Is success based only on luck and market dynamics?

dubai - People who often give negative views on the property sector have not altered their way of working

How is the real estate market? I still get asked this question whenever I hand over my business card to anyone I interact with and they notice that I'm within the real estate sector. It's been close to two years since I last answered this question in all honesty and I think it's about time to repeat that deed again.

As always, what people fail to realise is that real estate is not a "market" ­- in the sense that it doesn't operate on the basic fundamentals of demand and supply. On the contrary, it is one of the three basic necessities in life for human survival and growth. I believe you already know what the other two are.

Keeping in tune with how the rest of the sector talks about this 'market', I still see myself answering regularly that it's excellent! Unfortunately, a major amount of my peers don't echo the same thoughts. I'm not certain why that is the case. Is it because they are doing something wrong, or is it because I'm just in the right place at the right time, thus contributing this progress and success to mere luck?

I don't think so. See, the people that often give me negative views on the sector are the people who have not altered their way of working and have neither realised the massive shift that is preeminent within this sector, which in major part will be contributed to the massive improvement in technology. They are still operating on the same mode of working which proved successful for them over the last decade.

By no means can one say that they are wrong now, but they are merely not able to adapt to the constant dynamics and the changes within the sector, which drive client behaviour.

While a lot of you must be wondering at this point, what shift in mode of operations am I referring to that has proven to be successful for me. I'm also guilty of partly believing in the age-old way of doing business by keeping your magic sauce to yourself, and to not merely leak it to my peers. I shall leave you guessing as to what you think it is. I still have large potential to improve and obtain a more forward-thinking approach.

This fundamental change in the mode of operations is not only impacting my industry. This is disrupting the largest of industries ranging from entertainment, pharmaceuticals and insurance. The companies, which are jumping on the bandwagon and are adapting to the change will still be in existence over the next decade, and the one's who fail to adapt, well, let them enjoy their glory years as long as they last.

There are various factors which have made the regular 'client' or 'customer' as we call it more informed, and while majority of you might say it's the use of technology, you are only 50 per cent correct. See, the concept of technology is not just the access to it, but what it does for you, and what it has done for all our 'clientele' is made them more aware and much smarter.

My peers within the industry are used to be able to dump any information on their target audience with the belief that they will be taken at face value, but that is no longer the case. While this is one of the factors, which have contributed in them having this negative approach and blaming the market dynamics for them not achieving success, by no means is it the only factor.

We live in a world where our surroundings determine our behaviour and become a massive contributing factor to our success or failure, albeit only within our minds.

We find it very easy to blame our failure on the 'market dynamics' but when it comes time to take credit for the success, we ensure that everyone is made aware we're absolute geniuses and our master stroke is the only factor towards what we have achieved. While that may be a contributing factor, it is almost never the main underlying reason.

If we're able to alter our thinking and start taking charge for our current situation rather than blaming it on our surroundings or the market dynamics, I'm certain we will be able to achieve far more successes and victories in our professional and personal life.

If you were expecting this to be a piece about some major insights into the real estate sector, the current dynamics or how I anticipate things to progress over the next two to three years, then you were probably disappointed. I'm not going to comment further on that, not because I don't have any opinions regarding the same or I don't feel it's important to express, but because it's an unknown entity which I will only be speculating on and let's face it, there are ample people out there already doing that!

The writer is Group CEO - EstateUp Group. Views expressed are his own and do not reflect the newspaper's policy.