Carl Mirauer

Full transcript: Carl Mirauer on London Real

0:03 I’m here with Carl, our recent graduate of the Business Accelerator. Carl, tell us about you. Okay, well, I’m a property guy, I suppose, essentially. I’m investor and developer, and for about 11 years I was an estate agent as well. So kind of started my agency career and working for an expanded corporate agency, learning the ropes.

0:30 And shortly after then, a colleague and I at the time, we decided to venture out on our own, set up our own agency, which we ran successfully for about five and a half years. And we kind of hit a point where that partnership went separate ways, and he kind of left me with a bit of a situation where I just had a new baby a few months ago, we had the big mortgage, the wife’s then, “Come on, what’s happening now?”

1:01 And you have to kind of make that decision of, so, I’ll go and get another job, or do I create a job for myself again? And it was good having a bit of support there, because my wife said to me, “Do you want to go and get a job or do you really want to make this business work?” “I do want to start a new company.” “Sure, right, well, I’ll support you a hundred percent, but you bloody better make it work.” So yeah, it’s kind of fuel to the fire to really get you going.

1:25 Started from scratch, and kind of felt that the reasons that I’ve been put in that position before was that I’d got quite complacent with what I was doing. I’d not really been educating myself properly. Kind of finished my university thing and drew a line under it, and really I should have been learning new stuff, reaching out to people that were in the industry that I was in, try and find out new information and trying to grow that way.

1:55 So that was kind of the start of my journey on that path towards self-education, and I suppose that time was coming into 2013, about the time that I started listening to London Real. So diving into podcasts and attending courses, seminars, all that sort of stuff that really kind of helped me on that entrepreneurial journey.

2:16 So I guess it was about three years after the start of that latest company, that must have been about, yeah, this time last year. So we’ve had three years of decent trading, successful little business, but around this time of year, although we were talking about New Year’s resolutions, although I didn’t set any resolution that year, it was kind of a time to reflect.

2:40 And I thought about the business that we had, and although it was successful, it just wasn’t really fulfilling, and I don’t know, made me want to make a bit of a change there. So someone gave me a little task that was actually really quite powerful, and what it was, they said rather than write a New Year’s resolution, because you tend not to kind of stick to them, I think that’s because you feel you should be rather than really want to, they said write down what your values are and what you want your legacy to be.

3:13 See, something different, kind of questions. And then I’ve written that down, I kind of looked at it and thought, the answer, it’s not about me, it’s about what I can do for other people. And again, the topic that we’ve discussed as well. So that was really a sort of turning point for me, kind of to then think, how can I use what I’m good at and what I enjoy to serve as many people as possible?

3:37 And so I’ve come sort of on this path now where, from this year, I’ve been really sort of interested in the concept of co-living and co-working. I think that’s the future of property. Not necessarily co-living and co-working, but properties based around community. I think a lot of businesses anyway, there’s a community at the heart of it to make it successful.

4:02 So I’ve spent a lot of time delving into this side of property development, and made the decision this year to sell the agency. So that’s done, and it’s a new chapter. So I hung up my estate agent jacket and focus full-time on making a community that we can actually put into one of these spaces. Nice. And why London Real?

4:27 Well, why London Real, why the Business Accelerator? Well, as I said, the community element of this property project is something very different to me. It’s not just about the bricks and mortar, and having seen what you guys have done, starting out from that first Dan Peña event, and then seeing the Academy developed, and then seeing it coming away from the podcast to what it is now with the media company, the community there.

4:58 And looking at something like this, the focus group, and when you get a group of people together like that that have all got that energy, incredible things actually start happening because of that. So it was kind of wanting to replicate what you guys have done with your systems and your business to create that sort of vibe in that community, because I think it’s essential to the project that I want to do.

5:22 And what made you finally go ahead and decide to pull the trigger? Because it’s an investment of money and time, and you probably had other options that you could have gone for. What made you decide to just go for it? It just felt that it was the right thing to do. I could see what you guys have done using that method, and I could see that it works. I trusted you guys, I knew you guys from before anyway, and I just knew it wouldn’t be a letdown.

5:52 And one of the guys that I knew through London Real had already done the Business Accelerator and spoke to me about it, said it was great. So I had full confidence it was the right thing to do anyway. And what were the first few weeks like? What struck you, what challenged you, what did you notice of other people? It is challenging.

6:10 I think the main challenge for me was just overcoming that fear, this sort of discomfort of broadcasting yourself. And as you said, you’ve got to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and I think that was a really good kind of takeaway from the first couple of weeks, and just getting past that barrier of really caring what friends, family think about you posting content.

