Shannon Beavis launched Your Property Co in Maroochydore on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in November 2020, and just three short weeks after opening the doors, he’d racked up close to $3 million in sales.
But he’s no overnight success. His natural acumen, work ethic and experience combined to bring him to this moment.
After graduating from high school and doing a stint at Woolies, Shannon had a revelation.
“One day, about a year and half before I qualified for long service leave, I was looking at my boss thinking, ‘I don’t want to be him anymore, he’s stuck and he just can’t retire.’ It got me thinking what life would be like if I stayed there.”
Some career-oriented soul searching culminated in a job offer at a large real estate franchise in Maroochydore at age 28.
“I used my long service leave, got my real estate licence and started working. It worked out well, so I resigned from Woolies and never looked back.”
Unlike many of his peers, Shannon’s first year in the agency was a runaway success.
“I never had that first year of grinding – I just went into it, loved it and landed a lot of listings. Listing just led to more listings.
“I went on to commission-only as soon as I could because the retainer was a terrible setup, and that was great. I started to build a name in my area and became a market leader on the coast.”
Shannon said in his last year with the franchise, he wrote just short of an impressive $600,000 GCI without any support staff.
“I didn’t want to put a PA on because the commission was average already and I didn’t want to have to pay a PA as well.”
But this still wasn’t enough for Shannon – he wanted more.
“Once you reach a certain level in a big brand like that, the only way to really progress is just to try and make more money – but money isn’t my primary driver.”
Shannon explored options like buying into the franchise or working elsewhere.
He took a meeting with another franchise’s representative who was looking to open a Maroochydore office.
“His opening line was, ‘This meeting will change your life!’ and by the end of the chat I thought, ‘It has… but not how you think!’ That’s because I knew then and there that it was time to go out on my own.”
He started studying structures for opening an agency which led to Dan Argent, CEO of UrbanX.
“Dan’s model let me start something new in the industry without the overheads or stresses of administration.
“I’m very ‘hands on’ by nature, but if I’d tried to start a business while managing the office stuff, I’d really struggle. Your time gets diverted and I wouldn’t be able to write the same figures or make the same level of sales as I’d done previously.”
Shannon said choosing UrbanX has been one of his best decisions yet.
“I love everything Dan’s created with UrbanX. All the processes are great, and the technology is so easy… I just couldn’t fault the product. The transition has been really smooth, and they’ve been great support – we hit the ground running.”
Shannon said moving away from a franchise and backing yourself might seem scary, but it should be a no-brainer for agents who’ve achieved a certain level of success.
“You’ve got to ask yourself, ‘If I’m with an agency, what support am I getting for it? What’s in it for me? How much am I paying for that? I still have to go back to head office or managers for all my decision making’.
“Having your own business – your own baby – it’s yours and you can take it in whatever direction you want it to go.”
Shannon said moving out from under the umbrella of a big brand has taught him a valuable lesson about the way the industry is heading.
“It’s not the brand, it’s the agent.
“All my clients ended up coming with me – they wanted to – which proved to me people list with you, not with the brand you work for.
“Sellers want to deal with someone personal and an agency that’s boutique. When you’re in a franchise, you really have your blinkers on and feel like the brand is what’s driving the sellers, but it’s when you get on the other side you discover it’s, in fact, the complete opposite.”
For more information, check out www.urbanx.io
