I ACCIDENTALLY BECAME A JOINER..

I’ve been pretty quiet for the last couple of weeks.

WhatsApp offline. No networking. Barely any posting. I missed last week’s newsletter and I’m even a day late with this one.

The reason?

Project One has completely taken over my life.

As we got towards the final stages, it became clear some of the work simply wasn't up to the standard I expected.

We had two options:

Accept it, finish the house and move on.

OR

fire the team, build a new one and put it right.

We chose option two.

People have said to me:

‘But you’re selling it. It doesn’t matter.’

I completely disagree.

I know what it's like to save for years and finally get the keys to your own home.

For whoever buys Camm Street, this isn't Project One. It isn't a purchase price, GDV or profit margin.

It’s their home.

They might have spent years saving for it. It might be their first house. It might be where they start a family and build a life.

So if we know something isn't right, we're putting it right.

And putting it right has been quite the experience..

In the space of about 2-3 weeks we basically fired the team and built a new one.

Unfortunately, that also included appointing myself as the new joiner.

Since then we have:

At points we've had 8-9 lads working days and nights to get this project over the line.

And tomorrow night I should OFFICIALLY be off the tools.

(When I say ‘the tools’ I mean the tools I’ve borrowed off the lads because I don’t actually own any anymore)

Two weeks ago everyone was telling me to push the decorators back.

Too much to do. Not enough time.

I stood my ground.

Some of the team probably thought I was an idiot.

Then this afternoon I got a WhatsApp from the plasterer:

‘I’ll be honest mate, I think you’re a bit mad, but I’ve really enjoyed the last couple of weeks working for you.’

I'll take that!

But the last few weeks have taught me something important.

Site visits need to be intentional.

Turning up, having a walk around and seeing that the project is moving isn't enough.

You need to know exactly what you're checking, what standard you're expecting and whether what's been done is actually right.

And probably the biggest lesson:

You can't trust someone just because you like them.

I like getting on with the people I work with. I want good relationships with the lads on site and I don't want to be the guy constantly looking over everyone's shoulder.

But ultimately, it's my project, my investors and my name on the finished house.

Trust is important But trust doesn't replace checking the work.

That's something I'll be taking straight into Project Two.

I don't need to become a nightmare on site.

I just need to become better at managing one.

Somehow, while I've basically moved into project one, the rest of Asset Collective has carried on moving.

Project Two is ready for plastering.

First fix electrics are done, plumbing and heating are virtually complete and the structural work is finished.

And yes, the new team will be taking everything we've learned at Camm Street straight into this one.

We've also:

Not actually a bad couple of weeks when I put it like that.

Sometimes it's networking, raising investment and finding the next deal.

And sometimes it's 9pm on a Bank Holiday weekend, covered in dust, fitting skirting boards with someone else's tools because you've fired your joiner.

But that's exactly what I want these newsletters to document.

The actual journey.

I've worked in scale ups throughout my corporate career and I've seen the same pattern happen over and over again.

You build something that feels ready to scale.

You start growing - it goes well.

Then you hit a load of problems.

Those problems expose the gaps in your systems, your processes and your team.

You fix them, learn from them and go again.

The next stage is smoother.

Until you grow again and find a whole new set of problems..

BUT

That's scaling.

And I think that's exactly where Asset Collective is right now.

Project One has highlighted some problems we couldn’t see.

Site visits need to be more intentional. Quality needs to be checked at every stage. And trust doesn't replace checking the work.

Would I have preferred to learn all of that without ripping work back out, rebuilding a team and spending my Bank Holiday fitting skirting boards?

Absolutely,

But we've hit these problems early in our ’scale up journey’ and ultimately I'm grateful for that.

Because I'd much rather find the cracks in the business now, with two projects running, than find them later when we've got five or ten.

We've found some problems.

We've learned from them.

We've improved the systems.

We've built a better team.

Now we go again.

WHATS NEXT?

We're currently looking at a small portfolio of properties to renovate at the same time.

Nothing signed yet, but if the numbers stack up…

Project Three might be a little bigger than expected. 👀

More soon.

Did You Know?
Leaving your money in the bank right now is likely earning you less than inflation, meaning your cash is actually losing value over time.

Till next time,