Commercial Investment Real Estate is the magazine of the CCIM Institute, the leading provider of commercial real estate education. CIRE covers market trends, current developments, and business strategies within the commercial real estate field.
Issue link: http://cire.epubxp.com/i/128835
tial to grow his business using technology. "I was at a frm that was in the dark ages as far as connectivity and interactivity were concerned," Grout explains. "I wanted a platform that would enable me to communicate my brand." If that entrepreneurial spirit sounds familiar, it's because 27 percent of CCIM members identify themselves as owners, partners, or principals. Like entrepreneurs in other industries, they are not only CEOs but also CMOs, COOs, and CFOs. For Grout and others, technology lowers the barriers to entrepreneurship and helps them to balance the various roles. Page 31: Fancy Photography/Veer; fStop Photography/Veer; Collage Photography/Veer File Sharing and Project Management 32 It may only take one person to start a business, but making it successful involves a team. Email, especially Microsof Outlook, remains an important tool for directing team activities, sharing fles, and managing projects. But cluttered inboxes have caused commercial real estate professionals to explore other collaboration tools. Grout's team uses Basecamp, a Web-based project management and collaboration tool. Starting at $20 per month, Basecamp gives users permission-based project access, the ability to assign tasks, fle-storage space, and mobile access via an iPhone app. "When we get an assignment, we start a Basecamp project and invite all stakeholders to participate in our process so they never have to ask what's going on," Grout says. "It's also useful for contract management and tracking due diligence milestones. Buyers and sellers participating in the process always have access to contract documents, due diligence materials, and outstanding items for closing." Managing file attachments is another common problem when collaborating via email. Assuming the message with the attachment is found, users have to verify that it's the latest version. File size limitations may also prevent the email from reaching its intended recipient. And when it arrives, it takes up storage space. Dropbox and its competitors (see sidebar) address these problems by allowing users to share files on the May | June | 2013 cloud and organize them in topic-based folders rather than by email delivery date or sender. File owners can share single fles or folders of fles, give read or write permissions to a team or individual, and email links to individual fles. Collaborators can view shared fles online or download them. Collaborating Over Video When Ken Wimberly, CCIM, managing director of Noble Crest Property Group/KW Commercial in Arlington, Texas, joined KW Commercial three years ago, he was the only person in his ofce. He saw an opportunity to grow not only his ofce but also KW Commercial's regional presence. "We now have six people in my ofce, and by the end of the year we should be at 10," Wimberly says. One of those 10 will be a Philippines-based virtual assistant, whose main job will be to manage listings and create property packages. list While ofshoring is nothing new free or low-cost tech tools make it new, accessible to small businesses. " "We'll communicate via Skype and work over instant messaging," W Wimberly says. Wimberly selected the assistant from MyOutDesk, which specializes assistan in placing virtual assistants in rea estate frms. Hourly rates range from real $7.60 to $8.60 per hour, and more-complex work is billed at $1,536 per more month. To fnd a good ft, Wimbe identifed skills and tasks and used Wimberly a personality profle to narrow down the list of candidates. d Many small and solo business owners save money and travel time meetings using Skype for video meetings. But the Microsof-owned Skype is Google facing a challenge from Google, whose Google+ social media platform includes Hangouts, a video chat feature. Celebrities, businesses, and government ofcials have used the feature to publicly commuu const nicate with their fans and constituents. But teams can also conduct invite-only Hangouts. Hangout participants can share their desktop and collaborate on fles stored in Google Drive, a cloud-based competitor to Microsof Ofce. "I am exam Ofce. examining how to fully utilize Hangouts for a meeting area," says Bu Polson, CCIM, commercial real Burt estate adviser at Strong & H Hayden Commercial Real Estate in f Napa, Calif. "It is a great feature that is just waiting for us to embrace it." A Marketing Department of One o Raised near Silicon Valley, Pol Polson is no stranger to technology. He started his career as a tech engineer, owned an electronics business, engi To learn how Da Davide Pio, CCIM, uses cloud applications to achieve applic mobility, maximum mobility read Technology Solutions on p.20. Commercial Investment Real Estate