Adaero Property

This week’s post was inspired by, believe it or not, by a short guided meditation I found on youtube titled, “Have No Fear Of Screwing Up”. 

Hearing the words being spoken in the voiceover reminded me of several occasions where my own fear of messing up almost stopped me from doing the thing, but where in hindsight I can see the good and the growth that came from doing that thing in spite of the fear of failure. In particular it brought up memories of starting a software business and of the first approaches I’d made to letting agents when starting out in serviced accommodation. 

Everyday brings opportunities for you to course correct and to grow-  that is IF you are out there taking action and colliding with the marketplace, stretching yourself, having new conversations and tripping up.

The key message is this – give yourself permission to go screw up, you’ll benefit from it. Now of course I’m not talking about being reckless and ‘screwing up’ when it comes to money decisions or pulling the trigger on a new property deal without thorough diligence. No. I’m referring to all the micro decisions and conversations that have to come before reaching a level of certainty or mastery with something. 

If you’re in a situation where you are learning, or doing something for the first time then give yourself permission to make a mistake. In fact, revel in it, celebrate the mistakes that accelerate growth. I know this is difficult for the perfectionists out there, believe me, I’m a recovering perfectionist. 

The message in this meditation I referred to serves as a great reminder right now for anyone exploring new avenues to do business as a result of this lockdown. Just a few weeks ago I shared a great brainstorming exercise to help encourage people in property to identify ways to survive and thrive in the new reality. Finding answers to those questions would likely lead you to exploring new revenue streams from potential new problems to solve. However if fear of sounding sounding silly or tripping up stops you from making the call you will never know. For example in the last couple of weeks I’ve found myself opening up new conversations with divisions of our local authority to ask questions I’d never asked before in search of new ways to serve. 

I even asked our council about whether we could help in providing storage solutions for certain tenant segments they look after. Fear of picking up the phone and looking daft can prevent productive conversations like this, but it needn’t be that way. Turns out it was a relevant question to ask, just a bit late as the contract had already been awarded to another organisation earlier in the year. 

The same sentiment goes for anyone beginning their property investing journey or introducing a new property strategy right now. Embrace the opportunities for learning by making little mistakes today, and going forwards. Be the eternal student. But don’t not take action in favour of protecting the ego. 

For those who have kids, or those who are gamers- if you think about how the kids get so good at the games like Fortnite so quickly, it comes about from the rapid feedback loops they get from trying something new, failing, getting back into it and trying again slightly differently. To me it just looks like my kids are frantically tapping the keyboard keys in random order, but the truth is they’ve learned the patterns of what to press and how fast. 

Talking of kids, I love that they taught me this acronym for FAIL (and they got it from their primary school). 

First
Attempt
In
Learning

What a great reframe, isn’t it?

Entrepreneurs in the US talk about ‘failing fast’ because it leads to finding what works quickly to validate and build out new offerings. It seems logical yet our brains are often stuck in the old school way we were brought up that making mistakes is bad. Now more than ever is a time to make the minor mistakes quickly, to figure out what works now and where you can add value. Of course it needs to be a balance, as Dr John Demartini said, “Growth occurs at the border of support and challenge” –  right now in my view that means the challenge of constructive feedback from speaking to the market place and the support of having faith in the process and good people in your corner keeping you accountable. 

In conclusion, free yourself to make a mistake, have no fear of screwing up.

So how can you apply this to your own context in the new week ahead? 

PS. This post was inspired by a simple 3 minute meditation I discovered on youtube, CLICK HERE if you fancy doing this one.

Over the course of this week I’ve noted some insightful commentary and analysis on the commercial and resi property market due to the lockdown, from a range of sources including, newspapers, news websites and YPN magazine. 

These aren’t my thoughts, rather I’m playing reporter here for your convenience and my own insight as understanding these impacts is needed to inform our investment decision making. 

Below is a summary of insights that may help your thinking as business owners, entrepreneurs and investors looking to respond to the ‘new reality’. 

CONSTRUCTION AND HOUSE BUILDERS

*Economies of scale for developers will no longer be possible – Builders are gradually returning to work, but under new rules – social distancing rules will restrict the number of workers allowed on site.

*Safety measures will mean sites can function only at a fraction of usual capacity and most big sites will have a dedicated COVID -19 supervisors checking that subcontractors know the rules.

*Efficiency & output will likely suffer on construction sites, this will undoubtedly have a knock on effect on budgets. As an SA operator I’m also conscious of the possible knock on effect it has on demand for accommodation from certain contractors. 

HOTELS & HOSPITALITY

*SIr Rocco Forte, who runs hotels across Europe, said that when they do reopen, rooms will take twice as long to clean using UV light, and enhanced techniques, buffets will not be available and with travel restrictions in place the lucrative foreign visitors will be slow to return. He said he would have to, “increase marketing to locals”, and this will likely be the order of the day for many in this sector. 

*Zizzi and ASK Italian, under the Azzuri Group, have called in restructuring experts KPMG. 

*Pub chains are trialling home delivery while trying to figure out how to put in place safety measures that don’t completely take away the point of a pub, which is socialising. However it may work out more expensive to try to open than stay shut. 

*Sit-down meals are expected to be off the menu for the foreseeable future with restuarants encouraged to offer takeaway instead. Whilst achievable for fast food chains, not so for the mid and high end restaurants.

