Mint #1: January 2008 - Countdown to Launch

Both of us – John Feeney and James Sandwell - have known for the past 4 years that we wanted to work together in some way, shape or form and now we are embarking on a new business and have decided to chronicle our journey as a new start-up into the lettings agency market.

We are both 32 and have young children which keep us fairly active. We have both been passionate about investments and property for quite some time now and have our own small portfolios of properties between us, which includes commercial offices, standard rentals and student flats.

After being friends for over 10 years, we both trust each other and feel that we have complimentary skills, as well as a keen interest in property. As the lettings market seems to have been stale for ages, with agents happy to stay that way, we both felt the time was right in our professional and personal lives to stop talking about a new business venture and just get on with it.

We have therefore decided to launch Mint - a fresh agency to shake up the market.

We aim to provide a personal service to bridge the gap between tenants and landlords; help landlords to expand their existing portfolios; and help new landlords get in to the market.

As a small start up agency, we realise the importance of having a very clear strategy, and found that our own business plan with detailed financial projections has been very useful for us to give direction.

We will be providing a personal service through a range of key areas including buy-to-let, expanding landlords’ existing portfolios, taking control of portfolios on behalf of landlords and guiding investors through the maze of lettings, as well as acting almost like a 'sister' company to existing agencies which don't have a lettings arm.

Between us, we have a range of experience that will help us to deliver our strategy at Mint. We have experience in specialist surveying, accountancy, business start up strategy planning and advertising/publishing – all of which will help up to provide our clients with the best possible level of service and guidance.

Mint officially launched this month, so currently we are extremely busy! One of the first things that we have decided to do before launch is to invest in some great software and modern technology. After discussing the options with friends already in the estate agency business, we were recommended Vebra.

We have decided to use Vebra's software almost as a third employee. The software literally runs the day to day/admin side of the business whilst we can focus on giving a personal service. The fact that Vebra is market-leading gives a great association for Mint and brings us peace of mind that we can trust the software.

We really want to grow the Mint brand and reputation to a great level of customer service. In order to help us achieve our goals, we will need to bring through people through the business that will share our vision and ethics. We don’t envisage employing any staff until the spring 2008, but we are looking forward to the process when it arises.

We don't really forecast any major problems at this stage as we believe our strategy is clear and our goals are achievable, but find out what challenges we face in our next blog in February!