Business ‘by design’ means planning every tangible and intangible area of your property management business so all elements are working towards realising your vision and achieving long-term success. Jo-Anne Oliveri explains.
If you want to build a property management business by design, follow these seven steps.
1. Vision
First, you must get clear on your property management business by design vision.
To do this, look within and consider: how will your business be different to other property management agencies?
What will it look and feel like? Which resources are required?
When do you want to make your vision a reality?
Writing down your vision helps you work out what you need to achieve it.
2. Research
When building your property management business by design, research is an important step.
Understanding your market area and its existing competitors allows you to identify opportunities and threats you could capitalise on.
It also uncovers gaps in your market that your business could potentially fill with a differentiated competitive advantage.
As such, the research findings help you make strategic decisions about your business by design.
3. Brand
Designing your business’ brand is a crucial step when building your property management business by design.
Creating a unique look, feel, experience and personality ensures your business stands out in your market area.
Since your brand forms the foundations of your agency’s operations, systems, team, culture and in fact every touchpoint of your business, it’s important that you design it right from the outset.
4. Competitive advantage
Your research findings should reveal gaps in your market area which no other property management business has tapped into. These gaps represent opportunities for your business to be different. Decide which gaps you want to fill and how you will do so. For example, it could be through innovative service offerings, unique marketing or a premium customer experience. How you fill these gaps becomes your agency’s competitive advantage and helps you win business.
5. Financial assumptions
Financial Assumptions (FA) ensure that your property management business by design has enough working capital to get started and grow.
The FA is a detailed document which includes calculations for expected monthly income (ingoings), expected monthly expenses (outgoings), and expected monthly business overheads.
It should also include pre-outgoing calculations on resources such as your physical business location, software, systems, recruitment, salaries and training.
Most importantly, the FA should show exactly when your business is expected to make profit.
Prepare this document to help you understand how your business will start up and grow.
6. Plan
Your property management business by design has many elements that must be strategically planned.
Putting together an operational business plan is essential if you want your vision to be achieved.
The plan should outline your business’ objectives, strategies, services, FA findings and capital requirements.
Preparing this plan helps ensure every element of your business is designed to match your vision.
7. Implement
When all previous steps have been completed, it’s time to implement.
Starting up your property management business by design is the exciting moment when all your hard work pays off and your vision finally becomes a reality.
However, the hard work should not stop there.
When it comes to operating a successful property management business by design, the key is to continually monitor, measure and improve every element of your agency.
Doing this ensures your business’ ongoing success.
Building a property management business by design means gearing every element of your agency towards realising your vision and achieving long-term success. It’s how you can make the business of your dreams a reality.