*SA operators whose business serves the tourism market will naturally be feeling the pain however many will be switching back to long term lets or finding opportunities to serve their local council or the NHS. Many expect that once lockdown ends, the British public will want to get out of their homes, and with travel restrictions there may well be a big spike in demand for UK holiday lets later in the year, and likely more so than for hotels. 

* Cleaning practices will naturally be on the front of every guests mind as they will be seeking extra assurances – I came a across a new phrase in one of the articles which referred to “cleaning theatre” – in other words the hospitality sector will likely make sure staff are overtly seen to be cleaning surfaces in front of the customers’ eyes. 

RETAIL

* High st retailers will have to figure out an array of logistical challenges to ensure they can trade whilst adhering to social distancing rules. 

* There is the weigh up of whether opening is worth it – I read that the cost of opening could well exceed the benefits ie once shops open it will limit their ability to request rent concessions and it will force them to take staff off furlough as well as invest in PPE and associated measures. 

* Greggs are reported to be selling a reduced range of products and have tried introducing click and collect to test whether it could operate with social distancing but have abandoned the idea. 

* Retailers expect that shoppers who do want to venture out are more likely to brave the retail parks than the high streets because of easier car access and larger stores mean easier distancing. 

*I read a lengthy article about Mike Ashley (of Sports Direct) saying the old leasing model is finished. It was about turnover rents where an agreed proportion of the rent fluctuates depending on a store’s sales. Major retailers are putting increasing pressure on landlords for this type of lease however they are complex and subjective to work out ie landlords would want a degree of online sales to be taken into account. The article went on to say that institutional property owners back the idea in theory but are reluctant to agree because it would force property valuations down.

OFFICE PROPERTY

*With social distancing likely in place for the rest of the year many offices will be operating at half capacity or less.

*Several major banks were referenced as likely to operate with 25% occupancy in the offices and doing things like moving desks into canteens to allow more people to work under distancing.

*In large buildings and skyscrapers they have to think about the challenges of how to avoid pressing lift buttons and touching internal door handles. 

*This new ‘Zoom era” will be prompting many organisations to reflect on working practices and the need for renting as much office space. 

*This could lead to planning laws that previously inhibited change of use soon become more relaxed.

*More than ever a commercial investor would definitely want sight of more than one exit with a prospective property ie with a feasible conversion to residential being the most likely back up. 

HOUSE PRICES

*The Centre for Economic and Business Research forecast that house prices will fall by 13% in the year to March 2021. However Savills were more optimistic expecting short term price falls to be in the 5-10% range. 

*On a positive note YPN Economist Chris Worthington commented that, “the residential property market is more resilient than most other sectors of the economy”.

*Some experts feel that many landlords who are already fed up with increasing legislation, will see this as the last straw and want to sell their properties. With fewer buyers in the market this means prices will fall a bit and it will present some great buying opportunities. 

*Many feel that rents in the PRS will drop (I’ve already experienced the need to drop rents for 3 months or more in student areas in order to attract new tenants). 

*What about home buyers seeking mortgages? – How much should be lent to borrowers who have been furloughed? An article in this Sunday’s business press stated that most lenders will only approve loans based on the furloughed income ie the 80% of salary. 

*The income multiple for first time buyers has been at 3.47 times salary and some analysts believe this will be cut to 3 times which would significantly reduce the amount the average first-time buyer can borrow. In my view these last two points make the case for decent rent-to-buy offerings even stronger. 

What have you read in relation to the economic impact for property people that might be helpful sharing?

I was reading a selection of interviews this week about some fairly new entrepreneurs talking about the transformation in their beliefs that happened from starting a business. The transformation of limiting beliefs to empowering beliefs – it reminded me of some of my own past limiting beliefs that had to change when starting out in business 7 years ago. Some of these same limiting beliefs may be stifling others out there reading this.

Our ‘new reality’, this shock to the economy, is making everyone think seriously about their financial security. Those in employment may be thinking about the uncertainty of their jobs and looking at others ways to make side income; those with businesses may be thinking about how they can adapt and possibly even start something new; those investing (or thinking about investing) in property may be reconsidering their strategy on how to get started or to grow their portfolio. 

And with that thinking there will undoubtedly be some people who know how to proceed, but there will inevitably be those who feel stuck and totally unsure. One of the big sticking points is likely to be rooted in a limiting belief, similar to what I was referring to at the beginning of this post. Hopefully by exposing this big limiting belief and highlighting the kind of thinking required to get started, it can help some people to take the next productive step. 

Here are some of the beliefs I used to have about getting started in business:

*Starting a business is painful, it’s blood, sweat and tears, and takes many years

*It takes money to make money

*You need a business plan

*You need a website, a logo, a business card and a company email address

Anyone else believed anything like this at some point, or maybe still believe that?

This thinking is not conducive to getting started at all. 

Now I know that none of these are true. To get started, you need some sales of a product or a service that solves a real problem. 

This is so obvious to me now but it wasn’t back in 2013/14, and it took a long time for the transformation to really take hold in my brain. 

However, this is the single biggest belief that transformed our (Chris and I) thinking and approach to business and property. Anyone who’s read my book “Predictable Property Profits” will be familiar with how I learned the concept of pre-selling from mentors on a course about starting a software business. When it finally twigged to apply that formula to serviced accommodation, we were able to turn a failing business into a profitable one.

