Neil Baldock
Director & Co Owner
What is your career background?
I have worked in the estate and letting agency industry for 24 years now with a brief break when I was a police officer for 6 years. I founded my own Letting Agency in 2011 whilst working full time in the police and grew it to a size where I then left the police and worked full time in the business. Since then I have merged with another company, completed a management buy out of the business, sold a lettings portfolio, and make 4 acquisitions to date. I continue to operate a large Estate and Letting agency business with my brother Matt and provide consultancy services to other agencies.
Why did you come up with the idea to launch Charles David Casson & The Baldock Brothers?
My brother Matt and I recognised that many industry consultants have been in senior management positions at corporate estate agencies but have not cold started and grown agencies from nothing and we have done so ourselves right through to exit and now growth and acquisition again so we believe we have experienced the challenges business owners face today and can give very current advice and expertise to business owners looking to grow their businesses and achieve more profit and time.
What's your proudest achievement?
Growing a single office operation to in excess of 1 million turnover
What are the top 3 challenges you believe your business solves for agents?
Lack of clarity - A lot of business owners are so stuck in the business that they just run from task to task, doing jobs that they don't know if make them money or that they even enjoy. We can help them understand what tasks they should be doing, both for the financial good of the business and their own quality of life.
Financial Management- Most agency owners are brilliant estate agents but have had no training on the running of a business. Financial Management is one of the 4 cornerstones of business and we can help you to understand the numbers and put in place financial systems to make managing the business easier and give you peace of mind.
Recruitment/Team - Building a team is hard, there isn't a 'one size fits all' approach as different generations have different needs and priorities. It's not uncommon in business to keep bad personalities because they hit numbers and lose good people because you have them in the wrong position/you don't understand them. We have employed people from every working generation so you can show what did and didn't work for us.
Which industry suppliers do you admire most?
Goodlord, Payprop
Which estate agencies do you admire most?
Ashdown Jones, Location Location
What is the most valuable lesson you have learnt from working with estate agents so far?
Listen to everyone. It's not always the most senior people who have the genius ideas!
Click here to find out how The Baldock Brothers can help your agency.
