starting up with a very tight budget

[Zono]

I am at a difficult position and want to hear member's advise on my situation.

I have been looking to start up a lettings business but funding has been very very difficult. I could possibly raise a small amount to start the business up but the amount is quiet low. The projected costs and most importantly an office space will take a big chunk out of this money and I have my own living costs to consider as well as well.

would it wise to get a job and save up or just take a risk and go for it? I have worked in an estate agency for a number of years, both multi branch and independent ones. i a good knowledge of the market but, these days it is extremely tough to compete with the big boys. I do believe I am good at my job and I can do this but my only worry is the very small budget I can raise putting me in debt at the same time.

I would like to know if any one here has been in a similar situation and given the above, what advise you can offer?

 

[daveymck]

Do you need an office space? Is it not somthing you can setup intially from home?

If not is there someone you know locally who you could maybe just rent a desk from in their offices till you get started?

 

[businessfunding]

I run a presentation called 'The Shoestring Start-Up'

Key components include

- evaluate and cut up each cost element.

- Look at secondary revenue opportunities whilst running your business.

_ consider soft-start whilst in current employment.

 

[Zono]

Thanks for the replies.

I am considering approaching individual entrepreneurs for investment ??!?! has any one tried this ? what would be the best approach ?
I reckon preparing a summarised business plan might work. Getting hold of them would be a different matter

 

[EICIC]

Ideally you would like to have some capital, but have you really worked out costs.

I started from home and I went for it with a weeks wages and a 3K personal overdraft and sailed close to the wire for six months.

But I spent six months planning an exit and may have gone a bit longer, but I was prepared to lose everything with no dependants.

Banks are reluctant with business overdrafts on new cos unless you have a solid business plan, but will give you credit/charge card facilities which help cashflow.

Also local chambers often have access to credit unions and very small grants.

If you need premises/office there are plenty of empty shops/ offices. Go direct to the landlord of something which has been empty for a while and see if a rent free period.

The local council should have a list of empty premises and you can request it as FOI request.

Maybe the way to go would be to work from home at first but rent a prominent window and maybe a desk - maybe in partnership with a solicitor?.

I still work from home in fact I`m considering an office in the garden for 7K ( a glorified double glazed shed) - it really suits me.

Good Luck

 

[MancunianCreative]

My friends mother runs a lettings company from home. Doesn't even have a website. Just a good network of clients, customers, handy men and a mobile phone.

An office I would think is pretty unnecessary.

 

[Gillie]

To re-iterate what others have said - I know of several letting companies that started out working from a home office.

Create the network of people wishing you to let their property - get this in place and start finding people for them - this way you will start the old word of mouth effect. For every satisfied landlord/tenant you will gain many more.

Its the old walk before you can run syndrome.

To answer your other question, yes you can get investment but you need to be prepared to give away a part of your business - possibly within a set time frame, maybe for along time - and you will have to work basically at the start to put money in their pockets.

 

[S-Marketing]

Operating as a letting agent is easy from home.

I have researched the market for clients recently and there is no reason at all why you cant operate in this way.

Letting agents generally are exceptionally poor at business, so gaining and leveraging a decent competitive advantage is very cheap and quite easy to do.

 

[Cheapwebdesign]

I would recommend working from home rather than getting a nasty overhead such as office space, you would be tied into a long term contract and nobody enjoys the stresses of this. Maybe continue in your job until you have built up a small client portfolio and have sold a few property's and you know it 100% works.

We have helped out a few letting and estate agent's recently and to be fair we have seen some people make a huge success from it but at the same time others have completely flopped, its all dependent on how much you really want it!

If you need help with any marketing such as business cards, website, logo etc please do feel free to send me a PM or check out my footer.

 

[Alan]

If you are starting out as a letting agent you need landlords not tenants. So snazzy websites are really not much use to you. Landlords don't go looking for letting agents on Google.

The challenge you hav eis building up a network of landlords. There are very few new (or maybe none) landlords coming into the market at the moment. So you are going to have to work that out.

Once you have properties (landlords) getting the tenants is easy. To acquire landlords, you can do this from home.

Round my way established letting agents are desperately writing weekly to any property that they guess may possibly be rented.

You just need PC, printer, lots of ink, envelopes, paper, ink and stamps and of course a price that is cheaper than the established agents, and a service level that is higher.

 

[webgeek]

If you are starting out as a letting agent you need landlords not tenants. So snazzy websites are really not much use to you. Landlords don't go looking for letting agents on Google.

This is a blatantly incorrect assumption.

Some people may drive around High Street, others will ask friends and neighbours, still others may remember sign postings with properties for let.

However, there are still plenty of landlords and tenants alike who rely on search engines.

Name one profitable letting company who doesn't have a website, or who has a terrible website? I'll name 1,000 who do have (at least decent) websites.

Name one who is doing well without ranking in Google. I'll name 10 or 100 who do rank well.

Overlooking online marketing in this day and age is crazy, like square pancakes.

 

[Young Recruit]

This is a blatantly incorrect assumption.

Some people may drive around High Street, others will ask friends and neighbours, still others may remember sign postings with properties for let.

However, there are still plenty of landlords and tenants alike who rely on search engines.