6:37 But initially, I think one of the nice things is that you’ve got a really safe environment to trial it first, whereas without that sort of community and without the group element to it, if you’re just posting straight out there into the wide world, it’s probably a little bit more daunting than having a small group of people to just try it on first and then release it. But you have to release it. Yeah, yeah.

7:04 And what about the community? What surprised you? There’s just so much good energy there, always is, and I don’t quite know how you guys do that, but those songs that were tactic there, that seems to be working so well, because the people you manage to get into the group, they’ve just been phenomenal. Really good support, such good ideas, so many different businesses as well.

7:27 It’s not that they’re all from the same kind of background with the same niche. They’ve all got so many different ideas, but they’ve kind of got a common connection together, that they all just want to push each other forward. Really good. What did you struggle with? Yeah, scripting out the initial bit, probably module zero, that was actually the hardest bit for me.

7:54 The techie stuff, the social media stuff, I had some familiarity with it, but when you have to kind of go really strip it back down to why you’re doing it, and getting everything out on paper and laying out what your business is, yes, it’s hard. It’s worthwhile, I mean, it’s essential to do it, but that was the one that I really had to expend the most energy on, that kind of digging down to your core values and what you’re really about.

8:20 Yeah, yeah. What do you think are the biggest takeaways? What do you think you’ll be using for the next years of your life that you learned on the course? I mean, one of the really nice things about it is that the group is evergreen. We’ve still got those people there that we can be in contact with, so everyone’s got a different skill set, and that was evident on the course as well.

8:45 Someone would come up with a problem, and it wouldn’t necessarily be something that the team at London Real would step in with straight away. Someone else would say, “I’ve had the same thing,” and bang, they’ve got the solution straight there. So having that group to kind of go back to, and the connections that you’ve made with the people, I think is the best thing about it.

9:02 But yeah, I mean, takeaways from it, “good” is another one. Can you explain that? Yeah, yeah, the Jocko Willink saying. So you might encounter a problem with your autoresponder, it’s not sending out at the right time. Good. Learn how to fix it, get better skills, and obviously, yeah, see the positive in the negative there. So yeah, it’s just overcoming those challenges and not seeing it as too much of a barrier that’s actually going to stop you.

9:33 Are you using any of that stuff in your life? Yeah, I mean, a lot of people have said that as well, and it’s not necessarily just a business accelerator, but it covers all aspects of your life as well. And there’s been some other things where it does transfer, and I’m trying to actually put that into practice with my daughter. She’s just started school, and she’s doing homework, and she’s doing all that sort of stuff.

10:04 And sometimes I see those frustrations with her, and it’s quite nice to put that information to get you there, and try and get her to sort of see past it. And if I can say that, “Good, I know it’s a Friday, you’ve been set homework, but do it anyway.” So things like that. How old is she? Well, she’s five, so don’t push her too hard on that, but in the right doses it’s good medicine.

10:28 Did she get the concept of “good”? A little bit, well, kind of. You might have to sort of do it in different ways to get it across, but for me it’s the whole principle, you know, perhaps don’t let it just chuck you down with a small obstacle; push past it. Yeah, my daughter started saying “good” when she’s making fun of me, adopting Jocko-isms. Well, yeah, it’s funny.

10:51 Like, just the concept of resistance, or using that word “good,” it’s just a great way to get down on the same level as the problem, and just to recognise it as an obstacle and not get emotional about it. So it’s like, okay, this is just something that’s in my way. There’s always going to be things in your way, so let’s just treat it unemotionally. It’s just something I should expect.

11:14 And so many times people will just get emotional and throw, “Oh, there’s nothing that works for me, I was never good at this.” No, it’s just resistance, and that’s what keeps everyone else from doing it. Just plod through it. And then the “good” concept of just being like, okay, well, I can reframe this in a positive way. I mean, those challenges, they’re not personal, it’s just an obstacle.

11:37 So if you see it like that and have that third-person perspective outside of the situation, then you can normally push past it a bit more easily. Yeah, and part of the reason we designed the courses is because we do want people to be challenged and to be overloaded with work and hit with technical problems and hit with self-esteem issues and fear of what their friends are going to think of the vlog.

12:02 So there’s something that will get pretty much anyone, because somebody is bad at one of those things. And it is intense. I mean, you’ve got eight weeks of bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, it’s something different every week. So a lot of the time you might fall behind with one certain aspect, but you’ve just got to pick yourself up, carry on with the next one, and then you might have to revisit that in the same week, so you’ve got double work to do.

12:24 And a lot of people, they had the issue of getting halfway through and just rethinking the entire business model, and be like, “I’m going back to the start.” And fair play to the people that have pushed through that as well, because that’s massive, to have done all that work to that point and then, right, scrap that idea and start again.

