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About Shire

Shire’s philosophy has always been to challenge the status quo. We never accept ‘what is’ over ‘what can be’. And whilst our aim has never been different for the sake of difference it invariably seems that we are constantly creating distinction.

For most of the last decade Shire Real Estate Agents continually reinvented itself with a deliberate focus on creating the finest brand of real estate service available. This of course meant the promotion of the brand as the façade of the product. The result was a public perception that Shire was a large multiple outlet corporation that was young, dynamic, innovative and professional.

This perceived image of Shire, as a corporate giant appealed to us but not the likes of what we had seen in the franchise mould, co-operative or marketing group. The franchising system was flawed with a lack of good leadership, management and system training, poor or non-existent sales recruitment and training, low level technology and dated marketing. In short there was very little return other than the corporate identity in exchange for fees based on percentage of turnover rather than profit – outrageous!! The co-operatives and marketing groups were much more economical but lacked the same service and support of the franchises, only more so. In short, the size and image was about all that was on offer.

At Shire Corporation we are acutely aware that our success is founded upon creation and maintenance of the tools that our competitors fail to provide. And as for similarities or imitations available, we improve and offer an even better product.

There is however one definitive difference for anyone that partners us as opposed to those involved in the franchise grindstone or fragmented training. That difference is happiness. Happy with the service, the rewards, the freedom and the most importantly the care we show toward their business.

After all it would be incredibly hypocritical to call ourselves professionals if we couldn’t look after and care for our partners the way we expect them to care for their clients.

Don’t you agree?

My Own Business

From the time I was exposed to business as a child I dreamt of owning and operating one, especially a sales business. Selling fascinates me and the idea of building and running a great business is an irresistible adventure.

On Remembrance Day, November 11 1992 after several years spent developing successful real estate sales careers; we took the opportunity to own a real estate agency. We had no idea of how to run a business. We knew we would take the chance though. We were proven salespeople and we were very confident of success.

Frantic Survival Mode

Our early strategy was simple. Work every waking hour, list a lot of property, sell a lot of property, spend as little as possible, put all the income from sales into the bank and we should end up with a lot of surplus cash. With a small office, one receptionist and all the free labour we could muster from family and friends our overhead was low. Our determination to make sales bought the income and for six months this approach worked.

The problem however, was that this couldn't go on forever. Either we would die from exhaustion, or the family or friends would eventually desert us. In any case, we weren't running the business it was running us!

In between anxiety attacks we decided it was time to consider the future. The growth and management of Shire Real Estate Agents would require more than two salespeople and a much more sophisticated strategy.

Business Lessons

So we set about learning all that we could about building a real estate agency business. About management, leadership, marketing, training, recruitment, accounting, in fact we absorbed information on anything and everything we could. We spent tens of thousands of dollars on books, seminars and audiotapes. We then sought out successful and not so successful real estate agents and studied what they did and didn't do. What we discovered excited and scared us at the same time!

What excited us was that it was possible to structure and build a system to manage the business. To find people, train them and form a sales team that could be led to grow the business. We could create and utilise unique marketing mediums. Best of all we believed it possible that one day we could own and operate the business but be free of demands that we work within it.

What scared us is that we had little experience and the majority of those that did had failure rather than success. The risk was frightening.

Cautious but committed we forged ahead. Piece by piece we began to build a business, Shire Real Estate Agents at Knightsbridge Shopping Centre, Castle Hill.

We began constructing a plan that focused on financial control and growth linked to sales goals that demanded the introduction of more salespeople and support staff. Profits were dedicated in three areas; cash reserves, property investment and company growth.

Ten Foot Tall + Bullet Proof!

Over those years at Knightsbridge we enjoyed some terrific success. Clients, sales, staff, profits, skills, market share and experience escalated to a point where we outgrew the office we were in.

With a budget of around a million dollars we made the boldest decision to that point and decided to purchase premises at Terminus Street in the Castle Hill CBD. This meant leaving the 'secure niche market' which many of our competitors attributed to our success.

So in 1996 we decided to relocate our business and 15 staff into the middle of the competition. Within 12 months Shire Real Estate Agents became the dominant force in established residential real estate sales in Castle Hill.

Although we were not consciously aware of it we had successfully built a robust small business. The future looked bright and we thought the transition to a large scale corporate model was a natural one - how wrong we were!

Branding

We assumed that Shire Real Estate Agents had become an identifiable brand. We eagerly set about securing various trademarks around the Shire name such as Shire Sells Real Estate, Shire Total Property Management among others until we eventually registered the name Shire.