The reason for bringing this up and sounding like a broken record to those who know me 🙂 is because now more than ever, in this new reality, this one empowering belief could be responsible for your big discovery and breakthrough. So’ I’ll lay it out again here:

To get started, you need a sale (or some kind of commitment to buy in advance) and a product or service that solves a problem. Here’s some examples:

In the context of property that might be finding a tenant buyer who can pay a small financial commitment now for a 3 bed terraced house in XYZ location. Then you go search and invest to order.

In the context of community small businesses, that might be finding a load of dance studios that lost their revenue due to the lockdown and need help getting online, and then approaching them with a solution to set them up with the right technology to broadcast lessons and easily collect payment online. For which of course you charge a fair set up and ongoing tech maintenance fee for. 

This is the kind of thinking and approach that will give you the ability to de-risk an investment, or uncover a new problem that you can solve for an existing client, or create a brand new revenue stream having never done anything like this before. 

There are problems all around for us to solve, if we are intentional about seeking them out and exploring potential solutions with those that have them. 

Our small management team engaged in a highly productive brainstorm this week for our SA business that has led to multiple action points around exploring potential problems to solve. These actions are what will now fill our priority activities for the days ahead. And it won’t stop there, as will revisit the process and do it again. 

What could you be turning your problem solving brain to in the week ahead?

If you’d like to take the time to reflect on powerful solution oriented questions for your own business (property or other), then you’re welcome to join an open brainstorm session on Tuesday at 11am where we can walk you through the 5 key questions we set our minds to work on. 

You can reserve your seat in the brainstorm by clicking HERE.

It’s fair to say that the world as we knew it at the start of 2020 has gone. however there’s another side to the coin – there’s a load of new problems that have come about that are just waiting for entrepreneurs to show up and solve. 

In my February post on “Training Your Property Entrepreneur Brain’ [link at the bottom if you missed it] I shared the basic backbone of a business – that being a CUSTOMER using a MECHANISM of some kind to get a desired end RESULT. In other words start with finding what end result that customer needs. Right now there are many pain induced needs emerging everywhere opening up incredible opportunities for innovative property people and entrepreneurial thinkers.

I sat in on a brilliant one off live presentation that Darren Hardy broadcast this week which focused on a specific set of questions business leaders need to ask themselves (and find answers to) to prepare their comeback. He shared a great Peter Drucker quote which went something like this, 

“Great ideas are birthed through the labour of asking great questions, and finding the answers.”

Discovering answers to questions like the ones I’ll share are what will help you adapt, possibly pivot but either way fuel the next level for your business. 

On April 5th we heard our Monarch addressed the nation in response to the health crisis – a line she used that will I am sure be referenced long into the future was, 

“I hope in the years to come everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge.”

I’m confident that those reading this will want to feel pride as it relates to all aspects of their response, particularly from a business and legacy perspective. So to that end, I encourage you to invest some time brainstorming answers to the questions I’ve picked out to share. 

I’ve selected FIVE questions, from the many Darren walked through, that I felt would be most relevant for those with property businesses. On one hand, these questions are designed to guide us through creative thinking and strategic analysis to help minimise potential risks; and on the other hand, they will help discover the incredible opportunities that are emerging in our new reality. 

QUESTION #1

WHAT CAN WE DECONSTRUCT AND REINVENT?

To arrive at your answer, start by thinking along the lines of what result(s) your property business is already good at delivering. Ask yourself, even in a pandemic, what hasn’t changed? ie the population still need housing/accommodation, but your audience may have shifted. Then ask yourself – What would our business look like if we started from scratch right now?

To help fuel your thinking with some inspired reference points I’m including a case study for each question that Darren used to illustrate the point. 

Case study:

He referenced a company called Versare Solutions, a maker of office cubicles and room dividers – they have recently switched to making plexiglass screens for checkout lanes and reception areas after a request from a California pharmacy gave them the idea.

Another great pivot I heard was about an interior designer whose business dried up with no live property projects to work on. She pivoted into the niche of helping people at home spruce up their backdrop for their, now daily, zoom calls. Genius eh!

Even if it’s only to tide things over, where can you take your core areas of expertise in adding value and now meet a new high demand market? Is it the NHS in some way? Is it playing cupid between landlords and new tenant buyers?

QUESTION #2

CAN WE REDEPLOY OUR KEY SKILL SETS?

The skills that you/your company excels at may be a source of growth or new business if applied to a different set of problems.

What are those key skills and where might they be redeployed for essential services or current high-demand markets?

Have a go at listing out what you see as essential services and high demand markets and see where your skills may link in.

Case study:

A Californian computer repair company called iFixit, redeployed its team of IT infrastructure

experts to help hospitals maintain and repair critical equipment like ventilators.

QUESTION #3

WHAT ELSE DO OUR CLIENTS NEED THAT WE CAN HELP THEM WITH?

Darren reminds us that we are not in the “product or service-selling business. We are in the problem-solving business for our target client.”

Ask yourself, what else does my target client want or need that I might not currently offer, but could?

