It's time to get the house set for the colder weather

 -83

It's time to get the garage-cum-office finished and all the little snagging jobs in the house find before the weather turns. Before long Autumn will turn Wintry and it will be too late to get any outside jobs done, so that's where I will start the focus.

It looks like it's list time again…

I'll have to go round the house and trek a look at all the areas that I feel need attention. From there, it's a case of setting up sons time to ensure that I can get everything done. I'll probably start the list this afternoon and from there I'll have an idea of how much time it will take me to complete.

If like the setting up if the estate agency for next year to follow a similar path but there are do many aspects of it that I have no idea about timescales. I'll just have to leave more time than I think possible and take it from there.

I'm one of these people that likes to have everything planned to the finest detail with accurate timings but it's just not possible when setting up what will be a new business. The current thinking is to finish my current job at Christmas, take a couple of weeks off and then start in earnest during January. From there I'll step up through the gears to be opening after Easter with a view to building stock levels for this time next year. I follow the cycles of the market and it appears that there are two main markets in my part of the world. The first is taking on property in January and February for sales in March and April. The second phase is taking on property through the Summer to sell after the kids go back to scho in September for people that want to move in for Christmas. I'm looking to catch the tails end if the first market and be really up and running for the second.

Wish me luck!

A feeling of refreshed positivity!

-18

I've worked up with an overwhelming feeling of positivity this morning. I'm really 100% sure why this is, but I'm liking it.

What's changed?

Well, in the two days since I was last on here, there have been a few changes but they all feel positive and can help me to look forward. One of the ways I've been making money and looking to continue making money when the business starts, is buying and selling books. I have an eBay account (who doesn't?) and an Amazon seller account t that I sell these through. The issue has been increasing my stock from 100 books to 1,000 books. Not unlike an issue with stock that I'll be facing when I'm an estate agent. Without giving away too much detail I've started to find areas where I can increase my stock by the hundreds without a massive expense.

I've also signed up for another mystery shopping company this week. Things have slowed down with mystery shops (although I still wouldn't describe them as slow.) I felt as though another company on my books was a positive step and would give me the opportunity to learn how they operate, experience more companies and earn some more money.

And I think I've found the doors for my office! The doors I need are almost £250 on B&Q, so I've been looking for an alternative at a better price. I've found some on at a current bid of £30 and - although I'll have to rent a van - the savings are huge. This will complete the office in terms of structure and allow me to furnish and move in.

So onwards and upwards!

Taking stock as the plans form for the next 3 months

-16

As you can see from the ticking timeline at the top of all my posts, the intended start date for my business has been and gone, but don't be disheartened - I'm not! The new date will probably be somewhere around a year late, but because the progress in the original 245 days was slow, the build up to the new intended opening will be jam-packed with the progress I make on the mad run towards the stsrt line.

It's time for me to take a brief look back over the 261 days since I started this blog and the things that have changed.

Personal life

I started this blog in what was the 40th year of my life and it brought about a big change in how I looked at the world and my place in it. I entered the audition process for Mastermind and The Apprentice and I got quite far in both processes. I started training, entered and comets the Great North Run half marathon. I'm now looking at the next set of achievements for the time between now and next year. Of course a lot of these are related to the business, and having things in place to generate an income for me when the business is up and running.

My own business

The steps towards achieving this have been small and background so far, but the most significant is the almost completion of converting my 2nd garage into a usable home office. I'm just short of some new garage doors, a desk and a bit of home comforts to have it ready. The home comforts include getting pictures and ornaments out of my loft and into the office to make it a little more comfortable and pleasant.

I have started a blog on my local area and post to it about every 7-10 days to keep an interest in the local market and possibly appeal to any investors or buyers on what will be my patch. Content marketing is becoming more and more important and having an audience and a SEL presence on the internet will allow me to point my content in the direction of my website and services when the situation arises.

