How and Why Realtors Should Apply the Lean Canvas Biz Model? A Practical Approach

In a nutshell, Lean Canvas is a one-page page business model that can serve as a practical replacement to traditional business plans. It is generic enough to accommodate businesses of all types and sizes, including Real Estate.

Lean Canvas Main Elements

When you create your Lean Canvas, you will need to fill in specific sections in a specific order:

• 1.Customer Segment
• 1.Problem
• 2. Unique Value Proposition
• 3. Solution
• 4. Channels
• 5. Cost Structure
• 5. Revenue Streams
• 6. Key Metrics
• 7. Unfair Advantage

In the following video tutorial, Aaron Eden, Garious founder, explains the meaning of each term as it relates to real estate professionals. I encourage you to watch it, especially if you are new to the lean canvas model, before proceeding with the rest of the article.

Why Real Estate Professionals Should Apply The Lean Canvas Model

• For starters, a lean canvas is doable as you can complete the entire canvas in a matter of few hours
• You do NOT need to fill in all of the sections at once. Your unfair advantage, for instance, may require sometime to build up. However, the simple act of filling what you know today will give you huge momentum and empower you to focus your business goals in the right direction
• Unlike business plans that focus on predicting the future, the lean canvas model focuses your readily available resources and how you can leverage them effectively
• Your lean canvas is a work in progress that you keep tweaking. So, it frees you from worrying about being so accurate or correct from the get go
• The lean canvas help you become more customer-centric as you have to address their pressing problems and present your services as a viable solution to them. Cultivating a customer-focused mindset will enhance your brand message and maximize your chances of acquiring new clients

Practical Example on How Real Estate Professional Can Apply The Lean Canvas

Please click on the image to view it in full size

Key Takeaways (from the example above)

As you noticed, the customer segment definition was so narrowed to specific zip codes and family circumstances. As a Real Estate agent, you want to believe that people from all walks of life need your service and perhaps, this theory is true.

However, trying to sell to everyone will dilute your brand message and scatter your energy around the endless channels through which you breathlessly try to reach your clients!

If you are trying to sell to everyone online, you can easily get lost in the social media maze!

Here is a checklist of some points to consider when deciding your target market segment:

• Do you have a track record of helping this exact niche in the past? (Answering “yes” to this question can magnify your unique value proposition and your unfair advantage)
• Do you share some commonality with your niche? (For example, if you are offering Real Estate services to families with kids, it helps if you have kids or to be a native resident as indicated in the example above. This is NOT a must but would definitely allow potential clients to relate to you better)
• What is the percentage of people in that niche in the neighborhood you serve?
• What is the size of your competition? (Ideally, moderate competition is the best place to establish a good market share. No competition can be a signal that your chosen niche is not worth selling to, but that’s not a rule of thumb as you may discover some untapped markets.)

The good news is that, in addition to helping you attract your target clients, social media can also help you in answering all these questions so you can refine your target market definition.

In the following presentation, Aaron discusses how to use social media for target market identification.

Where You Go From Here…

The process of accurately filling your lean canvas requires hard work, but the rewards you will reap are well worth the time and effort you put into it.

To further help you out, we will be publishing in-depth posts that cover every section in the lean canvas model in detail*. Stay tuned for that!

In addition, Garious will be launching a practical hands-on book that guides you step-by-step through the entire process. (Feel free to click here to read the introductory chapter and get added to our invite list)

Hey, if you happen to be in Tucson, AZ on Jan 26th, we’re inviting you to attend the Social Media For Real Estate Professionals Training Event. See you there!

You Have The Mic…

What’s your take on the lean canvas business model? Have you tried it before? How was your experience? Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts.