Running a Management Company

How do you grow your homeowners’ association (HOA) management company without adding more staff? Sooner or later, you’ll be asking yourself this question. Good HOA managers eventually reach a point where they’re ready to take on more clients and expand their profits.

However, hiring new staff isn’t always the best move for your business. Growing your company can be like balancing on a tightrope. If you bring on a new staff member before your company can sustain them, your growth will flatline or potentially even backslide. A new hire can help you gain new clients. But the income these clients generate may not be enough money to cover the employee’s salary — or they may cover it, but leave no profit for the company overall.

Expanding your HOA management business without adding new staff is a common question. There’s no universal answer. Every HOA management company is different, so the way you guide your company may not work for someone else, and vice versa. However, there are certain strategies that anyone can implement to grow business without hiring.

Try these five strategies to expand your association management company without hiring new employees for your business.

#1. Change Your Pricing

Begin by looking at your price model. Increasing your prices can make a significant impact on your company’s profits. Similarly, offering a discount or other promotion to new clients can help you acquire more business. These are simple yet highly effective steps.

Look to your competitors. What do other HOA management businesses charge in your area? Do your competitors manage associations that are more or less the same size as your clients? Do you have the same job duties and provide the same services? Try to gather as much data as you can about other association management companies.

Then, it’s time to tweak your pricing. Determine how much you can reasonably raise your prices without upsetting your clients or scaling back on the services you provide. Depending on how many clients you have, you may only need a small price increase to see significant results on your bottom line.

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#2. Rebrand with a Specialty

Next, consider rebranding. What sets your HOA management company apart? Most association management businesses offer the same services for their clients: financial services, logistics, operations, and project management for the association and its members. How can you make your approach to these services unique?

For example, if you live in a region that experiences severe winter weather, you could learn about “winterizing” HOA properties and make this your specialty. Then, rebrand as a company that specializes in managing associations during snowstorms and other extreme conditions. Alternatively, your specialty could emphasize some aspect of your company’s “personality,” such as friendly service.

It may take you some time to experiment with your company’s brand. Before rebranding, ask trusted friends, family members, and colleagues for their opinions. You could even do an online poll on social media.

#3. Implement a New Marketing Strategy

Whether or not you decide to rebrand your association management company with a specialty, one way to grow your business without adding more staff is through marketing. A new marketing strategy can be one of the most powerful, effective ways to grow your business.

Depending on your budget, consider buying ads in trade publications in your local market. You could also research the locations of new housing developments and pay for bench ads nearby. This is an opportunity to get creative and think outside the box for how to grow your HOA management company without adding more staff.

If you don’t have the funds for a whole new marketing campaign, you can still grow your company through social media. Create social media accounts for your business and start posting content that relates to your target audience. This can be one of the best ways to acquire new clients.

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#4. Build Your Professional Network

You can also help your business expand by building your professional network. Get involved with your community chamber of commerce or attend local networking events. Most regions have regular meetups for entrepreneurs and small business owners, so don’t be shy.

Additionally, you can reach out to vendors who work adjacent to your industry. For example, get to know local carpenters, electricians, plumbers, landscape gardeners, and other individuals whose work relates to homes and apartment buildings. Let them know you’d like to hire them when your clients need work done. This will encourage them to refer you to any associations they may come across in their own line of work.

Some HOA managers also have success networking with real estate agents who specialize in association properties and condominiums. Get to know the brokers in your area. Then, they’ll think of you when one of their clients needs a manager.

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#5. Invest in Software

Finally, make sure you’re working smarter, not harder. One of the best ways to do this is to invest in association management software like CINC Systems. With CINC Systems, you can automate many of the daily tasks involved with managing your clients’ HOAs.

For example, CINC Systems allows you to create an online web portal for processing resident payments and work orders. Residents can pay fees and submit work order requests electronically. Then, you can process these items automatically. This is a huge time-saver because you won’t need to go to the bank or deal with excess paperwork.

By reducing the time spent on “busy work,” you free yourself up to do more for your existing clients and add new clients to your roster. This is one of the most effective ways to grow your HOA management company without adding new staff. The price of new association management software is well worth the investment.

Grow Your HOA Management Company with CINC Systems

When you’re ready to grow your association management business without expanding your employee payroll, make the switch to CINC Systems. CINC Systems gives your company powerful tools to work more efficiently and increase profits. Click here for a free software demo.

