In This Issue:

- A Note from John:  Mind Your Own Business!

**TIP** There is a lot of info in this edition so if your emails are in basic text version you will find it easier to read the newsletter online by clicking here.
 

A Note From John

Hello!

And welcome to the slightly different weekly summer version of the Property Investor PA newsletter.

<<<< Minding My Own Business >>>>

Last week I shared with you how I am enjoying working with other business owners to improve their businesses. Thank you to all of you that emailed or called me as a result and I am delighted that it resonated with so many of you.  If you missed that newsletter you can read it here Is Your Ship Leaking More Than You Wish To Admit?  My credentials for doing so come from my roles in corporate life which originated from one early boss realising I had a talent for problem solving and turning difficult situations around. I soon found myself with a reputation for being a "Mr Fix-it" and being given the poor performing teams, departments or projects – and I have to admit to loving the challenge and the thrill of transforming individuals, teams, budgets and ultimately results.

However it never ceases to amaze me how we, (and I particularly mean 'ME') can be so blind and ignorant to doing that which we preach to others in our own businesses!!! Recently, with the help of my coach, I realised that I was guilty as charged <<cue, rather embarrassed JR face>>

Most of you are on this newsletter through enquiring about or using my PA service which support other property investors – but the harsh truth was that the PA business was helping everyone except me.

>>> Our customers were happy – they were getting a unique service that was professionally helping their property business, and all at an absolutely bargain and investor friendly pricing structure

>>> Our Staff were happy – they were getting flexible hours working from home in an interesting job with generous performance bonuses

>>> My business partner was happy – she had been given the responsibility of running an already successful start up business day to day, and taking it to the next level with my support. All for no risk and a generous share of the profits. PLUS it enabled her to leverage the PA business to further her own portfolio and business skills.

The only person who was not happy was ME!

Despite the business making a handsome and increasing profit since day one of trading, I carried the full weight of the business risk combined with the responsibility to all the people mentioned above. I knew I had grossly underpriced our services in the first place and despite corrective action it came too late with the credit crunch biting and investors taking longer and longer to pay us, and in fact some not paying at all.

Of course making a handsome paper profit is all well and good but totally irrelevant if the money never materialises.  I don’t know about you, but paying my dues is very important to me, and so paying staff and suppliers on time is essential in my book, and each month I was using more and more of my personal money to 'plug the gap'.

To make matters worse, it started to dawn on me as I started delving into the mechanics of my business that I had taken too much of a back seat and didn’t truly realise what was going on. It hurts to admit this, but my wake up call was missing my first EVER mortgage payment - in 15 years of having mortgages – due to the poor cashflow of the PA business sucking me dry. OK, it was only an uncleared payment scenario of a couple of days, but this REALLY got to me. After all, your credit rating is EVERYTHING in this game.

It was whilst blaming anyone and everything during a coaching session that my coach calmly suggested that I "mind my own business!"  It took a few seconds to sink in but when it did I went through a wave of emotions culminating in a 'A-ha' moment of clarity and purpose.
 

<<<< Taking My Own Medicine >>>>

Although I realised I would have to take some painful decisions, I knew that the pain would be short-lived compared to the increasing pain I had been living with. I started with a dose of my own medicine and I began to use my own skills, experience and advice to mind my own business again!  I split with my business partner, regrouped with a team one third the size, cut out all unnecessary expenses, streamlined processes and reviewed all our services with a view to adding value in a win-win way for our customers and myself.

The result is a leaner and more viable business that still makes everyone else happy, but now makes ME happy too!

One of the extremely popular improvements we have made is to offer a new budget lead qualifying service for investors at a whopping 33% discount off our standard lead qualification price. It’s particularly being taken up by those time-short investors watching their cashflow, as well as investors forced to return to work who find they now struggle to be able to make the vendor call. To find out more about this and our other services you can download our free brochure by visiting www.thepropertyinvestorpa.com/pabrochurev6.pdf

Meanwhile I hope sharing my experience and mistakes may alert you to 'Mind Your Own Business' too J

Cheers

John

About The Property Investor PA

www.ThePropertyInvestorPA.com is a dedicated UK support service for Below Market Value Property Investors. Established in 2006, we specialize in helping you with the time consuming parts of your property business – leaving YOU to get on with doing the deals and running the business. Visit our website to read case studies and testimonials plus download our free brochure.