“I’ve felt supported every step of the way,”
says Luke Mason of Belvoir Hitchin
Six months ago Luke and Jonathan Mason launched Belvoir Hitchin. Here, Luke looks at his journey from the opening morning to the present day…
“On 1st December 2008 I opened Belvoir Hitchin, with my cousin Jonathan - and I haven’t looked back,” says Luke. “It was quite scary as I’d never done anything similar before but I was eager to get on with it.
“Before this I worked with my dad doing car sales – I enjoyed it but wanted to open my own business. I came across Belvoir on the internet. I made a call and met the sales director, Dorian Gonsalves. The great support structure that Belvoir provide and the friendliness of the company was obvious and the way they did business really appealed to me – I knew that it was the right opportunity.
“I didn’t know anything about the lettings market so the three-week training course that Belvoir provide for all new Franchise Owners at Central Office in Grantham was invaluable. It taught me everything - from how to open a shop and manage a property to the ins and outs of lettings’ law. Without doubt the training was essential and helped Jonathan and I move forward with confidence.
“Belvoir’s support didn’t stop there - there’s been plenty of help and advice since we launched and throughout our first six months. For the first month Central Office gave us a weekly call to check on our progress, plus made it clear we could call them whenever we needed. They’ve also kept us informed as to what’s going on in the lettings industry and provided instant updates of any legislation changes. There’s plenty of organised networking with other offices too, including a three-monthly meeting between offices in each region.
“My life has changed a lot since opening Belvoir Hitchin but I’ve felt completely supported every step of the way. The first six months have been amazing. It’s hard work but it’s really opened my eyes to the potential of the lettings market, plus reinforced my original thoughts about Belvoir being such a strong brand.
“I’m a people’s person and thoroughly enjoying meeting landlords and tenants - I know that property management is definitely for me and the business has gone from strength-to-strength too…
“We’ve taken on, plus let, many properties – in fact, one of them was being marketed by seven agents but we managed to let it first. We’ve taken on a full-time property manager, and hope to employ more staff within the next six months. And, we were ranked within the top one hundred of the Belvoir group within two months of trading.
“I’m really proud of myself for going for it – my only regret is I didn’t do it sooner!”
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