Winner Best Growth Business 2007 - Blundells Property Management
Blundell Property Rentals is a service based business in Warrnambool, which specializes in property management – both residential and commercial. It is an extremely successful business that has grown in the three years it has been in operation, and it started with the hard work of Steve and Loretto Blundell and the assistance of NEIS.
Steve and Loretto had long held a dream to work together. Steve had worked as a stock agent and then in real estate so already had his Real Estate Agent Licence. Loretto was a primary school teacher, and while taking a break from her career to raise their children, Loretto completed her Real Estate Agency Rep course. In 2004, when Loretto was looking to re-enter the workforce, they recognized a gap in the real estate market of their local area and their dream began to materialize.
Steve and Loretto decided to start their own business, focusing purely on rentals and offering a property management service that was modeled on the “best practice” of the most elite property management operations in Australia. Their goal was to provide an exemplary level of service; unparalleled in the region – and NEIS through the Australian Business Develop Centre assisted them to put the business structures in place to allow them to achieve this with the business commencing trading in April 2005.
“It is fair to say that without the NEIS program Blundell Property Rentals would not exist,” said Loretto. “The process of developing our business plan was instrumental to our success as it helped us shape our initial idea into a substantial business concept with purpose and forward planning.”
“The NEIS training was the catalyst for us carrying our both primary and secondary market research, identifying market segments and customer profiles and recognizing barriers to our market entry. It helped us to develop appropriate marketing strategies and identify our strengths and weaknesses,” she added.
The sound foundations developed during the NEIS training have allowed the business to grow, aided by the mentoring provided during the first year of the business.
“Our mentor has been a knowledgeable and confidential ‘sounding board’ for us as we encountered the many challenges of business growth,” said Steve. “We have sought advice about many aspects of our business, particularly in the area of personnel recruitment and training and conflict resolution.”
And the business has certainly grown. Blundell Property Rentals started as a husband and wife team, sharing an office premise with another business. Their initial goal was to be managing 156 properties by the end of the second year – however at the two year point they were managing over twice that amount! The business turnover and rent roll is contuing to increase and it now employs three additional staff members and occupies their own fully renovated building. The business has won awards including a regional award in 2006 for Professional Service and the 2007 National NEIS Association Award for Best Growth Business.