I started my real estate business Property Mavens in 2012, under the challenging circumstances of being unwell and I learned a number of valuable lessons.
After helping 100’s of clients, the poor treatment of my ‘sisters’ in real estate really incensed me, so at 50 years old, I began the path to creating the start-up Property Mavens Franchising. After a massive, challenging and exhausting year, my business is now franchised and was officially launched in January 2019…
I am proud to announce that I am the first woman to have franchised a real estate business model for buyer and vendor advocacy services, which has been designed by women, specifically for female estate agents.
My experiences over the years have taught me to;
1. Seek expert help and join a business community of like minded entrepreneurs to access a
brains trust and develop a professional support network. After all, you are who you surround yourself with
and it can be a challenge if your friends or family are not self employed or entrepreneurial. Sometimes they just don’t understand what you are doing or why.
2. Engage an experienced and qualified business/industry mentor to guide you in your specific profession or industry – it makes all the difference to success at speed versus plodding along
3. Delegate and outsource where you can, so that you only use your time for high value and income generating tasks
4. Don’t be naïve or too trusting. If yours is a great idea or concept, it’s worth stealing, so make sure you protect your intellectual property via trademarking, non disclosure agreements and copy writing your materials.
5. What are you trying to achieve? What is your vision. Whatever it is, dream bigger and stretch beyond your comfort zone. Don’t be afraid to try something new, take a new course, or experiment with a new passion or hobby. The more you learn and expand, the better you’ll be able to guide others.
6. As women, we need to stick together and collaborate. Especially since working women in many workplaces and industries still face so many challenges – gender based pay inequity, discriminatory recruitment and promotion practices, sexual harassment and the constant juggling of work and family commitments.
7. Have fun along the way. Life is short and the pressure and stresses of running your own business can be offset by making sure you have a laugh each day.
Go forth and prosper.
We Are Emersyn uses an inclusive definition “female” and “women” and we welcome trans people, women, genderqueer women, and non-binary people who identify, have identified, or have been identified as female, women, or non-binary.