Starting at the bottom

In my first job in real estate I started at the very bottom. I answered phones, I sent mail, I ran errands, I picked up dry cleaning, I filed. Oh, did I file! At the time, I enjoyed my work, but I didn’t really see it leading to a fulfilling career in real estate long-term.

What little I knew then.

Starting at the bottom was, for me, an ideal start to my career in real estate. I got to know the industry from the ground up.

I got to see the importance of having an amazing person on the front counter because of the calming effect they can have on an unhappy client, or the professional impact they can have when a VIP phones in.

I got to see how a more senior staff member’s treatment of juniors and front office staff drastically affects their performance and morale and more importantly – how well that senior staff member gets treated in return.

And now today, there’s barely a task in my agency that I ask someone else to do that I haven’t already done, which means I know what’s involved and how long it should take to complete.

As valuable as it has been to have started at the bottom, there’s ways around it if you didn’t.

Take a leaf out of Virgin Blue’s books where their managers work a day a month on the front line checking in baggage. Or encourage your senior staff to spend an hour on your reception desk answering phone calls.

It’s amazing what you’ll learn by taking a step “backwards”.

Kirsty Dunphey is the youngest ever Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year, author of two books (her latest release is Retired at 27, If I Can do it Anyone Can) and a passionate entrepreneur who started her first business at age 15 and opened her own real estate agency at 21. Now Kirsty does lots of fun things which you can read about here. Her favourite current projects are Elephant Property, a boutique property management agency, Baby Teresa, a baby clothing line that donates an outfit to a baby in need for each one they sell andReallySold, which helps real estate agents stop writing boring, uninteresting ads.