POPULARITY
Hosted by mark stokes
Hosted by mark stokes
6 episodes with mark stokes
4 episodes with mark stokes
3 episodes with mark stokes
2 episodes with mark stokes
2 episodes with mark stokes
2 episodes with mark stokes
In this podcast episode, President of Covesmart, Mark Stokes discusses how the company has simplified the home security industry with its affordable and easy-to-install DIY system, aiming to eliminate the hassle associated with traditional setups. He emphasizes Covesmart's approach of using an e-commerce model and online content creation rather than relying on sales reps, making the buying process more accessible for customers. Stokes shares how strategic hires and product innovations, like the industry-first feature of streaming video footage to a keypad, have set Covesmart apart in the market. He also touches on the company's digital marketing strategy, leveraging content creators to reach audiences effectively and bypass traditional, more complex sales channels.
Join me, Liam Ryan, on The Dealmaker Podcast, as I sit down with Mark Stokes for a deep dive into tax efficiency strategies for business owners. In this enlightening episode, we explore how to strategically reduce your personal tax burden by transferring everyday business expenses into a limited company. Mark, with his extensive background in commercial property investments, shares key insights into building multi-generational wealth and leveraging tax breaks effectively.We'll also delve into the advantages of different pension schemes, focusing particularly on the Small Self-Administered Scheme (SASS), which allows investments in commercial property among other assets, offering substantial tax breaks and inheritance tax benefits. The discussion is timely, considering recent government changes that have made pension lifetime allowances uncapped, presenting new opportunities for investors.This episode is packed with expert advice for turning your company into a tax-efficient powerhouse, ensuring that every listener can take away practical tips to implement immediately. Whether you're an established business owner or just starting out, understanding these tax strategies could significantly enhance your financial landscape. Join us as we unpack these complex topics with clarity and actionable advice.Valuable Resources Assets For Life - https://assetsforlife.co.uk/property-events/?el=Podcast Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/liamjryanwealth/ Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/LiamJRyan.AFL Skool Community - https://www.skool.com/assets-for-life-8963/about Host Bio You're listening to The Deal Maker podcast with Property Expert, Property Multi-Millionaire and Joint World Record Holder Liam J. Ryan. If you want to become a master negotiator, close more property deals, become a great salesperson and live a better life then The Deal Maker podcast is for you. Liam is a property investor, business owner and entrepreneur helping people make more money and live a happier life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Join me on this episode of The Deal Maker Podcast as we delve into the world of commercial conversions with my guest, Mark Stokes. Mark, a seasoned expert in commercial property conversions, shares his journey from corporate management to mastering property development, yielding profits of up to £475,000 per deal. He breaks down his seven-step blueprint that guides novices from no experience to successful commercial property ownership. You'll gain insights on the importance of building a professional team, tax efficiency essentials, and strategic relationships' power. We also discuss Mark's latest book, "Game Changing Commercial Conversions," which features 19 case studies and a collective profit of £9 million.Follow Mark here: https://www.instagram.com/mark.stokesFind out more about Mark's training: https://assetsforlife.co.uk/property-investment-courses#TCCBKey Highlights:Discover Mark's path from a high-flying corporate career to becoming a property development expert.Learn the seven critical steps to achieving success in commercial property conversions.Understand the importance of assembling a top-tier professional team for executing property projects.Explore strategies for optimizing tax efficiency and maximizing investment returns.Get exclusive insights from "Game Changing Commercial Conversions," detailing multi-million-pound successes.Valuable Resources:Assets For Life - https://assetsforlife.co.uk Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/liamjryanwealth/ Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/LiamJRyan.AFL Host BioYou're listening to The Deal Maker podcast with Property Expert, Property Multi Millionaire and Joint World Record Holder Liam J. Ryan. If you want to become a master negotiator, close more property deals, become a great salesperson and live a better life then The Deal Maker podcast is for you. Liam is a property investor, business owner and Entrepreneur helping people make more money and live a happier life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Join us as we sit down with business owner, property investor and developer, author, husband and father, Mark Stokes. Mark left his successful corporate career to build a portfolio of multi-generational assets from property through to business ownership and investment, achieving financial independence in his mid-forties. In the episode, Mark delves into the importance of education, communication, and aligning family values with financial goals. This episode equips you with the tools to embark on your own journey of building and maintaining wealth that stands the test of time. If you're looking to secure your family's financial future and navigate the complexities of generational wealth, this episode is a must-listen. Resources In This Episode:>> Mark Stokes [LinkedIn]>> EquaAcademy [Website]>> Advice To Your Younger Self: A unique collaboration of reflections, lessons and advice, inspiring you to fulfil your unlimited potential>> Join the Waitlist – WealthBuilders for Families Next Steps On Your Wealth Building Journey:>> Join the WealthBuilders Community>> Join the WealthBuilders Academy>> REGISTER HERE FOR ACCESS TO FREE RESOURCES If you have been enjoying listening to WealthTalk - Please Leave Us A Review!
Let's delve into an under-discussed topic — the intersection of autism and non-monogamy. I talk about the differences between polyamory and open relationships, and challenge the stereotype that autistic individuals are incapable of or uninterested in sexual relationships. Drawing from research and personal experiences, I discuss why autistic individuals are more inclined towards non-monogamous relationships.If you'd like to know more about topics discussed in this episode, check out:"Neurodiversity and Relationship Variation: Why Some With Autism or ADHD Are Drawn to Consensual Nonmonogamy and/or BDSM" by Elisabeth A. Sheff"Polyamory vs. an Open Relationship: What's the Difference?" by Emma Singer"An Exploration of Why Autistic Adults Are Practicing Consensual Non-Monogamy" by Janet Walsh and Mark Stokes"I'm Autistic and Polyamorous. Here's Why It Works for Me" by Leanne YauThe Letters of Abelard and Heloise translated by Betty RadiceEpisode outro music: "Go to Hell" by Mindme Support the showThe Other Autism theme music: "Everything Feels New" by Evgeny Bardyuzha. All episodes written and produced by Kristen Hovet.If you would like to submit a question to possibly be answered in a future episode, please email kristen.hovet@gmail.comBecome a supporter of the show for as little as $3 a month!The Other Autism podcast on InstagramThe Other Autism podcast on FacebookBuy me a coffee!For transcripts, go to The Other Autism on Buzzsprout, click on an episode and then click on "Transcript" to the right of "Show Notes".
Pensions. Most of us have one, but they can often be the most undervalued and overlooked asset for building your wealth. This week we revisit some of our favourite clips from previous episodes where guests provide insights on how you can use your pension to build wealth. Guests include; WealthBuilders SSAS Director, Paul Brooks who has been helping clients to understand how they can leverage their existing pensions for over 10 years. Business investor, mentor and author, Mark Stokes, who doubled his pensions in as little as two years. Not forgetting, of course, valuable nuggets of wisdom from WealthBuilders Founder, pensions expert and economist, Kevin Whelan. Tune in to hear our guests cover the key differences between SIPP and SSAS pensions, how to create more income before the age of 55 by using your pension and why you can't rely solely on your pension to support you later on in life. To help you find the content that is of most interest to you we've also curated some 'pillar specific' playlists which you can subscribe to by visiting www.wealthbuilders.co.uk/wealthtalk Resources In This Episode:>> WT128: You can't rely on your pension>> WT017: Do you have a lost pension?>> WT018: SSAS Pensions [The Director's Pension]>> WT106: Three SSAS Strategies Business Owners Can Use To Build Their Wealth>> WT099: How Mark Stokes Doubled His Pension in 2 Years Using SSAS>> WT133: SIPP vs SSAS Pensions: 10 Key Differences Next Steps On Your Wealth Building Journey:>> Join the WealthBuilders Community>> Join the WealthBuilders Academy>> REGISTER HERE FOR ACCESS TO FREE RESOURCES If you have been enjoying listening to WealthTalk - Please Leave Us A Review!
On this episode of the DefAero Report Daily Podcast, sponsored by Bell, Mark Stokes, cofounder and CEO of Magdrive — one of the 10 startups selected by Amazon Web Services for the 2022 AWS Space Accelerator — discusses the British company's innovative satellite control technology, how the accelerator will help it grow, the importance of new control technologies to enable longer-satellite lifespan as well as long-endurance space travel and more with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.
With over 30 years experience as a property developer, mentor, author and business investor, there is no denying this weeks guest Mark Stokes is a man on a mission. Mark's strong passion for creating shared value and inspiring others to achieve success made for a phenomenal interview. In this episode, Mark joins me to talk about how keeping an open mind can lead to more opportunities, how he transitioned from corporate life to a more fruitful way of living on his own terms, and how by connecting the power of the mind to the power of the body, we can achieve far more than we may expect. KEY TAKEAWAYS Opportunity comes from keeping an open mind. Those who never say no find that their paths are diverted in far more interesting ways when it comes to life. The road to happiness and fulfilment often comes at the cost of making hard choices, but the legacies we achieve from doing so are life-changing. By connecting the power of the body to the power of the mind, we can often reach higher, push harder, and achieve far more in life and in business than we would expect of ourselves. We often take our knowledge base for granted, when in reality, if we look back across our experience so far, the skill sets and talents we have quietly acquired have empowered us in all kinds of incredible ways. BEST MOMENTS 'Change has been my constant for the last thirty years' 'I was blessed with a huge amount of opportunity, and I guess that's because I learned never to say "no"' 'What is it that pushes you towards that next level?' 'You need to recognise the huge amount of skills that you've curated and nurtured over the years' VALUABLE RESOURCES On A Mission - https://omny.fm/shows/on-a-mission Mark Stokes Website - https://www.equagroup.co.uk/ Mark Stokes LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-stokes/?originalSubdomain=uk Mark Stokes Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/markstokes.stokes Mark Stokes Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/markstokes.stokes/?hl=en ABOUT THE HOST The On A Mission Podcast brings you Ellie Mckay's no holds barred chats with some of the UK's top business leaders, entrepreneurs, celebrities, athletes, top thought leaders, influencers and mindset experts. On a Mission is for unconventional thinkers that want to challenge the status quo. For all those people on a mission to live their best lives and take control of their own destiny. Ellie is a straight-talking, successful property entrepreneur who passionately believes that everyone has the power within themselves to transform their lives no matter what their situation. As a mumpreneur with 3 young children and multiple businesses, Ellie likes to keep it real with her no-bs insights and share the things that have helped her achieve the level of success she has enjoyed to date. CONTACT METHODS: Linkedin: Linkedin.com/in/ellie-mckay/ Facebook: Facebook.com/ellie.mckay.3150 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissonpodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/EllieMckay Clubhouse: @ellie83 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this Space Café Radio – on tour in Bremen, SpaceWatch.Global event coordinator Chiara Moenter spoke with Dr Thomas Clayson and Mark Stokes, the co-founders of Magdrive Ltd. They talked about the creation and the initial idea of Magdrive, the barriers to entry of the space sector, future aspirations, the Space Tech Expo in Bremen and their most important take-aways.
