Mark Mitchell opened his One Agency business in January 2016 and is trading as One Agency Mark Mitchell Real Estate in the Geelong region of Victoria.

He wasn’t interested in going with a traditional franchise and didn’t want to take the risk of setting up as an independent agent, so the One Agency business model appealed to him.

“Being my own boss and also the decision maker was a big deciding factor for me,” says Mark, who has worked in real estate for the past 5 years. “I also love to have the flexibility to make challenging calls on winning a listing or losing one.”

Other factors that resonated with Mark were: receiving 100% of his commission directly back into his business. He also flags that cash-flow in any business is critical and so being paid in a timely manner was a huge factor.

“To wait a month after settlement to get paid for work I busted my butt off to get was so frustrating,” he says. “It really annoyed me, how, as the agent I was always the one who got paid last, weeks after the office and marketing were paid. I saw a lot of agents leave the industry because of this.”

“I was spending thousands on marketing myself and branding the company’s name, mostly  out of my own pocket, then having to split a great chunk of it away. I thought that if I’m paying to brand someone else’s business myself, with no marketing budget allowance from them, then I’d be better off spending my money on my own business, keeping all the commission and invest it back into marketing for myself.”