The journey that is property investing has been assigned many analogies over the years to bring colourful similarities and comparisons with things we can relate to. 

Since Chris and I have been on the road over the last couple of weeks – literally pedaling every day for 10 days, I thought it fitting to make this week’s post a video from part way through our Lands End to John O’Groats cycle trip. 

I had plenty of time to think on the bike, just no time to write. So, here are 10 logical links I thought of between a property business and cycling that I hope serves to remind us (myself included) of what is important to optimise your journey… whether in cycling or in property. 

Sometimes there will be long tough climbs where you have to work extremely hard and just get your head down and push, sometimes it’ll be flat but still need some pedalling to keep moving, other times you can cruise down hill and catch your breath! Either way, it’s a journey and we have to keep on moving forwards- on the road and in property.

So, 10 points coming up…No. 1 is to Start with why…..for this journey our big why that was driving us forward was to raise money for Cancer Research, because cancer has impacted our families, as it does for so many. If you’d like to support our cause please donate what you can here:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tsen-tsim-tsumi-rich-chris

I had attempted to post this video blog midway through our journey but the wifi strength at the places we stayed never quite made it happen. Now with the journey completed on Wednesday, Chris and I can honestly tell you that as we pedalled onwards day by day each and every donation and message of support helped spur us on, so an eternal thanks🙏🙏🙏 for all those, please do help us keep raising our donation amount to help fight cancer 😊❤️. 

P.S. Hope you like the backdrop, it was stunning in the Lake District. 

Which of these 10 points resonate most for you in your property business?

Often, it’s not new information we need but rather being reminded of what we already know, so that we then go on to use it.

I first shared the post below exactly a year ago following a week of masterminding. Chris and I would normally be facilitating mastermind tables this week but on this occasion we’ll be cycling the length of the country from Lands End to John O’Groats to raise money for Cancer Research. [If the cause strikes a chord and you’d like to sponsor us please visit our page https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tsen-tsim-tsumi-rich-chris ]

So, back to this post, I chose this one to share this week as I’ve invested a higher proportion of time this week in the preparation for the trip, plus I feel the message is just as relevant as when I first shared it. In fact I might argue that it’s timeless. Here it is….

I have huge respect for, and affinity with, those who are committed to using property investing to create more of the life they want. If that’s you, then we are kindred spirits. This is the journey I’ve been on since 2007 – it’s what I strive for and what I find great joy in helping others with too. 

Every month I am fortunate enough to be in the position to mentor people on their property journeys, by facilitating powerful mastermind groups. I absolutely love holding mastermind days, the magic that comes from tapping into the group intelligence to help overcome obstacles or add fuel to the fire of opportunities….there’s nothing like it. 

I recently worked with two such groups and there was a very clear and obvious theme underlying both days that needed to be addressed. It was one of uncertainty – uncertainty about which property strategy to focus on, about where to start, about how to start…and a range of other secondary questions that flowed down from these. 

This is where knowing about and implementing a simple but powerful change of perspective can melt away that uncertainty. I wanted to share with you a snapshot into what we were talking about because I’m confident that either you’ll learn something new, or you’ll be reminded of what you already know that you can now go out and use.

THE CRUCIAL INGREDIENT

To help explain this I’m going to quote from MJ Demarco’s Millionaire Fastlane – “The winning premise of business is simple yet often forgotten by most business owners: Businesses that solve needs win. Businesses that solve problems win profits. Selfish, narcissistic motives do not make good long term business models.”

The most important message in the Fastlane book is this – “Stop chasing money and start chasing needs”.

Those seven words you just read really can change everything, especially when applied to property. [I know this from personal experience because it was the key change that allowed us to pivot out of a failing serviced accommodation business and start a new profitable version of it.]

So how does this all relate to property and the mentoring conversations I was having this week? 

Well let’s put into context the quandary many find themselves in at the beginning of their property journeys – ‘How do I make money from property when I don’t have any to invest?’ Or ‘How do I know where to start?’

This is where the perspective change outlined above comes into play – to answer questions like these we have to switch the focus away from chasing money and instead focus on chasing needs. 

This powerful pivot in focus led us into productive conversations during the mastermind session that shone light on the path to making that first bit of income through property deals – for example we discussed:

• Finding niche audiences that require short stay accommodation, matching them up with existing serviced accommodation operators and charging a fee.
• Finding time poor investors in your area and offering your time to source, analyse and deliver shortlisted property opportunities for a contingent fee if they invest.
• When it came to questions about finding and working with JV investors we discussed how the same principle still applies ie by asking questions to figure what needs/problems the investor has in relation to their cash in the bank that you could help solve with certain property deals. 

