Mark My Words

As entrepreneurs, we all think we can do it all by ourselves. But there are only a limited number of hours in the day so for you to scale your business you’re going to have to delegate. In this episode, Mark goes through why and how you should be delegating in your business. Delegation involves hiring and trusting the best people, building processes around them that will be consistent and training people properly. If you haven’t delegated to your staff properly yet then you are aren’t leveraging your time effectively on the tasks that are the most important for your business. We’ve all had the thought that we can do it better ourselves, listen to this podcast as to why that is not entirely true.

Key Takeaways

Delegation and passing tasks along the chain is a huge thing in business. We only have a limited amount of hours in one day. In order to build businesses properly, you need scale. You need to delegate to other people and build an effective structure within your business around those people. We realised we needed more corporate structure in our business after we started with a more laissez-faire approach.

We employed someone who knew how to set up the right structure for us as our GM. We have 60-70 staff with a GM who leads them, and various departmental heads, who manage 7-11 individuals each. Tasks then get passed down and up through the chain. We have a lettings agency, who is run by a partner and we have a development company I manage by myself, with an assistant. Each has its own structure and hierarchy.

I may as well do it myself, is a common misconception. If you get someone good and train them properly they might be better at the task than you. Even if they are 80% as good as you then you will have freed up your time so you can concentrate on income-generating activities. Leverage your time, to ensure you are scaling your business.

It’s important to have processes that are structured so that you have clear, consistent outcomes. We have several processes for different aspects of our business from letting agent, to tenancy management and marketing. Try to automate processes where you can, so they save time and you make outcomes more consistent. You can have simple things like process manuals or checklists for everyone’s job in your company. For when people are on holiday so learnings stay in the business and things don’t get missed. You can see then if there is any duplication in the business as well. This will prevent people from amending them as they go along and creating inconsistent products.

Hire employees you trust. If you pay more you will often get more out of them. Good employees will give you back multiple times their salary. Rehiring new people probably cost near 20,000, through their time, staff time to do their induction. Make sure you hire the best. Make them feel valued, give them lots of benefits, and retain them.

Two-way training processes and feedback are important. You need a meeting like a 1:2:1 to get two-way feedback from staff, to understand what the issues are in their role, what training they need and are they happy. This should be a feedback loop in managing people. Tracking results and performances are important if you're going through a process you need to make sure you measure the outcome. Make sure to test and measure in a pilot and then interrogate the numbers after that to see what was effective. Check where it has worked in reality. Each process and system needs to be tracked through numbers.

Things will go wrong sometimes. You might be outbid for a property, you might lose out on a property. New business have numbers which are very tight, you have to expect that the law will change and make sure you have some money spare to pay for any issues that might come your way. It’s really important to have that in the background with the economy being in a difficult place.

Best Moments

‘In order to build businesses you need scale.’

‘You need structure.’

‘I have this habit of not letting go of stuff, I may as well do it myself.’

‘You need to let go.’

‘You can’t do everything yourself.’

‘Get people who are right for the job, with the right experience. So you can trust them.’

‘Automate your processes, where you can.’

‘Each process and system needs to be tracked through numbers.’

‘Two-way training processes and feedback are important.’

‘Hire employees you trust.’

‘You will get the investment back if you pay for better, more experienced staff.’

‘Things will go wrong sometimes, so leave some space in the numbers.’

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/mark-my-words-podcast/id1165370399?mt=2

The E-Myth - Michael Gerber

ABOUT THE HOST

Mark Homer

Mark Homer is an entrepreneur investor.  He has worked with investment since he was 15 years old using the laws of wealth! He is a spreadsheet analyst with an impressive following from major publications including BBC Radio, The Wall Street Journal, The Independent, as well as co-authoring the UK’s best-selling property books.  Mark has always looked for the best investment vehicle, and at the end of 2007 with Rob Moore the co-founder of Progressive Property his joint portfolio produced more profit than any of the other investments he’d tried in the last ten years, combined.

