In an industry where large networks have the advantage, the founder of a Western Sydney boutique business has achieved rapid growth, scaling his business to three agencies in five years.
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At just 25, Vedant Agrawal has built TAG Real Estate into a fast-growing independent business, with three offices, by leveraging aggressive grassroots marketing, AI-driven systems, and a relentless work ethic inspired by his migrant upbringing.
On a recent episode of the REB Business Empowerment Showcase, Agrawal shared with deputy editor Emilie Lauer the approach that helped him rapidly scale his business for success.
At first, Agrawal did not plan to pursue real estate, but after burning out from his optometry studies in 2020, he took an administrative role, gained experience in the business, and eventually became an associate.
By early 2023, he was listing and selling his own stock before eventually deciding to establish his own agency, TAG Real Estate.
Having migrated to Australia from India when he was just eight, Agrawal said much of his mindset around work was shaped by seeing his parents hustle as they established themselves in a foreign country.
“I had very, very good pillars of motivation and support and ideally role models for me to look up to, to showcase what it actually takes. And that was an intrinsic motivator for me.”
In the early stages of the business, Agrawal and his three-person team, including his cousin, worked in a small office, cold-calling prospective clients, trying to establish themselves.
“We were working in sales, and we were just firing in all directions – wherever there was a seller, we wanted to be there to try and be on the shopping list first.”
To lift his agency’s profile, Agrawal spent six months building a strong foundation, rolling out an aggressive campaign spanning major roads, billboards, local bus stops, and weekly letterbox drops.
“We were sponsoring local sports clubs like cricket clubs and rugby clubs, and wherever the people of the community go on a recurrent basis, every single week, TAG was there,” he said.
“The goal was always to have TAG as a household name. We essentially just made a plan of where it is that people go, and we will make sure we are there.”
Despite needing to spend “copious” amounts of money, he knew that a successful marketing strategy was the basis for becoming a business that attracted clients, rather than needing to find them.
When it came to scaling his business, Agrawal faced the difficulty of competing against larger networks, which had operated under trusted brands for years.
However, he said independent agencies had a unique advantage as they were able to function without the imitations of guidelines or expectations, and could offer flexibility for clients.
“You see a lot less independents being in and around the area because it’s a harder gig to pull off. So doing things the way we want instead of being dictated how it needs to be done was a big point of difference,” he said.
Despite the high visibility of his first office, his team of nine people had outgrown the space, and he decided to search for where growth was most occurring for his second agency.
He found a corner location on the intersection of the Great Western Highway, close to the St. Mary’s area, where there was a new metro, airport, and plenty of new infrastructure.
“All of a sudden, TAG was now servicing different baskets of buyer pools; we were servicing a lot of investors.”
Additionally, Agrawal said leveraging AI, using a system to more effectively cater to clients’ needs, helped him set TAG apart in the market.
“It’s a big thing for us being able to evolve daily as opposed to having a manufacturing process that needs to be undertaken. With TAG… the wheel is being reinvented every single day to better suit people of the community.”
To grow the business further, TAG also prioritised helping team members scale their careers, helping boost the business’s results through individual achievements.
Agrawal said the leadership team met with individuals on a monthly basis to ensure they were trying to grow their careers and were being rewarded for their efforts.
“There are meetings in place, there is vision, plans in place, there are charts in place and goals and KPIs in place to make sure everyone is striving to reach the next level,” he said.
As an independent business, he said he had the liberty of being able to make decisions for the benefit of his staff, who have worked hard as a result.
“Their fire in the belly is growing because of that; we’re working hand in hand with one another,” he said.
Agrawal said his third office came when a 25-year-old agency in Westmead was considering moving on, and he went in to speak with the owner.
“We went in, struck a deal and landed our third office in Westmead, where they’ve just revamped the hospital, there’s new schools coming into the area, and we’ve got a corner location there too,” he concluded.
Listen to the full podcast here.
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