How to Switch Your Mindset From ‘Investor’ to ‘Business Owner’
As rules, regulations and policies continue to make it harder for ‘mom and pop’ landlords to survive, I believe the only way forward for property investors is to shift their mindset. It’s time to start thinking like business owners, not just investors.
What do I mean by this? A business owner bases every decision on financial viability. They carefully assess risk, reward, time-cost and overall opportunity, with a clear view of both the short term and the long term.
Investors can adopt this approach too, but they often overlook one crucial factor: time. Many focus solely on the long-term payoff – what they might gain in ten or more years – while ignoring short-term risks and opportunities. In doing so, they lose sight of one of life’s most valuable assets: time.
In this article, I’ll explore a few simple mindset shifts that can help you become a more effective property investor. These small changes could allow you to achieve better results in half the time and with far less effort, freeing you up to enjoy life while continuing to grow your portfolio.
Seeing From Both Sides of the Fence
I have been developing both residential and commercial property for over 22 years now. Throughout this time, I’ve experienced all the highs and lows that come with deal finding, planning, funding, construction, property management and selling, not to mention many market shifts.
I am also a Chartered Surveyor, and working life for me started in a corporate job at an international real estate advisory firm in Central London. But, like many of us in this industry, I eventually realised that working for someone else wasn’t for me. I wanted to carve out my own path.
In 2005, I set up my property consultancy. I made a deliberate decision to keep it separate from my property developments, which I had already started doing in 2003. I wanted each business to succeed – or fail – on its own merit.
The property consultancy took off, and over the next 10 years, I focused on profitable growth, hiring a team, building systems, and gradually developing the business to a point where it could run without me. This approach created a valuable and saleable business, and I decided to realise that value by selling the property consultancy in 2016. This gave me the freedom to pursue other interests outside of my property investment and development business, which I still run today.
I now also devote some of my time to acting as a board advisor to businesses and mentoring individuals. This is a perfect way for me to utilise the wisdom I’ve gained from my unique combination of professional qualifications, business growth and exit experience, and property investment and development experience, to help others make better decisions and bigger profits.
Why You Should Always ‘Build to Sell’
If you treat your investments like a business, you should always aim to build that business into something you could eventually sell. I’ll explain why in a moment, but first, what do I mean by ‘building to sell’?
For a business to be sellable, it must be able to run without you. Many people leave employment because they’re tired of working for someone else. Then they start working for themselves and become an even tougher boss. They allow themselves no breaks, no holidays, no weekends, and no family time. That’s not freedom – it’s just building yourself a job. And no one wants to buy a job.
So why is this relevant to property, especially if you have no intention of selling what you’re building?
Because building to sell simply means creating an asset that performs whether you are at your desk or lounging on a beach. Whether or not you ever plan to sell, the goal should be to create something that gives you freedom. We are not in this business to work every second of our lives. We are in it to build a life we can actually enjoy.
How to Effectively Outsource Your Workload
The first step is to write down every task you carry out as a property investor. This includes activities like finding deals, analysing them, attending viewings, negotiating offers, handling maintenance issues and compliance, and collecting rent.
Next, review which of these tasks can be done just as effectively without your direct involvement. For example, does it really matter if a property manager collects the rent instead of you? Are you likely to be any more effective at it? Do you need to spend time scraping Rightmove for potential deals, or could you train someone – like a virtual assistant (VA) – to do it for you? You could show them exactly what you’re looking for and have them send you a daily spreadsheet of links that meet your criteria.
Before outsourcing any task, it’s essential to know what outcome you expect and what a successful result looks like. For instance, if you hire a VA to search for deals on Rightmove, how many suitable listings should they be sending you each day for you to consider it worthwhile? If you don’t have a clear answer to this, then how can you measure their performance or know whether they’re meeting expectations?
What to Do Before Outsourcing
It starts with knowing your strengths. For example, if your strength is finding deals, then that’s where your focus needs to be, not handling maintenance issues. You should be spending 80% of your time on the one thing that only you can do, and then outsourcing the rest.
That could mean working with virtual assistants, property managers, AI tools, or even hiring employees. You don’t need to pay someone £25,000 a year anymore. Outsourcing is now more accessible and cost-effective than ever, so it’s worth exploring early on.
But before you outsource anything, you need to fully understand the task yourself. You should be able to document the process clearly – either in writing or on video – so someone else can follow it exactly. Often, you’ll have your own way of doing things that works well, so it’s important to capture that. Make sure you have clear processes and procedures, and that the quality and outcomes you expect are clearly defined and fully aligned.
Even the simplest tasks – like finding a potential deal – can be more involved than you realise. In your head, it might feel like you’re just going from A to B. But when you start writing it down, you’ll often uncover five to ten steps. This is why detailed guides are essential. They allow someone else to carry out the task without constant input from you.
These guides are also useful for troubleshooting. If something goes wrong, clear documentation helps you determine whether it’s the process that’s flawed or the person not following it.
Most people skip this step early on because they think, “It’s just me.” But if you’re planning to grow, these documents will become vital. The earlier you start creating them, the easier your life will be down the line.
How to ‘Think Like a Business Owner’ When Analysing Deals
Everything needs to be focused on the financials. You should only invest in a project if the return on investment (ROI) makes sense. That means the profit you expect to make compared to the money and time you put in.
It might sound obvious, but I often see people taking on projects just because they feel like the natural next step. For example, moving from simple buy-to-let (BTL) properties into houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). People do this not because the deal is strong, but because they think it’s what they’re supposed to do next.
I also see emotional decisions being made. Things like, “This project would look great on Instagram,” “I’ve always wanted to renovate a listed building,” or “This place means a lot to me because I grew up here.”
Instead, your decisions should be based on the numbers. That means checking the full financial picture, including all costs like interest and holding expenses, to see if the deal actually works.
And beyond the numbers, think about whether the return on investment (ROI) is worth the time and the risk. Time is often forgotten. A deal might look like it will pay well, but if it takes you three years to complete, could you do several quicker projects in the same timeframe, end up with a better result, and reduce the risks associated with time?
My Final Advice: Don’t Defer Enjoyment
The final thing I want to touch on is enjoyment and burnout. I see too many investors and business owners taking the approach of, “I’ll just work hard for the next five to ten years and then enjoy myself.”
The truth is, we don’t know if we have another five years in us. I’m not just talking about death, though that’s one possibility. We can’t predict what life will throw at us. Will our families still be around? Will the kids we are doing all this for move away or head off travelling?
Balance is everything. Make time for the people and things you love. Yes, work hard. And yes, accept that there will be periods where evenings and weekends are devoted entirely to work. But if life always looks like that, you're heading straight for burnout and frustration. You’ll never be the age you are right now again. Spend time with friends. Go on holiday. Enjoy your life.
If you overwork yourself for too long, you’ll become jaded. Decision-making becomes harder. You start making bad calls, and your business or investments suffer because of it.
Learn to recognise the difference between what’s urgent and what can wait until tomorrow, or even next week. If you promise to deliver something and update the person to say it might be a day or two late, they’ll usually understand. The key is knowing when to push and when to pause.
Try to split your time between work, proper rest, and activity, whether that’s exercise, hobbies, or catching up with friends.
Best of Luck in Your Property Ventures
I hope this article has given you at least one takeaway you can use to improve your life or business. Fulfilment matters. It’s something we must keep in mind if we want to build a portfolio or business that truly becomes an asset, rather than something we grow to resent because it drains all our time.
If you’re interested in finding out how I could help your progression, feel free to get in touch using the details below.
Website: LinkedIn: Michael McQuade MRICS
