Know Your Area Well

Cem Şimşek

ABC Gayrimenkul - Istanbul

How long have you been in Realty World family? What did you do in your business life before Realty World?

We have been working under Realty World for 9 years. Previously, I worked with my brother in corporate real estate companies. We won the 1st Place in Turkey in this process. Then we met Realty World Family and opened our own office and we have been working very happily under Realty World for 9 years.

Why did you choose Realty World brand?

There were not many corporate companies in the market in the period when we decided to open an office. I joined Realty World Family as I believed when I checked the company that, it would have a very strong position in Turkish market in the future in the reliance of the investments made to the company and the corporate power supporting it. I'm very happy about my choice.

What did you pay consider when choosing a location?

While choosing the office location, I had the opportunity to evaluate the market share and how many consultants we need to employ in one region in order to get the maximum efficiency, taking advantage of choosing a region where I previously worked in. We decided to work in Ataşehir because we thought we could work more effectively. Then, as the number of consultants increased considerably, we adopted a local business method so called project consultancy with a different strategy. We assigned a consultant to each project and moved to Maltepe region in line with the projects we focused on.

How many people are there in your team and what do you consider while choosing your team?

We have a team of 22 people. We have a different approach in selecting our team member compared to other offices. Instead of posting advertisements in job searching sites, we recruit people who come with reference from our own circle. We also hire people who have not worked in the real estate sector before and teach them our own working system. It is more efficient for us to adapt them this way.

What do you think the success of your real estate office relies on?

I believe that the secret of success of our office is to create a family environment by working properly, in an organized manner with the same group of people for a long time.

What have you done so far to break apart from other real estate offices?

As I mentioned before being careful about working with organized and reliable people and focusing on a single area project based rather than spreading around many regions and our strategy for assigning consultants with different areas of expertise to every project, have differentiated us and made us become a well-known and reliable real estate office.

Is it possible that people who does not have must start-up capital and would like to do establish this business from start-up do this business?

I do not recommend to people who have no previous consulting experience, to open an office. However, no experience is required to become a consultant. It is sufficient to have motivation and be determinant. In addition, real estate business is one of the few things you can do in today's conditions with minimum costs in terms of starting your own business. Even if you want to open a market today, the minimum cost starts from 200 thousand TL. Opening a real estate office does not require such high capital. If you have savings to meet your needs and office expenses for a certain period of time, you can start this business and be very successful.

What do you recommend to entrepreneurs who want to buy franchises?

There are various corporate brands in the market. I would definitely advise those who would like to buy a franchise to explore brand strength and advantages offered. Realty World Turkey is very successful in this regard. It makes you feel the corporate strength at your back not only with the team that is composed of extremely caring people and the support they given in every area, but also with their organizations and trainings provided.

Is there anything you'd like to add?

I think those who would like to open an office must have experience as a consultant in the sector. I see a lower chance of success for those who open an office directly. Because managing an office is a matter of competence. Your consultants expect you to intervene in the event of crisis and manage the event with your knowledge. Therefore, before opening an office, it is necessary to have sufficient data and knowledge about the sector.