$54 to $10million turnover

Anyone that has ever had a discussion with Tim about starting a business would have been asked “Do you have a business plan”?

A business plan is how Tim & Michelle took their Property Management business from $54 in the first month to a $10million turnover after 5 years and then selling it to semi retire after 10 years.

In 2004 Tim & Michelle decided to expand their passion of all thing’s property, they had carried out numerous property developments, both residential and commercial and with this also came the process of managing their own tenants. One night a friend asked Tim if he could manage his investment properties and so there the seed was planted for McCranor Property Management.

Tim & Michelle’s initial plan was to build a small business to replace their previous incomes which could be achieved without any employees and operated from home. What it turned out to be was a business with 4 employees and an income well beyond their expectations.

 Aside from genuine hard work how did they achieve this?

Mentor

While discussing their idea Tim & Michelle agreed it would be smart to source a Business Mentor to assist with creating a Business Plan. They utilised their mentor for the first 12 months of operation. It is still one of their best investments made.

Market Research

As Tim & Michelle had been involved in Property for many years prior, they had a strong understanding of how the industry worked, however they still conducted further research as they wanted to capture a niche market. They were only interested in high end properties as they were looking at quality not quantity.

Researching your industry, local area, competitors, online sites, price points is all relevant and should be carried out early in the planning process. You may think you have a niche idea only to learn that it is not so niche, this could change your mind on how you approach your new business.

Business Plan

A business plan is not the most exciting part to starting a new business, but it will ensure you take all the steps to validate whether your idea will be a viable business. Combined with your market research your plan will help identify your strengths and weaknesses and if you are in a partnership what skills all parties bring to the table.

 A business plan will delve into Industry compliance’s or licenses that may be required, it will have you generate customer service/refund policies and importantly a fallback position if you were to get sick, or the market was to change rapidly.  It will help you build a finance plan for the first 5 years so that you can, firstly see if the business will be viable and secondly, that you establish targets that you can report on.

Tim & Michelle regularly referred to theirs and having it ensured they were able to expand so quickly and know that it was the right decision. It enabled them to feel confident in being able to employ staff after only 6 months of operation.

 A business plan in a nutshell is the bible for your business.

Networking

With your business plan in your hand now the hard work commences. Starting a business doesn’t just mean popping up some fluffy words on your socials and sitting back waiting for your phone to ping. Yes granted some business can take of like this but are they really sustainable?

Building real life networks away from the socials will go a long way to creating a sustainable business. If you have an online product, why not have a stall occasionally at your local market so people get to know the face behind the product. If feasible, visit your suppliers, you cannot underestimate the trust that is built from meeting the people at the other end of the email.

Tim & Michelle spent years building their trusted networks, even prior to operating their Property Management business. It is these networks that will continue to support your business and any future businesses you may establish.

If face to face networking is not your strength, then look at other options like introducing yourself on your social media accounts, be personal so that your followers feel like they know you. And don’t just do this once keep it regular with short videos or more recently reels. Show who you are.

Customer Service

This is the most important part of operating a business, how you treat your customers so that they not only keep returning but spread the word about your business. Your business plan will help you identify the policies you require, and these are especially important if you have employees as you will need them to portray your customer values.

Tim & Michelle prided themselves on never having to advertise as they continually gained new clients through word of mouth. You can imagine how much they saved by just ensuring they placed high importance on their customer service.

Financials

Establishing a financial plan that is both realistic and sensible is a must for any business, new or old. It is not a good idea to rush this or to put figures in just to balance the books, this will not help your business get of the ground. Remember a good finance plan can help guide you to make informed decisions about your business, from purchasing products from suppliers to you setting retail prices. It is what you will be using to report back on each month and if you have not done the research then your reporting will not truly reflect how you are going.

McCranor Property Management established a conservative finance plan to start with which was based on how many properties they expected to pick up each month. Once they had been operating for 6 months they revisited this plan to make updates as to how they were performing. If they did not have a finance plan then they would not have been able to see how well they were doing against their initial estimates.

Showing Up

Finally, when starting a new business, you need to show up each day regardless of what is happening in your personal life. To be successful you need to be consistent and committed to your goals. The early days are the hardest and some days you may not feel like you are moving forward but if you keep showing up you will get the results.

Operating your own business is hard work but if you stick with it then you will be rewarded, just ensure you go in with all the facts and this is why Tim will ask

“Have you got a business plan”!!