I found Mark Stokes Instagram account (@notdefining) last June when I was in the midst of questioning my sexuality. While I knew I wasn't 100% “straight”, I didn't feel “queer enough” to identify as anything otherwise. This made for confusion in understanding who I really was and how I was “allowed” to show up in the world. If you've felt anything similar, you will get a lot out of this episode. Get your Intuitive Eating Podcast Guide here! SPONSORS: Headspace - Get one month of meditation services FREE at headspace.com/fillyourcup Better Help - Save 10% off your first month of therapy services at betterhelp.com/fillyourcup Dive into the full show notes here!
Darger's legacy: Mark StokesMark Stokes is a filmmaker based in London whose documentary on Henry Darger, Revolutions of the Night, was instrumental in explaining who Henry Darger really was to a wider audience. In the final episode of this series, Philippe Cohen Solal discusses the making of the film with Mark Stokes. Both artists also reflect on what it meant for them to get inspired by this amazing body of work.This podcast series was created by Philippe Cohen Solal, written by Clémentine Spiler and produced by César Depouilly for ¡Ya Basta! Records. Illustration : Gabriel Jacquel. Special thanks to Geoffrey Carey for reading excerpts of Henry Darger's written works.OUTSIDER is an album by Philippe Cohen Solal & Mike Lindsay featuring Hannah Peel and Adam Glover. It's available here : http://smarturl.it/outsiderdarger See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
As an experienced entrepreneur and business investor, Mark has a passion for founding businesses that enable the creation of shared value. With 30 years of business experience Mark has founded and operated many businesses home and abroad deploying complex global infrastructure assets of 3m sq ft of real estate in excess of £1.5bn.His Equa organisation develops and holds substantial developments of commercial, commercial to residential and new build homes ranging from £1m - £20m GDV predominantly in the Home Counties.Mark founded SSAS Alliance in 2017 to support and collaborate with fellow SSAS pension trustees and continuing his ethos for Creating Shared Value.Mark has mentored people in business and property for over 2 decades as well as being a Non-Executive Director. His EquaAcademy business supports and mentors entrepreneurs, developers and investors and he is a prolificate business investor.Mark is a recognised public speaker and 5 times published author on a wide range of subjects including SSAS Pensions, Commercial to Residential Conversions and Advice to Your Younger Self.Website www.EquaAcademy.co.ukEmail mark.stokes@equassas.co.ukFacebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/equaacademyLinkedIn linkedin.com/in/mark-stokesInstagram markstokes.stokes See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Commercial Property Finance - Products, Structure and Strategy
Day 1. We often hear about deal completions, how to get to completion smoothly and successfully and congratulations you have the keys! Rarely do we ever hear about what happens the day after drawdown! Join Michael Primrose, Mark Stokes and Nigel Greene as we follow their development journey. With exclusive interviews, insights and a real time account of events. The Property Finance Collective are giving you an access all areas pass to this fantastic £2.7million development! See our contact details below, for any enquiries. Email - michael@thepropertyfinancecollective.co.uk or Telephone - 01775 713777 Website - www.thepropertyfinancecollective.co.uk Please note: With the market changing so quickly, the content could be out of date at the time of listening.
History in the making! This is the UK's first regular mainstream show for bisexuals. Hosted by bi activist and writer Lewis Oakley and bisexual journalists Nichi Hodgson and Ashley Byrne, Bisexual Brunch is a unique podcast for people from all over the world who identify as bi to come together and celebrate their sexuality. In Episode 21, Lewis, Ashley and Nichi discuss whether straight men can really be 'straight' and have sex with men? Mark Stokes from Hertfordshire opens up to Ashley in a bumper bisexual journey chat and the gang discuss unrequited love and lust. And remember we want to hear your bisexual stories - email info@madeinmanchester.tv or tweet us at @BisexualBrunchPlus, we need your support to produce Bisexual Brunch. Please consider supporting us on Patreon.
Resources Mentioned In This Episode:>> SSAS Superstars Book: Louise Righton, Mark Stokes >> Connect with Louise Righton on LinkedIn >> Download the WealthBuilders 9-Step Recurring Revenue Roadmap >> JOIN THE 7 STEPS TO WEALTH PROGRAMME - CLICK HERE TO LEARN MOREIf you have been enjoying listening to WealthTalk - Please Leave Us A Review!
Resources Mentioned In This Episode:>> Equa Academy>> Connect with Mark Stokes on Linkedin>> Listen to WT18: SSAS Pensions [The Director’s Pension]>> Join the SSAS Alliance Facebook Group>> Mark Stokes SSAS Pensions Book on Amazon>> Download the WealthBuilders 9-Step Recurring Revenue Roadmap>> JOIN THE 7 STEPS TO WEALTH PROGRAMME - CLICK HERE TO LEARN MOREIf you have been enjoying listening to WealthTalk - Please Leave Us A Review!
(This interview was recorded in November 2020.) In 2019, according to the Pentagon, China launched more ballistic missiles for testing and training than the rest of the world combined. It did it through its newly minted rocket force, the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force - acronym P-L-A-R-F. PLARF is a critical component of China's nuclear deterrence strategy to deter and counter third-party intervention in regional conflicts. China's current defense minister, General Wei Fenghe, knows missiles. He was previously the commander of the predecessor of PLARF before PLARF was reorganized and given its new name. Mark Stokes is our guest today. He is executive director of the Project 2049 Institute, a think tank based in Washington, DC. Mr. Stokes is a 20-year United States Air Force veteran who served in intelligence planning and policy roles. Today’s episode is hosted by J.R. Wu - Chief of the Secretariat for INDSR (Institute for National Defense and Security Research) in Taiwan. Wu is a former journalist with nearly two decades of media experience in the US and Asia. She has led news bureaus for Reuters and Dow Jones. Support us by donating on patron.com/Taiwan Follow us on Twitter @ghostislandme EPISODE CREDIT | Producer, Emily Y. Wu @emilyywu | Host, JR Wu | Researchers, Alice Yeh | Editing, Alice Yeh, Emily Y. Wu | a Ghost Island Media production | www.ghostisland.media Support the show: https://patreon.com/Taiwan See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark Stokes CEO and Co-Founder at Magdrive, a company that is developing a plasma thruster for the new space age talks about raising money for such complicated projects, what it takes to get into the space startup field, what are the major pitfalls in the space startup world and how to avoid them. The next episode about fundraising in the deep-tech/hard-tech field is coming up Friday. Mark's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markyasustokes/ Magdrive: https://www.magdrivespace.com/ More episodes on Deep-tech: https://www.fundraisingradio.com/category/deep-tech/
This week on the podcast we had the pleasure of interviewing SSAS pension expert Mark Stokes. We had our eyes opened up to the possibilities and advantages of using SSAS pension schemes to invest in property and we were both gobsmacked by the amount of opportunity available.We talked about the following: What is a SSAS pension and how it can be used?The Pros and Cons of SSAS pensionsHow you can use SSAS pensions within your residential property investment strategyHow SSAS pensions can benefit your family Mark goes in to details on some case studies where he has used SSAS pension funding The potential tax savings when using SSAS pensionsMark is an author, investor and coach and he runs the following facebook groups:EquaAcademy https://www.facebook.com/groups/equaacademy For those joining they will receive a link to access our complimentary EquaPortal which has a vast catalogued library of over 250 videos, recordings, templates and training content all FREE!SSAS Alliance https://www.facebook.com/groups/ssasallianceConnect with him on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-stokes/?originalSubdomain=uk⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Hope you find it useful and we would appreciate it hugely if you could find time to leave a review on Apple Podcasts.Connect with us on social media:Join the Scottish Property Podcast Facebook Group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/628274537711227/Steven Clark on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevenclark84/Nick Ponty on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nick_ponty/Email us:Steven@steven-clark.comNick@arcproperty.uk
Mark Stokes is a well-established entrepreneur, author, business investor & of course property investor. With 26 years of Board level business and property expertise, in the construction, energy and telecoms industries, Mark has founded and operated many businesses home and abroad deploying complex global infrastructure projects from £1million - £1billion. Leaving corporate life for the last time in May 2015, Mark, resigned from the board of seven different companies to enter into the property world full time. He and his Cofounders, then established the EquaGroup, a group of property businesses focusing on their passion for creating massive shared and sustainable value. He has become very well known in the UK property investing industry, amassing a sizable portfolio ranging from HMO's to large commercial conversions. In this episode we discuss the corporate transition to the property investing world. Mark explains his reasons for leaving a hugely successful career behind. How that has allowed him to spend more time with his family and take control of his own personal economy. Furthermore, we dive into the lessons, realities & considerations of what it really takes to leave corporate life for good. Enjoy!
‘SSAS Superstars’ author, Louise Righton is educating and inspiring people to achieve financial independence by taking control of their own personal economy. With an initial desire to provide security for her husband and two daughters who both have special educational needs and disabilities, Louise found a way to create a legacy for them should anything happen to her and now she is helping others to do the same. KEY TAKEAWAY “Dare to be different. Have the courage to pursue your purpose and to create a legacy. Be an ebony wand bearer. Ebony wood being most suited to the hands of the nonconformist and the individual; those pursuing their purpose and not being detracted from that. Pursue your passion!” ABOUT LOUISE RIGHTON Louise Righton is one of the new wave of SSAS Trustees learning how to unlock pensions built up over a lifetime of contributions and turn them into a multigenerational family asset. Louise has spent her thirty-year career as a global marketer, building consumer health and pharmaceutical brands. A graduate in Industrial Management, a Chartered Marketer and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Louise also holds a master’s degree in Strategic Marketing Leadership. She is a property investor, SSAS Trustee and founder member of SSAS Alliance. Louise co-authored SSAS Superstars! How Ten Entrepreneurs Unlocked Their Pensions – Without Waiting to Retire with Mark Stokes, founder of SSAS Alliance, in 2020. CONNECT WITH LOUISE Facebook: facebook.com/louise.righton Instagram: @loussas_property LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/louiserighton Book link: http://bit.ly/ssassuperstars ABOUT THE HOST - AMY ROWLINSON Amy is a Coach, Mentor, iTunes #1 Podcaster, Mastermind Host, Speaker and Property Investor. Through coaching and workshops, Amy works with businesses to Focus on WHY to create people-centred environments, by improving productivity and employee engagement by focusing on fulfilment, values and purpose. Amy inspires and empowers entrepreneurial clients to discover the life they dream of by assisting them to make it their reality through their own action taking. Helping them to focus on their WHY with clarity uniting their passion and purpose with a plan to create the life they truly desire. If you would like Amy to help you focus on your WHY then please book a free 20 min call via www.calendly.com/amyrowlinson/enquirycall Please sign up for the weekly Friday Focus newsletter at https://www.amyrowlinson.com/subscribe-to-weekly-newsletter CONNECT WITH AMY https://www.instagram.com/focusonwhy/ https://www.instagram.com/amy.rowlinson/ https://www.facebook.com/RowlinsonAmy/ https://www.facebook.com/focusonwhy/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/focusonwhy/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyrowlinson/ HOSTED BY: Amy Rowlinson DISCLAIMER The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this podcast belong solely to the host and guest speakers. Please conduct your own due diligence.
