LUCKY 13

The Imagine Team has grown to 13 this week with the recruitment of Danielle Somerfield. Apart from the fact I need an oxygen supply on standby come wages day the benefits of our growing workforce are undoubtedly outweighing the negatives.

I guess most businesses share the same dilemma I have of trying to manage increased success without allowing service levels to slip. If you sell and let more property it invariably means you have more boards up, do more advertising and subsequently get asked out to more valuations. In turn you then sell  / let even more houses and the cycle repeats as the snowball keeps getting bigger. On top of this your administrative tasks increase substantially.

This apparently attractive scenario can quickly come crashing down around you though. If you fail to recruit either the volume or quality of individuals to manage the increased workload the experience your clients have dealing with you can deteriate very quickly. Your reputation takes a hiding and in a business where word of mouth has such a stark effect on your potential that is something I can ill afford to allow.

Equally, if you over recruit and the market takes a downturn, you can be left with massive expenses outweighing your income and the unenviable position of having to let staff go. I can fully appreciate why some business owners get to a certain level and decide they are happy with their lot. If you are comfortable and earning a decent income why take the gamble? Bigger doesn’t necessarily mean more profitable and it almost certainly means more stress.

For me the decision to expand is based on two criteria; A) My motivation levels. B) The quality of the key staff I employ. Without both being exceptionally high I would stay put, but currently we are on a great roll, with great enthusiasm and it seems very logical to keep the ball rolling as consumer and market confidence increases.

New Meet the Team members and updated photos on others this week at www.imagine-group.co.uk/meettheteam Congratulation to my Property Manager, Miranda Rogers who became Miranda Ford last week after tying the knot with long time partner Joe.