Case study:

A travel blogger polled her reader base to ask what they might be interested in and where she could help – they responded with asking for tips on fashion, beauty, diet and nutrition. She listened and started sharing her tips on those areas and her blog traffic, and ad revenue, has grown as a result. 

QUESTION #4

CAN WE PRE-SELL OR BULK SELL OUR PRODUCT/SERVICE?

This one might be particularly relevant to those in the serviced accommodation space, especially if an injection of cash flow is needed to sustain things.  

Ask yourself – can we pre-sell or bulk sell our accommodation? What kind of incentive can we offer to pre-sell/bulk sell our accommodation to advance cash collection?

Case study:

A paint company had just come off its best quarter in history. Owners invested in scaling up staff, trucks and equipment to meet new demand. Then COVID-19 hit and the company went from high revenue growth to zero, yet expenses remained the same. To bridge the cash flow gap, the company created a promotional campaign offering a 25% discount on future projects with 50% prepayment. The customer wins and the paint company received the cash infusion it needs to sustain business through the isolation period.

QUESTION #5

HOW CAN WE MAKE IT EASIER TO DO BUSINESS WITH US IN THIS NEW REALITY?

Due to this isolation lockdown, the use of technology has taken a major leap forward – you know it yourself, you probably have parents and grandparents on family zoom calls now but likely didn’t a couple of months ago. 🙂

Because we have been forced to adopt digital solutions and virtual interactions it’s opened up an incredible number of ways to reach and engage with new customers.

Darren posed the question another way which may help your thinking, 

“Using digital solutions and virtual interactions, how can we adjust our business model or work practices to radically reduce costs or rapidly scale our market penetration?”

We already know that property agents are doing virtual house tours, what else could be done along these lines?

I hope these questions get you thinking creatively and help to unearth solutions not just for survival, but for growth.

Link here to the post I referenced on training your property entrepreneur brain

Do you have the nagging suspicion that there is something you should be doing, and could be doing proactively, but you’re not quite sure what it is, or you’re hesitating to do it?

Getting laser focused during a crisis can be extremely difficult – you know you have to do something but not always sure what.

Here’s a simple 3 part exercise I got from one of my mentors, a business psychologist coach – it will guide you to a definitive answer to that question above, no matter what kind of business you are in – whether it be property or not, it will help you create a plan out of chaos and increase your probability of success.

This post is not a light bit of reading, its a practical exercise that will put your brain to work; but if you are serious about making progress in amongst the uncertainty and chaos as the best version of you, then it’s a small time investment that will pay off. 

3 PART EXERCISE FOR CRISIS RESPONSE

This is something you can do as a journaling exercise, paper and pen, or on the computer to go through and answer the questions. I did this myself at the end of March and it only took about half an hour, but the clarity will pay dividends. I just reviewed my answers to the questions again just now and it’s satisfying to see how it’s helped me maintain focus. 

The underlying principle is that you need to focus on the ‘one inch at a time’ principle, which can be difficult for the perfectionists amongst us (myself included) but it’s the approach we need to take. It’s all about moving forward in small ways and understanding that day by day the ‘one inch at a time philosophy will really help you out. In other words you don’t have to solve the entire problem or get after the big opportunity all in one day, what you’ve got to do is move forward 1 inch and that’s what this approach enables you to do. 

STEP #1: THE POWER OF NEGATIVE THINKING

[This is counterintuitive but stick with it and follow the steps]

You’re going to allow the negative thought into your mind to help you prepare, use those negative thoughts as a tool. 

-Write a detailed description of your worst case scenario ie the version of your future in which you make all the shortsighted, self sabotage, destructive decisions that are available and tempting you right now

-This is the future in which you are the worst version of yourself and give into your worst tendencies. 

– ACTION – Describe the worst future that might arise from your worst decisions and actions.

NOTE – you have to focus this on where you have control – ie the absolute worst case scenario where you let yourself down

Where you are at with your property business is a crossroads – there are some things you can do to take positive action, there are things you can do that will self sabotage ie bury your head in the sand, spending a lot of time watching TV, distracting yourself when you know you should be getting stuff done etc

1. Focus on results from your action (or lack of) rather than external/luck driven outcomes
2. Explore the cumulative outcomes of small day-to-day self sabotages
3. Think holistically about how self sabotage can affect your career, family, health, relationships, spirituality etc
4. Write it in the present tense, as if it’s a journal entry
5. Use sensory language ie what you might see, hear, feel
6. Be vulnerable -explore the consequences of your worst potential habits
7. Think poetically – the idea is to have a bit of fun painting a dramatic picture

As an example to help kick you off, here are a few snippets  from my own journaling notes having done this exercise:

Worst version of me

It is April 2020 and I’ve let it all slip…

• I drop my morning routine > my physical fitness and health deteriorates- I feel increasingly ‘off’ and I don’t get the jump start to the day
• I don’t plan the day the night before > I get to the desk with no direction and end up flip flopping between decision making and action taking focus which burns time and energy
• I get distracted during work sessions with news, gossip, emails and busy work and end the day feeling nothing meaningful is accomplished

STEP #2: AIMING UP

Now it’s time to go the other way and articulate your personal definition of success.

Imagine if your capacity for execution and follow through on all of your best intentions and ideas magically went to 110%. You did it all, and some. 

What would life look like? What kind of person would you become? Think of the version of you that you’ve always known you have the potential to be.