12:46 I think that’s one of the things that impressed me most about the people in the group there, that some of them coming in with no idea at all about what business they want to actually push forward, and to go from zero to having actual revenue within eight weeks is pretty damn impressive. Yeah, you’ve built a business, you know, that’s hard to do.

13:09 Yes, it is impressive, and I was massively impressed. I think twenty-some of the students recorded revenues on the course in eight weeks, and like you said, some of them had no idea. Yeah, and the funny thing is some of them had no idea their intellectual property was worth any money. And so I think we had a musician, Connor, on the course, and it really blew his mind, this whole perspective on his old industry and even the work he does.

13:34 Yeah, I remember him saying there’s a certain element, something where there’s like a guilt around earning money from what they’re good at, and that was a big, big change for him, where it’s okay to charge something for your services. Yes, it was, yeah, it’s nice to see him push past that. Yeah, that’s another challenge in the course, is marketing yourself and selling, because a lot of people have a lot of hang-ups about doing that stuff.

13:57 Where would you be now if you hadn’t taken the course, and just kind of, don’t know, what you were doing for the last three months? I’d be six months behind, really. And now, I would be doing it slowly, steadily, I would still be doing it, but that course has really shown me that you can achieve stuff in a much shorter time frame than you initially think you can.

14:21 So for me, really, moving forward, it’s going to be building that community as well, because there’s two elements to the project that I’m working on. There’s the real estate side of it, but then it’s the community side of it. And if the real estate project is going to take two years for the doors to actually open, you’ve got to have something in between now and then that bridges that gap.

14:44 And so you need to establish that community and actually develop a revenue model, develop the proof that there’s going to be occupants for the property at that time. So I think I would probably be well behind on the community side of it by now, and more sort of focused on the property side, if I hadn’t done this course. But it’s really opened my eyes to driving that other side of the business now.

15:08 Yeah, it’s very powerful to hear you say that, because it’s an important part of your project in a big way. For anyone watching who’s on the fence, not sure whether to hit the accelerator or not? They’re probably on the fence because it feels uncomfortable, and there’s nothing amazing that happens inside that comfort zone. So just stepping outside of it a little bit, it may be a little bit painful, but the payoff is worth it.

15:33 And I think if you’re on the fence, you kind of know that, and it’s just that little bit of fear. But if you push past that, it will be hard. It’s not that you’re going to go into it and it’s just going to be a breeze, but that’s the point. I don’t think you learn anything from it if it’s all easy, then you kind of know it already. So it’s definitely, take the plunge, it would definitely be worth it.

15:56 And your next year, what does it look like? What’s the future of your development? Yeah, it’s going to be hectic. It’s going to be a lot of broadcasting as well. It’s going to be a bit of a different year, so it’s not so much behind the scenes on the property side, and I’m going to be putting myself out there a bit more and really connecting with more people.

16:14 And I think I really enjoy that side of it even more now, because it’s something that you really have to work on. It’s a skill like any other, but it’s one that’s massively rewarding, and it’s really helped me with that side of it, this course. So yeah, there’s going to be more videos with me, I think.

16:37 I’m so happy to hear that, Carl, because I remember you came by here about three months ago in the studio, and you’re like, “I don’t know if I should take this course,” and I’m like, “You definitely should.” And at the time you were talking about property a lot, and yet, like you said, the community is what makes spaces, especially the ones you’re building.

16:59 And now just to hear you saying that, and the fact that you’re going to be building a community and creating more media, you’ve definitely understood and got a lot out of this course, because you weren’t using that language. Even in the first couple weeks it was like, “Yeah, Brian, but it’s the property, it’s the property,” as any good property guy would talk. But the fact that you’re realising this, man, I think it’s super powerful.

17:21 And I’ll tell you, if you get the community right, I almost believe the property is the easy part. Yeah, and so, yeah, I know, I entirely agree. You need the club before you have the clubhouse. Carl, you’ve been an early adopter of London Real, hugely. It’s been just so awesome, and it’s been a real, I don’t know, it’s, you know, having someone like you invest in us early on is a big deal.

17:47 And I remember you at the Dan Peña event, and you were the first guys in the Academy, you’re the first guys to buy our live event stuff, and it’s always meant a ton to us. So thanks for continuing with us on this journey. And being in the focus group last night, and yeah, it doesn’t go unnoticed by me or the whole team, so thank you for that. And it’s a pleasure, and you do that because it’s awesome.

18:03 So keep up the good work. Thank you. Carl, I want to see you broadcasting and vlogging, and I can’t wait to see this property, and let us know how we can be involved. Next week, the focus group, great thing. Good, Carl, thank you.