We caught up with the brilliant and insightful TJ Ojehomon a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
TJ, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? We’d love to hear the backstory the illustrates how you grew the firm
When I decided to finally go into business for myself, I had an uphill battle to climb. It was at the beginning of COVID, I had a second child on the way, and didn’t have a lot of business to jump into. On top of that, in the Nashville/Middle TN area, real estate has a very strong market. There are probably close to 17,000 realtors and agents in the area and everyone’s “competing.” There was the looming question of, “How in the world would I be able to stand out?”
When you’re jumping into new territory, there’s a part of you that wants to find every excuse or fear to go back to the way things were. However, I was at a place where that just wasn’t an option. I chose not to complicate things and started with what I had. Thankfully, before I started real estate (which was a few years before I started working for myself) I had a background in banking and finance. The information, skills and confidence I received from that timeframe would be pivotal in helping me transition to what I do today. I decided to be a teacher and lead with being a resource for my community. Offer information someone else wants to charge you $49.95 for, and partner with other professionals who have the same heart. I hosted workshops, free consultations, complimentary showings, discounted credit reviews, podcasts interviews, and took miscellaneous phone calls. I developed myself by meeting with other professionals, took classes, online courses, and read more books. As I started to become a trusted professional and my reputation became more credible, this allowed me to begin to service more clients. At the same time, I had to make sure that my processes, procedures and customer service was top notch. It’s one thing to get people to work with you, but another animal to give them a great experience. I had to find the right vendors to refer clients to when needed and I had to be very intentional about my digital footprint. Last but not least, I invested in myself before I asked that investment of anyone else. To make sure I could handle compliance needs and marketing for the first year, I invested $4000 into business bank accounts, hired an accountant and kept track of what I was doing.
All of these activities began to create lead after lead, referral after referral, and opportunity after opportunity. Before I knew it, I realized I was building a business.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I’m a full time licensed real estate and financial professional that specializes in financial literacy coaching, residential home sales, real estate investing, home ownership education, and mentorship. I have a background in leadership, banking, finance and small business that give me a more complete perspective with operating in my field. I have a huge passion for young adults, community relationships and community impact. I’ve been dubbed “The Nashville Teaching Realtor” because I’m a big teacher at heart. Information and data is power, and the better we can equip our community with the right knowledge, the better we can all thrive as a whole.
In 2021, during the heat of one of the hottest real estate markets in history, I was able to strategize and help my home buyer clients receive over $100,000 in concessions and discounts from sellers. This is when every realtor said that it couldn’t be done at that time. This allowed me to help scores of clients achieve home ownership at reduced costs using favorable programs and not feeling regret after closing. In fact, some of my clients even got money back on closing day. I strive to do things differently and think outside the box to achieve the best results.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
If you’re trying to create success, you’ll quickly realize how valuable your time is. In fact, it’s an asset. One of my early lessons of entrepreneurship was knowing the difference between being busy versus being productive. Being constantly busy usually just leads to a bunch of activities that actually don’t create real opportunity. But being busy is addictive because it gives the illusion of progress. The problem is there’s no real intention or blueprint behind it.
Being productive is where your strides are made. People have asked me for my time, presence or resources in all capacities. The more I mature, the more important I realize that I don’t have to be a “yes” man and everything that glitters isn’t gold. Sometimes it’s just glitter. I instead focus more on tasks that create value and progress. Sometimes that’s big goals and sometimes it’s small activities. But ultimately when I look back week after week, quarter after quarter or reflect on the entire year so far, I can effectively measure my success. As I tell my other peers, there has to be an end game at some point. We’re not called to work until we die. I’m a big believer that if you’re intentional early, you reduce so much unnecessary stress and eliminate wasting a ton of time.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
I believe knowing timing and having insight before you start your business is important. I started practicing money management intentionally around 23, even when I wasn’t making a ton. But the habit of saving money as a principle prepared me for eventually making a strategic investment into a business. I also saw how several small businesses ran before I ventured out on my own. Oftentimes, people love working for the biggest brand names and companies they can find. Thankfully, I worked for a small management firm where I helped contribute to its growth and success in a leadership role. By being in that role, I participated in strategies around logistics, accounting, marketing, vendor partnerships, contractual setups, terms and conditions, company policies, client relations, customer service and other key components that you don’t often see when working at the bottom. Those critical conversations helped me reframe how I thought about business, and it also pointed out how important capital investments are to grow and expand a business.
The old montage of, “it takes money to make money” is a very true statement. But it also doesn’t take a lot of money to start most businesses. I only invested around $4000-5000 when I went full time in real estate. That money was to cover my license and monthly expenses for the year, plus give me a little bit of marketing money and operational costs. It wasn’t much, but it was a huge difference maker. I was starting to get low on the accounts, but just before I did, I closed on a transaction and was able to reinvest back into the business finances. Take your accounting seriously. I would recommend setting up at least 4 business accounts with your bank of choice. One for revenues, operations, marketing and tax reserves. That way, you can see how you’re allocating funds. Also, have a reinvestment plan. I put back 20% of everything I make back into the business and about another 25-30% for tax reserves. This keeps my accounting alive and I’m able to keep diving into new opportunities on a regular basis. If you can, start off trying to cash flow your business first before introducing any debt. In my first year, I was able to organically grow my business capital from $4000 to about $25,000, which doesn’t include tax reserves. Grow at the right pace for you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tjojehomon.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenashvilleteachingrealtor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NashvilleTeachingRealtor/
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/tj-ojehomon-nashville
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/tj-ojehomon-realty-one-group-music-city-nashville-nashville
- Other: Search for real estate in Nashville on my site: https://tj.nashvilletopagents.com/