Name one profitable letting company who doesn't have a website, or who has a terrible website? I'll name 1,000 who do have (at least decent) websites.

Name one who is doing well without ranking in Google. I'll name 10 or 100 who do rank well.

Overlooking online marketing in this day and age is crazy, like square pancakes.

Hi all,

Have to agree with webgeek here. When marketing yourself and your business you have to have a credible online presence this days. The first thing your potential clients will do is Google you. If they find nothing about you or your business, or if what they do find is unprofessional with nothing related to the area you are trying to do business in, you will lose legitimacy.

I think a respectable website and a Linked in profile are a minimum. Gives you a good way of communicating to potential clients you know your stuff and they don't have to cost an arm and a leg.

A good online presence is the new suit and tie. If you don't have it, its like turning up to a meeting in scruffy jeans and a T-shirt.

JA

 

[deniser]

Both Roibot and Webgeek are correct.

You need to concentrate on finding landlords and this really does happen through word of mouth. I would get going by joining business networking groups, being active on Twitter, telling everyone you know about your business.

Advertising property to let is the easy bit and that's where having a good website comes in. That is absolutely essential these days. Tenants almost invariably turn to the internet in the first instance.

There is an age differential between landlords and tenants and you have to take into account that the typical landlord who could be 40-60 may do things differently to the typical tenant aged 20-40.

 

[S-Marketing]

Hi all,

Have to agree with webgeek here. When marketing yourself and your business you have to have a credible online presence this days. The first thing your potential clients will do is Google you. If they find nothing about you or your business, or if what they do find is unprofessional with nothing related to the area you are trying to do business in, you will lose legitimacy.

I think a respectable website and a Linked in profile are a minimum. Gives you a good way of communicating to potential clients you know your stuff and they don't have to cost an arm and a leg.

A good online presence is the new suit and tie. If you don't have it, its like turning up to a meeting in scruffy jeans and a T-shirt.

JA

I don't have a website, linked-in profile, Facebook account or Twitter account for any of my businesses, but the marketing strategy for each of them would be a lesson in marketing perfection for every single person on this forum (to a greater or lesser extent).

I don't mean to sound cocky or arrogant just for the sake of it, but to say every business needs these things is wrong.

On the flip side of the argument, I am at this moment having websites designed for my consultancy work, as some of my theoretical work is soon to be published, and I don't want to miss out on the exposure to what I do commercially.

 

[Lease4Less]

Operating as a letting agent is easy from home.

I have researched the market for clients recently and there is no reason at all why you cant operate in this way.

Letting agents generally are exceptionally poor at business, so gaining and leveraging a decent competitive advantage is very cheap and quite easy to do.

Couldn't agree more.

You only have to look at rightmove to see the appalling job that some of these letting agents do.

Some of them are so lazy and unprofessional it is beyond belief.

 

[Alan]

This is a blatantly incorrect assumption.

Based on what facts?

I will re-phrase, in my opinion and based on the small sample of landlords I know and tenants I know, the proportion of landlords searching on google to find a letting agent is substantially less than the proportion of tenants searching on google for accommodation.

 

[webgeek]

Based on what facts?

I will re-phrase, in my opinion and based on the small sample of landlords I know and tenants I know, the proportion of landlords searching on google to find a letting agent is substantially less than the proportion of tenants searching on google for accommodation.

...just happen to work with a couple fairly large letting agencies who sign as many property owners from their websites as from other channels combined.

Yes, tenants seek rental properties by using Google, then end up on the highest ranking sites (often multi-vendor mashups), then work their way down to known local agencies.

Property owners are people - they put their trousers on one leg at time. People use search engines to find things.

Discounting online marketing, and organic search in particular, when it comes to property letting is a huge oversight.

 

[kulture]

I have moved a number of off topic posts from this thread. They are mainly in the marketing forum http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=278946

 

[Jet Virtual]

To re-iterate what others have said - I know of several letting companies that started out working from a home office.

Its the old walk before you can run syndrome.

Definitely agree with Gillie here. So many people make the mistake of spending way too much before the business is even making any profit.

 

[Zono]

Thanks for the all the replies. Personally I think having an office and a good website does bring credibility and a sense of professionalism, but I have also known people working from home with a basic website as well and ultimately it comes down to the person or people running the company and the target market.

As I have worked more in central London, the market here is very different and competitive and cut throat. Having some sort of office space is important not only important for landlords but also tenants as there are so many cowboys around. the main cost of on line marketing goes to the search portals so a basic website will initially do IMO

I have a basic website which I'm working on and now desperately looking for cheap office space

 

[Manishp100]

give you a story - James Caan (not actor - of dragons den fame) - started his recruitment company from a cupboard at a very posh central london location.

he would never let anyone come up to see it.. he would always go down, say it was manic and go outside for a coffee.. - gave the perception they were a big business when they were start up.

if you can do something from home or a smaller location then maybe its worth looking into... if you are very cash strapped maybe analyse the business you are going into? - I dont mean to sound negative but one thing i would always advise start ups is always have your financials in order so that you dont struggle to make ends meet.. if you can do something where you can comfortably outlay cash and still have money for daily life then maybe thats the best approach?