CONTACT METHOD

[email protected]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1

https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive

https://twitter.com/markprogressive

‘Brought to you by Progressive Media’: https://progressivemedia.uk/

MARK’S BIGGEST BUSINESS AND PROPERTY LESSONS

In this episode, Mark takes us through the biggest lessons he has learnt as an entrepreneur investor.

His experience and expertise provide an in-depth insight into the things that really make a difference in property investment, listen in to find out more.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Keeping property

Keeping property in the long term is always a better strategy. If you keep property over the long term and possibly convert it into flats to let or renovate, then you will generally generate more profit from the project.

Over the longer term, this will create a build-up of money that will enable you to work less, freeing up your time to do other things.

• Don’t pay builders for works not complete

Although we sometimes have to run ahead its best to not to expose yourself. If you pay builders up front they are less motivated to complete. Always hold a sizable amount for payment on completion to ensure all aspects are completed to the standard you require.

• Economic exchanges that initially look cataclysmic are often sortable

Lots of legislation changes, blips with the Stock Market and section 24 haven’t developed into recession and even in this scenario often it’s better to hold.

If there is a drop, over the medium to long term the value will go back up again.

• Dinner party investments

Often people like to brag about what they own.

The prettier a property the more likely the yield will be lower and the greater the depreciation compared to less attractive buildings

Doing what looks easiest and the most interesting to others can mean thinner or no profit at all.

• Focus on 1 or 2 strategies and get really good at them

The key to making money and business is to get really good at something, becoming better at it than your competition.

• Lots of people say equity or shares are better than property investments

Most of the time the return within a fund is less than if you are investing yourself and adding value to the property as usually the return for cash on cash is in double figures.

• Birds of a feather flock together

If an investment is risky, a scam or unlikely to produce good results the people around the project often have questionable morals.

You don’t necessarily need to understand an investment just look at the people who are around it.

• People always buy what they want and not what they need.

People will pay for something they want rather than what they need. if you are developing a product it does need to solve problems and it does need to be something people need but you must make it something they desire above all else.

Your spend on marketing and sales in your business should come first. If you don’t have marketing you don’t have a business.

• ‘No’ from somebody buying something or investing in something is only ‘no’ today  

If you are rejected let them see what you are doing, often it is just a matter of time. Be consistent and let them see you can be trusted.

• Cars, things and gadgets

Experiences and relationships are far more satisfying than things. Focus on things you can do these experiences will stay forever.

BEST MOMENTS

‘It usually all works out’

‘People often misevaluate’

‘We are attracted to things that keep us safe’

‘Make sure you are buying buildings that are throwing out value’

‘You’re much better buying the old dirty buildings and adding value’

‘Investments that shine usually don’t’

‘The sizzle sells the steak’

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/mark-my-words-podcast/id1165370399?mt=2

ABOUT THE HOST

Mark Homer

Mark Homer is an entrepreneur investor.  He has worked with investment since he was 15 years old using the laws of wealth! He is a spreadsheet analyst with an impressive following from major publications including BBC Radio, The Wall Street Journal, The Independent, as well as co-authoring the UK’s best-selling property books.  Mark has always looked for the best investment vehicle, and at the end of 2007 with Rob Moore the co-founder of Progressive Property his joint portfolio produced more profit than any of the other investments he’d tried in the last ten years, combined.

CONTACT METHOD

[email protected]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1

https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive

https://twitter.com/markprogressive

‘Brought to you by Progressive Media’: https://progressivemedia.uk/

To get financing, you have to prove to banks and lenders that you’re far from delinquent and can be trusted. So, in this episode of Mark My Words Podcast, Mark talks about how essential it is to build rapport with long-term lenders to get better terms with banks. He also suggests that you look for 2-3 commercial lenders. Though you’ve submitted the complete requirements and have an outstanding credit report, it also makes a difference if you have established a connection with the relationship manager since they already trust you and know that you meet the criteria.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Mark prefers to get to know and contact the relationship manager directly with the bank, not through a broker. In this way, you get to know each other. So, when they see that you have good standing of records in their database and remembers that they also know you, there is a high possibility of getting the best terms with the lowest rates.
• Mark’s Tips:
  • Have 2 or 3 commercial lenders.
  • Try not to spend too much money on legal fees.
• We need development finance for our projects. Banks offer low loan values, and the terms are not as good. Mark suggests going to your broker for your development finance.

