10 Tips for Starting Your Virtual Transaction Coordinator Business

Hey You!

Looking to own your own Work From Anywhere business?

I’m telling you… this is the time to do it! Job uncertainty is at an all time high due to a little thing called the Coronavirus Pandemic! Unemployment etc. If you’ve been considering starting an online business NOW IS THE TIME!

Being able to work from ANYWHERE and make a decent income is a dream for many people. I can so relate! I have been blessed to be able to work from home as a real estate agent and transaction coordinator for many years.

It has allowed me to be there for my family in a way that I wouldn’t be able to still working for Corporate America; especially my kids. I’ve been able to pick my kids up from the bus everyday, have breakfast or lunch with them at school, attend school functions and tend to them when sick with ZERO guilt imposed by a “boss.” These were my initial “why’s” for embarking on a career in real estate in the first place.

As many of you know, I help aspiring entrepreneurs like you launch and grow their own Transaction Coordinator business from scratch. If we haven’t met; Hey!! My name is Courtney and I am the founder of The TC Playbook, a bootcamp that provides step by step instructions on starting your own Transaction Coordinator (TC) business; even if you don’t have real estate experience. I give you the tools to ditch your 9-5, launch, grow and scale your virtual TC business all from the comfort of your own home; or anywhere for that matter!

In this post, I’m giving you 10 actionable steps you can do TODAY in order to start your own virtual Transaction Coordinator business

*Get your FREE download, and learn how to start an online business* 
The TC Business Roadmap

1. Start thinking about your BRAND

The first step here is choosing your business name. You’ll want to ensure the name is available as a domain name. You can check out GODADDY  for domain name availability. You’ll also want to do a name search with your state’s treasury department online before you file for your LLC.

When coming up with a business name make sure it’s simple, easy to remember and easy to spell. Keep in mind you’ll be using this name across all Social Media channels and your website so consistency will be key.

Another note on branding, is deciding what your brand colors will be. One tool that I use for brand color inspo is Pinterest. If you already have a main color in mind, you can put that search “color branding board.” For instance, I used “Gold – Branding Board” and here is what came up:

Once you have your colors you can work on your logo. If you are uncertain on what you want for your logo, a great tool to play around with is a DIY logo maker called Tailor Brands. I’ve used them to create my logos. Alternatively, a free option is Canva.

NOTE: Set a deadline for your name, colors, logo! Really, a week or 2 is all you need to maul over the choices and make a decision.

If you don’t decide quickly, you will get stuck. I see so often aspiring entrepreneurs will spend months trying to figure out a logo when they could’ve been making money instead. Don’t be that person!

So set it and move on. You can always change it later if it’s really bothering you but you’ve got to be able to make decisions quickly so you can move on to the next steps.

Once your name and branding are set up you can go ahead and create your social media channels. Choose channels you already interact on regularly to make it easier. There are free apps like Later that allow you to set up 30 days worth of posts. This is a great way for agents to check out your business.

2. Choose your business structure

Once you’ve identified a name you will want to obtain a business license through your state licensing department. In order to do this, you will need to decide on a business structure; i.e. will you be operating as an LLC, Corp. or Sole Proprietor? You can learn about the different structures through the Small Business Association. They are a phenomenal resource for information about this as well as other things that can assist you with business start up.

The next step on your business journey is to apply for your EIN number with the IRS. This is how the IRS identifies your business for tax purposes. You’ll also need it to open your business bank account.

3. Set S.M.A.R.T goals 

When setting your goals, make sure they are S.M.A.R.T. By S.M.A.R.T, I mean specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, Timely. So, lets pick income for example. One of my favorite business books is “The Millionaire Real Estate Agent” By Gary Keller. It’s a Real Estate business book but the lessons and takeaways can be utilized in any business. He recommends working backward for income goals. Determine what you want or need to make in a month, a quarter, a year and work backward. A typical TC fee per transaction is anywhere from $300-$500 depending on your market. You will want to go online and research what others are charging and work from there to determine your fee.

So let’s just say your fee is $350 per transaction and you want to make $5,000/mo. then you will need to have roughly 14 transactions per month.

