Applying A Business Guru's Insight To Multifamily Apartment Investing - Part 2

Business Guru Peter Drucker gave us a brilliant equation - business equals marketing plus innovation. In a previous article we looked at the first half of that equation - marketing - to learn how multifamily apartment investors could improve their marketing efforts. In this article, we will consider the second half - innovation.

Some people might be under the impression that there is only so much innovation that can be done. After all, multifamily apartment investors aren't inventing a new light bulb or the next electric car. However, there is plenty of innovation you can do! Even within my proven system and processes, there is plenty of room for your own clever innovation. Here's how you can innovate easily:

First, list out all the steps that you typically do in a multifamily apartment investing situation. (If you're new to this field then write down the steps you think you'd do and augment them as your experience educates you). Make sure that you start with the basics like "find a multifamily apartment" and go all the way through to "cash the check" when you successfully (and profitably!) exit from the investment. You will have a long list, but that's okay. The more detailed and the longer your list is, the more chance you have to innovate.

Next, look at your list. Look for steps that you can combine. Some of those steps might be obvious: Combining several separate renovation activities into one single action of hiring a general contractor is a good example. Some of those steps, though, might not be so obvious. For example, is to combine steps like "finding investors" and "finding tenants"? It might not be right in every situation, but you might hit upon an innovative idea by combining two or more items that might not normally be combined. (After all, that's how we got the automobile and the light bulb and the internet and just about every other invention).

If combining items in your list doesn't work, try eliminating them all together. Yes, you read that correctly. Eliminate one of your items and see what your business looks like. Chances are for most of you, there are several critical business practices that you cannot eliminate without turning your business from a "for-profit" business into a "non-profit" one! But in my experience, there are probably two or three items on your list of steps that you can eliminate safely without impacting your business. Now consider the implications of eliminating these steps: More profit from less effort!

A third innovation method to consider is automation. Many new-to-the-business entrepreneurs do the same work over and over on every project. A few classic examples include: Rewriting an agreement for each new deal when a boilerplate agreement with minor modifications will save hours. Or, calling to get five to ten estimates on a project when a good relationship with two or three contractors will save so much time. Or, writing classified ads every time you have a vacancy rather than keeping a couple of well-written ads on hand.

By adopting an innovation mindset, even in a structured and time-tested business model like multifamily apartment investing, you'll find ways to be just as effective at what you do while spending less time, money, and effort, and ultimately enjoying greater profit.

Peter Drucker gave us the powerful equation "Business equals Marketing plus Innovation". Smart multifamily apartment investors keep that equation in their minds and are always looking for ways to market and innovate more effectively to grow their businesses.