Amy Rowlinson shares her reflections and observations of these recent podcast episodes: 072 Create Shared Value with Mark Stokes 073 A Different Approach with Sarah Trumble 074 Choices and Opportunities with Nick James 075 A Game of Loans with Sam Norris 076 Why Bitcoin? with Sir Badminton of Bitcoin 077 Creative Perspective with Charlie Calder-Potts KEY TAKEAWAY "How often do you follow the trend just because that’s the way it has always been done? Have you stopped to assess whether that way no longer serves you, serves others? Could it be that there are other routes that you could pursue to achieve what you desire? Open your mind and create opportunities. Sometimes a different approach is all that is needed." BOOK RECOMMENDATION* Who Moved My Cheese? Dr Spencer Johnson - https://amzn.to/3hWUyuG LINK RECOMMENDATION https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_do_schools_kill_creativity ABOUT THE HOST - AMY ROWLINSON Amy is a Coach, Mentor, iTunes #1 Podcaster, Mastermind Host, Speaker and Property Investor. Through coaching, Amy inspires and empowers entrepreneurial clients to discover the life they dream of by assisting them to make it their reality through their own action taking. Helping them to focus on their WHY with clarity uniting their passion and purpose with a plan to create the life they truly desire. If you would like Amy to help you focus on your WHY then please book a free 20 min call via www.calendly.com/amyrowlinson/enquirycall Please sign up for the weekly Friday Focus newsletter at https://www.amyrowlinson.com/subscribe-to-weekly-newsletter CONNECT WITH AMY https://www.instagram.com/focusonwhy/ https://www.instagram.com/amy.rowlinson/ https://www.facebook.com/RowlinsonAmy/ https://www.facebook.com/focusonwhy/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/focusonwhy/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyrowlinson/ HOSTED BY: Amy Rowlinson DISCLAIMER The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this podcast belong solely to the host and guest speakers. Please conduct your own due diligence. *As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Walk a mile in another person’s shoes to understand what great looks like to them, to strike the balance and to create shared value as this is how remarkable things can happen according to Mark Stokes. Determined to live a life of fulfilment, Mark walks us through his transition from corporate life to a life where he is now in full control of his whole personal economy and is able to spend more time with his family. Mark is in demand as a speaker, podcaster, trainer and mentor on the subjects of business, commercial property investment and development and SSAS pensions. KEY TAKEAWAY “It's a very complex equation where my life has always been about change, radical change, evolutionary change and remaining calm and being able to draw the positives out of every situation where I can.” RECOMMENDATION https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_do_schools_kill_creativity ABOUT MARK STOKES Mark Stokes wrote the groundbreaking bestseller ‘SSAS Pensions’ in 2019, is a SSAS Trustee and co-founder of SSAS Alliance. A successful property developer, experienced investor and business mentor of thirty years, Mark has a passion for developing sustainable businesses and leading high-performance teams that enable the creation of shared value. With twenty-six years of board level business and property experience in the data centre, energy, construction and telecommunications industries, Mark has founded and operated several businesses, deploying global infrastructure projects up to £1 billion. Having left corporate life in 2015, Mark established a number of investment and development companies, co-founding Equa Group which specialises in commercial property investment and commercial-to-residential property conversions, providing attractive and affordable homes primarily in the South East of England. CONNECT WITH MARK https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-stokes/ www.equaacademy.co.uk www.ssasalliance.org ABOUT THE HOST - AMY ROWLINSON Amy is a Coach, Mentor, iTunes #1 Podcaster, Mastermind Host, Speaker and Property Investor. Through coaching, Amy inspires and empowers entrepreneurial clients to discover the life they dream of by assisting them to make it their reality through their own action taking. Helping them to focus on their WHY with clarity uniting their passion and purpose with a plan to create the life they truly desire. If you would like Amy to help you focus on your WHY then please book a free 20 min call via www.calendly.com/amyrowlinson/enquirycall Please sign up for the weekly Friday Focus newsletter at https://www.amyrowlinson.com/subscribe-to-weekly-newsletter CONNECT WITH AMY https://www.instagram.com/focusonwhy/ https://www.instagram.com/amy.rowlinson/ https://www.facebook.com/RowlinsonAmy/ https://www.facebook.com/focusonwhy/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/focusonwhy/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyrowlinson/ HOSTED BY: Amy Rowlinson DISCLAIMER The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this podcast belong solely to the host and guest speakers. Please conduct your own due diligence.
NEW PODCAST . . . WITH A OFFER (listen to the end or read below to take advantage) Not too sure where to start when describing this podcast. I suppose its exactly the reason I started it. I get to sit down and chat to some of the brightest minds and inspirational people around. To say Mark maximise's life is a understatement. I got some absolute nuggets from Mark that I'm already implementing and I hope you do . . .Below is a brief bio and the links are in the comments section. I hope you really enjoy the pod. Mark Stokes wrote the groundbreaking bestseller ‘SSAS Pensions’ in 2019, is a SSAS Trustee and co-founder of SSAS Alliance. A successful property developer, experienced investor and business mentor of thirty years, Mark has a passion for developing sustainable businesses and leading high-performance teams that enable the creation of shared value. With twenty-six years of board level business and property experience in the data centre, energy, construction and telecommunications industries, Mark has founded and operated several businesses, deploying global infrastructure projects up to £1 billion. Having left corporate life in 2015, Mark established a number of investment and development companies, co-founding Equa Group which specialises in commercial property investment and commercial-to-residential property conversions, providing attractive and affordable homes primarily in the South East of England. Mark is in demand as a speaker, podcaster, trainer and mentor on the subjects of business, commercial property investment and development, and SSAS pensions as co-founder of SSAS Alliance. Mark’s education business www.EquaAcademy.co.uk continues to support those in the Business of Property Development which is a career long passion for him and his business partner Nigel Greene. As a special thank you Mark has arranged a 7 day complimentary access to his EquaPortal within the EquaAcademy where you will find hundreds of videos and educational support for all areas of property development, fund raising and business. Mark’s book’s include: Commercial to Residential Conversions SSAS Pensions Advice to Your Younger Self You can find out more at: www.EquaAcademy.co.uk www.ssasalliance.org or message Mark on Facebook or LinkedIn
Natalie is with Mark Stokes, experienced entrepreneur, business investor and Author. Mark has a passion for creating and developing enduring businesses that enable the creation of shared value and in this episode shares with Natalie his journey and why authenticity and being true to yourself and your values are vital. Mark is someone who has been in many challenging situations and explains why having empathy and understanding the value of playing the long game creates outcomes that can be a win, win for everyone involved. This is a great listen with something for everyone tune in now. KEY TAKEAWAYS If you take the time to walk in someone else’s shoes it is then easy to see a way forward that is a win, win for everyone. Having empathy, playing the long game and understanding concerns are a vital part of business and being true to yourself and your moral compass. When you have to move to solve a problem rapidly you need people who have strong discipline, great courage and confidence and understand the chain of the command. It’s vital to understand not only your own role but how it fits with other roles around you. What can we really achieve if we want it enough? It’s about finding new challenges in new areas not just experiencing what life has to offer but experiencing how you adapt to changes. You can’t fake authenticity it’s about being respectful with honour and honesty. There are different challenges in life and you have to come to it as who you are. Sometimes the challenge is to find out who you are. You are a patchwork of all the experiences you have had. It’s ok that something happens if you learn from it. If you do what you have always done you will, in reality, get less because everyone around you is moving forward and you will be moving backwards. BEST MOMENTS ‘I’ve done lots of things and always throw myself into challenging situations’ ‘Having transferable skills is a great position to be in’ ‘The book is part of a compounding legacy creating a force for good’ VALUABLE RESOURCES Confidence Mastery Podcast Advice to Your Younger Self - Mark Stokes Commercial to Residential Conversions - Mark Stokes SSAS Pensions - Mark Stokes ABOUT THE GUEST Mark Stokes: ENTREPRENEUR, TRUSTEE, MENTOR, AUTHOR & BUSINESS INVESTOR As an experienced entrepreneur and business investor, Mark has a passion for creating and developing enduring businesses that enable the creation of shared value. With 26 years of Board level business and property expertise, in construction, energy and telecoms industries, Mark has founded and operated many businesses home and abroad deploying complex global infrastructure projects from £1million - £1billion. Leaving corporate life for the last time in May 2015, Mark, along with his Cofounders, have established EquaGroup, a group of businesses focusing on their passion for creating massive shared and sustainable value through property and building a powerful and enduring legacy for future generations. Mark has significant business interests including being an author, running an investment company, operating his family’s property portfolio and his SSAS (Small Self-Administered Pension Scheme) which as one of the Trustees he invests in commercial property. CONTACT METHOD https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-stokes/ https://www.facebook.com/markstokes.stokes https://www.markstokesuk.com/ https://www.instagram.com/markstokes.stokes/ Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/inspiring-a-young-entrepreneur-podcast/id1294827625 ABOUT THE HOST Natalie is the Confident Entrepreneur, helping others be confident and successful in health, wealth & happiness with kick-ass coaching at Gold Star Life. She’s a Property Developer, has a Serviced Accommodation business which she runs alongside her business partner and Mum, Paula Bailey and they want to help combat loneliness with the Better Together message – helping others to come together to increase their confidence, network and life. Natalie lives in Mallorca and travels back to the UK regularly to speak at events, host her Gold Star Elite Mastermind and visit property projects. With a background in Personal Training, health and fitness are high on the agenda, with wealth creation and happiness going hand in hand to create a confident and successful life. CONTACT METHOD www.goldstar.life Facebook https://www.facebook.com/NatalieArabellaBaileyGoldStar/ Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/GoldStarLife/ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliegoldstarbep/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nataliearabellabailey See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The team and special guest Mark Stokes provides their insight and predictions of how the first round will go in this years NFL draft. All 32 picks are selected! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/cover0crew/support
Partner at EquaGroup, Mark Stokes left corporate life to build multigenerational businesses his children could be part of. And he selected property as the asset class that would facilitate this. Mark joins me in this episode and we discuss: -Being a good “leaver” -- laying the right foundation before leaving corporate life-Why Mark settled on property as an asset class-Mark’s biggest business failure
Juicy Bits reflections on: #1 Create the business before buying the property, #2 Does it make the car go faster? and, #3 Saying "No"Contact us on info@executivejuice.com or via the executivejuice.com website
In this episode Heather and Luke go to visit an auction property, a block of 12 ex-housing association flats in the Herefordshire town of Kington. Come along and get their first reactions to the property - as they discuss what they are specifically looking out for, what concerns they have and whether they think they can make this a financial success. You'll also hear an update from the day of the auction - discussing what happened :) PLUS Heather's also got a fab book recommendation for you; SSAS Pensions: Creating extraordinary levels of compounding wealth by Mark Stokes. Order it here https://www.amazon.co.uk/SSAS-Pensions-Creating-extraordinary-compounding/dp/1527237761 We are on the ground finding deals with excellent profit margins through our extensive contacts and our proven negotiation skills. There are simply too many properties like this for our own portfolio so this equates to an opportunity for you. We are not just property sourcing, we are finding real deals with real potential. Let us do the hard work for you, finding, negotiating and overseeing everything so you don’t have to. Saving you time and money. Find out more on at propsourceuk.com
Mark Stokes' new book explains how to use SSAS pensions to grow your property portfolio. He also speaks about bringing a big business approach to property. ********* Find out more about our Open Days & Education - https://www.insidepropertyinvesting.com/education/ Subscribe to our YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/insidepropertyinvesting Follow us on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/insidepropertyinvesting/
On today’s episode of RNT Fitness Radio, we’re joined by one of our clients Mark Stokes, who is a speaker, author, investor and serial entrepreneur, based in London. He’s also got a lot of experience in the past of competing in ultra-marathons up to 100 miles long. He recently joined us at RNT and came to us with a great idea, where we talk about the start of a journey and what it takes to use initial momentum and turn it onto a transformation. He also flips the seat here and asks Akash questions that people at the begin of their journey need to know their answers to, something we’ve not done previously, this is packed with gems for anyone looking for a true transformation this year. Enjoy! ‘’I don’t see this ending, this will happen for years and years’’ – Mark Stokes Subscribe to iTunes! Love the podcast? Leave a review on iTunes! What do you want to hear from The RNT Fitness Radio? Tell us here! Timestamps: 1.40 – Mark’s daily routine 3.01 – How long he’s been running his company 6.34 – Mark’s love for ultra-marathons 15.01– Who is Mark Stokes? 20.03 – What Mark’s first book is about 28.00 –Mark’s why for his transformation 31.43 - The education we will provide during a transformation 33.19 – Mark’s first two weeks with Coach Kunal 37.11 – The struggles’ he’s encountered so far 39.37 – Family support 41.35 – Why meal prepping is key to your transformation 42.15 – Mark’s questions for Akash 44.21 – How to set goals? 54.00 – How do you sustain results? 56.41 – How to get the family around your transformation 1.00.55 – Where to find Mark Resources: 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Dieters Top 10 Body Transformation Tips From RNT'S Clients Follow RNT Fitness: Facebook Instagram info@rntfitness.co.uk Akash’s Socials: Instagram Facebook Mark’s Socials: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn
Have you ever wanted to get started or know more about what is involved with commercial to residential property conversions? Mark Stokes explains to us some of the factors to be aware of when it comes to undertaking such a project.
