While having your name over the door can be an enticing prospect, three industry experts say many principals underestimate the financial and emotional costs of establishing a brand. 

And, as it takes time and energy from the core business, principals should consider all their options before striking out on their own. 

Why principals are jumping ship 

Over the past few decades, the franchise model had come to dominate the Australian real estate industry. Many principals joined the big groups lured by the brand recognition and support that came with a long-established name. 

Then the internet changed the rules of the game. As a result, more principals question the franchise system, and look into going it alone. 

After all, nobody wants to pay commissions to head office and surrender a lot of control if they get little perceived value in return. 

Starting from scratch 

Nic Fren, former Real Estate agent and now, founder of Bespoke Media Group, outlined some of the initial expenses principals face building a brand from the ground up. 

“A branding kit complete with logo and colour palettes is between $10,000 and $15,000 to create,” he said. 

“A good website costs a minimum of $5,000. On top of this, comes flags, A-frames, signage, shop front and the like – so it’s easy to see how it soon stacks up.”

All these costs need to be paid before your business turns a dollar. Then it takes at least six months to discover if you are going to get a return on this investment.

And while choosing logos and fonts might be exciting at first, it eats up valuable time and headspace that should be spent winning new clients. 

“The last thing you want to do as a business owner is worry about how your newsletter templates look.”

Time is money 

Tristin Hanna, co-founder of brand and design consultancy Thursday Design, said a brand roll-out can take up to a year to complete, once all touch-points are considered.  It therefore requires a commitment to both time and budget to be delivered effectively.