The winners will be announced on Thursday night May 23rd at a special dinner, but today they published articles on all of the finalists. This is our second year to be nominated, which is a tremendous honor. To be considered one of the Top 5 companies in Memphis (we are in the 25-75 employee category) really speaks volumes not about us as owners, but about our people. Easily, the best staff in the business. If you want to see the article online at the Business Journal, I have included a link.
VITALS
Name: Memphis Invest GP
Leadership: Chris Clothier, partner, co-owner;Brett Clothier, partner, co-owner; Kent Clothier Sr., partner, co-owner
What it does: Invests in single-family residences and manages those properties as investment properties for passive income investors.
2012 revenue: $38 million
Employees: 39
Source of startup capital: Owners/Partners
Website: www.MemphisInvest.com
BIG PICTURE
How’s business?: Could not be better right now. We are on pace for strong growth for the fourth straight year and 64 percent of sales each month consistently go to existing clients.
Biggest challenge at the moment: Making sure we keep our entire team focused on the integrity of our company — the client experience!
What will change in the next year?: The real estate investment market continues to change and the challenges come from lowering inventory levels to large institutional buyers artificially raising prices.
How do you measure success?: Repeat business, plain and simple. For nine straight quarters, over 60 percent of our sales go to existing clients. A client who is satisfied with their investment return and experience continues to build his or her portfolio.
BUSINESS MOVES
Reason for starting: We needed a new challenge and our first clients actually asked us to start a company providing the services we offer today.
Most difficult part of decision: Having no road map for where the company would eventually go. We cut the path ourselves.
Biggest strength: Lack of fear
Biggest weakness: Lack of fear! LOL
Biggest risk: Much of the housing market is dependent on variables completely out of our control, like Fed monetary policy.
Biggest mistake: Not expanding to other cities sooner.
Smartest move: Opening the Dallas market.
Biggest worry: A strong majority of our clients are located outside of Tennessee and they rely on us to provide them accurate data and information constantly. So our biggest worry on a daily basis is how well we are delivering.
Turning point: When our monthly sales to existing clients eclipsed 50 percent, we could not slow down even if we had wanted. We had reached critical mass and the demand for our service reached a constant.
What do you wish you had known from Day 1?: That sales, regardless of industry, is 100 percent about relationships.
DREAMS
Key goal to achieve: Franchising — whatever that looks like, from sales to property management.
What’s in the short-term future?: We are exploring two more cities to provide more diversification for our growing client list.
Five-year plan: Managing 5,000 single-family homes in 2-4 cities and growing a property management franchise company.