BEST MOMENTS

• "Until the evaluation is back and the bank has confirmed how much they're going to lend on the property... you probably got that many more issues to come."
• "In the future, I probably find a bank number two - a backup, a secondary bank."
• "You need to have 2-3 long-term relationships with term funders who do development finance, who you could go to if you need a loan, who has got you in his system, who has seen over time how you behave."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

• British Banker’s Association
• RBS
• Mark My Words Podcast #067 Can I borrow all the money for my project? YES, you can! Interview With Dean Brown | iTunes

ABOUT THE HOST

Mark Homer is an entrepreneur investor.  He has worked with investment since he was 15 years old using the laws of wealth! He is a spreadsheet analyst with an impressive following from major publications including BBC Radio, The Wall Street Journal, The Independent, as well as co-authoring the UK’s best-selling property books.  Mark has always looked for the best investment vehicle, and at the end of 2007 with Rob Moore the co-founder of Progressive Property his joint portfolio produced more profit than any of the other investments he’d tried in the last ten years, combined.

Contact Method

• Email: [email protected]

‘Brought to you by Progressive Media’: https://progressivemedia.uk/

January Is a great opportunity to reflect on the year ahead. It’s a perfect opportunity to redefine your objectives. We have an interesting financial backdrop at the minute which is changing.

Amber warning lights are going off in the stock market and in today’s episode, Mark talks through the possible indicators that you should be looking out for, which might be able to guide your future actions.

If you want to protect yourself and prosper in 2019 as well as the next five years, Marks investment advice is well worth your time.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Asian, Uk and US stock markets have all dropped in the last few weeks. Some of the cleverest economists in the world don’t know as much as the inside of the stock market. The real economy is the growth, asset values, and jobs. The stock market looks ahead to a year or two years time. It’s not perfect, the timing can be off but it’s the best indicator we have.

It’s more likely we are closer to the next recession. Since 2010 and we came out of the last recession, corporate non-financial debt grew to nearly 10 trillion, from 6 trillion. In the same period corporate earnings only grew by 60% of that number, 40% has been financed by debt, government debt. Trump is spending a lot on infrastructures, financed by debt not tax income.

The stock market is flashing amber if it were a traffic light. There are issues in the system. The next five years isn’t going to as good as the last five years. The stock market is showing certain indicators of where the economy is going.

Cyclical Stocks compared To Non Cyclical stocks. Cyclical stocks are ones that do well in the good times, like house builders who always do best when there are lots of jobs, and the economy is doing well. Those cyclical stocks are down across the board. The stock market is marking stocks down, as it expects theses will be impacted most by a downturn.

Some companies do better in a recession. Letting agencies do better in a recession, as more people want to rent more than buying. They are a counter-cyclical stock, like pharmaceuticals whose stock is up over the last couple of months. The counter-cyclical do better in a downturn. The expectation is baked into the price of this stock.

The Yield Curve. The US issues bonds and loans, which are called a Treasury. The UK government are called Guilds. You are then giving your money to the government for a set interest rate, at certain times in the year. The price of those bonds is set by the market but there is a fixed rate back to the investor.

At the minute you are getting less interest for the longer you lock your money in. The treasury curve is inverted. When institutions are not as safe, then they will go and put that into more safe places like US and UK government bonds. The US and  UK governments have never defaulted on their debt. This has meant the curve has been inverted.

What is likely to happen? The stock market will have struggling returns over the next five years. This is all against a backdrop of high employment rate, wage growth and better economies. Generally, the real economies are growing well. These are lagging indicators, they lag what happens in terms of the market.

What else is not going to do quite as well? Banks, anyone dealing in credit, and housebuilders. We are in the latter part of the cycle. I won’t be selling my properties in a recession and then buying them after. The cost of buying and selling such as the valuation, bank fees, solicitor fees is around 10-15%. You need to think about the staff time when you are buying and selling which is at least 5% of the price of the property. Then all the taxes on selling the property. This could cost you in the total of 20-30%.  