This episode is the the second in the series of interviews exploring how entrepreneurs scale up their Serviced Accommodation businesses. In this episode Chris interviews Graham Lindley as he talks through moving from being a mobile engineer to forex and crypto trading, and then finding his passion in Serviced Accommodation and Property. Chris and Graham then look at how the journey Graham has been seen him scaling up his Serviced Accommodation business, and how it has happened. Graham is managing director of Prim Short Stays in Nottingham, UK. Show Notes: The Serviced Accommodation Podcast is a show brought to you by Chris Poulter and Ritchie Mazivanhanga aimed at new and experienced property investors alike. With each show we help you Start, Systemise and Scale your Serviced Accommodation Business. If you would like to ask us a question or discuss anything in this episode, please join The Serviced Accommodation Podcast Community on Facebook, and ask away. To listen to more episodes or get more information go to www.thesapodcast.com. Find out more about Graham’s business here: https://www.primshortstays.com/ Transcription: Chris: Hi, I am Chris. Graham: And I am Graham. Chris: And welcome to the Serviced Accommodation podcast. Chris: For continuing our series on scaling up and how to scale up your Serviced Accommodation business successful, today I am going to talk to Graham Lindley. So Graham, thanks for joining us. Graham: Hi, thanks very much, it’s my pleasure. I have been listening since the beginning, so it’s quite strange to now be inside here. Chris: The strangest thing is when the podcast is released and you sat in your car listening back, and it’s like, that’s my voice. Graham: Oh really. Chris: Yeah, I am sure. Graham: I have got all that to look forward to. Chris: You do. Absolutely. So could you give our listeners just a little bit background on yourself, like where you kind of came from, from a profession, and where you are based in the country. Graham: Okay. I live in Nottingham, being there around eleven years, after growing up in Kent. And I have been an engineer all my life, since I left school, in fact, I started when I was still at school — and that was very good, I enjoyed it very much. I was always in different places, meeting different people, whether a country man or a council or state, I always find a way of getting on with everyone, and really finding ways to help people and being resourceful. And so I was a mobile engineer with my van and that’s what I did. Chris: So when you say engineer; what type of engineering was that? Graham: So I did security and fire, I guess the technical term would be a technician. In the trade we all call each other engineers. So for the first part I was mostly installing and then transitioned more towards maintenance side of it, so I didn’t really have to call around lots of space and things like that anymore. Chris: No, but at the same time I imagine like, diagnosing and repairing stuff is a lot more difficult than installing in the first place. Graham: Yeah. Really it was the thing of diagnosing and fault finding was something that I did excel at and that is a matter of just breaking things down and working out process of elimination, really. If you have got a huge fire system of course, a massive factory, with a random fault in it you can just keep breaking the system down into half and then walk out where the fault is and then go to that half and split it again — you know, it is possible. And I think once you get the idea of how to find faults then really you can apply that to anything, and that’s something I had really try and teach my apprentices was, focus very much on the process not on the kind of particulars; if that makes sense. So you can then apply that skill to any system, whether you have seen it or not before — you can compare working parts with non-working parts and just work out where the fault lies. So yeah, that was something I enjoyed doing but it also meant I had more time on the road and a lot of people wouldn’t like that, but for me, if I had to go and help someone on an installation I would really notice actually being on site for ten, twelve hours, something like that, and then a little driving at the side of the day. I had noticed the difference really in the fact that I couldn’t listen to all my podcast in audio but a lot of sites now have banned earphones, so even doing that was impossible. So for years I have been doing the job that I could do and to be honest with you, I had got to the highest point I could without then going more office based or more managerial, and I kind of knew it was something I had always done and so I could do it easily but not necessarily something I always wanted to carry on doing. So I kind of consciously decided to plateau, I guess, and have that quite nice space in the fact that, I was entrusted and I did do a good job and I did the very best I could, but it allowed me to focus a lot of time or mental energy — at least — on other things — my real passions — and that was initially a lot of forex trading, and stocks and shares, crypto, and later I have got into property and that’s when I really found my true passion. So listening to business development podcasts and various audio books, I really started to kind of get an idea that that’s what I wanted to do and it certainly wasn’t going to be carrying on being an engineer, and I couldn’t see myself starting my own business in that field either because it’s quite a mature market and you have to start very small, you know, it would take a good ten years, I think, to start scaling in that industry I was in. So yeah, that’s where property really started to make a lot of send to me. Chris: So when did you first become interested in property then? Graham: I have always been interested in property: definitely. I mean my dad certainly always was. And I made a big mistake and I bought my first home, it must have been around ’06/’07, I spend a lot of money doing (it out). And then we just moved to Nottingham, we weren’t that familiar with the areas and it turned out to not be a great area and we weren’t very there at all. And we put it on the market and the end we just wanted to get out of there, I mean I briefly consider renting it out but we just wanted to wipe our hands off it, so we sold it for a loss. And then went into renting, supposedly just for six months. And five years, I am (certain), I think (the one after), you know, trying to kick myself away from what the value would have been, what my mortgage would have been if I had put tenants in. So it did turn out to be a really good thing and they do say everything for a reason and certainly I won’t be where I am or living where I am now if I hadn’t made that decision but yeah, in the end it was six years of being in rented — which initially, you know, it was very nice, but once we had started a family and we wanted to settle and I only wanted to focus on the business, it didn’t make much sense. The actual trigger for really deciding to become a property investor and focus some more time on that space was… I guess was really be committed to being a successful-professional forex trader and I was spending a lot of time on self-discipline, on proper strategy — that was my root financial freedom, as I thought. But also the guy, my mentor, the guy that I was learning from, he was maybe thirty-six/thirty-seven, gone fully grey from the stress, sitting in front of six PC monitors for twelve hours a day — you know, it would be a Sunday afternoon; his family would be out, having a barbecue he would be preparing for the markets to open the next day. And I am starting to think, you know, I am not really sure this is the future kind of future I want. And my wife asked me a funny question — she was reading some book — and she said; “what is it you are doing when you lose track of time, because that’s where your true passion is?” And I didn’t much over it, I was just thinking yeah, forex, but only when I am winning, when I am not I am kind of getting up at 01:00 AM to check the yen against the dollar and you know it wasn’t healthy. So we got offered single buy to let property, and at the time I didn’t know about property education, I didn’t know about the courses, and didn’t know a lot really. However, I knew it was something that we wanted to do and we were still at the time, so I was a strange. When I spoke to the broker he said well, there is not many people that don’t own their own home already and they are trying to get into buy to let, in fact, there was only two lenders that would even consider us — Natwest being the one that we went with. And yeah we got offered buy to let, and that was, I nearly bought a dud actually, my whole strategy was going to be buying twenty percent below market value — I think I might have heard something someone was doing — and my way of doing that was going to be finding what had been on Rightmove for the very longest and of course I had been the most desperate, so I am more likely to accept an offer. And I thought I had found a gem and I would start to hold it up in my head that I was going to be buying it at a twenty percent below, I didn’t even consider that you might not want to go for that. But my main concern was why I hadn’t been on the market so long, I really thought it was a Call KA, and you know, I had accepted at face value what the agent was telling me for rental figures. And yeah, I was just putting up the word about, you know, I was speaking to people saying, look, I am going to be going into property, I want to get a buy to let. And having that random conversation with someone he said to me, very randomly, I think there is something going on at Trent bridge cricket ground at the business centre there, I think it was a property event on tonight, you ought to pop along. So I went down to that — and I guess technically that was my first property meeting — but it was out on by state agents and really they were just talking about the state of the property market — this was 2015 — and I found it very interesting. And I just reached out to a guy, he was in a suit, and I said, I am looking at getting into property — I have seen a property I think it’s call KA, I am not sure entirely why it’s still in the market. He said, “you know what, I love looking at property, (focus on viewing), and I am just going to come down and join you, you know, I will just do that”. It really was a nice thing for him to do. And he came down, and he pointed out a lot of defects. And a year later, I found all his notes that he had given me and he was absolutely right and everything he was saying was just… I understand why I would have done very badly if I had went for that. So, well forwards, we got a different property: bought well. And we got quite lucky, we bought one that was (Hecks) house and association, and it was just a matter of treating a state agent professionally as potential business partners almost, if you are buying property you are going into business with that person, so having respect for conversations with them and also involving the when you are doing viewings. And I was doing that and I think we had already kind of made enough to own a place because I am naturally (knee jerk) because of them, and then I thought hang on, let’s just see what else is out there, we went for another viewing, mentioned the (impulse) that we were scaling up and we were going to be buying our portfolio, just telling the agent everything they needed to hear. To then say, I might have something you are going to be interested in, it’s not gone on the market yet but we have just put the sign on the outside and the neighbours asked for a viewing, I am going there now and I said, “I am coming with you.” It was great, (Hecks) housing and association. Fuchsia pink all over. It hasn’t been touched since the seventies, and yeah, very good price. So we had the agreement and principle done, we had the deposit proof of funds on the desk of the agent by 09:00 AM that next morning, they couldn’t really go to market with t at that point, so we didn’t have to complete. And as I understand it was about two hundred investors that are after this (Hecks) housing and association properties, where they are offloading their old stock and buying newer stuff, and so we were very lucky there. So yeah, well forwards, it took a while to get through conveyancing, throughout that whole time I was on eBay and I had gone through every night and buying stuff that I thought I would need for the renovation. I was an engineer, I had a big van, I had tools, and we had the company van as well, so it meant we could quickly — if we sort of (bargain) — go and get stuff. I think the best part was we got a brand new bathroom suite from B&Q, it was the guy that bought it, left it in the garage, didn’t need it. Put it on eBay with a spelling mistake and we got the whole lot for thirteen pound, just amazing. The next first thing we got a second hand kitchen, but it was a high-end kitchen, with grounded worktops, appliances included — that cost £250. And then we sold the old one which was horrible, 1970’a kitchen; we just though you know what, we will try it on Gumtree for a hundred pound, someone bought it. And then we are just going to use it in the garage, you know, art studio, and for them it was perfect. So net it was a hundred and fifty pound grounded worktop kitchen. But at the time I knew, I had no concept of leverage or anything like that, I did all the work myself, so I was working every day and then going to the property at night, working from 05:00/06:00 PM till 10:00 or 11:00 PM — annoying the neighbours — and yeah, it was hard gruelling work. Chris: Was it annoying the neighbours who wanted to buy the property? Graham: Maybe that’s why they gave me such a hard time. Chris: Possibly. Graham: No, I was pretty respectful, but it was hard work, and I would probably age myself five years during that process. I got to the point where I was actually resenting the property, I was going in and just feeling empty; it was horrible. My wife thankfully… I just wanted to sell it, it wasn’t even ready and I said look, let’s just put it on the market I have had enough. And we had an agent man that said look, you at ninety-nine percent, just finish it and then we would value it properly. And my wife said look, you didn’t do this to sell it and really after legals, forget home under the armour, when you look at what you are going to make after everything, even though we had only spent maybe four grand (£4,000) and had done everything, and we have made a very nice home for someone. We won’t have made much money at all, it certainly wasn’t worth all that effort I had gone through, and she said look, this isn’t why you did this, it was to start in your property journey so let’s just it, find a tenant. So thankfully we did that, it took us two months, we were very (fassy), more (fassy) than we needed to be, but of course it was our precious first ever property. Chris: Absolutely. Graham: So we got a couple of teachers and then we went for a year. That was nice actually. And after that whole endeavour, I had totally had enough of properties though, we got tenants in and I was like forget about that for at least a year, let’s see what happens to the market and I will start thinking about it; the (tiling) for next year. And that was my time to really then start getting into forex and really