Question of the Month: How can success in the New York City market lead to company-wide growth and expansion?

Frank Sinatra put it best when he said of New York City, "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere." While it's a safe bet that Ol' Blue Eyes wasn't thinking about the real estate market when he sang those immortal words, he still hit the nail right on the head. New York is the ultimate real estate crucible; a company that succeeds here can succeed in just about any market on Earth. New York City presents its real estate professionals with a number of unique challenges. To begin with, there's the simple cost of opening and operating a business in one of the planet's most expensive cities. Whether it's a street-level storefront or 300 feet up in a skyscraper, finding an affordable commercial space to set up shop can be a daunting task, and if your business doesn't do well right out of the gate, you could be out on the street before the ink on your lease has even dried. Then there's the competition. New York City has a higher concentration of real estate professionals than anywhere else in the country. With so many companies and so many agents working in such a small geographic area, there's competition over everything. There's competition to obtain listings. There's competition to attract clients. There's competition for advertising space. Of course, all those are things that real estate professionals have to contend with everywhere, but in New York City, the intensity is dialed up to eleven. Buyers and tenants have competition of their own. The New York market moves at the speed of light. With a miniscule vacancy rate and an endless stream of people looking to move to, or within the city, ensuring that your client is the first one in the door is everything. A lazy agent, or even a poorly-timed day off, can cost a client the chance at the perfect property. A mistake like that can be a body blow to a company's reputation, especially for one that's just starting out. There's also competition for personnel. Building and retaining a strong team can be a major struggle for New York firms. Talented agents get noticed, and poaching top performers away from rival companies is an all-too-common recruiting strategy. Even when poaching is not involved, switching firms is common. With so many companies crammed into one city, many real estate pros suffer from "career ADD." They get antsy staying in one place, and switch firms just in case the grass turns out to be greener on the other side. But, if you can start a company and make it profitable despite the cost of operation, if you can establish yourself and earn a good reputation in a sea of competitors, if you can develop a strong team with a high retention rate, and you can do it all in New York City, that success can take you anywhere you want to go. New York has a cachet that no other city can touch. Even people who have never done business here hold up New York as the standard for excellence. Succeeding in New York is a badge of honor. It's like getting a diploma from Harvard - there are plenty of great schools out there, but this is the one that makes people sit up and pay attention. I've seen this effect firsthand. In 2009, when Rapid Realty NYC first started franchising, landlords were having trouble keeping their commercial spaces filled because businesses were failing left and right. They were eager to lease the spaces to us because the mere fact that we were able to expand in such a difficult economy made them confident that we would be a dependable tenant. "You're expanding? Now?" As the economy gradually stabilized, we kept impressing landlords, but now it was because of our growth. "You opened how many offices during the recession? Twenty? Thirty? Forty?" When we started expanding outside of New York City, we continued to be met with excitement by landlords, but once again, the reason had changed. Now it wasn't just about when we had succeeded, or how much, but where. Rapid Realty's first California franchise will be opening at the end of September. A few months ago, I flew out to San Diego to help the franchisees find a space. We met with at least 20 different landlords out there, and from each one, the reaction was the same: "You opened how many offices? In New York?" The message was clear: because we had proven ourselves in New York, they knew we could handle whatever the SoCal market threw our way. Every city has its own unique challenges, from the competitors, to peculiarities of the market, to local laws and regulations. You can't simply copy and paste a business from New York into any other setting and be guaranteed of success; some adaptation is always required. But if you can make it here...well, you know the rest. Anthony Lolli is the CEO of Rapid Realty NYC, New York, N.Y.