Journal out the future version you would create for yourself if you were totally in charge and free of any inner second guessing and self sabotage.

1. Same pointers from part 1 apply
2. Be realistic, but be bold – think about what you’ve always wanted to accomplish with property and how there could be a big opportunity in your space soon
3. Focus on your actions and the results that follow ie instead of winning the lottery articulate your winning of a step change property deal 
4. Articulate the transformation that would be required to bring about this future – not just what you’ve accomplished but who would have to become to accomplish it

STEP #3: MAPPING OUT THE INCHES

This is where you list out the individual actions that could take you away from the worst case and closer to the best case. The idea with this final step is to identify the big steps (the big decisions, big projects) and then ultimately drill down into very detailed micro steps ie the “inches”. Focus on the action steps that are your responsibility and within your power to execute on. 

The ultimate goal is to drill down to actions you can take today, and everyday, which move you 1 inch closer to your personal description of your best future vision.

Answer the following questions:

1. What small daily actions will have a powerful cumulative effect?

2. What obstacles will I need to be vigilant of? (ie the pull of netflix)

3. What small set of actions would make each day feel like a huge win, when completed?

4. When experiencing adversity, or just having an ‘off day, what one small action can generate that ONE INCH of momentum in the right direction?

With every day comes a choice – the actions that you take can move you a little bit closer to that best version of yourself and your best future. OR, the actions that you take, or choose not to take, can have you backslide inch at a time in the wrong direction. 

To come out of this crisis in the best way you can, adopt this mindset of moving one inch in the right direction every single day.

In my end of Q1 post I wrote about taking the time to review the previous 90 days and also to carry out a ‘Spring Clean’. Well I did my review the first week of April and this week I completed my spring clean. In emptying my drawers and filing trays I discovered a plastic folder with 5 articles dating from the summer to autumn of 2005 (picture attached). Just for fun here are the headlines of those articles so you can get a sense of what the green but eager 25 year old version of me was reading:

“Building a fortune out of beer money” – about renting property]

“Fifty ways of saying carpe diem and stop carping” – [50 reasons why everyone should become an entrepreneur]

“The buying game” – [a basic guide to buying property]

“How to quit a 9-to-5 life on £400,000” – [about how to retire before the traditional age]

..and last but not least…

“11 Keys to Success & Wealth” – [what it says on the tin]

In 2005 I would have been a little over a year into building a corporate career, and whilst enjoying it, couldn’t help searching for something more entrepreneurial, and at that point the property light bulb had gone off thanks to reading Rich Dad Poor Dad. 

In the mastermind sessions I was hosting this week we were talking about programming the “Reticular Activating System” within our brains – that part of our brains that when consciously programmed to look for what you want, it helps you find what you’re looking for in the sea of information flooding past our senses. 

By evidence of these articles, clearly that’s what I was starting to look for back then, and it hasn’t stopped since. It was a trip down memory lane re-discovering and reading these articles again. It’s incredible to think that everything I was reading back then that felt new, complex yet inspiring and exciting is now part of what I am living today. Whilst my wild ambitions and impatience of 2005 haven’t always materialised as quickly as the 25 year old me may have wanted,  (I’m still very much on the continuous growth journey), I’ve nevertheless become what I started dreaming of 15 years ago- an entrepreneur in property. 

Here are the 11 Keys to Success & Wealth that I got from one of the first property talks I attended, and these points were put together and shared by an American property entrepreneur called Jim Francis. Reading through these I was reminded that they are just as relevant 15 years later, especially given the current environment we’re in. Here’s my paraphrased summary of Jim’s words:

#1: DREAM BIG

Jim referred to the common denominator with all the millionaires that he’d interviewed – they all had big dreams and believed they were worth more than a 9-5 they didn’t overly enjoy. All with the dreams, they were prepared to take some risks by taking some of their hard earned money to try something new ie build a small business or invest in property. 

#2: GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE

You must attack your comfort zone and get outside of it. Push yourself to try new things, to to break your limiting beliefs and poor habits. All successful people know that growth happens at the edge of your comfort zone. 

#3: WORK SMART AND NOT HARD

Millionaires tend to work smarter, not harder. It’s not that they don’t work 16 hour days, but they use their time much more effectively. They have a better plan for making money and if they are going to work 16 hour days, the fruit of their labour will be their own, not for someone else. They make their money work for them in property, in their own business and in the stock market. 

#4: THE QUICK AND THE DEAD

One of the major rules of the wealthy is taking action. While you are thinking about this right now, someone else is taking action. Don’t analyse things to death but do your diligence, make sound judgement and take fast action. 

#5: TAKE EMOTIONS OUT OF DECISIONS

Too often people are stopped by FEAR- fear of failure, fear of loss, fear of rejection. Millionaires learn to conquer fear, they simply look at 3 things – 1st, the investment, 2nd the return, 3rd, the probability of success. If those things stack up they go for it…

#6: TOTAL COMMITMENT

Successful people give their all, they work their 40 hour week job and then put in another 20 hours plus to start investing in property or start their small business. Even if you are tired, don’t let it be said that you “missed your dreams because you were watching TV”. Schedule time for success, take action as scheduled and the results will follow. 