double down and focus very hard. The biggest thing I have got out of that was the self-discipline. My mentor, he did meditate before even looking at any charts in the morning, he was very, very disciplined and focused and so I really kind of started to develop that side of myself, which I had never known before — to be honest with you — and that was really useful. So I was really trying hard to be a very successful forex trader, and I wasn’t losing a lot to be honest with you but I was really trying to hone my skill before putting any significant amount of money in, but whether you are twenty pounds down or twenty grand (£20,000) down, I think once the emotions kick in they are very, very dangerous. So I was just learning to try and separate decision making from emotions. And I think the truth is I wasn’t really enjoying it and my wife asked e the question of; where do you lose track of time the most? And I wanted to answer forex but I didn’t really know the answer. Coincidentally, that night I had seen on meetup.com, a weird thing I had never heard of before, it said property networking event — I was like not really so interested in that but I am quite interested in listening to the guy that retired in his early thirties using other people’s money. I thought well, he is either a corny man or he has got something that I could learn, so let’s go and hear him. And I would never forget, I said to my wife, you know what, it says networking from 09:00, I will be home just after 09:00, I am not interested in all of that. And I went along and it was quite a forced thing, there was the ringing of bell every couple of minutes and making you go and talk to someone else. Chris: Be networking… Graham: I had never known anything like it, and you know what, I met some really good people, some people that hadn’t gone into property, so I had advice to offer them and people that had been in it twenty years and twenty plus properties, and I loved it, I absolutely loved it. I met some good people, I met a plumber that I was getting on really well with him and you know people have been on these courses and I was arguing with them, you know; why would you do that. When that can be out towards a deposit and they were arguing with me saying well, how long I it going to take you to save another deposit before you can buy another property. And that’s how far detached I was with being a real property investor. But the guy, you know what, the guy spoke — he was good — I wanted to say hi to him, there was a couple of people I wanted to follow up conversation with, afterwards. 11:00 PM we were getting kicked out of the bar, at 11:30 PM we were still kind of raveting on — to be honest with you. And I was really energized, I was buzzing, and I went home and say, I know where my true passion is, I lost track of time and I could have talked all night with those guys, though I have never met before and it was all around property. And I really knew my passion from there on, and in fact, this is it, this is what I am going to be doing, and it was very nice to have that kind of inspiration, if you like. Chris: Yeah, definitely. So you kind of find your direction and in terms of property; and what was it really that attracted you to SA, you know, how did you go from this point where you go right this is what I want to do to actually establishing Serviced Accommodation, would sit you write well? Graham: There was a guy that actually was doing a thing called Serviced Accommodation, not really heard of but I have heard of Airbnb, so I kind of understood it. We have been doing Airbnb from our spare room at times, it wasn’t something we enjoyed doing, but my grew up in a guest in New York and so for her it was always kind of a dream to go back to that, whereas for me that was just a nightmare that I do lots of strangers in your home and I was just not ever enjoying that, whereas Airbnb can be a bit more picky and choosy, enquiry only, for example, I was travelling a lot for work so we did have women only if we let it out at all while I was away. And so I was exposed to that and then I had met a guy that was doing it more professionally, I just assumed with his own property. And I was aware of this thing that everyone at the time was doing rent-to-rent and HMOs, and it was quite funny actually because I had heard about that when it first… Well, when I first heard about it, it was getting going in London quite big and it was around 2013, and my mind-set is to show mind-set shift, at the time I just thought I went on too late, these people are already doing that, you have to be the first, otherwise, no point. And that’s where my head was out at the time. And a while forwards, years and years, and everyone is talking about rent-to-rent, I am like oh yeah I know what that is. And I don’t really know, I don’t know if it’s arrogant, but I thought I had a brainwave, I thought I had a really good idea that no one else had had, what about if you combine these two strategies: rent-to-rent, but instead of putting HMOs, what about rent-to-rent for Serviced Apartments. And I spoke to someone, I then got to go another couple of networking events and I said to someone, oh I have got this idea and they kind of laughed at me, and they went yeah that’s what everyone is looking to do, I was like oh okay, cool, cool, cool. So that was it. I will go back to an agent I met — the guy who first helped me out with that property I nearly bought — me and him kept in touch, I involved him in the buying of the successful purchase and the renovation, in fact, I invited him around when it was complete so I could show him everything and also he had me help him. He had a couple of offices and I did security lamp, CCTV, that kind of thing, so we got a business relationship going on and so that was good and keeping in touch, and we enjoyed each other’s company. I do remember being at one of his offices and doing a repair, and (seeding) of the Serviced Accommodation thing, I said have you heard of this thing that people are doing and he said that sounds similar to the corporate lets, but you know that sublettings are kind of not allowed and it’s definitely frowned upon, I said oh yeah, I know. But I didn’t really move it forwards from there. Well forwards many months and I get a phone call from him, I was his go to guy I guess and looking back — having now read Daniel Priestley’s book –his key person of influence within anything that was technical. And he had just acquired a block of apartments, just four apartments, and he was going to be giving the block management. And he asked me, he phoned me up, and he said look; what’s going to be my requirement for fire safety? And I said what have you got? And he explained. And I said you know what, it would be easier if I come down and meet you in person. Chris: Of course it will be. I’ll have a look! Graham: Yeah, brand new renovation in a listed building, not in the market yet, four high-end one bed apartment. I thought yeah, you know what, I am going to pop down. So I went down in the afternoon and I had a look round and it really was stunning — very, very nice, oak everywhere, massive windows; very, very central in Nottingham; fantastic location, and yeah the place was stunning. And I said to him you know what, I am interested. And he said “what do you mean?” Is everything alright Graham? If you didn’t split up with your wife, why do you want a one-bed flat in the centre of the town? I said no, no, no, I am interested in taking the block. And so he kind of looked at me and he… I was a little bit gone out to be honest with you; to let you know no offence, eighteen months ago you were about to buy your first dod property; and now this? I was like yeah, you know, Serviced Accommodation; do remember that thing I was telling you about? So he was the first challenge, to honest with you, and my knee-jack thing was to phone that guy I had met at that very first networking event that was doing that thing called Serviced Accommodation, and he very quickly recognized it as a good opportunity and was right in my house that night. And actually we met with the agent quite quickly afterwards and you know what, he did a very, very good job of… He had been on the courses, he knew what he was doing and it just was getting going and he is very, very prepared, and he did a perfect job of convincing the agent that it was first of all a legitimate thing to be doing with the building but second of all, it was actually the better thing to be doing with that property, it would have worked better as SA a it would have worked under AST, which the owners were looking at. So that was fantastic, you know, the idea was to be doing some form of JV, it didn’t end up working out mostly because the guy really had to focus on his own properties which was quite a sensible thing and that was he advice he had received at the time from his mentor. Now, I also saw the importance of having a mentor, and I wasn’t sure about doing the course, so I bypassed doing the course and I actually reached out to Mark Stokes — at the time he was quite heavily involved in Serviced Accommodation — and I said to him; would you mind mentoring me on the side? And from there that was very useful and I was getting to learn a lot. And the way I have always been is I do real deep dive in any subject. I would never forget; I wanted to buy s mountain bike, I had spent three months researching, I had to know about every single component, every single (back) on the market, the price points, the pros and cons, everything — and that’s just how I am, and of course then started my journey into Serviced Accommodation really. And it was a bit of a blessing really, the owners weren’t too interested, they (popped) some cash in this big block and their main focus was on their business which needed their attention, so nothing was happening for months actually; however, the agent was fully on board and was representing us, he was the guy selling it to the owners, not us — and so that was very, very useful. Well forwards, I was probably at risk of being the most qualified bystander in all of Serviced Accommodation in the UK and every day I was working towards it, no matter what; whether it was researching, or testing software, or reading books, and I was really focused on business development, I wasn’t using this as a property strategy. And I think, looking back now that was a sensible thing to do and I think that’s possibly not what everyone in the space has done — they have got their single lets, they have got their HMOs, and then they have jumped into Serviced Accommodation as the next best thing to do. And possibly some people might not have the right mind-set around everything when taking that journey; whereas, I was very much focused on, okay we are going to be starting a business here; how do we do this successfully. And yeah, I was using the time very wisely but it took a very long time before we finally got that call the agents saying, “make yourself available 08:00 AM next week.” And Mark was kind enough to join me but it was like Alan Sugar’s boardroom and talking some very big successful guys about (capital allowances), it was a little but intimidating, so I was glad to have a partner by my side. And long story short, we got the block — they didn’t trust us — we had proper business plans and everything, we have done a lot work towards it and they could recognize that. Equally, I recognize that we were taking a chance, we really were. We hit the ground running, we opened up and we were prepared and did everything right, and very quickly we were getting very good reviews and getting a good turnover. And we got offered quite quickly — by the guy we nearly did a JV with — another property. Chris: Yeah, I did say what’s quite interesting there was these three key events which kind of happened prior to getting going which some people would call luck, but I think if you examine closely, it’s not really luck at all, it’s kind of point yourself out there and being in the right place at the right time. The first of all was being saved from buying the (dead, few at first) buy to let property. And you could say yeah, it stroke a lot but at the same time if you hadn’t been in that network building, if you hadn’t put yourself out there you wouldn’t meet the person that you then come along and say, actual you need to worry about this. Similarly with the agent who kind of brought you your first single let property, it was kind of lucky, but again if you hadn’t been there, if you hadn’t been putting yourself out there, talking to the agents, being in that position with then when they said oh yeah, I got this one, you know, you might be interested in, then it would happen. And very similarly with when the block came through; exactly the same situation, if you hadn’t been building that relationship, maintaining that relationship with that person over time then it just never would have come through, really. And I think it just highlights the importance in property, it’s a cliché to say but it’s completely a people business; isn’t it. Graham: One hundred percent, yeah. Chris: You know it’s not about (a person motto) at all, it’s completely about people. Graham: Yeah, a hundred percent. Even we didn’t talk about tenants but a big part of my success was is having really good tenants and looking after them. So yeah, it’s definitely a people business. Chris: Yeah, absolutely. So when you kind of started out then, what was this thing that you struggled with the most — do you think? Graham: Initially, when I was still working, my hand was fun… Chris: Struggle when you were running full properties. Graham: Full properties and a full time job which was very demanding, there were long-long hours, I was doing sometimes eighty hours a week. A lot of those hours where on the road, I could make phone calls, but my hand was forced quite quickly to get help, so, it was a struggle but it was also what I needed, it was a kind of blessing really. Chris: One of those blessings in disguise is what it’s like because you can’t do everything yourself, you are then forced to kind of leverage early; right. Graham: Absolutely. So I found a UK based VA, and I was struggling to find one. Again, my wife was instrumental in helping me find my first VA. And she persuaded me to reach out to a contact in London who was growing a multi-million pound, massive, very successful business. And she said, “why don’t you ask Lauren?” And I said well, we are at very different places, I am not really sure he is the best person to ask. But you know what I did; and he said my very-very best PA has left, very annoyingly she has left to have a baby and she has now had a baby and is wanting to start working from home which I can’t do, I need someone in the office in London; and so why don’t I connect you. And I said, thank you very much. And so that was Emma, so Emma joined us very-very early, initially just for a few hours a week, and it was research and it was this and it was that, and quite quickly I got her trained up on some of the software we were using, and it became a more regular position for her, and she enjoyed it. And it was something different for her — she had always been a PA — PA’s are fantastic at organizing things. However, she always wanted to double check everything, which was fine, you know, I was available in the phone most of the time, so having that job and being able to do it quite