x

Nick Neill

2056 Profile Views

About Me

Experience in retail financial services, Marketing, Operations Management, Sales Management, Strategy Development.
Recently a EweMove franchisee in York for 3.5 years. Now MD and 'Head Shepherd of Ewemove UK

my expertise in the industry

Ewemove franchisee since Jan 2014 and MD of Ewemove since June 2017

Nick's Recent Activity

It's definitely a case of 'horses for courses', or 'each to their own'. Some people want job security so they can apply for mortgages (see above) and this is a good point, as in the early years of business ownership, securing a mortgage can be a little more tricky, but not impossible. Others want the freedom to work without a boss looking over their shoulder, and by taking a risk to run their own business, are happy to do so, on the basis of earnign a bigger income. For EweMove franchisees, we see them charge between 1.0-1.5% +VAT typically on an average house value of £325k. And they then tend to achieve a minimum 50% net margin on their business, compared to traditional independent high street operators who report c20%. So if you complete 1 house per week, that's easily north of £100k income annually, with the potential to earn much more, build a lettings portfolio for long-term recurring income and then, when you get bored, selling your asset for a good lump sum. All this provides an attractive alternative to the employment model with pensions and holidays. As any successful business owner will report, once you've done it, you'll never seek out an employed role again. That sums it up really!

From: Nick Neill 07 November 2021 17:55 PM

Thanks Bob Thinking the Unthinkable is a great thing to do, but not easy. Which to a certain extent we've all had to cope with during lockdown. I saw a great GIF recently that read, 'Anyone who was asked in 2015 what they will be doing in 5 years time was probably wholly wrong'. Or at least - how they will be doing it. Not the ideal trigger for a business model review, but a trigger nonetheless!

From: Nick Neill 02 December 2020 10:54 AM

No, I never stop thinking!! 😀

From: Nick Neill 01 December 2020 17:29 PM

No offence taken Shaun at all! The comparison to retail is simply to highlight the point that (as in any business), you adapt or die. As Charles Darwin is often quoted to have said, 'it is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself'

From: Nick Neill 01 December 2020 14:11 PM

Can't argue with that! And 'what's in it for them', ins't just the sale of their home for the best price - it's also their move and purchase of their next place to live and the journey between the two. Agency is easy and fun right up to the point you get an acceptable offer, then the hard work really starts and being close to your customer and building a strong relationship to deal with the inevitable hurdles along the way is what truly separates the wheat from the chaff - and is where your deserved premium fee is justified.

From: Nick Neill 01 December 2020 11:06 AM

I think the COVID-19 lockdown, where every agent in the UK had to become a home-based agent - overnight - and the customer had to accept that too - means that we will see an acceleration of already moving shift to personal agency!

From: Nick Neill 01 December 2020 11:02 AM

Personal service is the foundation of good customer service, I agree, which is the fundamental basis on which the EweMove model is built. Our tech layer sits behind our franchisees so they can maximise their 'face time' with customers - not hide behind the tech! As we all know, great estate agents are great with customers and this is where all business model design should be focussed, allowing good people to do what they do best, for the most time possible....And make the stuff behind the scenes as efficient and seamless as possible, as this delivers Net Margins of c60% for our franchised business owners, compared to c10-30% for a typical traditional set-up. I think we've got it right, but there is of course more we could do. We won Best National Letting Agent in 2019 and came in the Top3% of all sales agents. In 2020 we won #1 UK position for both titles, so we're getting better - and that's tough do achieve across a broad UK wide network - but we know we can do more as some of the top class boutique independents still show us all the lessons to be learned for the future.

From: Nick Neill 01 December 2020 10:26 AM

A very good observation which I agree with - giving customers what they want, when they want it, is the future of almost every business undertaking.

From: Nick Neill 01 December 2020 10:19 AM

A great summary - Improving Service Delivery is what it takes. And combine this with better commercial outcomes for the customer too and you're on to a winner!

From: Nick Neill 01 December 2020 10:17 AM

Hi Simon - the EweMove model is what I would regard as 'premium' in that we offer a very close customer relationship throughout the transaction which delivers a number of customer focussed and commercial outcomes, which are: - We sell houses for more money that an 'average' agent (according to 20EA data analysis) - We sell more quickly than an average agent (same data analysis) - We lose less stock to competitors than anyone else (same data analysis) - We complete over 70% of the stock we list, compared to

From: Nick Neill 01 December 2020 10:15 AM

Hi Agent sensible. it was well over 18 months (or more) since our last letter campaign, and any emails that are sent to people in our database of interested franchisees are to subscribers to our database - or via eshots from the likes of Estate Agent Today. So everything could only ever be received from us if it has been accepted as part of an individual's marketing preferences / choices. So if any emails are received by your staff it must only be for these reasons but happy to look at supressing any recipients of yours if you'd like me to?

From: Nick Neill 01 December 2020 10:09 AM

Wise words Chris. 100% Agree.

From: Nick Neill 22 June 2020 08:59 AM

Morning Matthew - the context of the statement is one of general observation, in that the lock-down has leveled the operational nature of our businesses, as opposed to high streets, offices, working from home etc. It's certainly not an insensitive statement by any means.

From: Nick Neill 11 May 2020 09:22 AM

Thanks Mark, that's great feedback to hear and our listings are just one aspect we strive to make stand-out every time, so glad you noticed! Cheers. Nick

From: Nick Neill 11 May 2020 09:19 AM

Absolutely brilliant to see Matt take on a new EweMove franchise after working so hard at the Sheep Pen over the last 12 months!

From: Nick Neill 16 September 2019 14:03 PM

An honest, open and engaging company and team, with a very innovative product, and we've been pleased with the results of our trial over recent months. Good luck to everyone at Homesearch and I look forward to seeing how this develops further......

From: Nick Neill 06 June 2019 08:53 AM

Thank you Jack. Much appreciated.

From: Nick Neill 24 August 2018 16:25 PM

Hi Chris. All our training is free. The 'sad truth' is that you seem to be commenting on matters you are ill-informed about. . We do not use training as a revenue stream so not sure why you made such an assumption. I see KW has 150 properties for sale according to Zoopla. Whereas we have over 1,100. And that volume cycles 6-7 times across the year, so our franchisees make great money thankyou and we deliver the best level of customer service in the UK too. Back in 2015 KW has aspirations to grow to 30 - 40 franchisees in 5 to 7 years https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/10/keller-williams-uk-agency-franchise-to-expand-to-30-market-centres . How's that going? We got to 120 in 4 years if you wish to use that as a comparison guide.

From: Nick Neill 23 August 2018 11:25 AM

Hi Ben - not sure my own story can be regarded as a load of rubbish? And if your qualification of appraising EweMove is from the perspective of a Third Party then that's an equally poor basis on which to make such an appraisal. Given that we're the only property franchise company with a 5 Star Smith+Henderson rating, which is rating given to us, independently, by our franchisees, I think you need to check your sources and do your research before you comment on matters you clearly seem to know nothing about.

From: Nick Neill 23 August 2018 11:11 AM

Is this really a newsworthy article, or just the need to have a Purple Bricks 'daily' story.

From: Nick Neill 10 August 2018 08:41 AM

Welcome Chris - great to have you in the team as part of the growing Flock!

From: Nick Neill 16 February 2018 13:35 PM

Breaking News