I hope this subtle yet powerful distinction can serve those reading this as it has for me – this change in approach really is like moving out of the dark where you were trying to make decisions with no information and feeling fearful; and into a well lit path with the information you need to make optimal decisions and feel confident.

What I am touching on here is the core philosophy that guides everything we do in our property businesses. It guides how I mentor others and its what I wrote about in my book Predictable Property Profits.

In closing, ask yourself, how can you ensure this crucial ingredient of serving a real NEED is present in your property deals?

Have a great week ahead.

Are you more interested in the struggles or the successes of people in property? 

Whilst out cycle training with Chris for our Lands End to John O’Groats ride our chats cover a lot of ground – from strategic thinking, goals, funny films, health, life, property business…all over the place. One of the conversation topics that came up this week was discussing mistakes we’ve made, and how those mistakes while painful in the moment have helped us grow into the people we are today. 

I think it’s quite common for people to hide away their mistakes and keep quiet, perhaps because we pick up through school and society that mistakes are bad. However, looked at through a different lens, deep down we know that mistakes that don’t threaten our life and health are actually good for us. We know we have to experience them to grow.

So, in acknowledgment of that I thought instead of talking about a hotel viewing we did this week, why not talk about some mistakes that have helped me become who I am in property today. I hope it can help others reading this reflect positively on past mistakes too.

In no particular order, here’s a quick reflection on 5 mistakes that, on reflection, have really  helped me grow.

**I bought my first BTL investment because it ‘looked cheap’ compared to London property, where I was living at the time. I had no understanding of the property itself, the local market, no understanding of leasehold property (something that would lead into a load of hassle with this property). I was just desperate to get started. A little bit of basic property education and taking the time to really understand what I was buying would have helped me select a different property…but now I know that 😊

**Trying to multitask at weekends by attempting to do some property work related things whilst simultaneously trying to look after/play with my young kids. Total failure! I later realised that you have to be fully present and focus on one thing at a time, otherwise both you and your child end up being frustrated and the worst version of yourself. Learning to schedule and my week effectively and factor in appropriate time for business, family and health has been huge. It took me a while but I learned that when my kids asked me to play/do something with them that I can say yes to them first, explain that I’ll play with them for X amount of time and then return to the property stuff. That way I can focus fully on the kids, even if only for 20 mins, and then get back to the property task.

**In 2014 I tried my hand at creating a software product for executive recruiters. That was a 3 year struggle to finally arrive at the conclusion that the business was totally out of alignment with what I wanted to be doing. I chose that path for the wrong reason – wanting to make money as quickly as possible. I learned there’s no point doing something just for the money, the entrepreneurial roller coaster is tough enough as it is so it will serve you so much better to allocate your time and energy to something in alignment with your highest values. For me, this is where I found serving people through property is where aligned in starting and growing businesses. 

**When Chris and I first formed a business partnership and started to invest in our property education we got ourselves well and truly overwhelmed with shiny penny syndrome. All of the property strategies were appealing to us and we were trying to execute about 4 different strategies all at the same time. We were busy idiots scraping the surface on multiple property strategies rather than immersing ourselves and focusing on one thing. After a few months of this we finally realised the importance of FOCUS and committed to doing one thing for at least 6 months – that being rent-to-rent serviced accommodation. It seemed so difficult to say no to all these other exciting property strategies in the early years but now I know it wasn’t a case of saying no never, it was simply no for now because we had to give ourselves the bandwidth to focus on one thing for long enough to get some meaningful learning and progress with it before adding anything else. Chris and I have since been able to layer in those exciting other strategies in a more measured and strategic way. 

**This one is probably my favourite mistake because the lessons that came from it have been so powerful and lasting – it was getting started in rent-to-rent SA based on nothing more than guesswork and hope. Well, that first outing with 4 SA properties didn’t make us any money. It did however teach us some incredibly valuable (although painful at the time) lessons that led us to start again with a new approach built on finding the demand first. That new approach was born out of a painful experience and the necessity to find a better way. It was the sharp realisation we needed and I’m so grateful for it because we have used those lessons to start and grow a profitable wee SA business [if you’re interested I’ve written about that journey of failure to success in my book Predictable Property Profits https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1527253732]

So, those are 5 mistakes, amongst many that I’ve made but I feel these have contributed most to my growth along the property business journey. 

What about you – what’s been your favourite mistake in property? 😊