In my market, this is easily accomplished as it is a very fast market. I have been able to exceed this number with just 1 or 2 busy agent clients.  The busy agents closing a lot of transactions each month are your target clients. Once you've set and income goal attach a time frame to it. Do you want to make this within 6 months of your business? Now you have something to sink your teeth in!

4. Learn the lingo

Due to the fast pace nature of a real estate transaction, you will want to make the most efficient use of your time. There are lots of acronyms thrown around! There is a learning curve but you’ll want to become fluent as soon as possible. For instance, what an ATAC (Amendment to Address Concerns) is or PSA (Purchase and Sale Agreement). Understanding the agent’s language is important for building trust.

5. Identify Your Ideal Client

The riches are in the niches. The transaction coordinator role is already a niche in the virtual assistant space, but you can niche down even further by identifying your ideal client. We are not solving a problem for every agent. So who is your ideal client? What are they searching for? What specific needs do they have? What is their familial status? What is their biggest pain point? 

6. Market Your Brand to Your Ideal Client Profile

There are so many ways to market but for me, my go to in all of my businesses has been Word of Mouth. Referrals will always be bae! But beyond that, the rule of thumb is go where THEY are. Here are a few other free ways to generate new business:

1. You already know some realtors, START with them!
2. Go on Instagram and use hashtags to search for the real estate agents in your area a follow and engage on their page.  Popular hashtags in include city/neighborhood name followed by “real estate”, “realtor”.
3. Contact local brokerages and ask if you could do a presentation at their next monthly/weekly meeting.
4. Network at the next real estate tradeshow or local Chamber of Commerce meeting.
5. Join Facebook realtor / real estate groups.

7. Master Your Messaging

Once you've created your ideal client's profile, it becomes easy to craft messaging around their pain points. Create your elevator pitch, a short, concise description on what it is you do. Mine is ” I help aspiring entrepreneurs like you launch and grow their own Transaction Coordinator business from scratch as quickly and as painless as possible.”  When thinking about your pitch, it’s also helpful to decide your mission statement; which is a longer ideal what your business is and what you hope it will be. This is mission statement is for you and will be what drives your company even as you scale.

8. Craft your Client Experience Process

Start early in developing standard operating procedures in your business, as once you become busy, it becomes more difficult to focus on them and they will be necessary when you’re eventually ready to scale your business. Your procedures should include a seamless process for onboarding new clients which starts with a discovery call. You’ll want to be up front about what your services are (and what they are not), What an agent and their clients can expect from you and what you expect from your client, when and how you are paid, your business hours and best way to contact you, etc. You definitely want to have the client sign a contract/agreement that outlines these things. Having these items in black and white are a must and will prevent issues later down the line. Make sure your client experience process includes getting a testimonial. Referrals are the lifeblood of any small business, so get as many raving reviews as possible. 

9. Set up Systems for Success

Again, developing procedures and systems early on in your business is KEY. Systems will set you free. My goal is always to make my systems as automated as possible. Not only does it make your life easier, but it adds professionalism to those outside of your business looking in. “The Cash Flow Quadrant” a great book by Robert Kyosaki uses systems to separate the self employed on the left side of the quadrant from the business owners on the right side of the quadrant. Without going off on a tangent, I’ll just leave you with this quote “When business owners need more money, they create a new product or create or acquire a new system that produces money.” Systems are Bae!

Starting your system can be simple. A system doesn't have to be computerized and it doesn't have to cost an arm and leg. I started out as a TC, I used a paper checklist ($free.99) but as I scaled and began to invest in my company, I needed more robust systems to track my transactions. 

10. Finances

Ahhh finances! We all love making money… but it is important to understand business finance to some extent or hire someone who does. It is much easier to go ahead and set your business account up earlier on and funnel all your money through it. Trust me on this! It makes it that much easier during tax time.

Invest in a bookkeeping system to track your expenses and income like Quickbooks or Freshbooks. I believe they have free options when you are just starting out. You can even use Excel; just try to track and organize as best you can. As a self employed entrepreneur, you are responsible for taking your own taxes out of your income so you’ll also want a good tax professional that can advise you and assist you with maybe setting up quarterly payments so you don’t owe so much at tax time.

Are you ready to learn how to start your online business as a Virtual Transaction Coordinator biz yet??

*Get your FREE Download* The TC Business Roadmap