Mark Bloom, co-founder of NetWorth Realty, a wholesale residential real estate brokerage firm in Texas that specializes in dealing with residential real estate issues, talks about the future of his company amid the global crisis.
Today, we interview Mark Bloom, one of the founders of NetWorth Realty, a wholesale residential real estate brokerage firm that has over 20 offices nationwide and an excellent national team of licensed real estate specialists. We’ll be asking him about his past, his present, and how he believes his company will grow in the future.
Who inspired you to start your own business (NetWorth Realty)?
Mark Bloom: That would have to be my father. He was my biggest influence growing up. He didn’t come from a well-to-do family, the opposite, actually. And yet, he managed to successfully build a business for himself by selling water filtration equipment.
I worked with him for a time when I was younger, and I learned a lot of my present-day worth ethics from him. He taught me how to be myself, and how to stay as myself. I’ve got a lot to thank him for, and he’ll always remain as the best role model that I could ask for, even now that I’ve built my own business.
What ultimately pushed you to co-found NetWorth Realty?
Mark Bloom: NetWorth Realty was founded in May 2008, in the middle of a financial crisis that hit me, and my partner, pretty hard. The company we were working for closed down and we were laid off, left completely adrift for a time, and not really knowing what to do next.
It was the times that pushed us to found NetWorth Realty. Which is ironic, in a way, since the financial crisis made it pretty difficult for us in the beginning. But, after facing many challenges, some we expected, some we didn’t, we were able to establish ourselves as a wholesale residential real estate brokerage firm that was very good with dealing with distressed residential real estates — a testament to all that we were forced to overcome after setting up our roots at such a delicate time in the industry.
Tell us a little about your background, what were you like growing up?
Mark Bloom: I had a lot of learning to do as I grew. When I was younger, I was diagnosed with a learning disability that held me back when it came to adapting to new concepts and changes. This didn’t go away either. It’s something that I still deal with today.
I like to believe that I’m much better at it now though. Or, at the very least, better equipped to deal with it. I’ve had a lot of practice with strategies that allow me to learn in a way that is meaningful to me.
What advice do you have for beginner entrepreneurs?
Mark Bloom: There’s this saying that I coined during a hot summer day in Texas that I like to tell my children and my team, I call it ‘pick up the ice cube’. That summer was busy, and on that day, I had plenty of places to be and a very strict schedule to follow. But, in the midst of all that chaos, I remember this one experience very clearly. I was on a break, incredibly parched, and exhausted. I poured myself some ice-cold water, and suddenly one of the ice cubes fell on the floor. For a while, I kind of just stared at it.
There it was. Probably already melting. And even if it wasn’t yet. It would have melted and evaporated by the time I got back. And I asked myself, did it really matter if I picked it up now? My answer was, and is, yes. Why?
Well, I believe that choices compile over time. And that, even the smallest choices you make, will affect how you make bigger choices in the future. So, that’s my advice to those who are just starting out. ‘Pick up the ice cube!’ Don’t make excuses when making decisions. Instead, get into the habit of making the right ones, no matter how small they are.
What kind of plans do you have for NetWorth Realty?
Mark Bloom: I wholeheartedly believe in continuous improvement. And since there are always things that can be improved, I believe that we should keep taking action to do so.
For NetWorth Realty, our goal is to deliver the best possible experience for our customers. We want to make sure that we’re delivering accurate and honest information on what they should expect from the properties that they rent and buy from us, and we want to make sure that we offer them the highest level of support for as long as they might need it.
We’ve done a lot of growing since the 2008 financial crisis, and I cannot wait to see how much further we can go now that we’re entering our next phase in the market cycle. Saying that, however, I fully believe that we’ll be able to face all the challenges of today and accomplish even our most ambitious goals.