Alongside the business I will have things like these blogs (6 in total at the moment) my photography and the website (www.estateagentboost.com) to bring in some much needed money while I'm busy taking on properties. The website is up and running and I'm updating the latest news on a regular basis. The section that will have training sessions for estate agents needs writing and editing and this is on the to do list but hasn't been completed. As is the editing and final chapters of my book on how to buy a property - the second Kindle book I will publish agree the companion How To Sell Your House-

How to sell your house: What estate agents don't tell you by Steven Thompson http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I5HOJAM/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_udWGvbZCA41ZQ

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I5HOJAM/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_udWGvbZCA41ZQ

I'm looking forward, but these writing tasks and the final set up of the office need to happen soon.

Just when I thought I'd cracked it - the rain came

67

I flew through my list of jobs yesterday. The walls and ceiling of the 2nd garage that I'm converting into an office are painted and ready to go. I've painted the fascias of the garage and checked out the roof. A few small holes in the felt lining were found, but I've now filled these and it will be watertight for the Summer at least. Other odd bits around the house have been completed and I was ready to tackle the garden today. A man with a chainsaw took down the hideously overgrown tree in the front that was blocking the light and would eventually cause issues with its roots. The first job today was (and in all likelihood still is) to remove all of it to the local tip.

And then the rain came.

It's rained quite heavily for most of the night, so jobs like mowing the lawn, weeding, edging, etc just can't be done. Other jobs today included laying more stones at the peaceful spot at the end of the garden and putting up wall planters. This probably can't be done in weather conditions like this and I'll have to see if the rain stops later on in the day.

This was going to be the two days when I got everything for the house sorted for the coming Spring and Summer. Now the garden stuff and the outside cleaning (fascia and outside upstairs windows) has fallen by the wayside. There are always things to do and with the recent collapse and rebuild of my PC, I have plenty of things I can be getting in with - but none that complete an area of concern fully and allow me to move on. The next day set aside for this will be Sunday, and this is dependent on how the recovery from Saturday's wedding goes!

I'm still moving forward with the next thing method of compartmentalising my life, but there seems so much to do and so little time to do it in, as has been said before.

I'm not 100% sure whether I have mentioned this in my blog before, but one of the ways I generate an income is to complete online surveys. I'm signed up with 5 of these survey sites and they send me surveys several times a week each. You answer some basic profiling questions at the start and these filter you in or out of the earning part of the survey. Each survey company has a different way of packaging the rewards (points, £'s, vouchers, PayPal income, prize draws) but basically they all add up to money in your pocket. I'd say I probably earn around £250 to £300 a year from this and it's great for Christmas and birthday presents. Well, I've got around 30 survey invites in my inbox, so there's a few hours if my time this afternoon.

If you're interested then give it a try.

Inspiration to finish off my home office

196

I've just read a blog that sats a home office in the garden can add 5% to the value of a home-

http://www.shedworking.co.uk/2014/11/how-much-value-does-garden-office-add.html?m=1

This has made me happy in my pursuit if completing my home office to stsrt my estate agency in. I am actually no further forward than my last blog on this subject, but the news that it can add value to my home is another spur to get it completed - next phase us this Friday, my next day off. 

It will be to move the items to the back half of the garage and paint and waterproof the front half of the garage. This will be the final part if waterproofing and weather-proofing, before I start to assemble the cupboards, tables, chairs and units that will inhabit the garage whilst I use it. I want to create a mix between a conventional office, an inspiring place to freate some truly different marketing material, and a place that uses the extra furniture I already have stored in there.  Hopefully Friday will leave me set to assemble furniture and dress the place with inspiring materials to kick off the next stage in my startup - moving out of the house into the home office!

