One of The Hardest Things I've Ever Had to do
Leveraged Lifestyle Podcast
English - March 11, 2020 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.7 MB - ★★★★★ - 4 ratingsCareers Business Education Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
In today's episode, Catherine really wants to share one of the hardest things she has had to do.
Those who follow Catherine on social channels will know that she has recently had to start liquidation of her Serviced Accommodation business.
In a heartfelt and personal post, she explained how she has reached this decision, how it has affected her personally and her business. You will find the post here in this podcast Description, but please listen to the episode and hear Catherine's words from herself. Get in touch and let Catherine know if you have been affected by the loss of a Business or similar.
“One of my Mentors… Has put up a post about this ‘quitters never win’-type thing. But actually; Quitting the wrong thing is the RIGHT thing to do”
-Catherine Turner
CATHERINES POST
I know it's a cliche, but this is one of the hardest things I've ever had to write.
It's horrible to become a statistic.
After 5 years & 5 months of running our Serviced Accommodation business we are having to liquidate. It's been all too easy recently to just see & dwell on the negatives & to get upset about it getting to this point, but I woke up this morning also remembering the positives:
That during that time we helped multiple investors achieve way better returns on their money than they would have done in the bank.
Helped multiple landlords with guaranteed rents & a hassle free solution. Hosted nearly 8,000 guests & gave them a home away from home experience. At our height this business also employed 4 staff here in the UK & 6 in the Philippines. And took over £85k a month in bookings. Steve served many SA business owners & mentored them in starting there businesses.However, it was not meant to continue.
The industry has changed alot in those few years, when we started our USP was that we were the only operator in our city!
5 years on competition has risen & outpaced demand in a number of our locations, meaning nightly rates drop, overheads increased & margins were squeezed.
We believe lean, stand-out, well-educated operators will continue to florish.
However, in our case, coupled with this we had multiple, back to back, 'bad luck' or unforseen circumstances, many out of our control, plus certainly a couple of bad judgement decisions, meant we have had to cease trading.
This is not only having an impact on us, but also on a number of recent investors, landlords, service providers & staff and for that we are truly sorry. We have done our utmost to trade through the difficulties, ploughing our own money in, selling off parts of the business, but nothing has been enough to save it.
We sought professional advice & the only answer was to liquidate.
This was not the answer we were hoping for, but in order to save & protect our other businesses & interests it was the only way to go. I know some people are hurt & angry right now, and are wanting to lash out & try to 'ruin us' or words to that affect.
I understand that hurt, I am too. A number of people, agencies, companies have let us down & that is a big factor in why we are in this position.
Just when it seemed like we were catching a break, another one hit us, it has been relentless over the last few months. Making us question if we had been bad people in another life, were we just idiots or completely naive.
Maybe we were too trusting, too open & honest - but those are qualities I think are important & never want to lose.
Then I looked at the statistics & realised we had just become another one.
We've probably all heard that a fifth of all small businesses fail in their 1st year, but did you know 50% fail after 5 years & 70% fail in their 10th year in business?
But that also failure doesn't mean the end & as long as you learn from it, you can grow & become better from it.
That failure is a rite of passage, common to all that dare to doing something different, against the norm.
When I started looking at all the business owners I have admired, so many have had businesses that failed, that impacted not only them, but those around them.
But they learned, got better, moved on & made an even bigger & better impact & success because of what they had been through.
This is not the end, merely a detour on the journey.
I know we are good people, with good intentions, we will do everything we can to make this right by people affected.
We are extremely grateful for all who have stuck by us during this time, been patient & understanding & that will not be forgotten.
We already have multiple projects & plans in place and those already involved in those are not affected by this.
This is hard to write, because I know no matter what I say & write, some people will judge (without all the facts) & decide we are not people they want to work with.
Others will be more understanding & realise this actually gives us more experience, knowing how to avoid this in the future or at least what to look out for, and that is in fact an asset.
This has been a hugely stressful, upsetting & horrible experience & it's not over yet.
However, we are so grateful for everyone who has helped & supported us.
And I am so grateful that we have each other through this time, not everyone is so lucky to have such a great partner in life & business. I do not take that for granted.
-Catherine Turner
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ABOUT THE HOST
Catherine Turner
Catherine is host of the iTunes No.1 business podcast Leveraged Lifestyle, she is an entrepreneur, businesswoman, Inspirational Speaker, world record holder, Founder of Turner Invest and a mum of 2!
Catherine quit being an employee in 2013, after working more than 50+ hours on average a week, over 3 jobs. Jobs, hours and a lifestyle which led to a diagnosis of clinical depression before the age of 25.
In 2011/12 Catherine discovered the power of investing in property, and has experience in Single Lets, Flips, Deal packaging, House of Multiple Occupation (HMOs), Serviced Accommodation and Developments mainly in her home county of Essex, but also across the UK, helping investors, landlords and developers create a better return on their money or property.
Catherine started Leveraged Lifestyle podcast to share with business owners, entrepreneurs and those not leading their ideal lifestyle, the mindset and skillset it takes to create a lifestyle of freedom & choice.
Catherine has identified 7 key areas of leverage, which we can all tap into: time, money, knowledge, talent, experience, brand, our strengths. This coupled with the SOS model created by Stephen Turner (Catherine’s business partner & husband): Systemise, Outsource & Scale, Leveraged Lifestyle podcast is here to help you create a business that gives you the lifestyle you want.
CONTACT METHOD
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