2026-07-16

Franchise

What I Learned Running a Real Estate Business for 14 Years | Vivek Raman

For me 14 years has been long , exciting & unforgotable journey. we have experienced many setback. i donot call them failure . These were situations where we keep doings things but donot see immediate result. Many people call that failure, but i call it part of journey.

Everything i am sharing from on ground experience . My real experience of building technology , process , sop , product and nation wide real estate franchise network.

Regrob is a tech-enabled real estate brokerage firm with a presence in 18 cities across India. We work with more than 450+ developers with 100 franchise partners nationwide. Our journey has not only been about building our own company but also about making our franchise partners successful. Over the years, we have distributed crores of rupees in brokerage income to our franchise partners.

I am sharing some experience

1) Real estate is Game of patience

Real estate is a business for people who think long term. It offers exceptionally high rewards, but only to those who are willing to stay in the game.If you are looking for quick success within a few months or even a year, this business may not be the right choice. Instead, consider businesses that sell products over the counter with low rewards . They may provide daily satisfaction and quicker cash flow.

When I started my business 15 years ago, I came from a corporate background. For the first few months, I couldn’t close a single deal. I was losing confidence and was on the verge of quitting.

So i decided to meet top developers and owner of real estate brokerage firm. i took few week to take appointment. boh of them gave me same advice.

Stay in the game , donot loose patience .

That advice changed my life.

One night, around 11 PM, I received a call from a customer. We had a long discussion, and the next day he arrived at my office in a Ferrari. After the site visit, he disappeared for several days and stopped responding. I continued following up patiently.

Eventually, he invited me to his office. After nearly two hours of discussion, we closed a ₹9 crore deal in 2011.At that time, it was a life-changing transaction for me.

That single deal completely transformed my confidence and my business.

Patience always pays. For some people, success comes early. For others, it comes later. The important thing is to stay in the game long enough to experience it.

We didnt had mentors, no structured training, and no plug-and-play business models. Now for new person everything is available.

2)Success depend upon right inventory and right builder

One of the biggest lessons I have learned is that choosing the right developer is more important .Building relationships with developers does not happen overnight. It doesn’t even happen in one year. It takes years of trust, credibility, and consistent performance.

A single wrong developer can waste an entire year of your time, money, and energy. you keep marketing with no demand.

On the other hand, the right developer can help you earn crores in brokerage.

Recently, one of our franchise partners entered the Hyderabad market. We advised him not to market a particular project. Ourr research showed concerns about its location and construction quality.

However, he chose the project only because it offered a 6% brokerage.He insisted that we generate leads for that project.After six months of marketing, we could not close even a single transaction.The problem was never lead generation.The problem was the product itself.This experience reinforced one of our strongest beliefs:

Never compromise product quality for higher margins.

Before we market any project, we spend significant time studying the micro-market.

Every city is different.

Every locality is different.

Every developer performs differently.

Success depends on demand, affordability, infrastructure, connectivity and lot of factors .We make decisions based on data not emotions.Over the years, many entrepreneurs have approached us to buy a Regrob franchise.

In several cases, we have actually refused franchise applications . we believed that their city or micro-market was not yet ready.Many people were surprised when we rejected them.We have our internal analysis.

But we believe it is better to say “No” today than allow someone to lose money tomorrow.

The same philosophy applies when selecting projects.

Sometimes saying No is the smartest business decision.

In real estate, opinions are everywhere.

Data is rare.

Many new people believe they understand a market because they have bought one property themselves . They have helped a few relatives in buying home . This is very small in number.

Real understanding comes only after analysing

Thousands of customer enquiries.

Hundreds of transactions.

Pricing trends.

Developer performance.

Inventory movement.

Buyer behaviour.

At Regrob, we rely heavily on data accumulated over 14 years.

We value local market knowledge, but we combine it with large-scale data before making business decisions.

That’s what gives us confidence.

3)Lead generation is core of business .

Lead generation is the engine of every successful real estate company.

Over the last 15 years, marketing has changed dramatically.

Earlier, most traffic came from Google Search and offline marketing.

Today, buyers discover properties through multiple platforms:

• Google
• Pinterest
• Facebook
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Quora
• Reddit
• Medium
• X (Twitter)
• Email marketing
• AI calling agents
• Whatsapp Bot
• AI platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini

Each platform attracts a different type of customer.

Understanding which platform works for which property is a skill developed over years.

Personally, I have sold more than ₹70 crore worth of property through Quora . ₹80 crore of property sold through Medium.

If you are reading this article on Medium, you are already experiencing the power of content marketing.

Today, AI search is changing everything again.

Digital is like ocean. we have to keep evolving and learning new things.

4. Build Systems Instead of Solving the Same Problem Every Day

When we started Regrob, we had to solve every problem ourselves.

There was no plug-and-play system.

We had to figure out everything from

Lead generation

Developer partnerships

CRM,

Training,

Technology,

Marketing,

Hiring and operations

Today, we have built those systems.

Our franchise partners receive leads, technology, CRM, developer tie-ups, structured training . They get marketing support, and continuous business guidance.

Instead of spending years learning through trial and error, they can start with a proven business model.

final thoughts

Real estate is highest rewarding industry

Despite all the challenges, I still believe real estate is one of the most rewarding businesses in India.

This give us opportunity in meeting entrepreneurs, industrialists, CXOs, celebrities& big investors. your circles get changed.

One day you may be sitting inside a ₹100 crore Villa . Next day visiting luxury farm house project.

Over the past 15 years, I have travelled more than 50,000 kilometres+ across to meet developers, study projects, and understand markets.We have doen tie up in dubai. london &Thailand.

I have tried other businesses too.

But I never found the same excitement, scale, relationships, and wealth creation that I found in real estate.

Every business has its own challenges.

Real estate simply rewards those who stay patient, build trust, make decisions based on data, and keep learning.

Every business has its own challenges.Real estate simply rewards those who stay patient, build trust, make decisions based on data, and keep learning.

If you are planning to start a real estate business .You don’t want to spend years building everything from scratch. Our franchise model provides a complete

Plug-and-play ecosystem

Technology, training,

Developer partnerships

lead generation

Ongoing business support.

Sometimes, the smartest way to become an entrepreneur is not to start alone — but to start with a proven system.

Written By: Vivek Raman

Co-Founder, Regrob | IIM Alumnus | Featured in Forbes | Real Estate CelebrityI Building India’s Largest Real Estate Franchise Network