Andrea Williams
Founder & Director, Asset Reports | Mum | Wife | Mentor | Property Market Guru | Music Lover
How many identities do you have?
· A mother
· A wife
· A Business Owner
· A Mentor
· A Leader
· A loyal friend
· A music lover
Tell us a bit about your story and how you’ve got to where you are now?
Thirteen years ago, I saw an opportunity in the real estate industry for an outsourcing reporting firm to assist property managers run their portfolios effectively. I opened Asset Reports in 2007 to take control of the most time-consuming tasks for property managers: Property Condition Reports and Routine Inspections. From here, the business has flourished into a multi-faceted reporting firm that incorporates a range of diverse services including Asset Reports QS, which is a fully operational Quantity Surveying company that supplies our clients with Tax Depreciation Schedules, 10-Year Strata Plans and Insurance and Building Valuations. Our VR department creates state of the art 3D Virtual Tours using Matterport cameras for a variety of diverse clients with diverse needs that extend beyond the property industry. Asset Reports currently has the most Matterport cameras of any organisation in Australia making us an industry-leading innovator in the virtual reality realm. We recently extended our offering further into the information services realm with the creation of an online platform called ‘Reports Online’ which is a database tool for property managers to more effectively communicate material to clients. Overall, I have a B2B business model and currently operate in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. These days, I spend most of my time growing the business and travelling between our eastern states offices.
What has been your most challenging moment in life thus far?
The most significant challenge I faced in the business was at the beginning stage when I was focused on bringing a service to the Real Estate market which was not yet a legal requirement, but simply a service that helped clients reduce their costs and gave them back time to grow their own businesses. This was a brand new service, which no other company was offering, so it took a lot of effort to educate and inform our clients of the value proposition of outsourcing. From 2007-2013 with no external funding or mentoring, I grew the business consistently year on year. Then everything changed in 2013 when legislation was introduced making it a legal requirement for all rental properties to have a Property Condition Report – but with that also came competition from new service providers. The brand values are the same today as they were when I started: being responsive, reliable, focused on quality, fair on price, providing fast turnaround times and being flexible. These values have enabled us to maintain our number one position in the market today and to become one of the 3 largest property inspection companies in Australia across all services.
How do you feel stereotypes have affected women in society so far?
History is filled with incredible women who didn’t allow stereotypes to hold them back, and neither should we. Unfortunately, many of us have been conditioned to think we cannot have everything, but times have changed and if we continue to do great things, the next generation of young girls like my daughter will not have to discuss how stereotypes affect women at all. The change I am seeing now is that finally women do not have any expectations to be a certain type of woman, but to be whoever they want to be.
What are you doing to affect change?
In one of our departments, we typically recruit new admin staff based on their personal characteristics rather than on their CV, as we are looking to work with strong young women who I see a lot of potential in.
I believe I am affecting change every single day by providing traineeships to these girls who have a desire to create a career. In our office we have a clear pathway for all junior staff which focuses on a career and confidence plan. The constant focus on mentoring and training provides safe and stable jobs for these young women and as a result we also have a very low staff turnover rate. I truly enjoy working with all young women and seeing them grow.
More recently, I became a mentor at the Kaleidoscope Initiative which is a an award winning program helping highly skilled migrants improve their employment potential by matching them to industry professionals like myself.
How have you grown as a person, mentally, emotionally and spiritually since starting Asset Reports?
I feel like I am growing every single day. The growth of Asset Reports has led to large scale staffing which has naturally taught to me to be more patient and listen before I speak. I enjoy meeting different types of people and understanding their strengths and weaknesses while reminding myself that not everybody will operate the same way as others. Ever since I got married, my husband and I have had a strong focus on self-development and keeping a balance between our private lives and our demanding daily schedules.
Emotionally and spiritually, the birth of my daughter Willow has taught me to be more present. I am naturally a fast paced person but time stops the moment I am with her. I love seeing the softer side of myself around her. For the people that know me well, they would say that motherhood has balanced me and helped me see the more important things in life.
What would you say to all the women out there who want to start a business are fearful to do so?
Make sure that you are realistic about what is involved and don’t over commit at the beginning. Any business operator needs to have a good handle on core accounting and marketing principals to have a sustainable and long-term business that can grow year after year.
My biggest advice is to always trust your gut, as your instincts are more often right than wrong. Once you have all of this in place, your true potential is just outside your comfort zone.