How To Start Your Own Property Letting Business With Little Capital
Starting your own property business from home with little capital can be done, and this enterprise can be built into a substantial company in quick time if you really work at it, and go about it in the right way. If you don’t have any property of your own, it doesn’t matter, as initially we concentrate on letting other people’s property.
But first things first. You need to decide on the name for your business, then set targets and goals, and thirdly you must carry out adequate Market Research (MR). All these are very important to the future success of your business. Don’t skimp, and don’t rush it. Your name first. What are you going to call your organisation? Most property agencies choose either to operate under the principal’s name, e.g. Jack Jones & Co and then may add the word “Lettings” or “Property”, or alternatively a completely different name to your own, such as Oak Properties, or Star Rentals, or Hufftown Lettings. Hufftown is where you live, for the purpose of this article.
Take a little care and time over your choice, because it is very difficult and expensive to change the name at a later date. Have a look in the local papers and see who is operating already. You wouldn’t want to choose Hufftown Rentals if there is already a Hufftown Properties operating locally. That would only confuse and annoy people unnecessarily.
Another thing to bear in mind is a website address. Sooner or later you will need a web presence and it would be nice if the name you choose were also available to register on the Internet. For example, imagine you were toying with the name Oak Properties. I’ve just run a check to see if Oak Properties is available on the net. As it happens it isn’t, but Elm Properties and Ash Properties are, so it might be sensible to choose a name where you can immediately bolt on a website address. By the way I use Lycos to check. They are a massive first-rate company and yet their prices are very reasonable. You can register a co.uk name for as little as £1.99 and that is cheap. Ten years ago that would have cost fifty quid. You can quickly check out if the name you want is available at www.partnershop.co.uk/shop/1598 .
If you find a still available web name you like, register it ASAP. You don’t need to use it immediately, but once you’ve got it, it’s yours. Names are being snapped up all the time, and you might be surprised at how few suitable names are still available. Once you have decided on a suitable business name, test market it on a few people. Ask the kids, or your family. They will soon tell you if it’s too cheesy or naff! You want a name that is easy to remember, that you are comfortable with, and reflects what you do.
(more…)