Ownership Thinking: A Framework for Success in Mortgage Broking

INTRODUCTION

Ownership Thinking isn’t about selling your business—at least not in the immediate sense. It’s about operating your business as though it were always ready for sale. Think of it like preparing your home for the market: a fresh coat of paint, a tidy yard, and repairs made not in haste, but as part of a consistent upkeep strategy. Your business, like your home, should be in great shape all the time—ready to impress, whether or not you’re planning to sell.

This approach to Ownership Thinking is part of what I call the Accelerated Value Creation Methodology, itself a subset of Master Planning. At its core, Master Planning aligns your personal, financial, and business goals to create a purpose-driven enterprise. The goal? To center your business operations around the principle of value creation.

This philosophy stems from my own journey, which was born out of necessity. At a pivotal point in my career, I found myself forced to re-evaluate my “why.” Like many mortgage brokers, I started with an “income mindset,” focusing on operational success and immediate financial rewards. But as the years passed, I transitioned to a “value mindset.” I shifted from being an operator to becoming an owner—someone who understood that the true worth of a business lies not just in its revenue, but in its transferability and scalability.

This mindset shift taught me that maximizing the value of a business means understanding key financial principles like EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Tax) and how it multiplies to determine business value. Done right, over 70% of a business’s worth comes from transferable intangible assets, not just from the trail book. Now, wouldn’t you rather build a business that sells for six times its earnings rather than merely relying on a multiple of your trail income?

WHAT IS OWNERSHIP THINKING?

Ownership Thinking is a mindset that fosters a culture of accountability, purpose, and profit. It aligns your team’s efforts with your broader business objectives, centering everything on value creation.

For Ownership Thinking to thrive in your mortgage broking business, team members need to:

1. Feel Connected to the Purpose: They should understand how their efforts contribute to the bigger picture of value creation.

2. Know They Are Valued: A team that feels appreciated and cared for will contribute with more enthusiasm and commitment.

3. Understand Metrics and Incentives: People need to see how their performance is measured and know that outstanding results will be rewarded.

WHY ADOPT OWNERSHIP THINKING?

The purpose of Ownership Thinking isn’t just to improve profitability; it’s about creating a business that is sustainable, scalable, and eventually, sellable. Even if you never plan to sell, a business built around Ownership Thinking is a business that can operate efficiently without you—a hallmark of true success.

A CASE STUDY: FROM STRUGGLING TO SCALABLE

Let me share a real-world example. A client of ours, a mortgage broker, came to us stuck in the common trap: struggling to create value beyond their trail book. They were a skilled operator, but the business lacked the structural integrity and transferability required for significant growth or sale.

We implemented a deliberate, structured approach to value creation:

1. A Long-Term Vision: Together, we agreed on a 2–3 year timeline to rebuild the business around value creation.

2. The Four Cs of Capital: We focused on developing Human, Structural, Customer, and Social Capital. Each of these pillars supports the scalability and sustainability of the business.

3. Quarterly Reset Cycles: Every 90 days, we reviewed progress and asked: “Are we focused on growth, or are we preparing for an exit?”

When the time came to sell, this client achieved a sale price of approximately six times EBIT—equivalent to over ten times the trail book value. This outcome wasn’t accidental; it was the result of Ownership Thinking applied consistently over time.

BUILDING THE FRAMEWORK: THE FOUR PILLARS OF OWNERSHIP THINKING

Implementing Ownership Thinking requires focus on four foundational elements:

1. The Right People:

   • Conduct one-on-one meetings to gauge what your team values.

   • Onboard employees with the broader purpose in mind.

   • Create a culture where the team understands their role in driving business value.

2. The Right Education:

   • Start with the basics—revenue, costs, profit.

   • Progress to more advanced concepts like EBIT, multiples, and value creation.

   • Emphasize that value comes from being attractive to buyers and always ready for sale.

3. The Right Measures:

   • Focus on KPIs that serve as leading indicators of success.

   • Recognize performance based on earned rewards, not entitlement.

4. The Right Incentives:

   • Create profit-sharing schemes or Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs).

   • Incentives should reward value creation, not just sales performance.

   • This approach fosters accountability within the team—if one person’s behavior affects overall results, the team will self-correct.

APPLYING OWNERSHIP THINKING IN YOUR BUSINESS

Ownership Thinking is as much a methodology as it is a culture shift. To implement it successfully in your mortgage broking business:

1. Start Conversations: Engage your team in discussions about the purpose of the business and their role in its success.

2. Financial Education: Educate your team on how the business generates value. This creates alignment and fosters ownership.

3. Define Your Next Steps: Use RPI (Revenue, Profit, Incentives) metrics to identify areas where each team member can contribute to value creation.

4. Oversight Committee: Establish a group to monitor progress and ensure goals are met.

5. Regular Reviews: Refresh and reset goals every 90 days to maintain momentum and clarity.

TAKEAWAYS

The core of Ownership Thinking is about aligning your team’s goals with your own and centering everything on value creation. When done well, it transforms your business from a job into a true asset—one that serves your personal, financial, and professional goals.

CONCLUSION

As mortgage brokers, we have a unique opportunity to build businesses that are not only profitable but also sustainable and transferable. By embracing Ownership Thinking, you take the first step toward a future where your business operates with purpose, aligns with your values, and creates long-term value for everyone involved.

At Recludo, our mission is to partner with Australian mortgage brokers to help them build businesses that thrive independently and create lasting value. Through Ownership Thinking, we ensure our partners are not just operators, but owners in every sense of the word.

Take this first step. Shift your thinking, engage your team, and let value creation become your guiding principle. The rewards will follow—for your business, your team, and your life.

By Ash Playsted, General Manager of Broker Performance, Recludo Group