I was delighted to be asked to speak at the Scottish Property Podcast Networking Event in Dundee last week. 

Being a property investor myself, I enjoy meeting other like-minded professionals to hear about their property stories and I also love the opportunity to make a difference to someone.

With so many expert speaker events on the go, personally, when I attend these, if I walk away having learned one thing or have a different perspective on a topic, then I consider it a worthwhile use of my time.

That was my aim for this event.  If I could reach and positively impact one person in the room, then I will have made a difference.

The event was made up of a wide range of backgrounds from police and HR to trades and hospitality but very few had a finance background.   I wanted to share some insight and simple pointers to those people who had not been exposed to running a business.

Because property investment is just the same as running any other business.

Think about it.  You need to:

• Keep control of your finances
• Understand your numbers
• Use your numbers to plan for the future
• Continually review your numbers to improve performance

So, I got back to basics!

I spoke about some of the fundamentals of keeping control of your finances and suggested some regular tasks you can schedule that will help including:

• Regular bank reconciliations
• Keeping an invoice or rent register
• Tracking weekly expenses such as mileage

I also touched on larger topics, for example having a cash forecast model (can be as basic as an excel spreadsheet!) and developing a performance report so that you can pause, review and take stock of where you are now but more importantly where you are heading.

It can seem daunting, but all these controls, forecasts and reports can be customised for your business. If you start off with good habits and develop them as your business expands, it will stand you in good stead, avoiding a mammoth task some point down the line.  Then you really would feel out of control.

I received some great feedback following the event so was happy that I achieved my aim! 

If you want to discuss what some of these simple controls could look like for your business, please get in touch.  I’d love to help.