Month: February 2017

This week’s update revolves around this message as it played a key theme on Wednesday, and continues to, as Chris and I take action on our 2017 goals.

I was on the 6.09am train from Dunbar (near Edinburgh) to Peterborough on Wednesday morning heading down to the ‘Train the Trainer’ session. My morning routine includes watching Darren Hardy’s daily coaching video and Wednesday’s message carried the title above.

I’ll share some of the take-aways I noted in my journal from Darren’s message:

“To have what others don’t, you got to do what others won’t”

Five things you can do today that will get you uncomfortable and moving towards your goals:

1. Do what you resist – in other words the tasks you know will move the ball forwards but you’ve been procrastinating
2. Push past ‘hard’ – in other words there is no growth in getting to the wall, growth and glory comes after the wall
3. Go for failure – like the analogy of lifting weights, push for the edge of your capability
4. Suck it up- success is hard but take comfort in that as it eliminates others along the way
5. Supersize your goals, in other words set goals above and beyond what you are comfortable with

It was serendipitous how our brilliant Progressive trainer, Toni wove in the same message about getting uncomfortable in the opening section of our TTT day (thank you Toni Gagan for brilliant delivery of the day). It was great pushing beyond our comfort zones in a supportive environment and I’m confident that everyone benefited from the stretch. I got uncomfortable on a few practice exercises and took that further by committing to the full ESR training.

I’ll borrow Darren Hardy’s words to close,

“Success is a comfort awarded to those who are willing to do what is uncomfortable – so get comfortable feeling uncomfortable”.

This Friday saw the culmination of several weeks work playing cupid. Working backwards from the client’s real need for accommodation with Chris we sourced a property fit for purpose and this week brought them together to check-in for their first stay. Very fitting that our efforts as matchmaker came to a conclusion in the same week as Valentine’s Day.

It chimes in on a week where my kids are off school for half term whilst I choose to continue working. However I have been able to successfully mix passion and profession this week as I’ve had my eight year old son cheerfully accompany me on a property viewing, and my wife help me kit out the new SA ready for guests.

I found some good sources for furnishing SA’s and thought they might be helpful to share:

https://www.hotelcontractbeds.co.uk/zip-and-link-beds For economical zip and link bed & head board sets (they are easy to put together and look the part)

http://shop.sueryder.org/home-furniture/furniture/bedside-lamp-tables/grey-tall-bedside-unit-with-grey-wicker.html For White Company style bedside tables at lower price but the added benefit of supporting the Sue Ryder Foundation.

These bedside tables are great – my brilliant wife had been helping Chris and I kit out this new SA and just happened to select these for use. So fitting that it also happens to be one of the main charities supported by Progressive.

Enjoy the weekend fellow investors.

Well February has kicked off with gusto. In amongst a week that saw Chris and I viewing a decent commercial conversion opportunity and progressing a couple of potential R2R for SA deals, the highlight was the SA Summit on Wednesday.

I’ll start with saying a massive thank you and congrats to Jason and Lee for thinking up and putting together such a great event. And of course to all the speakers who shared their experience and great insights.

Here are my 6 learns and tips for you all (amongst many) from each of the day’s speakers.

1. Matthew & Jason – a great end to end overview on setting up an SA units. TOP TIP aim to meet the kind of standards being set by ASAP (Association of Serviced Accommodation Providers) – i.e. use mattresses and curtains that are fire retardant. And don’t overlook using lighting that can create an ambience in the living room – makes a big difference.
2. Duncan – super inspiring talk about using houses as SA for contractors.TOP TIP – in looking for repeat bookings – if the name paying is different to the guest staying then it may be a company booking for contractors so contact them to ask they might need to stay longer or return in the future.
3. Paul – a brilliant talk on the business structure and mindset on which to build our SA business. TOP TIP – the real definition of a business – “a profitable enterprise that continuously improves without you”. That’s the way you want to build your SA business. Noted Paul, you’ve successfully shifted my perception, on to it 🙂
4. Chris Poulter – very inspiring talk on how his first SA project was a 29 bed hotel. TOP TIP– apply the entrepreneur’s question and mindset when considering a deal with a hotel/guest house vendor. The question to have in the back of your head and the approach to take is, “What’s the problem and what’s the solution we can make money from?”
5.  Emelia – I think everyone was inspired by Emelia’s quest for direct booking. TOP TIP– don’t sit back and let the OTA (booking.com, airbnb etc) do it all – that is not a business you are in control of (I confess Emelia and Sandra, we are culprit of this, but that will all change going forwards). In other words either learn how to do online marketing yourself or outsource it and take direct bookings via your own booking website.
6. Lee- aka “the entertainment” – wow what energy Lee has up on stage, and passion for this business of SA. TOP TIP – this is a hospitality business, not just a property investment strategy, therefore act as such. Really understand why guests are coming to your area and serve that audience. Using the example of a recent commercial conversion project, Lee showed how he reverse engineered the whole product to the end user of corporate guests. Now in operation, he offers free/reduced Sunday night stays with a Mon-Thu booking in addition to a laundry service for their shirts/suits etc and even an order and delivered supermarket shop.

It really was a great day and I’m sure all attendees are super grateful for the organisers, speakers and sponsors. As sweet finish to the the day I was one of a handful drawn from a hat to win a £250 voucher with Fusion Furniture solutions.

So, these are my top take-aways and for anyone interested in the other anecdotes and lessons that resonated with me, I have typed up my notes into a pdf doc and would be happy to share. Just shoot me an email to tsen@adaeroproperty.com and I’ll reply within 48 hours with notes attached.

For further advice and specialist help I would encourage those interested to follow up with each of the speakers regarding their specialist areas.

Have a great weekend all.