Five-Star Brand Coaching - Feedback from Shore Thing Property Services
Updated: Oct 17
There’s nothing quite like being told you’ve given someone’s business the “spa day treatment”. That was how Shore Thing Property Services described their recent experience working with Stephen at House Style — and we think it sums up rather nicely what good business and brand coaching can achieve.
Shore Thing Property Services is a Plymouth and Cornwall property operations business built around a refreshingly simple promise: property problems, sorted.
Supporting letting agents, holiday-let operators and property owners, the business brings together three complementary services — Maintain | Clean | Manage — providing clients with one dependable team and a single point of accountability for looking after their properties.
Behind that simple proposition is a great deal of experience. Shore Thing combines hands-on landlord knowledge, technical maintenance expertise and strong financial oversight to deliver everything from responsive maintenance and turnover care to property inspections and ongoing operational management.
The foundations of a strong business were already firmly in place.
The challenge was finding the time and space to step away from running it and think about what came next.
When Running the Business Gets in the Way of Building the Business
It’s a familiar situation for many small business owners.When customers need looking after, jobs need completing and everyday problems need solving, the immediate demands of the business naturally come first. Before long, you can find yourself spending so much time working in the business that there is very little opportunity to work on it. That was exactly the position Shore Thing found itself in.As their five-star Google review explained:
“As a small business owner, I was so busy firefighting everyday issues that I lost sight of my branding and the overall direction of the business. When you're stuck in the day-to-day grind, it’s all too easy to lose track of the big picture.”
And in property operations, “firefighting” can sometimes be rather more literal than it is for most businesses.When your reputation is built on being responsive and getting property problems sorted, stepping away from the daily operation isn't always easy. But sometimes that step back is exactly what a growing business needs.
Giving the Business the “Spa Day Treatment”
Shore Thing came to House Style for the opportunity to take stock, challenge some existing thinking and create greater clarity around the business and its brand. Or, as they put it:
“A massive thank you to Stephen for giving my Property Maintenance business the ‘spa day treatment.’”
We may have to borrow that description. Because while “spa day treatment” isn't an official House Style service just yet, the principle behind it is spot on. This wasn't about changing the business for the sake of it. It was about taking what was already working, looking at it with fresh eyes and creating a clearer connection between the quality of the operation and the way the business presents itself to the outside world. Shore Thing has a strong proposition. Rather than property owners and operators having to coordinate different maintenance contractors, cleaners and management support, Shore Thing brings those requirements together.
Maintain | Clean | Manage.
One trusted local team, practical systems and one point of accountability.
That joined-up approach helps protect property standards, guest experiences and ultimately the long-term value of the assets Shore Thing's clients entrust to them.
Our job was to help bring greater clarity and focus to that proposition and the direction behind it.
From a Step Back to a 12-Month Plan
A productive coaching session shouldn't end with a whiteboard full of ideas and no idea what happens next. The important part is turning the thinking into action.
As Shore Thing explained:
“Stepping back and talking everything through with Stephen was invaluable. It gave me the breathing room to hit reset. Together, we built a clear 12-month plan to refine our branding, sharpen our direction, and streamline operations.”
That 12-month perspective matters. Not everything needs to happen tomorrow.
For an owner-managed business, trying to tackle the brand, marketing, systems, operations and growth simultaneously is usually a recipe for ending up back where you started — firefighting. A clear plan creates priorities. It helps identify what needs attention now, what comes next and how individual improvements contribute to the bigger ambition for the business. Most importantly, it gives the owner a direction to keep coming back to when everyday demands inevitably compete for attention.
Great Businesses Still Need to Tell Their Story
There was another line in Shore Thing's review that particularly resonated with us:
“When you’re running a business solo, you can offer the best service or product in the world, but if your branding and marketing aren’t up to scratch, no one will know about it.”
Exactly. Branding isn't about making a mediocre business look good.
At its best, branding helps a good business communicate just how good it actually is. For Shore Thing, there is a strong story to tell: real property experience, practical technical expertise, dependable local delivery and a joined-up service that removes the headache of managing multiple contractors.
The opportunity is to make sure prospective clients understand that as clearly as existing customers experience it.
Because “property problems, sorted” isn't simply a marketing line.
It captures what Shore Thing is building its business around: making property ownership and operation easier by taking responsibility for the things that otherwise consume an owner's or operator's time.
Ready for the Next 12 Months
We're delighted to have played a part in helping Shore Thing Property Services take that step back, hit reset and put a clearer plan in place for the next stage of the business. And we're extremely grateful for the five-star feedback:
“Highly recommend his guidance!”
Thank you to Shore Thing Property Services for trusting Stephen and House Style with the process. We're looking forward to seeing where the next 12 months takes the business. And if you're a small business owner who has become so busy sorting everyone else's problems that you've stopped finding time to think about your own business, perhaps it's time for a “spa day” of your own.
Comments