It’s the developers that have to sell their stock that always do the worst. Market moves shouldn’t affect you as much if you focus on rental income and on long term investments. If you can do smaller units, smaller houses which are more likely to be let and have higher yields you should be fine. If you focus outside of the capital it can be a safer strategy.

It’s important to develop high-income generating properties. Maybe up to around 15%. You get a good cash-flow every month, and the banks like them as they look less risky. Focus on those bread and butter deals. It’s a good time to negotiate harder and use the negativity around to your advantage.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Amber warning lights are going off.’

‘We probably are in the second half of the cycle.’

‘40% has been financed by debt.’

‘A bubble has effectively been created.’

‘Is the bubble going to be a bang or release slowly.’

‘Banks and construction always do well in the good times.’

‘The counter-cyclical do better in a downturn.’

‘The marker doesn’t expect things to better in the next few years.’

‘We are in the 7th innings of a 9th innings cricket game.’

‘You’ll have to time it perfectly and a 20-30% increase the other side of the recession to stand still.’

‘Buying and holding properties is still a good idea.’

‘It’s the developers that have to sell their stock always do the worst.’

‘It’s important not to over-leverage.’

‘It’s important to develop high-income generating properties.’

ABOUT THE HOST

Bio - Mark Homer

Mark Homer is an entrepreneur investor.  He has worked with investment since he was 15 years old using the laws of wealth! He is a spreadsheet analyst with an impressive following from major publications including BBC Radio, The Wall Street Journal, The Independent, as well as co-authoring the UK’s best selling property books.  Mark has always looked for the best investment vehicle, and at the end of 2007 with Rob Moore the co-founder of Progressive Property his joint portfolio produced more profit than any of the other investments he’d tried in the last ten years, combined.

CONTACT METHOD

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive

Twitter: https://twitter.com/markprogressive

‘Brought to you by Progressive Media’: https://progressivemedia.uk/

Welcome back to another episode of the Mark My Words podcast with your host Mark Homer. In the latest episode, Mark answers all your questions in a Live Q+A. Mark answers questions on lending, serviced accommodation, how to raise finance, and where best to invest? If you are in property these answers are essential listening.

Key Takeaways

Large developments have to be sold as the yield is too low on the rents. The people that get hurt in recessions are the ones that rely on sales. If you can rent it out and get the cash flow then that would be great. This might be a good time to start sourcing properties as we are approaching the next recession cycle.

Are you are constantly talking to agents and networking? I make sure I keep speaking to people to get the right deals. Having good relationships with these agents are essential.

If you started from zero again, where would you start? In a similar way, I think, buy some single lets and some HMOs, then start on some converted buildings. Serviced accommodation is an opportunity area at the minute but like all things, there will be more and more regulation over time.

There will be lenders who will lend with you? There will be lenders out there who will lend to you even if you don’t have any experience. When you move into commercial lendings, you will need to provide more experience. Usually, you will need to provide an appraisal of the development, schedule, sizes rent levels, your CV, and your builder's CV.

How Have You Educated Yourself In Your Different Strategies? I spend hours on forums, reading the little tips and hacks, to game systems. More and more people have come along to this but there are still opportunities. I read stacks and stacks then start testing. Maybe see someone else doing it and pilot what they are doing in a small way within my own business. There has been a lot of trial and error.

Create a Trading or Training Business. Can you create information products, online, marketing business around property. You would need a high-end property strategy to only just to property. Make sure you get the income straight away what other areas can you gain an income from.

City Centre Is Always Best. With regards to serviced accommodation, the location is essential. City centre buildings are the best, SA can be difficult outside of the city centres.

Hospitality, Bars and Restaurants. It’s not something I really understand. I don’t like the hours that you have to work. You have to pick what you enjoy. I love income streams growing but others have made those areas work well.

Investment Strategies. Mark and Rob buy watches. If you are trading you need the obsessive and educational knowledge to understand the market. Watches will be going up and up and up over time. Make sure you know the asset market really really well whatever the product.

