From Solopreneur to Scaling: Overcoming growing pains in your HMO business

Via HMO Roadmap

When you are doing everything yourself in your HMO business, there comes a tipping point where you realise that if you want to buy more properties then you can’t continue to be a lone wolf. 

Usually this realisation comes when you’re heading towards burnout or you’ve become a full-time property manager instead of property investor. 

But if you’re serious about growing beyond a one-person operation, you may find that your biggest obstacle to success isn’t external…it’s you. As my mentor once said, “Sometimes you just need to get out of your own way for things to flow.”

I want to share some key lessons I’ve learned from working with many landlords and from managing my own rental properties, particularly HMOs, over the last decade. These lessons have been instrumental in helping me shift from being a solo Virtual Assistant to running a larger, more efficient VA agency supported by a team.

Lesson 1: Start with a clear plan

When we started with our first 4-bedroom HMO back in 2015, we didn’t have a clearly defined plan beyond buying the property, renting it out, and looking for the next one. If I could go back, I’d be much more specific about what we were looking to achieve.

One of the most important things I’ve learned is the power of writing down your goals. Whether you’re buying for yield or cash-flow, the act of putting your vision on paper makes it real and forces you to think about the steps required to get there, including who you will need to help you. It turns a vague idea into a tangible plan, which can be incredibly powerful in shaping your path forward.

Lesson 2: Relax your grip

As strange as it sounds, sometimes you need to let go of your initial vision to make room for something better. When we first bought the HMO, I had a naive, perhaps romanticised picture of what the house would look like, how it would function, and how tenants would live in harmony. For the first six months, we kept finding reasons to visit the property, checking on things and “managing” the house.

It wasn’t until a tenant bluntly told me that our frequent visits were making everyone uncomfortable that I realised my mistake. I was so attached to my ‘idea of the house’ that I was getting in the way of letting tenants just live there. I had to let go of my initial vision and trust others to manage day-to-day reality, which was a major lesson in delegating and letting go of control.

If you’re holding on tightly to the way you’ve always done things, the more strain you will feel as the business tries to outgrow you. 

Lesson 3: Don’t overestimate your ability to do everything (or stop believing you’re Superman!)

When you’re managing a growing portfolio, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you can do it all. Sure, Excel can be your friend, but many property owners I’ve worked with, including myself, found themselves turning into “admin slaves” rather than portfolio builders

Nobody gets into property investing because they love handling ASTs, tenant messages, and compliance issues. But managing these efficiently becomes critical as your portfolio grows. One missed gas safety certificate can lead to fines that wipe out an entire year’s profits. It is inescapable, good systems are essential.

Lesson 4: And don’t underestimate the efficiency of an experienced team

The other common complacency is to think the way you do it can’t be improved upon and that you know best. Working with someone with more experience than you in a particular field, i.e. lettings legislation or student tenant management, quickly reveals what efficiency of focus and breadth of experience can bring, accomplishing more in less time, sparking the realisation that what takes you 20-30 hours per month to manage can likely be done more efficiently by an experienced VA in half the time.

Lesson 5: Build a team – and learn how to manage them

As your portfolio or business grows, you’ll need a team to handle the various functions. This might mean working with VAs, contractors, or other remote staff. A skilled Virtual Assistant can be an incredible asset, but there’s a challenge: how do you avoid micromanaging them or treating them like a full-time employee?

The key is to make clear your expectations but respect their time and boundaries. Many VAs work for multiple clients, carving out specific hours each day for their tasks but remaining flexible for emergencies. If you’re paying them for just 1-2 hours a day, it’s important to decide between you how you communicate, how often, and what is an acceptable response time. This avoids treating them like they’re on call 24/7. Establish clear communication lines, trust in their expertise, and respect the boundaries of the relationship. 

Lesson 6: Define roles and responsibilities

As you build a team, another challenge is defining roles and responsibilities clearly. Without this, it’s easy for work to happen in silos, where team members don’t communicate effectively or tasks overlap, creating inefficiencies and low morale. Establishing clear job descriptions and accountability helps ensure that everyone knows what they are responsible for and prevents miscommunication. It’s important to think about what sort of culture you would like to foster within your team, and how a strong team culture can positively impact your tenants and properties.

Conclusion: Growing pains are real, but worth it

The transition from being a one-(wo)man band to leading a business supported by a team isn’t easy. It requires relinquishing some of your responsibility, trusting others and being willing to adapt to fresh ideas. But these growing pains are necessary if you want to scale beyond what you can do alone.

By creating a clear vision, establishing systems, and building a team that you trust, you can grow your business sustainably and free up your time to focus on what’s important to you. After all, isn’t that why you got into property in the first place?

Ready to stop doing everything yourself? Let us help you build a team that fits your needs. You can book a call with us through The HMO Roadmap here.