#7: MENTORS

..Are worth their weight in gold. Why? Because mentorship and coaching work! You can only learn so much from a book, a self study manual or a video or a website. A coach or mentor can get you on the path to success quickly. 

#8: STUDENT OF SUCCESS

Millionaires never stop learning. They study success habits. They study money, property, business and asset building. They have a thirst for new knowledge and invest a significant amount in training and self development.

#9: BOUNCE WELL

Millionaires have failures. They have lost, but they keep a positive attitude – “I’ll figure it out, I’ll work harder or smarter to get the result, I’ll apply a better plan”. They remember that a flat ball doesn’t bounce, so they have to keep it pumped up. (Great analogy for the current times).

#10: SELECTIVE MEMORY

There are no failures, only learning experiences. ‘If they swing at a baseball they do not remember the 66% of the time they miss, they remember the 34% of the time they hit.’ The problem for most people is that they remember the last time they failed – no wonder they stop swinging the bat. Selective memory is key to success. 

#11: DON’T QUIT

The character of man or woman is not measured in the number of failures, but in the number of times they come back from those failures to attempt to win! Ask Edison – 10,000 plus attempts at making the lightbulb. Do not give up. Success is just a decision and some action away!

I hope these 11 keys resonate and feed your mind as they have done for me. I’d love to hear which one of them is your favourite, shoot a quick reply here. 

In my post last week I wrote about taking time to review Q1, and having done that myself I’ve had the chance to review all the notes I’d taken in my best self journal. These notes are typically nuggets of wisdom from what I’ve read and listened to- distinctions, ah ha’s, quotes and more. 

 

I always enjoy reviewing the notes I’d taken in a previous quarter, and what’s better- if I can share a thought or idea with someone who benefits from it. My wife and kids are generally bombarded with my recounting of what I’ve heard/read (bless them) but hopefully this particular perspective I’ve chosen to share will resonate with some of you reading. 

 

This one comes from a poker analogy Darren Hardy was using to highlight a perspective we can choose to have in regards luck, skill and the compound effect (top book by the way, The Compound Effect). He referred to a professional poker player called Greg Reymer, nicknamed “Fossilman” (for his hobby of collecting fossils). Fossilman’s perspective was summarised along these lines:

 

“You have to be realistic about how much luck is involved in whatever you are doing and after that you kind of ignore it. You then have to ask yourself, what’s the smartest decision that I can make now? And ignore the results in the short term as they are irrelevant”.

 

So how does this translate to day-to-day life?

 

To further unpack the analogy of this poker player’s perspective with different life circumstances, here is my summary of what Darren was sharing. 

 

We are all being dealt new hands of cards, not just the ones we were born with, our family etc, but also being dealt new cards everyday – ie things that happen in our businesses, things that people might say to us that unexpectedly has an emotive effect…it could be any number of things big or small, like the printer not working just when you need to print out an important form. These are all metaphorical ‘hands of cards’ you are being dealt  – and the challenge as Darren puts it is not to get too emotional over what we can’t control it, it just is what it is. The only question is- Now what? – can we draw on our skill and make the most of the hand? If there is nothing we can do on the skill side to change the outcome, well that’s when in the game of poker we’d choose to fold, with no emotion. In other words, accept the fact the printer is not working, right now, there’s no point in getting hysterical and kicking it. 

 

[I’m so conscious that summarising this that there will be certain ‘hands of cards’ dealt to some people in the last few weeks that have been horrendous and I know that these global challenges really test the mindset of “things happen for you not to you”. That’s a very difficult perspective to take at the moment but the unexpected positives and gifts are what we need to look for. The entire world is forging character right now, finding gratitude, becoming more resourceful and helpful.]

 

Back to the takeaways from the poker analogy – no matter the luck, skillful players will increase their odds over time by making better decisions with the cards they are dealt, and that ultimately gives them the upper hand. 

 

Fossilman says, “there is luck and there isn’t – some things will be unlucky and the challenge is to ignore the results in the short term, they are irrelevant, but skill applied over time eliminates the luck. Over time, it’s only skill that matters.”

 

Darren then took this a level deeper, he said it has less to do with skill and everything to do with character, here’s what he meant – because skill needs the long time horizon to overcome any odds it will take the character of discipline and work ethic, and resolve applied consistently over time to ultimately succeed and then sustain that success. ‘It’s the compound effect of that applied skill that guarantees your becoming a winner. 

 

To borrow Hardy’s words, “This should be good news to hear – it means your outcome is not determined by the cards you are dealt, you just need to keep applying the skill of making the right, even small, seemingly insignificant decisions consistently over time and it will compound and overwhelm any odds of bad luck.”

 

“The compound effect guarantees your success no matter your luck or lack of it – the key is consistency and that requires character.”

 

As challenging as this message is, I felt it carries a strong sense of perspective and resolve that may be helpful for some to read right now. 

 

Most successful property investors look at the long term time horizon and enlist time as their ally, and now we are specifically focusing in on the decisions we make in the moment and the character we choose during these challenging times so that we can ignite the compound effect. 

 

What resourceful and solution oriented decisions/actions have you made in the last couple of weeks?

The last 2 weeks have probably seen us watching more news than we ever have before, so I know I probably don’t need an update on anything in that regard. Instead, for this week’s post the focus will be on a valuable end of quarter exercise that I like to invest at least some dedicated time to. This quarter end will be no different. 

