Ivan Boone is a co-founding principal of Concordis Real Estate, Inc., the nations largest minority owned commercial real estate services firm and President of Frontier Commercial, LLC. As a commercial real estate professional for nearly 20 years, he has served some of the nations leading corporations on commercial real estate assignments across the United States. The following interview was conducted by Kathy April-Barr, past President of the Chicago Chapter of the National Black MBA Association.August, 2003
Ivan is an Associate Member of the Chicago Chapter and joined to benefit from others who do have the MBA. Of course the most common myth about membership is that you have to have an MBA…..not true.
After graduating from Morehouse College, Ivan began working in banking at Harris Bank & Trust Co. in the Master Trust department, the group that handles pension and profit sharing plans for major corporations. From there Ivan went to Mesirow Financial as a financial analyst supporting real estate brokers in the firm, and got bit by the real estate bug. The greatest thing about this job was not the salary, earning $1,500 a month but the opportunity to learn the real estate business.
After 4 years, Ivan went to work for Stein & Company as a commercial real estate broker handling corporate real estate accounts for large corporate clients, such as Ameritech-Illinois, Bank One and Federal Express. After gaining more experience, Ivan considered working more as a general broker with a broader portfolio of clients that he might develop directly. He didn't leave to be an entrepreneur at the time, but when he looked at the market place for general brokerage roles, he was met with the opportunity to be a founding partner with East Lake Commercial. Here, he had the opportunity to increase his share of ownership with performance based growth. This really launched him into entrepreneurship.
Ivan formed Frontier Commercial, L.L.C. a real estate brokerage, consulting and advisory firm in the summer of 2000. Frontier Commercial primarily represents corporations and aids them in securing facilities that house their business operations whether it is office/industrial or retail in nature. They also help organizations in disposition of real estate as the organizational needs change. Clients have included Alliance Imaging, Lockheed Martin, Cook County government, Home Depot, North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance, State of Illinois, The Aspen Institute and a host of local Chicago small to medium sized firms. Ivan describes these assignments as more opportunistic than predictable …. "We were just primed at the right time to get this business". As a result, business growth was difficult to manage.
To establish a more meaningful platform for future expansion, Ivan helped form Concordis Real Estate and serves as the current President and CEO. Organized in May of 2002, there are nine member firms and it is the nation's first corporate real estate services partnership comprised exclusively of minority and women-owned business enterprises. Concordis Real Estate has established a multi-year co-marketing agreement with Cushman & Wakefield, one the nations leading real estate services organizations.
KAB: Describe the relationship between Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) and Concordis?
IB: In essence, when C&W has a client(s) or opportunity that clearly demonstrates a demand for diversity they will look to Concordis to meet that demand and in turn when Concordis and its members require additional capacity and expertise from a larger partner they will look to C&W. Because of this commitment, Concordis and C&W are building infrastructure and a shared platform to execute the work once it's won. We've removed the prerequisite of having to get acquainted over the deal.
KAB: Is Concordis a firm in which you own "X" % or simply a consortium of sorts?
IB: Member firms each own an equal interest but it is not an operating company as it functions today. It could become a single operating entity through future consolidation.
KAB: A C&W press release refers to primary obstacles of minority supplier programs; describe what some of those obstacles were.
IB: Clearly size is an issue. As corporations streamline their vendor usage, Frontier Commercial's size alone was insufficient to garner large corporate clients. There was limited possibility for individual Concordis companies to win major regional or national accounts on their own. Secondly, the perception of depth of resources. There has been a 180 degree turn going from Frontier's resources to Concordis resources and finally C&W resources. We don't have many capacity conversations anymore; which allows us to move quickly into the project and how to get the work done.
KAB: The Press release also noted that Concordis was formed to ensure minority and women-owned firms participated in real estate services that resulted from a contract Hewlett Packard (HP) awarded. Would this type of venture have worked if Concordis came prior to the contract? In other words, in reverse?
IB: It could have worked. It would still have been a strong competitor in the marketplace, but; it's always true that no one wants to be first to test a new system. Having a company the size and stature of HP gives instant credibility to allow others to join with confidence.
KAB: Who birthed the idea of Concordis?
