We all know that building a business is hard work. And all too often, we can find ourselves overworked and underpaid. While we will have to make sacrifices along the way, it can be hugely beneficial to build a HMO business – instead of just being self-employed or having another job.
Here we’ll discuss the importance of building a proper property business and how to know if you have achieved this. We’ll also talk about how to make the jump from being self-employed or having another job to building your business through hard work, discipline and choice management.
Read about how to do this below or listen to the full episode on The HMO Podcast with me and my good friend, advisor and mentor John Paul.
Benefits of Building A Proper HMO Business
If you want to get maximum value, time and options to do what you want, when you want, then you need to build your HMO business! Building a fully systemised business allows you to step out of the day-to-day operations.
Throughout the different stages of building a property business, there is huge capital value potential as well. Many people say they struggle with the time and money to make this jump. But building a proper HMO business can free up more of your time and help you grow and increase profits. After all, that’s the goal, right?
How Do I Know if I Have a True Business?
Owning a business has nothing to do with the number of people you employ, your turnover, your profit, how many branches you have or if you’re listed on the stock exchange. A true business should be able to operate without you.
If you can go to a remote island for three months, have nothing to do with your business – no emails or phone calls – and when you come back, it works the same or better without you. That means you have a well-oiled, systemised business. If not, you still have a job, or at best, you’re self-employed.
Steps to Start Building A HMO Business
Now, you may be asking yourself how do I start building a HMO business? Let’s dive into how you can create the HMO property business that you really want! Here are seven steps to get you on your way.
1. Put the Hard Work in
If you want a business, you’re going to have to put the hard work in at the beginning, so you don’t have to graft and work hard later. As you can’t outsource everything from the outset, work hard building up your reputation, routine, habits, goodwill and intellectual property – these will all stand you in very good stead.
2. Value Your Time
Be protective of your time. As time is the most valuable commodity, value your time more than money. It’s the one thing we can’t get any more of, so be incredibly structured in managing your diary and learn to say no.
3. Master Choice Management
Look at what you need to do to drive results and prioritise those tasks. There’s no such thing as time management. It’s choice management. You have the same number of hours in the day as every other successful business owner, so what makes you different to them? It’s all about choices. If you make good choices, you’ll get great results.
4. Recruit Staff
Recruit your first staff member as early as you possibly can. This can free up your time, particularly if you hire someone who can help you in areas that aren’t your strengths. But you’ll need to grow your HMO business to be able to afford to pay a staff member’s wage (unless you have some seed capital to get started).
5. Scale Your Business
Once you have extra time, you can use that to grow and scale your business. When you earn more income, you could recruit another staff member to take more work off you. Then, it’s a cycle of recruiting and growing, recruiting and growing. And eventually, you’ll have recruited the right people that can then grow the business for you.
6. Systemise the Business
Implement structure, processes and procedures and promote them within your HMO business. When you start writing these down, you’re beginning to make yourself redundant from the business. I know that writing processes is a dull affair, but trust me, it’s surprisingly cathartic and unsurprisingly powerful in its ability to create structure and accountability which most small businesses lack.
7. Reinvest Profits
Reinvest profits into systems, processes and staff – instead of only reinvesting into your next property (or paying yourself a wage). We all want to build property portfolios and generate more cash flow, but you need to reinvest in these areas to grow. This will help you continue striding towards being able to step out of your HMO business.
I hope these seven steps have got you thinking about how you can build a well-oiled HMO business. We’re all progressing towards the goal of having a fully systemised business that operates without us.
It’ll take some time to get to the point where you can step out of the business. For any reasonable size company, it could take anywhere from 12 months to a few years. But if you start getting the right setup in place, you’ll be well on your way.
For more step-by-step lessons on starting, scaling and systemising your HMO business, join The HMO Roadmap today!
About the Author:
Andy Graham is the founder and the lead trainer at The HMO Roadmap! He is also the co-founder of The HMO Mastermind and Smart Property, a specialist HMO property investment and management company. He writes as a regular columnist in different magazines about a variety of HMO topics and is the host of The HMO Podcast! Follow Andy on Instagram!