Owner/President: Karen Bergin Company: Coldwell Banker Advantage Address: 7501 College Blvd. Overland Park, KS 66210 Phone: (913) 345-9999 E-mail:
Web Site: www.coldwellbankeradvantagekc.com Type of Business: Real estate Year Founded: 1997
Coldwell Banker Advantage sells residential real estate. We do all aspects from resale, new homes and relocation. As personal agents, we maintain confidentiality, do the research and report all information regarding our clients’ situations. We keep clients informed on a regular basis, negotiate and follow up to ensure that all commitments and expectations are met. We also join forces with our full-time agents and in-house support staff to provide a positive outcome to homebuyers and sellers.
I am a member of the National Association of Realtors, Kansas Association of Realtors, Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors and Heartland Multiple Listing Service.
The opportunity to buy the business came as a surprise. I had managed the company for 12 years, and during that time, the owner of the company had also bought a bank. Don Bell Sr. approached me one day and said he was entering the fourth quarter of his life and he wanted to play it out as a banker. He offered me the opportunity to buy the company. Personal Wealth The fish story in the bible applies to my life. During the years when my cash flow was tight, there were several instances when I gave money to people who were going through some hard times, never expecting anything in return. Somehow, I always managed to pay my bills. My controller can attest to my blind faith that we would make it, when on the practical side, I shouldn't have lent the money out because our reserves were not deep.
The success of my business has put me on solid ground financially and positioned me to better help others. Owning a business also has given me the confidence and belief that I can retire at 55 if I want to, but I doubt I will because I love what I am doing too much!
Community and Social Wealth I build community wealth by creating jobs and offering job security to 11 employees and 60 independent contractors, which also impacts taxes in Missouri and Kansas. With more than $240 million in annual sales, we do bring a positive contribution to our community. We also give back in many ways through donations of time and money to organizations such as Habit for Humanity.
I created a foundation called Angel of Courage about four years ago. I admired how my predecessor gave back to the community. He told me he tithed a percentage of his profits to fund a foundation, and he guided me through the process of creating my own foundation.
The foundation concentrates mainly on children and ways to help them. I continue to hope that my efforts make some children’s lives better. For example, the foundation recently made some contributions to Grandma's House, which is a place where children go who have no one to take care of them while their mothers are serving jail time. Unfortunately, when adults make bad choices, children often pay the price.
Financing When Don offered me the opportunity to buy him out, I was very fortunate. I had to come up with a portion of the sale, and I risked much of my personal savings to do so. Don carried the balance, which I paid off over four years. During the first couple of years, I had to get a cash loan from the bank to pay expenses such as bills and salaries. Thank goodness the business made it. I was able to pay back that loan in fairly short order.
Support Systems I get a lot of support from my staff and my family, who believe in me and encourage me to stretch. My greatest mentor, however, is the previous owner of the business. Don still impacts my life both spiritually and professionally. First, he believed in me. He said to me many times in our years together, "I see potential in you that you don't see in yourself." He taught me to do what felt right and focus on my goals rather than on money. He said the money would follow, and he was right.
He said to accept responsibility and don't make excuses. He didn't tolerate backbiting, bickering or a negative attitude. My second year in management, he made me fire our top producer because of her attitude. Although firing her was not easy, I saw later how doing so promoted positive growth in the rest of our people.
He taught me as I set goals to say, "Why not?" And he also always said, "There is no easy way" and “give people respect.” Perseverance is one of his greatest strengths. As you can tell, he has had a big impact on my life!
My greatest accomplishment has been helping others achieve income and personal growth that they had not experienced prior to working for my company.
Challenges My greatest challenge as a woman business owner is getting people to give me credit for my courage and intelligence. For example, a recent client left our company feeling they could put a less expensive sales program into place and put monies into their pockets. They didn't appreciate the program I had put together through many years of experience, and they did not recognize the difficulty of managing people to achieve successful results. They now are experiencing a drop in their sales. Running a successful business always looks easy on paper, but it’s another story when you have to implement programs and count on people to buy into them.
I love owning my own company. It gives me the leverage to create a culture based on “doing the right thing,” “people first” and “a service attitude.”
