Five F’*k Ups I’ve Made Which Might Help Estate Agents

It was my little girl’s fifth birthday party on Saturday.

Lots of kids singing Frozen songs, jam sandwiches, Wotsits and making tea for mums and dads who all seemed pretty glad that their kids were being entertained for a couple of hours.
We had family down from London so the entire weekend was a busy one.

I always enjoy visitors to our house but I also really enjoy waving them adios and getting back to normal.

I always find birthdays a great time to reflect on how life’s going and indeed so far gone. My 45th is coming up later this month.

So I did a bit of reflection yesterday evening as I drove to Birmingham for a training course.

During the three and a half hour journey it came to me that I’ve learned from my mistakes a lot more than my successes.

Below are five that sprung to mind – after that I was ‘reflected’ out and just wanted to listen to a blast of the Wu Tang Clan to wake me up on the M40.

Here they are and hopefully there might be something among them that helps you avoid making these mistakes.

And if like that smug shite Robbie Williams you’re someone who declares ‘I’ve no regrets’ (eejit) I wouldn’t bother reading on. Cheers.

Going Cheap – Whenever a project hasn’t gone well it seems that common thread was that I tried to do things on the cheap. Employing a web designer whose quote was cheapest but ended up costing me more is one example. The flipside is not charging my worth on projects at the start of my career. The cheap end of any market is THE worst place to have a stall.

Facebook – Both cock up and now opportunity. I wished I embraced the power of Facebook advertising earlier – it’s an absolute winner! But it’s never too late and today’s course I’m on in Birmingham is actually on this topic. If I knew how powerful Facebook is and will continue to be I’d have put a chunk of my money on buying its shares when it originally floated on the stock market. They were undervalued.

Caring – Not in the sense of wishing I’d been a cold hearted bastard. Not at all. I still care deeply for people I care about and always try to do the right thing. But for too many years I cared what people, who didn’t even really matter to me, thought about me. Now I’m in a phase of my life where as long as I’m being honest and myself I couldn’t give a flying, sitting, jumping or even somersaulting fuck what anyone thinks. The people who don’t like your style / tone will never be clients / friends anyway so why worry?

Use Dropbox – Or any other cloud storage device for that matter. I learned the hard way when a laptop broke and wiped out around a year’s worth of articles. Technology can make a positive difference in so many areas.

Wasting Time – This is the big one and the area which I’m currently a little obsessed about. I wasted most of my time between 20 – 39 years-old if I’m brutally honest. Drinking too much, planning too little and ‘dabbling’ rather than committing fully.

It may be the early rumblings of my mid life crisis but I now really get how precious time is. My focus is now fully on the things that really matter – my family and friends, growing my business, doing the best I can for my clients and looking after my health.

The rest is all side dressing. Now before starting any project or piece of work the question I ask myself is simple – If I do this is it going to get closer to my goals?

And I’ve also began using a technique of blocking out 90 minutes a day to spend exclusively on things that can win me more clients or sell more of my services and products.

I’d love to know what have been your biggest cock ups.

Thanks for reading and here’s to your next instruction.

Jerry

Jerry Lyons

You May Also Enjoy

Letting Agent Talk

Letting Agency Owners: Are You the Bottleneck in Your Business?

As a letting agency owner, it’s easy to fall into the trap of wearing too many hats. But it’s not just exhaustion and burnout you need to worry about – it’s the impact it’s having on your bottom-line. Guest Blog By Sally Lawson – Agent Rainmaker “From managing client relationships and handling operations, to overseeing…
Read More
Breaking News

Latest developments in Renters’ Rights Bill: What landlords need to know

On the brink of becoming law, the Government last week rejected the majority of amendments put forward by the House of Lords, which would have mitigated the severity of some of the amendments. Property professionals, landlords and tenants are poised to navigate this once-in-a-generation overhaul of housing legislation.   Lucy Jones, Chief Operating Officer at…
Read More
Breaking News

What Will Commonhold Mean for Property Managers?

By Robert Poole, Director – Block Management, Glide Property Management, part of LRG The government’s ambition to end leasehold for most residential properties has put commonhold back into the spotlight. First introduced in 2002, commonhold offered a resident-led alternative to traditional leasehold ownership. However, legal and commercial complexity stalled adoption. Two decades later, policymakers are…
Read More
Breaking News

Think You Know Mortgages? These 5 Myths Could Be Costing You Money

When it comes to mortgages, most of us have had advice from family and friends. The trouble is, a lot of these so-called facts are myths, with many individuals missing out on better deals or opportunities, due to not doing their own due diligence. Emma Graham, Business Development Director at Hodge Bank, explained: “Mortgages are…
Read More
Breaking News

Just 17% of homes selling for more than £500k

The latest analysis by eXp UK has revealed that while just 17.4% of homes sold across England and Wales so far this year achieved a price of £500,000 or more, agents in London, the South East, and the East of England will face the greatest need to adapt should the Government press ahead with plans…
Read More
Breaking News

Estate agents back Rachel Reeves’ stamp duty shake-up but call for abolition without replacement tax

The latest research from GetAgent has revealed that the majority of estate agents in England are supportive of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ plans to overhaul property taxation by scrapping Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). However, 44% argue that the new levy should be focused only on higher-value homes, while 79% favour abolishing SDLT outright without introducing…
Read More