Best Moments

‘Uncertainty provides an opportunity for purchases.’

‘I help others, and they help me.’

‘I’m very selective around who I hang around with.’

‘Stay current.’

‘Another 20% new each year.’

‘If I was starting out now I would create a training.’

‘Find something you love.’

‘The people that got hurt in that recession were the ones that rely on sales.’

Valuable Resources

https://www.headforpoints.com

About the Host

Bio - Mark Homer

Mark Homer is an entrepreneur investor.  He has worked with investment since he was 15 years old using the laws of wealth! He is a spreadsheet analyst with an impressive following from major publications including BBC Radio, The Wall Street Journal, The Independent, as well as co-authoring the UK’s best selling property books.  Mark has always looked for the best investment vehicle, and at the end of 2007 with Rob Moore the co-founder of Progressive Property his joint portfolio produced more profit than any of the other investments he’d tried in the last ten years, combined.

Contact Method

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive

Twitter: https://twitter.com/markprogressive

‘Brought to you by Progressive Media’: https://progressivemedia.uk/

In this episode Mark has an in-depth discussion with Dean Brown MD of Aureum Finance about the best way to fund a project. They explore the current diverse and wide-ranging funding options available and Dean offers advice on how to approach the finance market, an overview of the current deals available and how they can be tailored through to meet your finance requirements.

KEY TAKE AWAYS

• There are huge benefits to using a brokerage service as having the quotations researched and presented saves time. To have the summaries and then be able to make an informed choice is beneficial or lots of levels.

• The market is very diverse currently and this can make it a challenge to know what the good deals are out there are.

• Most lending is from challenge lenders and alternative banks who have come into the market with specialist teams. This has provided a good opportunities to borrow

• Most of these organisations are happy to lend between 80 and 90% whereas clearing banks usually lend around 60%. Specialist development lenders are doing a lot of business

• Standard investment finance cost comes down to loan to value against rental income so if you’ve got high yielding property with good income then you can borrow more.
For a longer-term hold there are investors out there typically with rates of 2 – 5 % currently.

• If you are looking for investment for a project. Put together a good presentation, have a team around you and a good track record to provide comfort for the investors.

• Cost of the finance always comes down to what you want to borrow

• First question asked is what do you need? and how much equity have you got to put in to this project this helps to steer the project to the right lenders at the right cost

• Aiming for between 60 65% GDP is the most competitive space right now in terms of lenders with rates of 6 -7 % in this sweet spot.

• If you don’t have lots of experience partnering with someone with more experience can help in several ways

• Lending rates are likely to be more favourable
• You will learn lots working alongside someone with experience

BEST MOMENTS

“Most people look at what the annual return is but it’s important to know the overall return”

“Can I borrow all the money for my project? Yes, you can but it’s not always easy”

“Specialist development lenders are doing a lot of business”

There lots of money available”

“If you’ve got a requirement you can usually find a home for it”

ABOUT THE GUEST

Dean Brown

Dean Brown is managing Director of Aureum Finance a Property & Finance specialist which provides assistance raising capital for all types of property transaction. ... Real Estate & Project Financing: Private Equity, Investment Banking, Structured Finance.

http://www.aureumfinance.co.uk/

ABOUT THE HOST
Mark Homer
Mark Homer is an entrepreneur investor. He has worked with investment since he was 15 years old using the laws of wealth! He is a spreadsheet analyst with an impressive following from major publications including BBC Radio, The Wall Street Journal, The Independent, as well as co-authoring the UK’s best selling property books. Mark has always looked for the best investment vehicle, and at the end of 2007 with Rob Moore the co-founder of Progressive Property his joint portfolio produced more profit than any of the other investments he’d tried in the last ten years, combined.
Contact Method
Facebook – Property soldier
Email – [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive
Twitter: https://twitter.com/markprogressive

‘Brought to you by Progressive Media’: https://progressivemedia.uk/

Welcome back to another episode of the Mark My Words podcast with your host Mark Homer. In this episode, Mark goes through his top tips for saving money in your life and business. Mark goes through several areas on how you can save thousands of pounds every year in your life, and business from car insurance, to utilities and saving accounts.

