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I needed to expand the original story now that Imagine has been trading 3 years and so much has happened since we first opened our doors. My first piece was written after our first year trading...

Year two saw the business turn a handsome profit as our growth gathered pace. I expanded the office both in square footage and staff numbers and the team of 7 now took on all comers in our march for world domination (or Watford domination at least). Everything was going like a dream. We were being recommended repeatedly as clients who had given us the opportunity were quickly spreading the word that actually there was a decent agency option available in the town who provide a level of service you should expect to receive when selling and letting your property.

Now we had built up a head of steam - What could possibly go wrong?

Me and my big mouth! The most ferocious down turn in the property market EVER witnessed came along to kick us right in the altogethers, just as we appeared to be ready to reap the rewards of our early endeavours. No such luck.

Instead we were quite literally in a fight for survival, in a market place none of us had experienced previously. Although I had started at the end of the last downturn, that wasn't a patch on this. The problem was volume. It wasn't the prices. The price drops were obviously bad news for current owners but they weren't what caused the main problem for agents. Our issue was simply lack of numbers. There were so few buyers out there we were suddenly stuck with high overheads and seemingly no viable way of making the number of deals needed to break even, let alone make profit.

The fact we have survived is down to three distinct factors;
Firstly, my staff were incredible! We all met up, faced the challenge as a team, agreed to do whatever it took to survive and applied a group mentality of 'we will not be beaten'. Pay cuts were necessary, longer hours were required, but all were done without complaint or challenge. That we started the 2009 with the same team we started 2008 I suspect makes us almost unique in the industry during that period.

Secondly, we made some good decisions under pressure. I held my nerve on advertising levels and marketing so that as others cut back we looked more and more visible and our presence appeared increased. By retaining staff levels we were still offering a level of service people wanted and as the market got tougher sellers realised they needed proactive agents not perhaps just names they had become used to using. It is difficult to be proactive if you have cut back your staff levels so again we stood out from the crowd. There may have been a smaller cake but we were having a bigger piece of it.

Thirdly; The Lettings Market exploded. People may not have wanted to buy but they still needed / wanted to move and letting a property, while you waited to see how the market developed, became the choice of the masses. We doubled our volumes almost overnight and lettings, rather than being a useful additional income, became our life blood. Today we let 20 / 30 properties every month which by some distance makes us the leading agent in the area.

So we lived to tell the tale and with Watford secure I began to think of ways to expand. While most questioned my sanity I felt the market slow down was actually the very best time to grow. If we could establish now, in a down turn, then we would be so much better set when things improved. I also had staff who wanted and deserved new challenges and opportunities.

To that end Imagine Bushey opens for business in March 2009 with one of my staff Jason Baker becoming a fully fledged Partner in this branch. My industry is incredibly dependent on the quality of individuals working in the office, especially the Manager. Ensuring that person has some financial ownership is the only way to ensure the level of motivation required to establish a top business is there in the short, medium and long term. Jason has been outstanding from Day 1 when he joined Imagine as well mannered, ambitious man looking for an industry to match his dreams. We shared an ethic that marries a passion for success with a desire to do right by clients and a respect for their fees. It is an ethic all to rare in our industry but one that underpins Imagine's future as it is this that clients pass on to friends, families, colleagues.

As Chapter Three begins, next time I hope to be able to report that both branches are the leading agents in their respective towns.

To be continued...

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