*** Starting a Business? Why Not a Real Estate Business?

Want success on your own terms? Consider this unique path to success. When prospective students call Trump University to inquire about our classes in entrepreneurship, our admissions counselors always ask, “What kind of business do you have in mind?” Most often, the replies are like these:

• “I have a stupendous idea for a new eBusiness.”n n
• “I work for a construction company and now I want to start one of my own.”n n
• “I’ve been talking to the owner of a big garden-supply company, who might want to sell the business to me. I want to make sure I negotiate the best deal.”n

n Those are terrific ambitions. Yet when I review the reports of those calls, I notice something curious:nnVery few of our callers are thinking of starting real estate companies. That’s right. Very few of them are planning to start real estate development companies, or companies that manage apartment buildings - or even real estate brokerages. And I wonder why that is. Could it be that people think they can start buying and selling real estate and then figure out how to run a business later on? If so, it could be a serious mistake. Think of our Chairman, Donald J. Trump. When he first came to Manhattan and began to acquire and renovate buildings, he didn’t just show up with a checkbook and start buying properties. He had a business already in place - offices, a staff, and a team of attorneys and other experts. I think that’s an important lesson for would-be real estate entrepreneurs. A sound grounding in business can be a great foundation for success as a real estate businessperson.nnWhy Not Start a Real Estate Company? When you break it all down, a real estate business offers advantages over most any other kind of business you can name. Whether you buy and renovate buildings, manage real estate or develop land for new construction, you will enjoy:nnFlexibility - If you start a health club or buy a dry cleaner, you are going to have to work 50+ hours a week. At least, until you get a reliable staff in place. If you start a real estate company of most any kind, you have a lot more leeway to work when you want, where you want - even in your earliest days of ownership.nnExtendability - If you open a real estate brokerage, you can also develop property. If you are developing land, you can partner with a construction company and start building new homes. If you are a developer of housing projects, you can buy and hold land. Any real estate activity connects logically to many other areas of entrepreneurship. It is hard to think of another business that offers similar opportunities.nnFreedom - If you are supervising the renovation of the buildings you own, you can allocate time to a broad range of other entrepreneurial activities. You can buy or launch another business - an eBusiness, a retail enterprise or anything else you desire. You can even continue to work your old full-time job and collect that paycheck while building your own enterprise. And again, only real estate offers that kind of leeway. So as you are contemplating breaking free of that full-time job and moving your life into a new success track as an entrepreneur, don’t overlook the idea of becoming a real estate entrepreneur. Sign up for one of our great entrepreneurship classes at the same time you sign up for our real estate courses. I predict that you will discover a unique path to success.