Key Takeaways

Personal Car Insurance. Make sure that six weeks before your renewal date you search around for cheaper options for insurance. The whole industry is predicated on making a profit from customers who are loyal and don’t change provider every year. Looking at the below four comparison sites every year can save you hundreds of pounds in the cost of your car insurance.

• Money Supermarket
• Confuse.com
• Go Compare
• Compare the Market

Fleet Car Insurance. Try and go to a number of different brokers and play them off against each other, every year so that you can save money on your fleet insurance. This is the best way as there are no business compare websites for fleet insurance.

Home Insurance. Make sure you go onto a number of comparison websites every year which can ensure that you are saving hundreds of pounds on your policy. Some of the best websites are the below:

• Money Supermarket
• Compare the Market
• Go Compare

Keeping your claims down in the last five years to under one can help to keep your premiums down. Brokers are useful in gaining portfolio insurance for a large number of properties. At the end of each year get a quotation for each of your brokers to see if there are cheaper options.

Utilities. Make sure that you are changing these every year, which has got a lot easier in recent years. Please do subscribe to the Cheap Energy Club, at the link below, which lets you know when there is a product that is cheaper than what you are already paying. Changing from the standard rate which energy companies automatically place you on, to an offer rate can save you hundreds of pounds.

Saving Accounts. Try and change this account every April as this is the start of the personal tax year. I want to make sure that I’m getting the highest savings rate. Please check Moneyfax.co.uk which can offer you the best deals for savings accounts. There are always some good instant access accounts on the list for you to have a look at. There is a new Goldman Accounts called Marcus which has a good interest rate on it, for 12 months. Rates drop down after the first year so it’s really important to switch every year.

Mobile Phone Contract. Every year you are paying the subscription to a mobile company, so at the end of the contract make sure you get your upgrade on your phone, as you are paying for this through your contract. It’s best to use a price comparison site so that you can find the best tariff on the market.

• Mobiles.co.uk

Buying In Bulk In January. Use the January sales, and buy two years worth of supply for shampoo, toilet roll, kitchen roll, those essential non-perishable items for your house. Then I’d store this under the house, which means you save lots of money and you don’t have to go shopping for these items throughout the year. Make sure you’re not loyal to a brand but you’re looking for the offers out there.

Contract Hire On Your Car. Make sure you are going for the offers that are available rather than the brand or model of car. This can be a really effective way of saving money. The below websites are the best websites that Mark has used to get the best deals. If you would like Marks spreadsheet which compares these offers please email him, his details are at the bottom of the show notes.

• CentralUkVehicleLeasing.co.uk
• Freedom Contracts.com
• V4B
• AppliedLeasing.co.uk

Best Moments

‘Make you have BS3642 locks on your doors and key locks on your ground floor windows.’

‘Definitely look at changing your mobile tariff, utilities and car insurance to save hundreds of pounds’

‘Make sure you’re not loyal to a brand but you’re looking for the offers.

Valuable Resources

Cheap Energy Club - https://clubs.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub/register

Moneyfax.co.uk   

About the Host

Bio - Mark Homer

Mark Homer is an entrepreneur investor.  He has worked with investment since he was 15 years old using the laws of wealth! He is a spreadsheet analyst with an impressive following from major publications including BBC Radio, The Wall Street Journal, The Independent, as well as co-authoring the UK’s best selling property books.  Mark has always looked for the best investment vehicle, and at the end of 2007 with Rob Moore the co-founder of Progressive Property his joint portfolio produced more profit than any of the other investments he’d tried in the last ten years, combined.

Contact Method

Facebook – Property soldier

Email – [email protected]

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive

Twitter: https://twitter.com/markprogressive

‘Brought to you by Progressive Media’: https://progressivemedia.uk/

Welcome to another episode of Mark My Words Podcast. In today’s episode, Mark is in conversation with Kevin Poneskis and talking about all things serviced accommodation at a Mastermind programme event. In front of a live audience, Mark takes a series of questions on a range of subjects related to serviced accommodation, from Brexit, personal development and how to scale your property business.

