Owning a business and managing a property portfolio are two very different endeavours. Take it from this gym owner who managed to make a smooth transition to property investing.
When it comes to investing in property, Brad didn’t have many role models around him growing up.
After all, his parents weren’t big investors. They had their primary place of residence, one investment unit, and not much else. Likewise, very few of his friends have made investments in property. And of those who did, he reckoned about 90% got stuck at one property.
Personally, he didn’t see any benefits to going through the trouble of managing a portfolio with just one property in it. So, he didn’t.
Instead, he made a living out of being a personal trainer. And for five years, he managed his own gym. Fortunately, he thoroughly enjoyed helping people get in the best shape of their lives.
But then came the time when Brad felt like it was time for him to sell the business.
See, his wife had just given birth to their first daughter, and he wanted nothing more than to spend more time with his growing family. In other words, he wanted to transition to working from home.
To add, there was the matter of figuring out what he’d do with the proceeds of his gym.
Brad didn’t want all that money to sit in the bank when he could use it to secure his early retirement along with his family’s future. Because while he loved being a coach, he didn’t want to end up like his parents: still working at 65, without a substantial retirement fund to rely on.
So, he started looking for other revenue streams and ways he could grow his gym money, all while getting to spend as much time as he’d like with his family. Through his research, he found out that the lion’s share of people who are able to retire early managed to do it through one way:
Property investing.
He also learned the reason his parents, his friends, and many other people weren’t successful in property investing: it’s because they tried to wing everything without any long-term plans or the proper guidance on how to get past their first property.
Brad soon became fully convinced that he could buck the trend within his personal circle. Not to mention join the myriad of property investors who created substantial wealth for their families through property investing. So, he decided to go for it.
And within 18 months of acquiring his first property investment, he made a 36.6% return on his invested capital.
Now, he’s about to close on his second property. And he’s already done so much better than any investor he personally knew growing up.
Still, Brad admits transitioning from being a business owner to being a property investor had been challenging. So, he shared four tips for other business owners who’d like to follow in his footsteps and create a better life for themselves through property investing.
The 4 Tips
Owning a business and investing in property are two very different endeavours. Transitioning from one to the other requires some mindset and habit adjustments. For Brad, there are four things he did that made all the difference:
Tip #1: Get educated about how to find success as a property investor
Right from the get-go, Brad knew the same things that made him successful as a business owner are not the same things that would make him successful as a property investor.
This is why he immediately sought advice from property experts the moment he set his mind to property investing. He spoke to us about his goals and fears, which allowed us to help him come up with a long-term game plan for his portfolio.
This is a very important tip for newbie investors.
After all, there’s a lot of misinformation going around about property investing. And it’s become so easy to be misguided if you’re not getting guidance and pieces of advice from people who could at least direct you towards the right resources you could use to learn more about property investing.
Tip #2: Spend more time understanding your numbers
Brad admits many business owners don’t look at their numbers enough. They take a lot of cash out of their business just because they can.
…Until they realise they want to diversify by opening another business or investing in property but no bank will touch them because their books show a very unstable income.
So, if you’re a business owner who’s interested in starting your own property portfolio. Make sure you get some financial stability in your books first.
Financing is a huge part of any property investment strategy. This means you’ve got to be more diligent in looking at and running your numbers properly.
Tip #3: Have a roadmap to what you actually want to achieve as a property investor
Brad has always wanted to be semi-retired at 40. And having kids strengthened his resolve to achieve this goal. So, he went into property investing with that specific target in mind. This is one of the biggest reasons he’s had more success than anyone in his personal circle.
Having a set destination in mind is crucial for the success of every journey. You can’t really get from Point A to Point B if you don’t know where Point B is.
So, as you prepare to transition into being a property investor, make sure you have a clear goal in mind. This will determine the steps you have to take and the roadmap you have to follow as a property investor to get to your chosen goal.
Tip #4: Network, network, network
When it comes to property investing, Brad says you can’t just sit where you are and try and wait for things to come to you. Instead, you’ve got to get out there, have conversations with people, build your own network, and create opportunities for yourself.
As a business owner, you might have been successful in building a business that runs perfectly whether or not you’re on board. You may even have entire departments taking care of your sales, your marketing, and your operations delivery.
It surely is a testament to your great ability as a leader and entrepreneur. But things are going to be different when you’re starting out as a property investor.
This time, you’ve got to go back to your roots and start doing things on your own again… At least until you’ve built your own network as a property investor.
Transition Smoothly Into Property Investing
Making the transition into property investing can indeed be challenging. But it could also be the way you achieve the kind of life you’ve always wanted for yourself and your family.
So, if, like Brad, you’re hoping to live a life of freedom and abundance without letting go of the time you spend with your family, then get started on that transition as soon as you can.
And hopefully, the tips we’ve laid out in this article could help you do just that.