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Today, more and more businesses are working remotely. Remote work offers multiple benefits for employees, managers, and clients alike. Can an association management company work remotely? Absolutely. In fact, operating your homeowners’ association (HOA) or condominium association (COA) management business as a remote company is a smart move.

As an association management company owner, you’ll save money, work more efficiently, and experience increased levels of productivity. Your employees will experience a better work-life balance, which has been shown to improve health and lead to a stronger work ethic. Your HOA/COA clients then benefit because you and your company can offer improved service.

If you’re starting a new HOA/COA management company or thinking about transitioning your current company to a remote model, here are some tips to help you manage your company remotely.

Promote a Professional Culture

Many people assume that working remotely means working in your pajamas all day with the TV on in the background. Although working from home isn’t as formal as working in an office, it’s important to cultivate a professional atmosphere even when you’re working remotely.

One of the downsides to working remotely is that it can be harder to focus when you don’t have a team around you to keep you motivated. If you’re not used to working remotely, it can be distracting. By promoting a professional culture within your remote association management company, you help avoid this.

Encourage everyone on your team to treat their remote job with the same level of professionalism as an office job. Set regular working hours, even if they’re evenings instead of 9-to-5, and be consistent with this schedule.

If you or your employees live with family or roommates, make sure to communicate that you’re unavailable during these working hours. Respect these boundaries no matter what. Consistency is key to working remotely.

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Use Instant Messaging

Another way to help manage an association company remotely is to use instant messaging. Many remote companies use apps like Slack, Discord, and Google Hangouts to communicate with one another during work time.

These instant messaging apps act as a virtual office. You can see who’s online and get caught up on all the latest news pertaining to different clients or different projects by checking into specific chat channels.

It’s important to check in with your remote HOA/COA management team every day that you’re working. This helps keep everyone on task and fosters team building.

Manage Projects Online

In addition to an instant messaging service, another great way to manage your HOA/COA company remotely is to use an online project manager. There are multiple ways to do this. Apps like Trello, Asana, Airtable, and Google Suite give your company the ability to track projects online.

You can break each project down by category or client, then add detailed steps, supporting documents, and due dates. Your team members will receive email alerts or notifications when projects are due. As a manager, you can track their progress online.

Using an online service to track projects for your remote HOA/COA management company streamlines communication. Instead of asking your employees to give you constant updates, you can simply go to the project manager and see the status of their work.

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Use Association Management Software

Another very important tool for a remote association management company is cloud-based association management software. Using cloud-based association management software, you’ll be able to assist your clients with virtually all aspects of HOA/COA management.

Association management software like CINC Systems allows you to go mobile and work from anywhere. You and your team members don’t even need to install anything. Simply log in to your account from any computer or tablet to access your clients’ HOA/COA data.

Association management software usually includes powerful tools for HOA/COA accounting, as well as basic options such as client information profiles. One of the most valuable tools for a remote HOA/COA management company is automatic bank reconciliation.

Automatic bank reconciliation means that you can sync each of your client’s financial accounts to your HOA/COA management software dashboard. Then, you can access their accounts online in one convenient location. This means you can manage your client’s finances remotely without going to a bank.

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Collect Fees Online

Similarly, another way to manage an association company remotely is to use your HOA/COA management software to set up a web portal for online fee collection. In the past, it would have been very difficult to work remotely as an HOA/COA manager because you needed to be on-site to collect checks from residents, then take these checks to the bank.

With HOA/COA management software, you can accept payments for your client online via credit card or e-check. The money is automatically deposited and you can even generate a list of individuals who are behind on payments.

Residents love being able to make remote payments because it’s less work for them, too.

Process Work Orders Electronically

In addition to processing association payments remotely, you can use your HOA/COA management software for work orders. When a resident notices something in a common area that needs repairing or maintenance, they can take a photo of the issue and upload it directly to the web portal.

Then, from your remote office, you’ll receive the work order and can arrange to have the work completed. You can organize work orders for greater efficiency and send status updates to the resident who submitted the ticket. When the work has been completed, you can even pay the contractor’s invoice remotely.

Manage Your HOA/COA Company Remotely with CINC Systems

When you work remotely, everyone wins. It’s better for you, your employees, your clients, and even the environment — after all, there’s no need for a long commute by car if your “office” is your spare bedroom! With the tips above, you’ll be able to manage your HOA/COA company remotely with ease.

Click here for a free software demo and see how CINC Systems helps remote association management companies.

Call 855.943.8246 or complete a contact form