Key Takeaways

What changes to serviced accommodation (SA) regulations will we see in the future? There have been several recent changes to regulations of the HMO and SA property sector and there is likely to be more. After new innovations occur, we can expect a time lag in the introduction of associated regulations, but by five years’ time, there will be effective implementation of these new regulations. It’s therefore worth ensuring that you are in line with these regulations like fire safety, and room sizes.

How will Brexit affect trends with serviced accommodation? No one knows exactly what is going to happen with Brexit but the uncertainty has already affected the market. When there is certainty again, ideally when Britain leaves in March, things should look more positive and there might be a sudden rush to invest. Brexit is important for the property sector, but it’s more important to the manufacturing and direct trading industries.

Saturation of the serviced accommodation market? Someone, somewhere, always thinks that the market has become saturated. There might be quieter times in the summer but if your unit is better than the competition then the market takes care of itself. Even simple things like a lick of paint or lowering the rent can be effective methods to fill units in a quieter season.

How do I scale up my property business? Focusing on one geographic area can have real positives for growth. With that kind of focus, you’re able to get to know your local agents and landlords better, and your staff don’t have to travel as far between properties. This is much more effective than a more scattergun approach, leaving you to knowing a lot less than your competition.

How best to work with high net individuals. Often these individuals don’t want to and don’t have the local knowledge to run these businesses operationally. Doing stage work, improving your online presence, attending networking and auctions can be really effective ways of increasing your profile. Once you’ve done these kind of things over a couple of years high-net-worth individuals tend to find you.

Next best thing? VR (Virtual reality) is probably the next growth area especially helping consumers choose which unit to rent. In addition, Blockchain has some interesting applications to automating arduous processes, such as making the land registry process to make it quicker and easier.   

Personal Development. Both informal and formal mentoring can be incredibly effective personal development tools. Finding your peer group, other people doing similar things to you, can be a great way to share ideas and learn from each other.

Best Moments

• ‘Brexit is important but maybe more important for manufacturing or people directly trading’
• ‘You can save a lot more time and make a lot more money when you focus on one area’
• ‘What does your SA look like? How good is it? Whats its location? Matters more than Brexit.’
• ‘Take out all those non-incoming generation parts of your day.’

About the Host (and Guest)

Bio - Kevin Poneskis

Kevin Poneskis enjoys public speaking, travelling, exercising and keeping fit. He also enjoys working with a charity called STOLL which provides accommodation and training for homeless veterans. Kevin was in the British Army serving 24 years, mostly in a Commando unit and retired at the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major. He left the Army in 2011 and became a full-time property investor. During most of my Army career, Kevin was investing in property and has been a property investor now for over 27 years.

Bio - Mark Homer

Mark Homer is an entrepreneur investor.  He has worked with investment since he was 15 years old using the laws of wealth! He is a spreadsheet analyst with an impressive following from major publications including BBC Radio, The Wall Street Journal, The Independent, as well as co-authoring the UK’s best selling property books.  Mark has always looked for the best investment vehicle, and at the end of 2007 with Rob Moore the co-founder of Progressive Property his joint portfolio produced more profit than any of the other investments he’d tried in the last ten years, combined.

Contact Method

Facebook – Property soldier

Email – [email protected]

Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive
Twitter: https://twitter.com/markprogressive

‘Brought to you by Progressive Media’: https://progressivemedia.uk/

Welcome to another episode of the Mark My Words Podcast. In today’s episode, Mark shows you how to invest in the stock market, in a quick, easy and risk-controlled way. If you're an entrepreneur or property investor and want more tax advantages and benefit from an investment ISA or portfolio tracker, this episode is for you.