easily because I had always done it, allowed me to have the mental capacity to say well do this, now do that, and I almost micromanaged but it meant I had someone there available — and that went very well. So that was that was the struggle. I am trying to think of something else but that was probably the main thing at the time. Absolutely. Chris: Yeah, because I mean you were quite well prepared. I love that phrase: “the most qualified bystander” and all of those accommodation. Because you basically spend about a year working on that deal before it came to a (finish). Graham: Probably a good nine months. And really towards the end actually, certainly by the time mentor, I mean during that process as well we actually bought our first home, so that was going on, I renovated that, I had learned the concepts of leverage and using other people’s time while I was going off at doing what I was good at. And also we had got our second buy to let as well by refinancing the first one with the added value. So by doing all that work myself in the first place, it did build in the value, and so, looking back it was the right thing to do but it’s not something — I am not sure — I would like to do it again, if I am honest. Chris: So the three stages that we talk about like start, systemize, scale, so you obviously got started, it sounds like very early on you had to start leveraging and to leverage you really need the systems in place; don’t you? Graham: Yeah. Chris: That was absolutely key if you are going to be working with other people, you are not just handing responsibility over to someone, you are putting the systems in place, you are plugging the right people into those systems and then you are kind of monitoring their performance on them. So at what point did you then start scaling the business from these four guaranteed rent properties you have taken on? Graham: Well, very-very quickly actually, the guy that we nearly did the JV with, he introduced me to a landlord, at the time he was at full capacity himself and this other landlord he needed some investment in the property, he needed furnishing and decorating — nothing too major — but he didn’t have any. And it was his first buy to let, he was a London investor and he had had experience with Serviced Accommodation, so he knew what he wanted to do, and he needed help bringing it to standards which we were in a position to do. However, my whole conversation was around how much rent do you want, and he just didn’t want to do that. So he wanted the reward from Serviced Accommodation, that’s why he wanted to do Serviced Accommodation. So really, we ended up doing management for him, and looking back we did actually set it up perfectly, he was an accountant by trade anyway, and it was a very simple management contract. But yeah with the gentleman’s agreement on the side, you know, of a zero percent loan, so you get going, so that loan was going to get paid back from the income of running it as a Serviced Apartment. Chris: And what party was that to, was that from you to him to get it going or…? Graham: Yes. Chris: Okay, cool. Graham: And so, it was very quickly, we were adding some portfolio, I think that was within the first couple of months. In fact, I think we had only just gone live when I first met him, I remember him coming, I did an introduction and showed him around our first block, and we had literally just furnished it and started getting guests at that point, so it was very-very early, we were adding to it. So very quickly, I recognised the importance of systemizing and I knew that was going to be essential. I have got another friend who was local to me in Nottingham, who was growing a very-very successful business completely separate, they are coders, they are in the games industry. But he put a book unto me, The E-myth. For him, as a developer, it’s what he needed to stop developing and look at the high picture, and look at the chaos around him, and starts putting things in order, and from there that’s when his business started getting successful. So he said to me right from the get go, read this book and follow it — and really if you have not read it, it’s about really the franchise model and looking at what’s good about that, lost franchises succeed, most small businesses fail, and the main difference is the fact that franchises are systemized, you are buying a system and that is a set of instructions really. And if you are to break your business down and everything you do in that down into a set of instructions, then you can start to then give those instructions to others. And so I had to do that very early, I had no choice. And that’s where we started to really build our own systems and processes and found our way of doing it. I had someone build me a flow diagram, I showed them everything I was doing, and they build me a flow diagram of — we called it guest work flow — and from initial enquiry all the way through to check out. And you know what, there were so many kind ifs and buts, you know, if it was an Airbnb, can we do this; and if it was a high value (booking), can we do that — and there was a lot of variables. And I also very quickly realized the flow diagram was not the best way of doing it. For example, if a guest and we have to 4.1 in the flow diagram and then no action to take for three months, you know, how are you going to record where they are on that journey and trigger the next action? And so we looked at alternatives and that’s where, really, I started to build something and teach it to Emma and have her run it for me. And so yeah, that was how we got going for the whole systemization. Chris: That’s cool. I think when we started working together; do you remember you have the four properties on the block plus one on the management, and you were going a bit crazy at that point looking (at those) different stuff, where you going to have a look at a hotel when we first had our meeting? Graham: Yeah. I got to know a property sourcer who is based in Manchester and he had a contact that was struggling with a very small boutique hotel, near Manchester airport. And, I thought yeah, you know; why not? Chris: In fact, it’s a couple of hours journey, yeah, whatever. Graham: Yeah, sort of that. Don’t worry. He was quite local too, where it was located, and it would have had an office space which was what he needed — so he was going to be my guy on the ground. So there was some logic around it, like teach him the systems and the processes, and actually I was going to be sharing the management with him, and there was that, but also I had started to speak to some large property investors around my area in Nottingham. And one of them had muted the idea of just testing market with twenty-five studio apartments. And so, I was like okay, I need a mentor because my time with Mark is always going to be just three months — that was just to help kick-start me — and that was months previous really. And so at the time I was then thinking I need a mentor. And so, I was just thinking, okay, I need to say yes to everything but I don’t know how I am going to do it; we have got systems but they are not ready for this amount of scale — we can’t go from five to thirty apartments in one hotel. One of which was in Manchester. So I reached out to Chris after listening to the podcast and after hearing him advocate management which by the way really started to recognize the benefits of that. Because everything we were doing was scalable, our systems were scalable, our processes were scalable. But also, I had been advised against taking the block because it was a big risk to take on the liability — you know, for me and my wage, it was more than what I was earning, so if it didn’t work, it was going to be very-very costly, especially after buying my own property. So I did recognize that that sort of things was not scalable. And so management landed in my lap, if you like, and from there I recognized it as being a much more scalable strategy. Yes, we (are making) less per property of course, but yes it was scalable. So my mind was on that, I then was listening to this podcast and I heard about how great management was from you, Chris, I remember I reached out to you and said look, I have ended up doing management and I would like to learn a bit more about it, and also I am not sure I am going to kind of take on all these new properties that are coming my way. So I still remember, it was here in Heathrow actually, first ever board room session with other operators. And the advice was quite strong, Manchester does not sound like a good idea at all. And there was a few red flags around it, which I was maybe glancing over. Chris: Yeah. The key one I remember was that the guy who was still going to be living on site and that to me sounds like an absolute nightmare because when you do management, there is got to be a real clear distinction, what the roles are and who is doing what. If your person is still living on site, then clearly you are going to get involved and basically with everything that you are doing, so that was the biggest one for me. But there are some other ones around it, (not a list of all) like I say, Nottingham to Manchester is not a short journey, it’s not very close and having had experience running hotel before, it’s not very much fun. You are going have to be doing quite a lot of work around it, very hands-on, even hands-off hotels were remarkably hands-on, so there is a lot of stuff to do around there. So I think that was kind of clear, kind of realigning of focus a little bit and obviously you realize that scaling up using the management model was going to be the way to go for you. Now, generally, the challenge with management is… Although the model works brilliantly for you, as a management business; it works brilliantly for like an operator, developer, landlord — at the same time it’s a lot harder to kind of come across the deal; isn’t it. Because you are having to push people a lot out of their comfort zone to kind of understand how it works, compared to; oh yeah just give me this and that rent each month. Instead of saying well, I am going to manage it for you, it can go up, it can go down, you are probably going to make more money, but at the same time you are then going to be the actual operator, so you have got some liability around that etcetera. Well, like I say that the management model is brilliant, the challenge most people have with scaling that up is; where do I find my clients? So how have you found your clients as you have scaled up the management model? Graham: Well, it was actually a long while, so although we went from four to five very quickly, going beyond five took a long time and it was — I am trying to think really — it was a random comment on one of the Facebook groups, and it was an operator in London asking for cleaners in Nottingham. And so I reached out then I just asked how I could help, and they explained that they were actually trying to help someone else that was doing rent to rent in Nottingham. And so that’s how I got introduced to another London investor, this time instead of buying property in Nottingham he was renting property in Nottingham to run serviced accommodation. So I met him and he had actually been using another agent and they already had one property of his and then he acquired a second property –giving them the keys — and it had taken a month for not much had happened and he was getting frustrated. He met me on the Saturday, on the Monday we had contracts drawn up and signed, and by Friday we were furnished and live, and Saturday night we got out first guest, so he was very-very happy with that. Chris: No messing around then. Graham: That’s it just kind of being ready to just absolutely hit the ground running, you know, and I guess that’s where having systems really helps as well; step one do this, step two do that. To be fair, the on boarding process — as I call it — was chaotic, but everything else was just what we were already doing, so that bit was quite easy. It came naturally and I also had people that could do that and I could focus on the on boarding. But yeah, in my mind, probably a bit more chaotic that it should have been and it’s a bit like oh yeah we need to do that definitely. So I was already thinking this needs systemizing. But from there we got to know another operator who was also using another agent, the same other agent, and yeah, they weren’t doing the very best job actually and although they have been growing for about a year on a block of apartments, the actual owner of the apartments haven’t really made much money. And the difference in the way that we structured, you know, complete transparency, and almost an open policy versus the setup he had, it looked like a breath of fresh air. Furthermore, the owner, he was a developer, he wanted to focus on development, he had a team in place to help with the development, although he had given the block to a management agency. A lot of his resources and time was continued to be used on looking after his block, and it’s because the agency was in a completely different part of the country, trying to manage something in Nottingham. Chris: And that’s a fundamental issue with the national management companies; isn’t it? It’s actually very hard to have people on the ground and to have the same level of local knowledge with a local business. Graham: Yeah, a hundred percent. So issues with cleaner, you need to find a new cleaner (please). You know, light bulbs going in the bedroom, a cleaner can’t reach; do you want us to send the call-out engineer, a hundred and forty pounds, or do you want to go down and sort tell light bulb and you know, it just comes through things like that. And then with the potential, I would say, just lack of clarity around other things as well. I guess my introduction to him was a breath of fresh air for him and it was just what we needed as well, I was already kind of getting to the point where it was going to be handing my (notice in) at work. And so, it all happened together to be honest with you, we went from six properties to me handing in my (notice in) and on boarding another seven properties and it all happened very quickly. From there we also got the second property from the first guy as well. So yeah we were then really putting our systems to the test and on boarding more staff at that point as well, we had separated out the companies of course — operations with the first block and management — and that happened quite a bit earlier actually. Chris: You mentioned like creating your job there, so that was something you have been putting off for a while; what impact do you think that had on your growth? Graham: Yeah, massive. And I think it changed from; can I do everything? To should I be doing everything? So yes, I could do everything, I could have a full time job but I was at work for twelve to fourteen hours a day and run as successful business because of having the help and people, the very-very good people. Emma by now, by the way you know she had come on to working six hours per day, I think at that point, and she was a very-very high standard, high calibre. Initially her only weakness wasn’t really a weakness, it’s where she has always been a PA and she just want to double check things and that’s what being a PA is; should I do this, should I do that? And entrusted her, I said look, this is your thing. And I guess for me, going back to the