Options for my home office

221

I've started my home garage, changing it from this-

and now, today I've got to this point-

Whilst spending my day painting the walls and floor with a weatherproof sealant, I have been thinking about what the next steps will be in converting this space into an office that will allow me to work in quiet and comfort, whatever the weather conditions outside.  First consideration has been to waterproof the walls and floor, as the UK winter (and often the other seasons) can have a big impact on the security and safety of this potential workspace.  It has flooded more than once, through the walls from the outside garden flower beds, so I have accentuated the beds and put in more plants to soak up any excess water.  Next step is to make the office a place where I can work and be inspired to market properties as well as I can.

Options-

Option	Pros	Cons
Leave it as it is	Least cost and time/effort            Has the effect of a New York loft	Will be more expensive to heat, as there is no insulation
Another coat of white paint	Low cost and effort again            A blank canvas to add pictures and effects to inspire	Doesn’t solve the heat and insulation problem
Lining the walls with an insulating material	Will help to keep long-term heating costs down            Cheapest option that involves further action	Major concerns over building regulations            Brings fire safety issues in to play            Time and money to source the right materials at the right cost
Line the walls and then plaster/board over and decorate	Will look like a conventional office            Will be more insulated and save on heating costs	Expense starts to grow            Sourcing materials is even more costly and time consuming than above
Pay a builder to convert officially	Will add value to my home            Will be official and legitimate	High cost solution to what may be a temporary problem            Will accentuate my desire to permanently work from home, rather than eventually build up the business to an office base.

I am genuinely undecided about the best way forward, as I want this to be a low-cost solution to a problem, for the time period that I am working from home, and I also want it to be weather-proof, comfortable, safe and inspiring.

Decision time will be my next full day off work, 2 weeks from now.

A big week lies ahead

224

A big week lies ahead. Back to work today, followed by evening school, so I won't get many things done today, however it's a big week, and I've got plans!

Tomorrow morning is research into business grants for small business and start ups. It will start online, but I'm hoping to set up a meeting with the local enterprise agency (or whatever they are called nowadays) to speak to someone face-to-face about if and how I can go about this. Failing this, I'll go to the local Citizens Advice Bureau to see if they can get me any information. My father volunteers for the CAB in another part of the country, so I know that they are a useful source of information and advice.

Wednesday evening, after work will be dedicated to more work on the photography side, developing my style and ideas on what my photography will look like, and how I can develop my style and skills from my photography class, where I have been capturing images of landscapes, flowers and portraits. I need to develop ideas in the area if interiors and how I can make exciting, original and appealing photographs to sell my customers homes, without infringing on the Property Misdescriptions Act.

I will also be furthering my blog on the local property market. I have written 5 posts so far, and publicised then via a Facebook page on my local town. It has had a small response, and is a slow burner but it's interesting for me to formulate my ideas on the msrket and the competition. This will help me with strategy in the long run as well.

Thursday will be dedicated to weatherproofing my 2 nx garage in preparation to convert it into an office. The interior walks and floors will need to be watertight and this is the first task. It's half cleared and ill pant the inside walls and floor if the back half, before moving the stuff inside and preparing the front half. It's a full day job, I expect, when including drying time.

Busy week!

Everything I think I need to sort out before opening

228 After a whirlwind and scattergun start to my plans for opening an estate agency next year, I have decided that the next best step is to gather together all the aspects that I think I need to cover before the grand opening.

