2 Years in, I didn’t believe this was even a business

When I first started Beam, I’d been a full-time Property VA for around 8 months. A sole-trader, one-woman-band.

More client enquiries started to come in. It was lockdown, Zoom was a thing and people started working remotely.

I didn’t have enough hours in the day, but I hated the idea of saying no to new clients!

So I quickly chose a name (Beam = support, geddit?), took on my first team member and she started supporting this client for 10 hours per month.

During the next 2 years, I took on lots more clients and team members, handed over my own VA clients as I got busier and busier.

But when my boyfriend told people ‘Jane runs a business’ it always surprised me a little. Was it really a business? I hadn’t made a plan, hustled, invested much money or even formed a Ltd co!

Then, I had a BIG wakeup call that I needed to professionalise Beam in June this year. VAT. I’d already hit the threshold but hadn’t noticed. Why? Because I didn’t even think to check my turnover!

Cue almost £3k of back-payments in VAT from my own pocket. OUCH.

Since that painful day, I decided to really start treating this as a business. I have a bookkeeper, an accountant, my own VA, I formed a company, I use Xero, I hired a mentor, I have more systems and processes in place. I won my first award!

Why am I sharing this? Because I see property investors thinking that they aren’t running a business either. Not taking it seriously, not investing in support, systems or bookkeeping.

They think it’s easier to lay low behind the ‘oh it’s just a side hustle, it’s nothing' excuse when they aren’t feeling that focused or if they are struggling.

I often have days where I don’t really want to face up to having a business, but that’s ok because I have a team who pick up the essentials and keep things moving regardless.

We specialise in working with property investors to help them professionalise their admin, operations and their tenancies.

No more unfiled emails.

Or ‘scan1256.pdf’ unknown files dumped on the desktop

No below market rent, unchased arrears.

No more admin overwhelm that makes you want to retreat.

Get in touch here and say YES to that feeling of doing something constructive and positive for your business growth. Because yes, you do have a business!