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? 😊