Mark walks you through his investments using his preferred investing platform, Hargreaves Lansdown and demonstrates the automatic way of spreading your money around the different products and opportunities available to you, right now.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• I've invested a lot in companies that have had issues in the media and it's viewed in the short-medium that they'll recover in the end because the band or product is strong enough to prevail. A lot of people invest on emotion and you'll find companies share prices drop down further than they're worth due to people emotionally trading. An example of this would be the Volkswagen emissions scandal where their share price dropped to a record low, but due to their brand and their strong product, they’re recovering and the investors are set to make a profit.
• You should be looking at putting money in your account at various times throughout the year and building your capital up for investments. The best bit is they’re tax-free, you won’t pay any tax on the capital value and you won’t pay any tax on the capital gained.
• Hargreaves Lansdown gives you choices of what to invest in, including individual shares (this is riskier). Invest in individual shares if you know the company and you understand what they do. Remember that if you are doing this, only invest a percentage of your portfolio as companies can go bust. This is why FTSE 100 companies are probably the type of businesses you want to invest in.
• Another way of investing can be to use a tracker fund that tracks the market going up and down. These are very low costs and over the long term do very well. You could use a fund manager, however, over the very long term they don't generally do much better than a tracker

How to invest using Hargreaves Lansdown?

• Open your account as an ISA. There is a limited of £20,000 to date. Now you can go and buy shares directly through the site, using your ISA. To find out more about trackers simply hit the search bar at the top and bring up tracker portfolios.

BEST MOMENTS

Always spread your money around and put it into multiple stocks

Warren Buffet recommends trackers wholeheartedly

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Hargreaves Lansdown

https://www.hl.co.uk/

Vanguard Investor Tracker

https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/investing-explained/index-tracker-funds

ABOUT THE HOST

Mark Homer is an entrepreneur investor.  He has worked with investment since he was 15 years old using the laws of wealth! He is a spreadsheet analyst with an impressive following from major publications including BBC Radio, The Wall Street Journal, The Independent, as well as co-authoring the UK’s best selling property books.  Mark has always looked for the best investment vehicle, and at the end of 2007 with Rob Moore the co-founder of Progressive Property his joint portfolio produced more profit than any of the other investments he’d tried in the last ten years, combined.

CONTACT THE HOST

• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/markprogressive

‘Brought to you by Progressive Media’: https://progressivemedia.uk/

Welcome to another episode of the Mark My Words Podcast. In today’s episode, Mark discusses overwhelm and how you can avoid it in business and in life. Mark brings you his top tips on how to better manage your time and your headspace so you can get more done and become more effective.

We all need to accept that overwhelm and stress comes from us. We are part of the problem but also the solution. We need to realise that you can better deal with your issues and stress in order to give yourself more clarity of thought and a better focus when attending meetings and interacting with others.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Top Tips To Deal With Overwhelm

1. Write down what it is you need to do. Get your ideas and tasks out of your head and give yourself the space to collate your thoughts and reduce the stress.
2. At the end of the next working day, revisit the tasks you’ve set yourself and with a clearer mind evaluate what you’ve done towards the tasks.
3. Reduce the amount going into your diary and compartmentalise when you can take meetings. Create blocked out times when you’re seeing clients or going out of the office and add a buffer to allow for travel time before and after the meeting so that you’re not rushed. Adding time after meetings will give you time to collate your thoughts also.
4. Always have your phone on silent so you can’t be distracted throughout the day and revisit any missed calls or messages at the end of the day.
5. Make sure you unsubscribe from emails or block numbers from marketers.
6. Always have honest conversations with the people around you. This can include family and business partners and gives you the opportunity to be on the same page so you can work coherently.  

BEST MOMENTS

“Quality time thinking and quality time interacting is better than going through the motions”

ABOUT THE HOST

Mark Homer is an entrepreneur investor.  He has worked with investment since he was 15 years old using the laws of wealth! He is a spreadsheet analyst with an impressive following from major publications including BBC Radio, The Wall Street Journal, The Independent, as well as co-authoring the UK’s best selling property books.  Mark has always looked for the best investment vehicle, and at the end of 2007 with Rob Moore the co-founder of Progressive Property his joint portfolio produced more profit than any of the other investments he’d tried in the last ten years, combined.

CONTACT THE HOST

• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive

Twitter: https://twitter.com/markprogressive

‘Brought to you by Progressive Media’: https://progressivemedia.uk/