whole fault finding, when things went wrong it wasn’t a matter of like whose fault was it, it was more like well, which bit of this system is broken, and how can we stop that happening again. Chris: I think that’s really critical. Most people when something goes wrong they inclination is to kind of blame someone. My first question is; what didn’t we do which would have stopped this from happening? As opposed to it’s this person’s fault. So if you have a cleaner that doesn’t turn up at your property, for instance, to create that massive problem in an SA business — now, most people turn on to blame the cleaner and go… Graham: Well, we had it happen. Chris: Yeah, absolutely, and that’s the thing. The correct response to that is okay; what haven’t I done which would have stopped this from happening and it might be that you didn’t have clear enough communication around, when you didn’t give the assistance to make it very-very easy, to see exactly what it is, you didn’t have the confirmations in place so that you knew a hundred percent that they knew about it etcetera. And it’s a very different response, of course, in way that’s kind of a natural because that kind of human nature just wanting to blame someone straight away. But once you kind of take that step back and start looking at things like that, you start developing your business very quickly; don’t you. Graham: You have got to take responsibility and that’s it, it’s your business, it’s your responsibility, and it’s your fault if something goes wrong like maybe it’s the wrong person role but… Chris: But you appointed them in that role. Graham: Who appointed them? Chris: It’s definitely your mistake. Graham: Have you given them clear instructions then ask them to follow them and have they gone against those. And if they have gone against them, is it because you haven’t trained them well enough. So it might be the person but most of the time it’s not, actually. You know, that cleaner that did forget a second time as well, and that’s ends being a (full wave) onto the guest and moving yet if you can; it’s really embarrassing. But yeah we have got much more solid systems around the turnarounds now, things cannot get missed, and if it looks like they may have been missed, we have got four hours warning and everyone in the company is getting alerted to the fact that maybe we have got a cleaner that is not of the cleaning today. And so it’s very-very… Good systems we have got around that and those only come off the back of something going wrong, otherwise we would have just carried on, we (are) just letting them know when their cleans were, without any feedback knowing that they were aware of the cleaning the first place and knowing that they (off from) site. Chris: Yeah, I think that kind of feedback in the business is critical, whether it’s things going wrong, whether it’s listening to your guests, listening to your staff as well, of course, but that feedback is critical to really grow and improve your businesses into. Graham: Yeah, absolutely. Chris: There is one thing I just wanted to pick up there. And with management you have really got two kind of different (avatars): one is focusing on people within — you might call it the property education community, the people who are kind of active and involved in what we are doing like this — and the other is people who are more kind of traditional landlords and developers. Now, how will your clients spot between those two and how do you find those two different (avatars) to work with? Graham: Actually, I think the first avatar, as you call it, the guys that are in the industry already, that’s word of mouth, people get to know. And that developer that moved over to us he did a lot of due diligence with us and I think people really trusted him and of course then got his feedback as well — we had done a good job and that did reach other people. And actually coincidentally, that first guy that I was going to be doing a JV with ended up being one of our clients, it was great for us and it was great for him. And that’s what real business is about, it’s creating win wins, and Serviced Accommodation is a win, win, it can be a win for the property owner, a win for the guests — getting much nice accommodation than hotels — and it’s a win for us, as much more it can be a much better cash flow strategy. And that for me is a real win, win and that’s where real business is. And so creating ways for other operators to come to us, to leverage our systems and our team, to then really help them kind of focused on what they want to do — whether it is acquiring more Serviced Apartments or focusing their other businesses or their other property strategies — really by enabling that connection to happen and finding a way that it really will be to the true mutual benefit, that’s where we have grown a lot to be honest with you. So we have had four, I guess… Other operators join us now as clients, which is great. Yeah, working with the landlords is… We don’t really do any marketing, I mean we are getting a big and better name for ourselves now, and so we are becoming the kind of go to guys within Nottingham. So it’s much more about personal connections rather than random marketing to be honest with you. Chris: Yeah. And what has been your experience with the developer market; has that been something hard to break into? Graham: Yes. Quite often because a lot of developers in Nottingham are building to sell right now, and you can’t blame them with the (passes) they have been getting, and actually if they are building to keep, they are then looking to refinance off the back of that and so it’s more difficult to then convince there lenders that Serviced Accommodation is a legitimate way of kind of having this work. And you see, because we are not offering any sort of guaranteed rents to developers, they really then kind of struggle. So yes, it needs much bigger developers to be honest with you; who don’t need to finance out of the back of each deal and can park some cash, or have got better and bigger relationships with lenders. Chris: Yeah. And if my understanding is right, so you haven’t done any deals with developers outside the property education community, so far, but you have been working on these relationships for a few years now and you have got stuff now coming up the pipeline; is that right. Graham: Yeah, absolutely. We have got two blocks of sixteen apartments in different areas of the city. Chris: That’s sixteen each block. Graham: Sixteen each. Yes. And we have got another block coming, it’s really early days but it will be a block of twenty-eight, we will get first (refuse) the number of apartments we would want to take in that block — and again, at a completely different part of the city. And so I think we will definitely be taking fourteen there because of the way he building is split, but we are going to be able to adjust the market there and potentially take more from that point as well, even if some go to (YST). But those relationships take a long time and I think developers will tell you their deals take a long time, a lot longer than they anticipate as well. So whether that’s the acquisition, the legals, or the kind of planning process, or even getting contract as on site to then finishing the site. Everything takes much longer than anticipated. One of those blocks of sixteen was going to be ready before Christmas and it’s isn’t now, here we are in June, six months. So it’s just a couple of weeks away, so we will see on that one. Chris: So it sounds like the kind of process you have gone through scaling up, it has been working with other operators, helping local people who were already involved in SA, and then continuing those relationships of course. But starting to build the relationships with the developers, which is really going to then escalate and take the growth to another level, you know, if you are taking on blocks of sixteen to twenty-eight at a time, as opposed to maybe individual properties at blocks of four/five, that type of thing. Graham: Yeah, absolutely. But you see a lot of individual ones as well in much bigger blocks… Chris: More issues around it, isn’t it. (Free holes), neighbours, etcetera. Graham: Access. And look it is where we are very much found above board and everything is being done right and so, if you are not meant to do it in a big block then just don’t do it, it’s not really worth it. Chris: There enough places out there which you can do it legitimately and it’s not worth the time, or effort, or money, which you are essentially going to waste if someone turns around and says, you can’t do this right. Graham: Yeah. And look (Riggs) are coming, (Access Riggs) are going to be getting tightened up and you have got to be prepared for that. And I think doing SA where it’s not really allowed is going to be one of the first areas of attention from the authority, so it’s just not worth it. Chris: Brilliant. So you have kind of taken us through the whole journey and show people how you scaled up, which I think would be really useful for people to hear. So what would you say was the most important elements to start scaling successfully? Graham: Definitely the systems and processes. I mean we were absolutely over (queue), initially, on our processes and our systems. I mean I remember showing someone and he said, “well, you have just got five properties and you are doing all that.” And it’s like yes, but this will handle fifty easily without even thinking twice, and really we just need to plug the staff in. And that really is breaking everything down into like, step one do this, step two do that. And all those variables and having that system in place where we have got accountability within it, we know who has done well and when, so if there was something that’s going wrong, we can go back and just have a look again at the training and so on and so forth. But also if we need to slot more staff in, we have systemized the training now as well, and so we can just add people, (as in when). Emma, she is ops manager now, so she is absolutely full time, plus, plus. Chris: But you say she is ops manager but kind of really, she is more of, almost, general manager (to help you out); isn’t she. She is kind of essentially running the business for you with some oversight from you I would say. Graham: Yes, certainly more recently. I think initially she came on full time as ops manager but I think… Chris: It’s a role which is developed often, I have been absolutely critical with having one person who has that kind of responsibility for overseeing; right. Graham: Absolutely. Chris: And it kind of almost started as a PA role and then it evolved into an ops manager and now it has evolved into a kind of general manager. Graham: Absolutely yeah. So she is handling all the girls: the coms assistants, the bookkeepers. Although I have got a relationship within, they know I am very open, an easy to speak to guy. You know there, I don’t have much to do, if I am to be honest with you. Chris: You are not their line manager. Graham: I am not their line manager. I mean I have a very much instilled company values of team work and we are all equal. I have taken my cleaners out to dinner, multiple times. We wouldn’t have a successful business if it weren’t for the cleaners doing a very-very good job in turning up. Chris: And most people only appreciate that, when they do a bad job and they see the impact it has on the business. So, it is really-really important when the staff (going well), and to also appreciate the importance they have in the business and then reward that when that’s having it’s impact on what you are doing. Graham: Yeah. So systems but also the team work, it has been essential. Emma has had, I have asked her what she wanted, and we have created the wall around her family life and requirements. So it meant that she is much happier in her role, she is being more responsibilities all the time, but she is rising to the challenge (at hand); the amount of money she can earn also rises with that. So it is a good thing to have. And really instilling in everyone that if they have got good suggestions, make them, and if it’s an improvement, we are going to implement it across the business. Chris: So kind of feeding on from that; what advice would you give to someone who is scaling up their business? Graham: I don’t want to keep saying systemizing. Chris: You can keep saying systemizing, that’s absolutely fine. Graham: Well, how do you systemize? I guess that’s the question. Chris: Yeah. Graham: It’s teach someone. Even if you have got no one to teach, maybe do a screen recording on your laptop and read out the instructions of what you are doing. Because actually you will find those little bits in your head that you are just doing them without much thought, and maybe you have got three ways of doing the same thing, and it depends which day of the week and what mood you are in, as to the one you are doing. So actually; what criteria would you do this or do that. And when you really break it down, I would say do ten minute videos, I aim to do lots of ten minutes videos and then you can even get a VA off People Per Hour or such like and get them to write a set of instructions from that video. And that’s the start of the systemizing, that’s getting it out of your own head and putting it into a process, do this if that, and so on and so forth. And that’s absolutely essential because if you are going to add staff as you start scaling, they need to know what to do. And so you can then start identifying the higher value stuff and the lower value stuff. You know how Emma is being instructed to leave most of the comms and focus on the high value stuffs, so when we have got guests requesting a late check-out, it’s a science — you go to the cleaners, and you check their schedule, you check the next check-in, and you speak to the guest. And that’s a science where there was great management, maybe that’s a bit more of an art, and that’s high value. Chris: Art-science; isn’t it. Graham: Yeah. And so that’s a high value task. So we wanted to be able to focus on that without keep getting distracted about having an extra hour in the apartment. Chris: I think when we look at how you have been able to scale up that quickly, I think it has been three elements really, and it’s again the things that we always all about when we talk about leverage it, putting systems in place — and you have clearly had those basically from day one — and getting the right team around it with the right culture and the right attitude, and tell following up with the accountability. And again, a lot of the accountability with what you are doing comes from the systems you have in place: using things like Slack where you can communicate easily with the team, you can also see if something hasn’t been done, if there is a problem, etcetera. So it’s getting all the three elements right, which has allowed you to scale quite quickly; isn’t it? Graham: Absolutely. Yeah. Definitely. Chris: Brilliant. Well, hopefully that has been very useful for everyone and thank you for joining us today Graham. Graham: It has been my pleasure. Thank you very much indeed. Chris: Cheers. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast, to hear the latest on Serviced Accommodation. If you are looking to start systemize or scale your serviced accommodation business, visit www.thesapodcast.com to see how we could help you further.