Here goes (in no particular order)-

• A new computer or laptop. My current one is fine for family use but I need a separate workstation with more memory.
• A dedicated telephone line for the business.  Either an extra landline at home or a dedicated mobile phone and number.
• Sorting out the 2nd garage at the rear of the house that I will convert into an office space.
• Furniture for this home office, including a desk, lockable filing cabinets, chairs and stationery.  I have an old dining room table, dining chairs, an office chair, a sideboard, a wardrobe, a chest of drawers and some other smaller pieces of furniture in the garage already, so some of these will be re-used or upcycled.
• A cashflow forecast and business plan for the first year of trading.
• I need a website designed and built.  The design and content are still to be decided, and will take the form of a complete blog of it's own.
• I need to source a provider of for sale boards, design what my boards will look like and have them produced.
• I need to get a grip on what advertising I will use, how it will look, where it will appear, etc.  This is a massive subject and will be it's own blog subject in the future.
• I'm looking at links to the local community to run alongside my advertising and other marketing.  I'm thinking about links to a local school, a local sports club and some other community projects.  I will provide them with support and financial help, maybe with a twist.
• I will need a solicitor for 2 reasons.  Firstly for advice for setting up my business as a legal entitiy, then a reliable referral point for any conveyancing business that I come across.
• An accountant, for the setting up of the business as well.  I will need advice regarding how to set up the business, whether a sole tradership, a partnership or a limited company will best serve my needs.
• I will need to open a business bank account, with online access, but also a local branch for paying in any rent money taken in cash or by cheque.
• A final decision on whether I open with sales and lettings.  If I have lettings as well then I will need contacts for the management of the properties, such as electricians, plumbers, glaziers and central heating engineers.
• I will be looking into the availability of business grants in my area to help with the set-up costs.  As I type this, I have now put this to the top of my mental list.
• I have an idea about becoming a "hybrid" of online and offline state agents by using the window of a High Street business to display my properties and contact details.  I'll need to look into this and start to speak to local businesses about the possibility of this.
• I will need to register with the ombudsman service for estate agency, look at membership of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and, if relevant, the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA)
• I will need to look at contacting, and forging a working relationship with a local mortgage adviser that will be able to assist my clients with their financial needs.
• Likewise with a local surveyor, especially for clients that are buying without arranging finance.
• I have spoken to several companies in the past that supply a software tool for managing an estate agency.  A sort of client and property database, with the ability to upload properties to portals, match clients with properties, email property details to clients and other daily functions.
• On that note, I will need to look at which property portals I am considering and from there, look at costs and fit this into my marketing plan.
• I will need to look at several levels of insurance - any changes to my car insurance, any changes to my home insurance from having a business operate from home and any business insurance I need for operating in clients homes.
• I will most probably set up a charitable foundation where any fundraising will go.  I also intend to donate a percentage of my profits to this charitable foundation.  In the early stages of my thought process, I want some of this money to go to a local charity and some to go to a charity related to housing, maybe Shelter.

I know that this won't be a comprehensive list, and other things will pop up as time goes by.  If anyone has any ideas, suggestions or can see any glaring ommissions then please let me know!

Clearing out my garage to make way for a home office

242

I have taken on the task of clearing out 20 years worth of junk from my garage top make it a cleaner, safer area to set up a home office, so I can work in peace when I need to.  It did not all get cleared away today, as there was much more rubbish in there than I first feared.  eBay has found itself with the following items for sale added to it's already bulging inventory-

• 6 used (but still working) radiators
• 2 lampshades
• a king-size bed
• a wardrobe
• a dining room table
• countless soft toys and kids clothes
• a car radio
• 40 books
• 4 louvre rails, including 1 for a bay window

If you need any of this stuff then just get in touch!

The initial idea is that I have a refuge for when the kids are at home, somewhere that I can use to send emails, make calls and be creative.  It will also be the base for any other activities that I carry out, such as the blog, any photography work I get and my other business selling books and games online via Amazon and eBay.  It won't receive clients, as my estate agency will be online, so it can be my "den" where I can surround myself with things that inspire and comfort me.

It's a single-shell brick-built garage, and I live in a wet part of the UK, so the first step is to get it empty, get the floor, walls and ceiling interior sealed and check the roof (although I think it's in a pretty good state.)  From there I will decide how much time and money I want to put towards insulating the inside and then the interior decoration will be quite minimal, based on what I already own plus anything I find at car boot sales or online.  Basic comfort, plus the ability to be able to work in peace are the important considerations.

Once all the items are sold or disposed of, then I can start on preparing the interior.

Home Office furniture options from Amazon