Navigating Challenges with the Help of a Business Coach
My name is Jonathan Makovsky. I am the Founder of JMX Realty Group, a real estate platform with various arms, including a real estate brokerage where we help buyers and sellers with their real estate needs, a building and fix & flip arm, and a rental business where we own and operate rental properties.
Struggling to Find Balance in Business
Running your own business requires you to perform a lot of different functions. So, before I started working with my business coach, Benjamin Fitzgerald, I was utterly overwhelmed and unable to balance things well in my business.
The business required me to navigate many complex challenges, but I didn’t have anyone to talk them through with. I could talk to friends and family about the business to a degree, but they were balancing their own busy lives. It was a lonely time and I needed someone to help me talk through the challenges and find balance.
Finding New Approaches to Challenges with a Business Coach
I realized that a business coach could provide that guidance and balance I was looking for. So, I interviewed some prospects who were known to work with real estate companies. I also interviewed a few coaches online, including Ben.
Ben stood out to me because his holistic, personalized approach to coaching was aligned with what I was looking for. When we spoke, he would speak to me like he was my business partner, which I really valued. He felt like a real person.
Ben also stood out to me because he was clearly the type of person who would always be there in a pinch and go the extra mile for his clients. Not only does he deliver during a session, but he also puts in the work before and after sessions. That way, his coaching is always tailored directly to my business and my needs.
Ben and I are in different locations, so we meet via video call for about an hour approximately once every week or two. This works well because it allows us to be flexible based upon what is happening with the business at the time.
Ben does a lot of prep work before every session, so he always has great guidance. However, he also lets me take the lead and talk about my priorities that week, which I really appreciate.
First, he lets me talk about what is going on with the business and what is on my mind, and then he provides a framework to help me address my needs.
He has the ability to challenge me and make me think in ways that I don’t naturally. As a result, I am able to find interesting solutions to challenging questions. He is also great at working through the nitty-gritty details of problems while keeping the big picture in mind.
After our sessions, Ben always provides summary notes and assigns us both to-dos of what needs to get done between sessions to ensure that we are always progressing.
Maximizing Productivity and Sales with a New Framework
As a result of our coaching work together, I have had many breakthroughs and have been able to take my business where I wanted it to go. Together, we tackled many challenges that I wasn’t previously comfortable with, such as personnel challenges.
He is always there to talk things through when I need him. While Ben is not an expert in the real estate industry, his abilities are complementary to mine.
“Working with Ben is like having a co-founder for the business without having to sacrifice half of my business to someone else, which is so valuable.”
Ben has an amazing ability to see and coach talent. He provides frameworks to help me work with my employees and get the most productivity from the team. He also helps me frame the work in a way that my employees are actually motivated to do the work. Before working with him, I had no idea how to approach personnel challenges like this, so having Ben as my business coaching guidance has been a game-changer for the business.
“I started working with Ben in 2021, and by 2022 we had our best year in sales, best year in building, and the biggest growth of our team.”
Now, with his help, I believe we are set up to have some very good years in the future.