You work hard to comply with the rules and regulations that govern your activities as a license holder and a REALTOR®, but there are other risks to your livelihood beyond legal ones. 确保你的经纪公司能够在这些威胁中生存下来.

Employee fraud

员工盗窃可能发生在任何人身上，甚至是你. It could be someone submitting fake expenses for reimbursement, 篡改支票, falsifying bills, 或者其他方案. 你的企业能承受20万美元的现金流失吗? That was the median amount lost in 2016 per real estate fraud case inquiry according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

承认欺诈可能在你的经纪业务中发生, and establish hiring procedures that screen potential applicants. 建立系统来检测贪污等问题. Also, 定期审查财务信息, 比如信用卡和银行对账单, 来验证你对员工的信任.

Changes to the market

这是买方市场还是卖方市场? 是上涨的市场还是下跌的市场? Real estate is cyclical and affected by global forces as well as by your local economy. An easy way to prepare for the risk of a sales drought is to stay on top of what’s happening in your market and avoid becoming complacent. Diversify your offerings, focus on a niche, or find a specialty specific to your community. If your luxury-home clients disappear in an economic downturn, you can fall back on your senior clients or property management business.

Severe Weather

艾利森，丽塔，艾克和哈维. These devastating storms are etched into the memories of Texans, but it doesn’t take a 100-year storm to disrupt your business. 即使是局部的恶劣天气也会损害你的财产, 取代你的客户和潜在客户, and otherwise make it difficult or impossible to conduct business. You need a plan to protect your data and property, and maintain or restore communication.

制作重要文件的电子副本, 创建照片记录和商业资产列表. Back up these files along with your client and business data in the cloud or offsite. Talk to your agents and any employees about procedures to follow in the event of a business disruption.

任何关于天气损失的讨论都必须包括保险. While you have errors and omissions insurance to protect your business from lawsuits, it may not help if your office suffers damage during a break-in or as a result of a natural disaster. Preparing for such a situation could mean the difference between a temporary disruption of your services and the end of your business. Many types of insurance can protect your brokerage—and you should consult with an insurance professional—but here are a few types to consider:

• 商业财产保险有助于保护有形资产, 比如你的办公楼, equipment, furniture, and computers.
• Business income insurance can replace lost revenue so you can cover expenses while you restart your brokerage.
• Flood insurance can cover flood-related losses to your business resulting from hurricanes and other natural events.

Cybercrime

Every day in the United States, 30,000 people are victims of digital crimes. 小企业是黑客的主要目标, and real estate brokerages are some of the most attractive because the transactions involve multiple parties and large sums of money. There are thousands of ways hackers try to gain access to your information—ransomware, worms, keyboard loggers, 社会工程攻击, and many more. You don’t need to understand all these methods; however, 你确实需要采取措施保护自己.

Install virus protections on all your devices and keep your hardware and software updated. But a very effective way to combat many attacks is to slow down and pay attention.

A big risk to you and your clients is wire fraud: A criminal hacks your email account or your agent’s, 给买家发送欺诈性的电汇指令, 然后带着钱消失. 有什么简单的方法来应对电信欺诈的威胁呢? “我们必须重新学会使用手机,罗尼·马修斯说。, 大美国产权公司的主席. “如果有些东西看起来很奇怪，不要点击它. Call the person.”

Taxes

Running your own business means being a jack of all trades—sales, marketing, human resources, accounting, facilities, technology, 以及您的其他业务需求. 你可能在某些方面比其他方面更强, 但你需要掌握的一门学科是会计.

Follow sound financial practices and you’ll spend more time on real estate than with the IRS. That means:

• Don’t commingle funds.
• 知道哪些扣除是允许的.
• 根据国税局的规定跟踪和记录你的扣除.
• 正确计算季度付款.
• 按时纳税.

If you’re not comfortable handling the accounting aspect of your business, use an expert who is.