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Justin Nelson on the real estate industry and the value of virtual assistants

True entrepreneurs have a special ability to analyse a market and identify problems to solve. Instead of focusing on the solutions first, the best entrepreneurs understand that sustainable value is rooted in real-world problems. Since most successful entrepreneurs are the best at identifying the most painful – and potentially profitable – problems to solve, aspiring entrepreneurs would do well to spend ample time researching the market they plan to jump into.

This is particularly true for legacy marketplaces, which have a long history of consumer pain points and plenty of room for future disruption. The real estate market, one of the oldest industries and asset classes in history, is no exception. As technology continues to advance every day, the real estate industry is finally embracing new technological tools. In 2022, it is essential for real estate firms and agents to take advantage of these new tools if they want to capture the younger segments of the market, stay ahead of the competition, and take advantage of new post Covid-19 trends.

Nelson is a real estate entrepreneur who has been in the industry for almost a decade. Despite his young age of 25, Nelson is extremely experienced in the space having worked with his father in real estate since the age of 16. The Boulder Colorado native took over his father’s marketing and lead generation efforts almost immediately upon joining the team. In 2016, Nelson got his real estate license and hit the ground running with over $360,000 in GCI in his first 16 months at the age of 19 years old. Nelson was able to scale his real estate sales rapidly, partially due to his command of and fluency with social media. With his newfound success, Nelson became the team leader and grew the team to over 15 people, opening another office in Colorado Springs along the way.

Having found success at such an early age, Nelson took his market knowledge, social media savvy, and entrepreneurial drive and began analysing his next steps. Understanding the biggest pain points in the market, and their economic effects, Nelson embarked on a speaking tour to help real estate agents understand the value of social media in 2018. During this tour, where Nelson taught over 10,000 agents across 35 states and 135+ locations, Nelson realised he had identified a problem that could translate into a real business. This is when Nelson founded Sphere Rocket VA, a real estate technology business specialising in real estate social media training. At its peak, Sphere Rocket VA had 1,000+ active and paying monthly coaching clients.

Following user behaviour and market trends, Nelson expertly pivoted the company into the virtual assistant placement powerhouse it is today. Focusing on the real estate niche, Sphere Rocket VA is able to place virtual assistants for entrepreneurs in real estate as well as other industrial sectors. In 2020, Sphere Rocket VA successfully helped over 3,200 real estate agents get matched with a full-time virtual assistant that is a perfect fit for their needs. Whether they need help offloading unwanted tasks or help with deep work, real estate agents can get a full-time virtual assistant from Sphere Rocket VA for just $500 a month.

As the true entrepreneur, Nelson holds his real estate license in Colorado and Tennessee in addition to managing his 50+ person team. In order to successfully run his various businesses, Nelson typically starts his day when most people are asleep -- on calls from about 1:00 AM to 4:00 AM with his team based in the Philippines. Then, after a few hours of sleep, Nelson heads to his downtown Nashville office around 9:00 AM. With his eight US-based employees as well as 95 virtual assistants reporting directly to him, Nelson manages and trains about 2,100 other employers who have hired his service.

With his knack for identifying problems in the market, providing valuable solutions, and unparalleled work ethic, we are excited to see what Nelson does next.