IB: Concordis evolved from an invitation to be part of the real estate services team for HP's United States portfolio. The invitation came from C&W, who in the summer of 2001 was about to take on responsibility of the entire portfolio. In the realization that teaming one-to-one with C&W on this account represented an immediate solution to Hp's request for diversity, we realized it also represented a huge strategic problem for Concordis firms in future years. i.e., if C&W decided 5-years down the road to get out, it would remove sub-tier partners as well. Concordis was a strategic solution to pull minority companies together in an independent structure such that it could survive if C&W and HP went away. C&W immediately embraced the concept and entered into a multi-year marketing agreement with Concordis for expanded services.
KAB: How many of the members are Women-owned Business Enterprises vs. Minority Business Enterprises?
IB: 2 are WBEs and the remaining are MBEs. A condition of Concordis membership is certification.
KAB: How much was Frontier Commercial L.L.C. worth prior to the Concordis deal?
IB: Broker firms are difficult to evaluate, there's a joke that you're only as good as your last deal. This is very true in real estate. Real value, however, is always a function of future projected income. Without multi-years contracts, our value is inconsistent and difficult to measure. Concordis real estate as a collective group is doing about $15mm in revenue which we should be able to build on with predictability.
KAB: How is Concordis positioned for growth?
IB: First, we have benefit of being the first national organization to occupy this space. We've seen increased interest by corporations extracting benefit from diversity strategies for the bottom line. This trend will continue as a result of globalization and changing demographics. That's the macro-level. Second, we are finding that our platform is not easily reproducible. It's become of real interest to remaining WBEs and MBEs operating in the market place and minority and women real estate professionals. . Concordis has become a magnet to draw and entice talent in ways many of the main stream firms can't because there culture is different and many brokers have gone as far as they can.
KAB: How do you market?
IB: We try to identify companies that have expressed interest in achieving benefits of diversity. From a tactical marketing perspective, we are all members of certified organizations which provide some forum for linkages and networking. Additionally, because we have an agreement with C&W and they have embraced Concordis as value added, we are being introduced to numerous C&W clients as a way of meeting there needs. This leverages the C&W sales force.
KAB: What are the strengths & weaknesses of this collaborative type company?
IB: Strengths are that we have experience and talent on a national basis which is unmatched in the marketplace. We have backing of some of the largest real estate providers in C&W and support of some of the nation's largest corporations. Weaknesses, we must work hard to unify the standard processed between Concordis firms. We must get independent companies to think and act as one! We additionally still need to get the word out; we're still now doing enough to let people know that we're here. Now that we are on the national scene, there is a lot of work to be done.
KAB: What can compare to entrepreneurship?
IB: It's like having a baby. It's a lot of hard work before you see results. Yet, when you see the results you forget about the pain.
KAB: Hardest part of Entrepreneurship?
IB: Collecting money…..but seriously. Establishing fee-sharing arrangements, which happen when a client is served by multiple vendors, can be a challenge. When defining everyone's value in a collaborative process, all parties perceive their value differently. You have to resolve this to everyone' satisfaction.
KAB: What's next for you?
IB: From a business standpoint, I look forward to evolving too simply, the business manager and going a year without doing a transaction myself. Nirvana will be reached when I'm completely out of a tactical role and relying on a team of professionals to execute. Short of that, I'm still a practitioner. The reason I'm probably president of Concordis is because I'm willing to lay it all out there on the line. I'm so confident we're going in the right direction and that really is what entrepreneurship is all about; no nets. I view a salary job as risky because you're always subject to the discretion of others taking it away.
KAB: What are you doing when you're not running your business?
IB: Spending time with the loves of my life, my wife and two daughters.
KAB: Last thoughts for our readers?
IB: Don't be afraid to trust people. Too many budding entrepreneurs feel like someone is going to steal their great idea. In the end the market rewards those who get it done, not those who necessarily had the idea. Move fast and build supporters; share your thoughts and ideas, although a risk, nothing will happen until you put it out there. Too many business plans are in the drawer, fearful that others will take it and they ultimately become obsolete. I'm one of those people; I've got a drawer at home full of ideas, none of which ever saw the light of day. Most people walk by money opportunities everyday without bothering to look. The value of an idea is not the idea itself but the ability to deliver. Once you determine you have the capacity to create, you'll continue to develop them. Most entrepreneurs re-create themselves 4 to 6 times; it doesn't matter if the business fails, because they'll create another one tomorrow. So I speak from experience…which as far as I know is the best teacher.
For more information please call Ivan at 312-893-0470.
Concordis Frontier Commercial
208 S. LaSalle St.
Suite 1340Chicago IL 60604
