The story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears has been popular with children for a ridiculous number of years, so it's interesting that it also contains a valuable lesson for Property Developers.
Don't believe me? Well, part of being a successful Property Developer is building your team of experts to support your journey.
And that's where Goldilocks comes in handy.
When the time comes to start choosing your consultants, there's an enormous range for you to choose from. Honestly? It can be a very confusing experience!
Often I see and hear people asking others for recommendations, and I think that's a great strategy. It at least leaves you with a shorter list to choose from initially.
And although it's often said that size doesn't matter, when it comes to choosing which consultant to use, it can be of vital importance. Because one of the big questions you need to ask yourself is - do I go with a big firm or a one man band?
Just to refresh your memory, your core team consists of 6 key people:
If you want to understand this in greater detail, you can check out my earlier article: The Importance of Building a Great Team.
So on to the question of one man band or large company? I'm going to use choosing a town planner as my example.
Like Goldilocks, let's start with the one man band. These are often people who have worked in bigger firms or Councils in the past, and have decided to branch out on their own.
Given that you're likely to be one of only a small handful of clients, chances are you’ll get GREAT service. You're incredibly important to them, and so it's easy to build a close relationship where you end up working hand-in-hand as a team. They'll be willing to go the extra mile when needed as a result.
Depending on their past experience, they may also have close connections in their local Council, which can be a real bonus when working on projects for you.
But of course there's a downside - which is that if they get busy, there's only one person to do the work. And that's where it gets tricky. There can only be one person at the front of the work queue, and it might not always be you.
The other issue is although a single operator might have in-depth knowledge and experience of one Council because of past experience, they are unlikely to have the same insight in other areas, given that most Councils have their own way of working. This could become an issue as your business grows, and it's quite likely that at some point you will outgrow their services altogether.
A large firm certainly will have more depth to cope with multiple clients needing things at the same time, but as a result you can end up as just another box on a tick sheet. This can be especially difficult when you're starting out and trying to learn the ropes - you're just not that important in the overall scheme of things.
Being larger, though, they're more likely to have experience dealing with a number of different Councils. Chances are they’ve built strong relationships with Council contacts because they've dealt with them so often.
Plus, if they've done a lot of applications in one Council, they'll have first-hand experience of when they can push the boundaries, and when they're likely to end up fighting it out in a Tribunal and losing.
And then there's the medium option, the one Goldilocks would choose, which is somewhere in between.
The real answer, though, is that you need to choose a town planner with more experience than you have, who can help you grow your understanding of how the system works. But be prepared for the fact that at some point you may outgrow that option and need to move to a bigger outfit so you can continue to grow.
While I've chosen to use a town planner as my example, similar principles can be applied to the other members of your team. A one man band accountant, for example, may be great when you start out and are still getting your head around the basics of running a business, being a developer and GST. They're more likely to have time available to help you learn, rather than you just being another number on a list.
But when you start to have multiple structures, giving advice about how to set all of that up and understanding how the structures need to interact with each other for maximum benefit, may require you to move up to a bigger firm with more experience at that level.
So the answer to the question of whether you should choose a one man band or a large company for your team members? The answer, paraphrasing Goldilocks, is one that's "not too big, not too small, but just right".
And as you progress in your Property Developer journey, it's likely that "just right" will give you different answers.
Don't believe me? Well, part of being a successful Property Developer is building your team of experts to support your journey.
And that's where Goldilocks comes in handy.
When the time comes to start choosing your consultants, there's an enormous range for you to choose from. Honestly? It can be a very confusing experience!
Often I see and hear people asking others for recommendations, and I think that's a great strategy. It at least leaves you with a shorter list to choose from initially.
And although it's often said that size doesn't matter, when it comes to choosing which consultant to use, it can be of vital importance. Because one of the big questions you need to ask yourself is - do I go with a big firm or a one man band?
Just to refresh your memory, your core team consists of 6 key people:
- Town Planner
- Accountant
- Lawyer
- Architect
- Surveyor
- Civil Engineer
If you want to understand this in greater detail, you can check out my earlier article: The Importance of Building a Great Team.
So on to the question of one man band or large company? I'm going to use choosing a town planner as my example.
Like Goldilocks, let's start with the one man band. These are often people who have worked in bigger firms or Councils in the past, and have decided to branch out on their own.
Given that you're likely to be one of only a small handful of clients, chances are you’ll get GREAT service. You're incredibly important to them, and so it's easy to build a close relationship where you end up working hand-in-hand as a team. They'll be willing to go the extra mile when needed as a result.
Depending on their past experience, they may also have close connections in their local Council, which can be a real bonus when working on projects for you.
But of course there's a downside - which is that if they get busy, there's only one person to do the work. And that's where it gets tricky. There can only be one person at the front of the work queue, and it might not always be you.
The other issue is although a single operator might have in-depth knowledge and experience of one Council because of past experience, they are unlikely to have the same insight in other areas, given that most Councils have their own way of working. This could become an issue as your business grows, and it's quite likely that at some point you will outgrow their services altogether.
A large firm certainly will have more depth to cope with multiple clients needing things at the same time, but as a result you can end up as just another box on a tick sheet. This can be especially difficult when you're starting out and trying to learn the ropes - you're just not that important in the overall scheme of things.
Being larger, though, they're more likely to have experience dealing with a number of different Councils. Chances are they’ve built strong relationships with Council contacts because they've dealt with them so often.
Plus, if they've done a lot of applications in one Council, they'll have first-hand experience of when they can push the boundaries, and when they're likely to end up fighting it out in a Tribunal and losing.
And then there's the medium option, the one Goldilocks would choose, which is somewhere in between.
The real answer, though, is that you need to choose a town planner with more experience than you have, who can help you grow your understanding of how the system works. But be prepared for the fact that at some point you may outgrow that option and need to move to a bigger outfit so you can continue to grow.
While I've chosen to use a town planner as my example, similar principles can be applied to the other members of your team. A one man band accountant, for example, may be great when you start out and are still getting your head around the basics of running a business, being a developer and GST. They're more likely to have time available to help you learn, rather than you just being another number on a list.
But when you start to have multiple structures, giving advice about how to set all of that up and understanding how the structures need to interact with each other for maximum benefit, may require you to move up to a bigger firm with more experience at that level.
So the answer to the question of whether you should choose a one man band or a large company for your team members? The answer, paraphrasing Goldilocks, is one that's "not too big, not too small, but just right".
And as you progress in your Property Developer journey, it's likely that "just right" will give you different answers.
