A day in the life of a franchisee
Harpreet Garcha launched Belvoir Kettering in August 2006 and it has shown speedy growth. With 285 properties on its books and up to 10 viewings a day, the business is going from strength to strength.
Before investing in a Belvoir franchise Harpreet was an investment banker for two years. Prior to that he trained as a chartered accountant with a leading London accountancy firm. Harpreet says: "I'd always thought about running my own business and decided to go into lettings as I had my own buy-to-let property so I knew something about the industry. I'd also watched the way my property had been managed and thought I could offer a better service."
When asked why he chose Belvoir, Harpreet says: "I did lots of research into franchise opportunities and came across Belvoir. I liked the way it approached business and realised that buying into the Belvoir brand meant I could command more authority and attract bigger premiums than going it alone."
His Belvoir Kettering outlet is essentially a one-stop property management agency dealing with all aspects of lettings from tenant find through to full management. Harpreet is also able to offer additional services, including a buy-to-let scheme for investors in property, a landlord comprehensive insurance service, tenant insurance, property investment consultancy and assistance with legal documentation.
Today Harpreet manages six staff, including a property valuer and office manager, three lettings negotiators, an operations manager and a maintenance co-ordinator.
"It's very important to have the right team in place," Harpeet says. "It allows you to step back from the day-to-day running of the office and manage in a more strategic way. I head-hunted the office manager, who is fantastic, and now does the majority of what I used to do, which means I spend more time working out how to move the business forward."
Harpreet's diary is constantly full and no two days are the same. "It's always very busy," he says. "On a typical day I oversee tenant and landlord leads, manage overall cash flow, forward plan to improve the business model, review the competition, check our balances and look at creating new revenue streams, checking website data and keeping in mind the overall ambition of the business, ensuring I focus each day towards that.
"In the early afternoon, before people log on in the evening, I check our website data to ensure it's accurate and up to date. I also attend networking groups and initiatives shared with other Belvoir offices when necessary.
"The part of the job I enjoy the most is forward planning and working out the direction the business should be going. The most challenging aspect is problem resolution. For example, if a landlord agrees to do work before a tenant moves in and we find out it hasn't been done, it's my job to sort it out. I have to stay ahead of what's going on all the time.
"We work really hard on our level of customer service. Customer feedback is always good because we react very quickly and pull out all the stops to ensure things are done when they should be. We even have an answering service in case all our phone lines are busy so no client is faced with an engaged signal or a machine."
The long hours that Belvoir Kettering operates reflects just how hard Harpreet and his team works. "We open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 6pm on Sundays," says Harpreet. "We do viewings seven days a week so it's not unusual to work beyond those hours."
So, is all the hard work worth it? "Definitely," says Harpreet. "I get great satisfaction from running my own business. When we achieved top five of the Belvoir group I felt really proud. Kettering is a small market town and we were up against big cities and university towns - I even got a congratulatory phone call from Belvoir's founder and CEO Mike Goddard.
"I'm certainly pleased I bought into a franchise. I enjoy the day-to-day rewards of running my own business, but the franchise also has an asset value - if ever I want to exit the business I can sell it at a premium.
"My advice to anyone considering investing in a Belvoir franchise is to be conscious of the margin you need to make and the effort you'll need to put in - but take the opportunity and go for it!"
Belvoir's Head of Franchise Recruitment David Spackman says: "Belvoir franchisees come from a variety of ages, backgrounds and careers. We look for self-motivated individuals with good people and communication skills, endless enthusiasm and determination. We provide training, so previous experience is not required and we welcome enquiries from individuals and partnerships, as well as husband, wife, son and daughter teams."
The lettings market is buoyant and Belvoir is actively recruiting new franchisees. For anyone who is interested in a career in property management contact David on 01476 570 000, email franchising@belvoirlettings.com or visit www.belvoirfranchise.com
Investment level: £22,500 plus VAT
Website:
www.belvoirfranchise.com
Email:
franchising@belvoirlettings.com
Phone:
01476 570 000
