After five years of trading successfully as an independent office in the inner west of Sydney, Chris Wilkins felt it was time to take his real estate business to the next level.
He saw two options to achieve his growth goals; risk a lot of money trying to lift the profile of his own brand, or join a franchise with a strong national brand.
He chose to join Ray White.
Chris’ story began a little differently to most principals. He started his career in real estate as a property manager, working for a franchised business at Strathfield. Four years later at 23 years of age he declined an offer to buy into that business, and resigned to take a well earned extended break. It was after a day at the beach that a good friend’s father called to ask where Chris was working and to tell him that he really needed him to manage his investment property.
“He said he was on his way to the existing agent’s office to pick up the file and wanted me to take over the management immediately. Without really thinking I said OK. Before I knew it I was setting up trust accounts, designing a logo, setting up systems and dealing with all the other aspects of opening a new real estate business” Wilkins said.
Despite the unexpected beginning Chris slowly built a solid business, operating firstly from his parent’s lounge room and eventually moving into a small office a couple of years later. He found himself managing properties all over Sydney and eventually starting picking up sale listings as well. By 2001 he had a good sized rent roll and big plans for the future.
“I got to the stage where I wanted to keep growing, but I realised I couldn’t lay every brick myself. The question in my mind was; how am I going to get the help I need to grow into a big business? Over the years I had come to know some of the key people within Ray White and had a good relationship with them. When the local Ray White business came up for sale in 2002, it felt like the natural next step for me.”
“The biggest reason I decided to join was definitely the brand, although the resources and training were very attractive too. The changeover paid off almost immediately. The phone started ringing more often, we got more listing appraisal requests, more buyers, we even had more people knocking on our door trying to sell to us! My longest standing clients congratulated me on making a good decision.”
“Basically, it seemed like we went from being small fry to big fry overnight.”
As to the question of independence, Wilkins says he still gets to make all the decisions that are important to him.
“The only things I don’t decide are things I honestly don’t really want to - like how the signboard will be laid out or how logo changes should be. I’ve had the experience of doing it all and although I don’t regret it, I’m now more than happy to let someone else worry about those things. I want to focus on running my business. I don’t want to be sweating the small stuff.”
And for those just starting out on the road to business ownership, Wilkins offers his own take on the brand versus boutique debate.
“No two people are the same. The only way I can simplify it is to say I think those with a business head should look at taking on a brand. In my opinion, it’s the best way to build a large business. Those who aren’t really business focussed and just want to sell should look at independence. The goodwill for that style of person is really in their own name.”
