Whether you've been in the real estate business for years or have just set up shop, starting from scratch in an unfamiliar town can be challenging. It becomes even more so when you're situated in a port town like Felixstowe, with thousands of potential clients and competitors vying for their attention as well.    

If your start-up is to survive, you must stand out from the crowd. It would be best to identify what makes your firm different from all the others in your area and why potential clients should choose you over them. There are many ways to get your brand out there, we outline some of the best practices below:  

Start up star (Picture: Robbie Thompson)

Become The 'Go-To' Firm 

Whenever you're browsing Felixstowe's local news sites or social media pages, you always see reviewers claim that a service, brand or person is the 'go-to' for a particular product or service. Meaning that they are known for specialising in something others may not, which makes them the best to go to by default. Ultimately, you want to ensure that you become a firm like this so that competitors pale in comparison.  

You can achieve this in various ways. For instance, you could brand yourself as the real estate agency that knows the most about Felixstowe's property market. You could pride yourself and your staff on having the knowledge and theoretical skills needed to make the most innovative real estate investment decisions.  

You can back this up by enrolling in an online certificate course about real estate economics and finance, like the one from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Doing so can help you, and your team better understand and explore the local real estate market by applying your practical skills to the latest theoretical thinking. 

Be the go to firm (Picture: Robbie Thompson)

Use Social Media  

In today's digital age, starting your home search online is becoming increasingly popular instead of approaching a real estate agent first. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the first step for 97% of recent buyers used the internet to assist them in their home search, highlighting how essential it is for modern real estate agencies to have a solid online presence.  

Social media offers start-up real estate agencies a wide range of benefits, from connecting with a broader audience outside of Felixstowe, making communication with potential clients easier, marketing possibilities, and many more. From Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, your brand has a whole new world at its fingertips that would be detrimental to exclude yourself from.  

Whether you've recently closed on a large sale, introduced a new member of staff to the team, answered a few questions about a property on the market or would like to share photos of satisfied customers – social media is an excellent way to share all your activities with new and potential customers and set yourselves apart from the ones who don't.  

Make Connections 

When you have a business, you must treat every day like a networking opportunity. Whether you're meeting a client for lunch or out with your friends, you never know when the topic of work could arise, and you could mention who you are and what you do.  

For instance, you could be having lunch at the portside café you go to every day when one of the servers might mention that they're looking to sell their house. Even though you are a regular customer, the staff may not know who you are and your profession. This gives you an excellent opportunity to inform them and potentially gain a new customer.  

Who knows? They could call you the next day and ask for assistance in preparing their house for sale. Ultimately, you will never know unless you're always prepared to expand your audience, so carry a few business cards with you.  

Design A Website  

As we discussed in one of our previous points, having a robust online presence is essential when trying to set yourself apart from others, which is why you should design a top-notch website to market your brand.  

A website can be advantageous for start-ups in many ways, from giving your brand more credibility, enabling customers to find you more easily, communicating with customers more straightforwardly, and much more.  

You can design this in-house using free-to-use website builders or enlist the services of website designers to do this on your behalf. Doing so allows you to promote your brand and advertise how you want.  

Keep some of these tips in mind when setting up your own real estate business. It could help when launching your business and attracting your first clients.