In this special episode, Catherine talks to her business partner, and husband, Stephen Turner.

Stephen’s beginnings were in finance, but as their property business began to grow, Stephen took more of an active role and is now the Operations Director. As the co-founder of the business, Stephen has a wealth of valuable insights to share, from everything to staff morale and working environments, to the best tips for dealing with tax.

Join this very special conversation, and learn how Stephen and Catherine built their rapidly expanding property business, and see if any of the lessons they learned can be applied to your business.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Both Catherine and Stephen are always open to new opportunities and grab them whenever they present themselves. But they also realise the value in making sure that the right systems are in place to allow them to deal with these opportunities. 
• It’s very important to have the right team working for you. This allows you the freedom to leverage a business like SA management and also improves the skill set of your business by correctly utilising the expertise of your power team.
• It can be nerve-wracking at the beginning of a business venture, to think about outgoing expenses, such as hiring a VA or a member of staff. But we need to remember that this is not a cost but an investment, and the time saved for you, or for your staff, can be re-focussed upon IGVs or KPIs.
• Get a book-keeper, because they can run your finances, and give you the monthly reports that you need. Zero is a good cloud-based accountancy system that you can use in conjunction with your mobile phone. 
• Choose an accountant and consult with them regularly about any financial decisions, projects or restructuring. They may have invaluable advice on how to streamline the process, or even take further advantage of it in the long run.
• Having an office base for their business happened because of growth, but also because of their rising staff numbers. Now that they have four office staff, Catherine and Stephen find that an office environment is beneficial not just in terms of meeting rooms, but also in terms of creating an affine environment for their staff. This is used as a place for them to motivate each other, to share ideas and to instantly connect.
• The foundation of the business should be sales. As soon as the sales start going, all efforts should be made to keep and improve them. Identifying your unique selling point and making sure that this message is communicated clearly to potential clients, is also a fundamental tenet of starting a business.
• Always make sure you’re budgeting for your tax expenses from the start, and always consult your accountant to make sure you’re paying the correct fees.
• Make sure your entire team know your plan for the business - your aims, your destination, how big you want to get. What customer service levels you’d like to provide, and what sales targets you want to hit. This gives each team member a clearer image of what they are a part of and allows each individual to better define, personally, their own roles within your vision.
• Regular communication between yourself and your team will allow you to better identify areas in which you can improve, from software and systems to conditions and requisitions.
• Get on with it and give it a try. Remember that the time wasted while wondering whether or not to pursue a venture is time you’ll never get back, and time that could’ve been used to solve the problems that you’re imagining will arise.
• Leveraging your lifestyle doesn’t necessarily mean leaving a job you love. It can also mean leveraging the tasks outside of work that you don’t enjoy, or that you feel could be performed in a better way by those more suited to the task.
• To Stephen, a leveraged lifestyle is the privilege of being able to choose the path of each day as it comes, whether that is working on a project, improving a system, or spending time with family.

BEST MOMENTS

‘You can never predict when opportunity or growth is coming’

‘Leverage isn’t just about getting it off your plate’

‘You always pay upfront for education and the rewards come after’

‘Don’t just learn from your mistakes - learn from others’ mistakes so that you don’t have to make them’

‘Build trust as you go’

‘If you are hiring physical staff, you need to think about how those staff like to work’

‘Hiring is guessing and firing is knowing’

‘Hiring into chaos only creates more chaos’

‘If something scratches your own itch, then the likelihood is that it’ll solve someone else’s problem too’

VALUABLE RESOURCES 

The Leveraged Lifestyle Podcast
The Viva Club
SA Guide
[email protected]
Life Leverage Online Masterclass

 

ABOUT THE HOST

Catherine is an iTunes No.1 podcast host of Leveraged Lifestyle, entrepreneur, businesswoman, an Inspirational Speaker, world record holder, Co-Director of Ideal-Collective.com and a mum of 2!

Catherine quit being an employee in 2013, after working more than 50+ hours on average a week, over 3 jobs. Jobs, hours and a lifestyle which led to a diagnosis of clinical depression before the age of 25.

In 2011/12 Catherine discovered the power of investing in property, and tried many different property investment strategies over the years, finally settling on Serviced Accommodation in 2015, which has now grown from one unit in her home town of Chelmsford, Essex to over 50 across the UK, helping investors, landlords and developers create a better return on their money or property.

This year, Catherine and her husband Stephen, also her business partner, joined forces with the Directors of LoLite Homes to create the Ideal-Collective.com, which is all about leveraging the services and knowledge of all four Directors when it comes to Serviced Accommodation, Social Media, Finance & Virtual Assistants.

Catherine started Leveraged Lifestyle podcast to give business owners and those not leading their ideal lifestyle, to learn the mindset and skill set it takes to create a lifestyle of Freedom, by leveraging time, money & knowledge and using outsourcing and systemisation.

CONTACT METHOD

http://www.ideal-collective.com
www.instagram.com/catherineannt
www.facebook.com/catherineturnerspeaker
www.linkedin.com/in/catherineturnerspeaker
https://itunes.apple.com/…/leveraged-lifestyl…/id1380225106…
https://www.stitcher.com/…/progressivepr…/leverage-lifestyle
Leveraged Lifestyle Community: bit.ly/llocfbgroup

Elevate your Self, Wealth & Health, inspirational, mindset, lifestyle, experts, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, woman, public speaking, healthy, body, mind, soul, spiritual, energy, self, worth, development, help, passive income, success: https://www.instagram.com/catherineannt/