 

Yes, there will continue to be a large reactive aspect to everyone’s world, to manage cashflow, be solution oriented and try to add value and be helpful in what virtual ways we can. However, we must also do what we can to stay connected to our vision, and reviewing a logical time period like the previous quarter is a great way to do that. In amongst all of the uncertainty and reactive challenges we face, not to mention our new normality of home lockdown, it could be easy to lose our way or fall into a mental fog with no direction. I think it’s particularly important in a time like this to acknowledge our progress in 2020 so far and reassess our direction moving forwards.  

 

**Before I continue though I just wanted to give a massive shout out to all those in the NHS, our volunteers, our supermarket teams and all those in the supply chain keeping our country supplied with food.**

 

Reviewing each month and quarter is about investing past experience into future preparation and focus – ie your past decisions, successes, failures, lessons. That’s where the good stuff comes from.

Here are a selection of questions, I learned from Peter Voogd, that I’ve been using for a couple of years to help reflect on the previous quarter can carry on with momentum. Use these prompt questions to help you reflect and free flow write for 30 mins or so each quarter about the previous 90 days. [By the way, I used the accountability of writing this post to get my own review done before hitting publish and it does only take about 30 mins].

Section #1 – OVERVIEW

• What went well, what didn’t?
• When was I in my zone, when wasn’t I?
• When was I at my emotional energy peak?
• What caused me peace of mind?
• What frustrated me?
• Did I do what I said I was going to do?
• What systems have I put in place?

Section #2 – PSYCHOLOGICAL

• What have been my biggest breakthroughs?
• What have been my biggest frustrations?
• What have been my mind-shifts?
• What have been my biggest disappointments?

Section #3 – TACTICS

This section looks at what were my top 5 wins from last quarter: financial, family, adventure…?

Getting down to business metrics ask yourself:

• Did I hit my business income goal last quarter?
• What were the top three marketing campaigns or sources of income last month?
• What were my top income producing activities?
• What are the biggest ways I’ll be producing income this next month?
• How did I add value to the marketplace, could I have added more? 

These will likely be related to your highest values but only you will know.

• Did I leverage technology?
• Did I maximise my reach?
• What will exponentially grow my reach this next quarter?
• What did I do to stay adventurous and feel fully alive?

To help keep you going with the nitty gritty march of each day it’s important to mix it with the things that energise you. In previous quarters this would have included things like getting in a game of tennis once a week, or maybe a mini break with Mrs W.  For those with freedom in their highest values this will be particularly important, however it will be massively challenged in weeks ahead with our foreseeable lockdown. We will all need to be creative about what little things we can do from home to create mini rewards during the month. If you have a garden perhaps you will find a new love for gardening a few times a week, or it may be a new found simple pleasure of making time for a relaxing bath. Whatever it is, choose something and schedule it.   

If you aren’t consciously making a decision to put things in your diary that will keep you alive and vibrant, even in these times of lockdown, you will become complacent.

 

Section #4 – RELATIONSHIPS

I love this one:

• Who did I connect with and reach out to last quarter?
• Did I take care of my current relationships and did I reach out to people who can cut my learning curve in half- i.e. people who I can partner with in some way that’s relevant to your business?
• Did I leverage partnerships?

To add to this, based on what’s currently happening, who can you make a conscious effort to connect/reconnect with virtually in the months ahead. My wife and I are actively engaging in more family and friend video calls based around coffee mornings or drinks evenings, and we’re really enjoying it. Tools like zoom and the phone app Houseparty have been helping with this. 

 

Section #5 – TEAM

Think about questions that will help with your team review:

• How was my team engagement?
• How was my speed of communication?
• What feedback can I give them?
• What do they need in terms of skill development?

If you have a team, what can you do to help assure and engage them in during these uncertain times. 

Section #6 – LEGACY

• What did I work on that was legacy focused? In other words something that you work on now but won’t get paid until long into the future, or something that you don’t reap the benefits for until way later, ie creating things that you value but that you get paid 6 months or more down the road. Note that if you just do this kind of work for the rewards/benefits you will lose steam, it’s important to engage in legacy work for other reasons, for something bigger than you. As a side example, part of my family legacy work last year and ongoing now is taking conscious time with my boys to teach them one key life value each month.

Voogd recommends spending 80% of your time on profit making activity, creating systems etc that makes sure you have the money coming in for you and your family now. Then 20% of your time on legacy focused things. Eventually when you have built the business you want you can switch focus to investing 80% of your time on the legacy side of things. Isn’t that an exciting prospect? To spend 80% of your time on something that helps a cause you believe in or adds value to the world in some way, and not worry whether it pays you or not.

Conclusion

I challenge you to invest 30 mins each quarter to do this. WHY? Because high achievers always ask better questions, and they are always investing their past mistakes/lessons into their future preparation.

 

WHAT ABOUT THE SPRING CLEAN BIT?

OK, I know this is a long post so well done if you’re still reading. Here are a few prompts to help with a spring clean [I’ll be allocating some time to these over the coming 2 weeks].

YOUR BUSINESS SYSTEMS

Audit your processes and operations in five key areas:

*Communication – ie your email processes, templates, filing etc

*Project Management – do a hard pruning of your task management system

*Documents and Data Storage

*Finances – can you simplify what key data points you are tracking/reporting on

*Customer TouchPoints – ie invoices, contracts, marketing etc

For all the above, ask the question: “How can we make this better?”

