Online Communities
• 2-Way SMS Marketing
• Building Sales Funnels
• Workflow Automations
• Reputation Management
• Booking & Appointments
• CRM & Pipeline Management
• Social Marketing Management

Most appraisal firms I work with have virtually no CRM or online marketing and sales systems in place.

With this single, all-in-one integrated solution, appraisal firms can now compete with top national firms.

3. Appraisal Services (Operations)

To compete in today's highly competitive CRE appraisal space, appraisal firms need to leverage technology for their end-to-end appraisal production process.

Appraisal firms need the following four software solutions, at a minimum:

• RFP/Quote/Award/Assignment Management System
• Subject & Comparables Database
• Report Writing Software
• Appraisal Templates

Some of the main players with all-in-one solutions in the CRE appraisal space offering these solutions include:

• Valcre
• LightBox
• DataComp
• Datappraise
• Realquantum

If you are interested in any one of these five CRE appraisal software solutions, please reach out to me for some confidential insights!

While not a full all-in-one solution, in terms of an advanced report writing platform for appraisal teams, an honorable mention goes to:

• StartDeck (a new solution from Tom Armstrong, founder of Narrative1, purchased in 2015 by ExactBid)

4. Finance & Administration (Back Office)

Accounting, Bookkeeping & Finance

Most small and mid-size businesses already use QuickBooks or QuickBooks Online, the defacto industry standard in the accounting/bookkeeping space.

• QuickBooks or
• QuickBooks Online

Human Resources - Software

These solutions help you manage various HR functions that small appraisal firms just aren't expert or competent at:

• Time Tracking & Attendance Management
• Performance Tracking & Management
• Employee Onboarding & Offboarding
• Benefits Administration
• Compliance
• Payroll

Some of the top all-in-on HR softwares serving these critical HR needs are:

• Gusto
• Grove
• Namely
• Paylocity
• PurelyHR
• Homebase
• BambooHR
• TriNet Zenefits
• Zoho People/Recruit

Human Resources - PEO Companies

When I first started out hiring employees and scaling my CRE appraisal business, I realized I needed a complete outsourced solution to help me with all of my HR needs.

Initially I went with Paychex, and later on, as I was more successful scaling my firm, I progressed to Insperity as my PEO company.

For those of you who aren't aware, a PEO, or professional employer organization, is a type of full-service HR outsourcing known as co-employment.

In this arrangement, the PEO performs various employee administration tasks, such as payroll and benefits administration, on behalf of a business.

Some PEOs also have strategic services, but no two are exactly alike, so it's important to research providers and compare their capabilities with:

• 401(k)
• EEOC
• Compliance
• Workers' Comp
• Recruiting & Training
• Benefits Administration
• Payroll & SUI Management

Candidly, most small firms are at substantial legal and financial risk due to possible compliance issues and wage & hour disputes.

Teaming up with a good PEO company goes a long way toward getting this huge administrative burden and potential HR risks off your plate.

Some of the biggest and best PEO providers nationally include:

• ADP
• TriNet
• Paychex
• Insperity
• Justworks

There are also smaller national and regional PEO companies you may want to investigate.

Conclusion

The four main business areas or functions in any appraisal business include:

1. Leadership & Management
2. Growth (Marketing, Sales & Recruiting)
3. Appraisal Services (Operations)
4. Finance & Administration (Back Office)

Systemizing and automating these four key areas or functions in your CRE appraisal business is made much easier with some true all-in-one softwares and outsourcing solutions.

I advise my CRE appraisal coaching clients to focus on and do what they do best -- commercial real estate appraisal -- and outsource all the rest.

If they can't afford to outsource a given area, the next-best alternative is to leverage some of these state-of-the-art software and automation solutions.

I hope you found this newsletter helpful. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions.

Calvin Cummings, The Founder2X Coach

Email: cc at calvincummings dot com

= = = = = = = = = = 

If you're an appraisal business owner and like these newsletters, please share these with other appraisers or business owners you know.

Also, please consider working with me as your appraisal business coach. I scaled my CRE appraisal business from 6 to 7 figures and sold it successfully for 7 figures, all cash. I can help you do the same if that might be of interest to you.

I can help you and your peers two ways:

1. Founder2X Newsletter - Go to www.CalvinCummings.com, click on Newsletter at the top, and Subscribe to Founder2X Newsletter. Every Saturday morning I share what I did to grow, scale, systemize, and ultimately sell my commercial real estate appraisal business successfully.
2. Founder2X Coaching - While you're there, go to the Coaching page and Book a Free Consult Call with me to see if our Founder2X Coaching Program might be a good fit for you and your appraisal business or practice.