Happy 5th Birthday to Us!

This month, my business is 5 years old, so Happy Birthday to Fraser Allen Estate Management!

A lot has happened in my life during those 5 years since 2016.

I got married, gave birth to our gorgeous daughter Lily, which has changed my focus in life. Now, I am working and striving for her and my family. 

The best thing about running my own business is that it is so rewarding and I can flex my time, including holidays, around the needs of my family. I’ve always been a hard worker, so getting that balance right when you first start a business is challenging, so I work hard to gain a work-life balance, so that I can put my energy into both home and business with an equal amount of energy and passion.

Since starting my business, the number of blocks I manage has grown to 19, across Bristol, Cheltenham, Swindon, Stroud, London and wider across the south west.

The pandemic and all of the challenges that brought with it, both in my personal and business life.

5 things I’ve learned as a business owner

Customer service
This is at the heart of my business. I see clients and residents as humans, not just numbers on spreadsheets. I always go that extra mile, and I’d always rather over deliver so we can maximise and delight their expectations. I’ve found that by building good relationships with people, in the long term, it helps with business growth and of course great customer referrals.

Work-life balance is important
Being able to spend time with my daughter, husband, mum and grandmother is incredibly important to me. I can choose when we go on holiday, I don’t have to ask a board of directors to agree when I can spend time with them. If I need to be at home working, because Lily is poorly, that’s not a problem. I understand the importance of having me-time, so that my energy remains at a good level, which is absolutely vital running around after a toddler. 

 The importance of taking responsibility in life
For ten years before starting my own business, I worked in larger property management companies, where profit was put before customers. I chose to start my own business because I didn’t like this ethos. Now everything I do in my business is my responsibility. Sometimes, things go wrong, but I can sort things out in my way. Ultimately everything is my decision and I can now work within an ethos that I believe in 100%.

The importance of giving back to community
Kindness is a very important attribute to me. To be able to give back to my community is an integral part of my business. Because I am growing in my business, I have been able to support local children by buying new laptops for a local charity.

I am proud to say that Fraser Allen is now a Dementia Friendly business, which is because of my personal link – my grandmother has this horrible disease. It is important to feel good about what you do, so in June I signed up to run 300km for Alzheimer’s Research UK. 

I’d love you to sponsor me and every single penny helps. Please help me give more back.

Here’s the link >> https://run.thetreblechallenge.org/pages/teamfraser2021

Being recognised by my own profession
Entering awards is not just a vanity project!

Winning is of course so rewarding, not just by winning the physical award, but to be recognised by other people within my profession, is incredibly encouraging. It helps build my confidence, but also adds greatly to my visibility within the profession. My clients see that I am valued by my profession and also being able to say we are a multi award winning business helps potential clients see that we can deliver on what we promise.

So much has happened in the last 5 years, and yet it seems just like yesterday.

Just for fun here’s 5 events that happened in 2016

1. Summer Olympics Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 5th – 21st, the first time the Olympics were held in a South American nation. The UK won, 27 gold, 23 silver and 17 bronze medals.
2. Brexit EU referendum 23rd June 2016 we voted to leave the EU, and as a country, five years on, we’re still sorting out issues around many matters, not just business.
3. July 2016, Theresa May took over from David Cameron as Prime Minister and lasted for three years.
4. November 2016, Donald Trump won the US presidential election in a surprise upset, beating Hillary Clinton.
5. Tim Peake returned from his 186-day mission working on the International Space Station for Expedition 46/47 – landing back on earth 18 June 2016. He became the first official British astronaut to walk in space.

Do you remember those events? They seem like such a long time ago don’t they?

We have so many exciting plans for the next few years for the business and for our family, we know how fortunate we are to have come this far and we’re still standing and stronger than ever.

What Next?

Pre Covid new businesses were launching at an unprecedented rate, with approximately 660,000 new start-ups registered in the UK every year according to  The Telegraph.

But that same article exposes the sheer volume of those businesses that fail, with 20% not making it past their first year, and a staggering 60% going bust and fail within their first three years.

Here at Fraser Allen we are looking further ahead, and as it’s reported that only about one in three small businesses get to the 10-year mark and live to tell the tale – we intend to be celebrating in style in 2031!!

We are so very excited about the next five years!

Watch this space!