BeTheBoss.ca: What made you choose Real Property Management from all the franchise opportunities you looked at?
Ryan Bondy: Evernew Management was a modestly successful Property Management company with a local presence when RPM discovered us and initiated the conversation regarding the opportunity of becoming one of their franchise offices. Seeking to heighten our local presence, increase the number of doors we manage, and gain an extended territory of awareness, we thought RPM was positioned to assist us in accomplishing each of these goals.
BTB: Can you describe the support you got from the Real
Property Management head office team as you got
started?
RB: Beginning with basic training, RPM does have an extensive onboarding training facility for staff of all positions. This is a very comprehensive online system that allows team members to increase their knowledge at their own convenience. Additionally, RPM offered recommendations related to document handling internally, to offer improved efficiency and consistency within the office environment.
BTB: What have you found to be your greatest key to
success?
RB: Undoubtedly relationships are our greatest key to the success that we have realized to date. We are emphatic about building long term relationships with likeminded business people and real estate investors, and we strive daily to strengthen our relationships by demonstrating a sincere interest on capitalizing on win/win situations wherever we may find them.
BTB: Describe the most rewarding part of owning your
business?
RB: Business ownership has many challenges,
and often the rewards are easy to overlook in lieu of the struggles
and challenges. To us, the most rewarding part of owning our
own business is that it is a family owned business. Our 3
wonderful children that consist of Blaine (3y/o), Gracelyn (2y/o)
and Brock (7m/o) can often be found sitting behind our desks or
jumping on the inflatable castle that we set up in the front of the
property each Saturday to encourage families to stop in and learn
about us. Going to work together every day has greatly
improved the relationship between both of us as a married couple,
and we love spending as much time with our children as being a
business owner permits.
BTB: What are your goals going forward?
RB: Following the conversion from and
established business to a new franchise has caused significant
change within our organization as much as it has our customer
base. Our immediate goal is to demonstrate to those that have
been using our services for years, that the new RPM brand brings
with it many benefits, and that there is good reason to believe
that all involved stand to gain in the months and years to
come. We are optimistic that with the additional exposure
that comes with being part of an International franchise, that we
will double the number of doors that we currently manage /
maintain, and finally see a stabilization within our business that
we have been seeking to achieve for several years now.
BTB: What goals did you have when you joined Real Property
Management?
RB: Stability has been on the goal chart for
a few years, as we have invested heavily in staff and support, so
as to ensure we could handle increased volumes of customer
demands. We are now ready to add more work demand to our
existing foundation and watch the systems begin to work more
efficiently and effectively.
BTB: What advice would you give to a potential
franchisee?
RB: Invest in a rental property before you
try to manage someone else’s. Size doesn’t matter, although
there are obviously significant differences between maintenance
requirements at a 50 unit apartment building vs. a single family
home, but be an active manager, not a theoretical one. Owning
dozens of units ourselves prior to becoming a property manager,
affords us the ability to speak to other investors in a way that
other property managers simply can not.
BTB: What are the biggest advantages that Real Property Management gives you in your business? (eg marketing, negotiating with vendors, support, etc.)
RB: To date, the single biggest advantage we’ve seen is that they have already invested significant time on the marketing material end of the business. From templated letters to mailout pieces, the designs have been created and with a little customization we are able to send out very professional appearing documents that are consistent with other RPM offices.
BTB: How does Real Property Management help you to
differentiate yourself from your competition? (brand recognition,
advertising, etc, location?)
RB: We believe that in time people will come to understand that RPM offers a level of service that is unmatched by local property management companies in our area. Being able to offer distant owners the ability to see consistent financial reports regardless of where the properties are located throughout North America, certainly seems to be a huge advantage. This we believe because we are international property holders and receive reports in various formats depending on the manager that looks after the property. Having one format would make things much easier to evaluate.
