The Real Estate Industry Has FAILED You – And It’s No Accident

Let’s start with some hard truth: The real estate industry has set agents up for failure.

The CEO of Compass, Robert Reffkin, recently said what many of us have known for years—NAR (National Association of Realtors) is failing agents by not preparing them for the real world of business.

And he’s absolutely right.

Think about it—agents pay thousands of dollars in dues, take endless courses, and sit through mind-numbing trainings, yet most still don’t know how to actually run a business.

They’re handed a license, told to pick a brokerage, and then thrown to the wolves with a “good luck!”—as if that’s all it takes to succeed.

But let’s get real.

A real estate license doesn’t teach you how to get clients.

A brokerage doesn’t guarantee you leads.

And “hope” is not a business strategy.

The Missing Ingredient: Business Acumen

Here’s the real issue: Real estate agents aren’t taught business acumen—the fundamental understanding of how a business operates and grows.

Business acumen (n.) – The ability to make smart, strategic decisions based on an understanding of financials, marketing, sales, and operations.
It’s the lifeblood of any successful business.

Yet, most agents never develop it because the system never taught them.

Now, let me give you a real-world example that will hit home:

Imagine a chef who loves to cook.

He’s amazing in the kitchen.
Everyone raves about his dishes.
So, he decides to open a restaurant.

But no one teaches him:
How to get customers in the door
How to price his menu for profit
How to market so people actually show up
How to build a team and manage finances

What happens?

The restaurant fails.

Not because he wasn’t a great chef, but because he wasn’t taught how to run a business.

That’s exactly what happens to real estate agents.

You can be the best negotiator, the best market expert, and the hardest worker… but if you don’t understand how to grow a business, you’ll struggle, period.

The 5 Functions of Business Growth (That No One Taught You)

If real estate courses actually prepared agents for success, they would focus on these 5 core functions of business growth:

1. Lead Generation – If you don’t have a predictable way to get leads, you don’t have a business.

2. Lead Nurture – Most leads won’t convert right away. Do you have a system to follow up and stay top of mind?

3. Conversion – Do you know how to turn those leads into actual clients? This is where sales skills come in.

4. Delivery – Your ability to deliver an incredible service experience that creates referrals and repeat business.

5. Retention/Resell/Upsell – The most successful agents don’t chase new clients 24/7. They build a database that feeds them deals for life.

Master these five things, and you have a real business.

With these 5 principles you have learned more about business acumen in this post than you have from your real estate courses.

If you ignore them, you’ll be on the hamster wheel forever.

The truth is, real estate isn’t about just joining a brokerage and hoping for the best.

The top agents—the ones making real money and building real businesses—aren’t just “agents.”

They are entrepreneurs.

They understand that selling homes is just one piece of the puzzle.

The real game is building a system that generates leads, converts them, and creates repeat business for life.

So, the question is:

Are you just playing agent?

Or are you ready to build a real business?

Because the ones who figure this out?

They don’t just survive.
They dominate.

This is exactly why we teach our clients the fundamentals of business growth

1. How to generate leads
2. How to nurture them
3. How to set appointments
4. How to do a great buyer & listing presentation

If you wanna learn about these things we have a special 2 day business planning workshop happening in March.

Register here: https://funnel.sheridanst.io/virtual-summit

Cody & Vikram
Founders of Sheridan St.
Hosts of The Re Agent Podcast

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