 

Whether you worked from home previously or not, now you’ll want to create an environment that is set to support the high-performance of your spring forward momentum.

 

Schedule a time to declutter, organise, and prune around your entire home office:

*Desks

*File drawers

*Shelves

*Computer desktop

*Computer folders

*Cloud-based folders

*Project management system

 

If you have any practices you’d like to share on how you review your quarters and/or transition into spring then please share it.

For many, this week will probably go down as one of the most surreal we can remember. The impact of COVID-19 on financial markets, the rapid unfolding of news relating to travel restrictions, the emptying of supermarket shelves…the list goes on. 

 

For my own family, we had the agonising decision making process of weighing up the risks and choosing to cancel our ski holiday – a decision that broke our snow-loving boy’s hearts. We were due to fly out to Geneva on Saturday morning, then take a transfer out to Morzine. With everything operating as normal in the resort on the Friday, we had to make a decision based on potential border and transport lock down risks. Wow, are we glad we made the call to stay at home – 24 hours after our decision, the official reports came out that our ski resort was closing. So if we had would flown out we’d have had to figure out trying to get straight back home again. 

 

So, what’s the point in sharing this little drama? Firstly, I hope that you and your loved ones are in good health amongst all of this. My guess is that many of you are having to make some challenging decisions every day as more news unfolds. The main reason for this post is to share my two cents on perspective and attitude. 

 

Have you ever read about the concept of extreme ownership? [There’s a book of that title written by former Navy Seals, and many business leaders/coaches talk about a similar message]. The concept is essentially about taking ownership and responsibility for everything in ‘your world’. Darren Hardy, who I’ve followed for years, teaches us that we are 100% responsible for what we do, didn’t do, and how we choose to react to things.

 

It’s on this same vein that I chose the headline quote of this post – “PLAY THE HAND YOU’RE DEALT LIKE IT’S THE HAND YOU WANT”- [a quote I heard from Inky Johnson, a former NFL hopeful who had his dreams crushed by a freak accident but emerged successful on a different path].

 

Whilst I know it is crazy to ever imagine wanting this situation we find ourselves in [well, my kids are hoping to be off school :)], the reason I chose the title and topic of this post was to remind us all that how we emerge from this situation will come down to our choice of perspective and attitude. It will come down to how we choose to see things, what we focus our minds on and the attitude we choose to take each day. Will you be focused on problems, or on solutions and even opportunities?

 

Here’s a quick look at just some of the areas where we will need to be proactive, solution oriented and possibly even opportunistic as people in property:

 

# With the bank base rate being cut to .25%, some of you will automatically benefit from monthly payment reductions if on variable rates. Even if you’re on fixed rates, how about asking for a reduction? Our mentor Paul Smith advocates all of us should at least be asking the question of lenders, you never know. Now that I have a week back at the desk and not on the slopes I’ll certainly be asking my lenders for reductions. 

 

# If people start losing their jobs, what will that mean for their ability to pay the rent? I’ll be contacting all of the letting agents who manage my long term single lets this week to understand the employment status of my tenants so I can be as prepared as possible. 

 

# How will Serviced Accommodation be affected? We have already started to feel the sting of a few tourist related cancellations. However, there is good reason to believe that SA operators could experience an upcoming spike as more people want self-contained property over hotels where there would be more public interaction. Thankfully our focus is not on the tourist market, but it does mean we’ll need to double down on finding the bookings from contractors and other more local sources. What about the opportunities that might come from the health service? I read in the paper today that The Department of Health is in talks about using hotel rooms as hospitals. This prompts the thinking, what non-tourist related audiences might you be able to help serve in your local area with your SA units?

 

# Preserving and managing your cash. Whilst the lockdowns may not hit your property business as hard as others, if anything it will bring a keener sense of financial control to any business owner. In other words, this might be the nudge you need to do a full cost review of all direct debits and standing orders – you might be paying more for utilities and wifi than you need to for example, or may even be paying for services and subscriptions that the business isn’t even using. 

 

# For the commercial property investors out there – restaurants and retailers are likely to be hit pretty hard and casual dining chains are already begging landlords for rent holidays. If, like us, you are actively investing in commercial property, think long and hard about the commercial tenants you are looking to serve, you want a sustainable investment. 

 

# Commercial property owners in Scotland will be pleased to hear that the Finance Secretary has announced a 75% rates relief for shops and venues with a rateable value of less than £69,000 and grants of at least £3000 will be made available to small businesses in sectors facing the worst economic effects of coronavirus.

 

So that was a handful of things I picked up from recent conversations and reading that thought might be relevant for you to think about going into the coming weeks. One thing I find fascinating is how, as nations, the mind is being focused on basic fundamentals like food water and shelter, hence the run on supermarkets…. and this humorous revision to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. I am so grateful to be in the comfort of our home, safe with everything we need, as opposed to being stuck in a ski resort on lockdown. 

I’m curious to hear what thoughts are going through your heads at the moment – what uncertainties or questions might you have in relation to your property businesses in the weeks ahead? And how can you ‘play the hand you’re dealt like its the hand you want’?