Angelos and Mo with guest Mark Stokes discuss his varied and amazing career. From managing billion pound projects to being a successful property developer and lessons learned along the way . Disclaimer - these are our opinions and always seek professional advice first. Please subscribe and review - we love making these for you.
Mark Stokes talks about his journey in commercial conversions and permitted development. How the market differs across the country, thoughts on the future of the property market and the biggest changes that we will probably see on the market the next three years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark Stokes talks about his journey in commercial conversions and permitted development. How the market differs across the country, thoughts on the future of the property market and the biggest changes that we will probably see on the market the next three years.
Season 3 Episode 13 of the #FYEMEUP ATL podcast features exclusive tracks from Nativ3 Sound, YNC Slugg, Narok x Money Made Nia, YaYo2Dope, Cluu, Jasmine P. Rain and Many More.....Tracklist:Nativ3 Sound - Gucci HomageYNC Slugg - Power freestyleNaRok x Money Made Nia - Multi Million DollaYaYo2Dope - Strap In Da MiddleCluu - Cool Ass CluuTowhidJewell X YungBrown - They On MeKacey Jones x k.Johnny - Black SageHen - LawlessDavey Danielson, Mark Stokes, Esteban - ChangeBrai Watts Shawti - Come OverCydnei Chyan - SleepThe Diamond Kid - PlanPoca3x - LosersJasmine P. Rain - P.A.M. GrierPleaseFyeMeUp@gmail.com 404-647-4542(www.instagram.com/djfyemeup/) (www.facebook.com/DjFyeMeUp/) (www.twitter.com/djfyemeup) (www.soundcloud.com/dj_fyemeup)Keep up with the show by following the hashtag #FYEMEUPSend us your feedback online: https://pinecast.com/feedback/fyemeup-atl/ab6be115-d6a1-4542-9620-15f6f26556cfThis podcast is powered by Pinecast.
On September 16, 2017, I spent a little time at the Dallas Comic Show in Richardson, TX. During my visit, I talked to Mark Stokes, creator of the Zombie Boy comic series - http://www.zombieboycomics.com/ Checkouy thevampirehistorian.com for my interview with Steve Niles from the same show.
Mark has spent a long and successful career managing multiple domestic and international businesses across the construction, energy and telecoms industries. His passion and biggest achievements lay in establishing and expanding companies, leading large teams and mentoring others to help them exceed their own expectations. In 2015, he took his 25 years of experience and his drive to create successful businesses and entered into the property world by establishing not just one but a whole group of companies with his business partners as well as amassing a sizeable personal property portfolio. With 4 children of his own, he's looking to create not only personal success but also a legacy for his family and future generations. Don't forget to subscribe on iTunes so you don't miss another episode, and download our free guide to Financial Freedom Goal Setting at www.insidepropertyinvesting.com/goals. Full show notes available at http://www.insidepropertyinvesting.com/markstokes/
Mark Stokes had a life of crime, drugs, and prison until he had an encounter with God at a Teen Challenge rehabilitation centre. Listen in to find out what God told him that changed his life.
Dan Blumenthal, Jacqueline Deal, Mark Stokes, and Michael Pillsbury discuss what to expect in Chinese strategy in the coming years.
Dan Blumenthal, Jacqueline Deal, Mark Stokes, and Michael Pillsbury discuss what to expect in Chinese strategy in the coming years.
Seth Cropsey, Michael Pillsbury, Mark Stokes, and Ian Easton discuss the impact and result of Xi's visit and what it means for Taiwan.
Seth Cropsey, Michael Pillsbury, Mark Stokes, and Ian Easton discuss the impact and result of Xi's visit and what it means for Taiwan.
How our brain’s working memory actually works, with Mark Stokes (00:00 Trends in Cognitive Sciences). How synthetic biology can contribute to new approaches to cancer treatment, with Wilson Wong (9:15 Trends in Biotechnology), plus a round-up of great science stories from Cell Press this month! (17:35).
Recorded on November 9, 2011 Over the last several years, China has made significant investments in developing and deploying space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities to support military/national security requirements and enhance their regional power. China is also developing doctrine and policy for the space domain, and integrating these new space capabilities into their anti-access/area denial strategy. These developments represent an evolution in China's role in space, from an asymmetric actor to an established space power with significant investment and newfound vulnerabilities in space. Please join the Secure World Foundation as we discuss how this shift may impact China's approach to space security and sustainability, the U.S.-China bilateral relationship, and possibilities for international cooperation on space security issues such as the European-proposed Code of Conduct. For more information, pelase visit the event page. Speakers: Mr. Mark Stokes, Executive Director, Project 2049 Institute Mr. Kevin Pollpeter, China Project Manager, Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis, Defense Group, Inc. Dr. Owen Cote, Associate Director, Security Studies Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Mr. Brian Weeden, Technical Advisor, Secure World Foundation Moderator: Ms. Victoria Samson, Washington Office Director, Secure World Foundation
Jason Loves Life Podcast - Helping Your WebComic Live Long and Prosper
Today on the show we have Mark Stokes Zombie Boy Comics Zombie Boy Comics Volume 1 Kickstarter Mark on Twitter @krash_pow Mark Stokes creates the comic Zombie Boy. He is also a freelance artist, children’s book illustrator, and animator. In this episode we talk about Mark’s process for creating his comic strips, choosing colors, self-prublishing his first […]
Hudson Institute hosted a panel of experts, featuring Michael Pillsbury, Mark Stokes, and Michael Auslin, to discuss the current status of U.S.-Taiwan relations and what the U.S. should be doing to ensure Taiwan's security.
Hudson Institute hosted a panel of experts, featuring Michael Pillsbury, Mark Stokes, and Michael Auslin, to discuss the current status of U.S.-Taiwan relations and what the U.S. should be doing to ensure Taiwan's security.
It’s Zombie Survival time geeks. And what better web-comic to spotlight than “Zombie Boy” by Mark Stokes! “Zombie Boy” is about an eleven year old named Morgan who had a little “accident” on a family trip to Voodoo Island… Morgan … Continue reading →
As you are taking time to open all your stuff with the "Made in China" label, I thought the Sunday before Christmas it would be good to think about what all the money and debt is doing to shape the geopolitical landscape. Today from 5-6pm EST, step back with us to SEP11 with our guest Mark Stokes, the Executive Director of the Project 2049 Institute. As a stepping off point for our discussion we will be using the institute's latest report, Asian Alliances in the 21st Century.Previous to his present position with 2049, Mark was the founder and president of Quantum Pacific Enterprises, an international consulting firm, and vice president and Taiwan country manager for Raytheon International. He has served as executive vice president of Laifu Trading Company, a subsidiary of the Rehfeldt Group; a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; and member of the Board of Governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan. A 20-year U.S. Air Force veteran, Stokes also served as team chief and senior country director for the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan and Mongolia in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. He holds a B.A. from Texas A&M University, and graduate degrees in International Relations and Asian Studies from Boston University and the Naval Postgraduate School. He is a fluent Mandarin speaker.
Over the last several years, China has made significant investments in developing and deploying space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities to support military/national security requirements and enhance their regional power. China is also developing doctrine and policy for the space domain, and integrating these new space capabilities into their anti-access/area denial strategy. These developments represent an evolution in China's role in space, from an asymmetric actor to an established space power with significant investment and newfound vulnerabilities in space. Please join the Secure World Foundation as we discuss how this shift may impact China's approach to space security and sustainability, the U.S.-China bilateral relationship, and possibilities for international cooperation on space security issues such as the European-proposed Code of Conduct. The event was held from 11AM to 1 PM at 1779 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20036 Speakers include: Mr. Mark Stokes, Executive Director, Project 2049 Institute Mr. Kevin Pollpeter, China Project Manager, Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis, Defense Group, Inc. Dr. Owen Coté, Associate Director, Security Studies Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Mr. Brian Weeden, Technical Advisor, Secure World Foundation Moderator: Ms. Victoria Samson, Washington Office Director, Secure World Foundation
© 2020-2025 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
