As a real estate investor there are many things you should focus on while creating deals and growing your investment portfolio. A big mistake many real estate investors make is they focus way too much on cost control rather than focusing on what they should be focusing on, which is revenue. The point of this mistake, I believe, is very straightforward but it is extremely important that I ingrain in your mind.

For some reason, when times get tough and the economy slows down and markets change and people get scared, they start to really focus on cost control rather than on increasing their revenue. Now, please don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I'm not saying that you should not also focus on cost control and understand where your expenses are and cut costs where you can. But at the same time, it's even more vital to the success of your business that you focus on increasing revenue.

Now, with that said there is a point that I want to make about cost control, which is that if you come to a point in your business where things have changed dramatically financially for you and you need to really focus on cost control, then if you're going to cut costs don't cut costs with a scalpel. If you're going to cut costs, cut costs with a chain saw. Now, what I mean by that is I believe that you will be a lot better off if you need to cut costs to really get rid of the biggest costs that you can first rather than trying to neatly cut away the smaller costs, if you will. Don't just start by cutting down on your supply purchases say, staples. If you really need to protect yourself and survive some kind of financial setback, then start cutting the biggest costs that you can afford to get rid of that will not impact the sustainability of your business, if you will.

So, back to the point at hand, which is that you will be much better off if you focus the majority of your energy trying to generate revenue to close more deals, to get more deals in your pipeline, so that way you can cash out and get more checks; you will be a lot better off if you focus on generating revenue than if you focus on cutting costs control during difficult times, and even during good times. Stop trying to pinch the pennies, and rather start trying to generate dollars. The businesses that will survive challenges in down economies and struggling times are those that continue working their revenue streams. Oftentimes, I find that truly ramping up your focus on revenue can alleviate the need to cut costs altogether. Remember, make this your mantra: Always Focus on Revenue!