We also created the Shire Operating System. One of the key components was our recruitment mechanism. No other real estate company had gone to such lengths to ensure that its product, Salespeople, was consistent, of fine quality and reliable. Other major components at his stage were the Shire Client Care Culture and the brand marketing.

Duplication

With the fifth year of what I now know to be a small business structure behind us I then began impatiently to turn my attention to talk of a grander vision. The creation of a process that would enable us to repetitively create Shire Real Estate Agents outlets based upon the prototypical system we had built at Castle Hill. We then planned 150 Shire Real Estate Agents outlets within ten years.

(In hindsight I am now aware that these aspirations were akin to the realization of Shire Real Estate Agents as a corporate brand. The number of outlets demonstrates this. In reality we were clearly headed toward the franchise model which in principle we were opposed to.)

Once again we were challenged and my energy could be channeled! When I first murmured this idea people thought it far too ambitious. Naively we forged ahead believing we were on the right path.

The thing was that we were unique and we knew it. There were many philosophies and practices that made us different and made the difference between Shire Real Estate Agents and our competitors. So it was that the first challenge to succeed with the first duplicate of Castle Hill with the least amount of physical input. This location was Northmead and the partner would be a salesperson named Wayne Gay.

In an almost identical fashion Wayne methodically followed the blueprint for the Castle Hill agency implementing all that we had learned with the exception of several steps - the mistakes! This was an important advantage that I learned from establishing the Northmead outlet. Because we were now aware of what not to do, Wayne achieved in just one year all that had taken us three! In just two years he became the dominant agent in his service area! After three years in business Wayne is clearly where the model office was in its seventh year. He has purchased a new house that which he owns outright. His business operates in credit and has purchased premises from which to operate his sales team of nine.

With this accomplished I began to think 150 outlets in ten years conservative. Once again we assumed the road ahead would be easy.

The Franchising Fracas

In the year 2000 three more outlets were added, two of which were the conversion of established agencies. Last year a further two outlets came on line and saw a move that secures presence throughout the NorthWest sector and Hawkesbury/Nepean. As was normal for us, we were a year ahead of plan and determined to forge ahead even further.

It was at this point that the deficiencies in our structure began to emerge.

When we canvassed our brand for others to join us we were quick to make the point that we were not a franchise. We articulated our model as the Shire Real Estate Agents Partnership where the individual owner/operators would license the various trading names and products under the Shire brand in return for royalties.

The 'partners' would receive support in management, leadership and sales via our various training schemes. What we did not realise at the time was that this type of business, no matter what you called it, was franchising. And the very same issues that still exist in the franchises today were suddenly confronting us. Many of the issues surrounding the franchise operation, especially the vulnerabilities will be made apparent later in this manual.

Suffice to say that the growth pattern we had been experiencing came to an abrupt halt. Partially because of the snails pace logistics in training new outlets and their teams around the prototype models, partially because the franchise strategy had no longevity in the emerging market place and somewhat because the selection process failed to make what we call the perfect match around our culture.

We lost two outlets whilst simultaneously gaining another and launching other associated businesses. Clearly we were in reactive mode rather than proactive. We were ten years into the business and for the first time we'd fallen off the exponential growth curve. This wasn't as obvious to the outside world however, to whom we appeared bigger than ever. This said, we knew that if we were to fulfill our intended destiny there would have to be significant change in our direction.

Corporate Lessons

It was during this time that I embarked on Leaders Live. What began as a field study in an attempt to find some answers to the challenges we faced then became a business, but more importantly a classroom fully enriched with the wisdom we needed to show us the way.

What we learned then and continue to do so now is the culmination of the contributions we receive from Australasia 's preeminent leaders. It has meant total clarity in every aspect of our business now and in the future. We are now taking what was an extremely successful small business and turning it into a scale corporate model.

The Future Arrives

We have given Shire Real Estate Agents a corporate infrastructure that supports much higher production, we have given it much more diversity in resource that will strengthen it to be even more competitive and less vulnerable, we are positioning its brand to facilitate longevity in the customers mind, we are affording its contributors equity through sweat and capital so that its growth path is certain and our risk exposure diluted. The future is bright.

In short we have become a proactive company determined to dictate our outcomes rather than reacting to an uncertain environment.

The Shire Operating System

The Shire Operating System is the total real estate agency solution.

Every operational aspect of real estate business is defined into categories referred to as pillars. These underpin the Shire brand. They are also the basis of the system we implement, grow and maintain in each of our clients businesses.

The pillars are progressively and individually developing into support products in their own right. Whilst they are representative of the difference the Shire OS offers in contrast to other management, training and support mechanisms they are clearly designed to facilitate the replication of the prototypical corporate model.

Click on the links below for a detailed look at eachpillar