Peter Lohmann's Newsletter - Issue #136

How and Why I Take June Off Every Year

Each June for the last 3 years, I’ve fully disconnected from my property management company.

No Slack.

No checking email.

No phone calls to or from the company.

And it’s the best thing I’ve ever done for my business. My largest breakthroughs, my best insights, and my team’s fastest professional growth all happen during this time away.

[I was interviewed about this exact topic a few years ago on my podcast. Catch the recording on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.]

If this sounds like a complete fantasy, let me assure you that it’s possible for you too. You may need to work up to it by taking a series of increasingly-longer breaks over time, but I’m completely confident that every small business owner can achieve this once they believe it’s possible (key), and set to work.

I first got the idea to try this as RL Property Management was coming up on its 9-year anniversary. Realizing that the following year would be a huge milestone, it dawned on me that I had never taken any extended time off since co-founding the company in 2013.

Hold on, wasn’t the whole point of starting my own company to take back control of my time? And here I was almost ten years into it, taking no more time off (maybe even less) than I had working for an engineering company. That’s when I decided something had to change.

I pulled up my calendar and blocked off the entire month of June (just a few short months away). Then I informed my brand-new COO at the time, Cathy, of my plans. She was fully supportive and we set to work figuring out what tasks remained on my plate that would need to be offloaded to others. On the last business day of May, I told Cathy “call me if the place burns down, otherwise I’ll see you in July” and walked out the door.

That year I spent part of my June break sailing up and down the coast of Maine with my dad on this gorgeous wooden schooner:

Here’s some things you should know about taking extended time away from your business:

• Your team will be almost as excited as you are. They will likely cheer this decision and move mountains to help make it work for you.

• Many little things that you handle effortlessly, without even thinking about it, will need to be documented and carefully handed off.

• While you’re away, your team will step up in ways you probably didn’t think possible. They will grow, they will take ownership. It’s remarkable.

• The act of doing this will drastically increase the value of your company. Potential buyers will see this as proof that the business does not rely on you, the owner, to function. This makes it way more desirable and valuable.

• Stuff will go wrong and that’s OK. It’s inevitable that the first few times you try this, you’ll have some things to clean up when you return. That doesn’t mean you failed—far from it. Just take appropriate action and rest assured that next time will go even more smoothly!

• If you’ve convinced yourself that you can’t do this, that’s something to press into and reflect on. Getting your business to point that you could is probably the highest-leverage work that you could possibly be doing, even if you don’t have a desire for extended time off.

I’m so passionate about this concept that we’ve made it our core mission at Crane to deliver time freedom for PM business owners & operators.

To realize this mission, we help members set, plan, and execute “Crane Breaks”, which are simply a branded version of what I’ve described above. Members start with a 1-week Crane Break, advance to a 2-week, and “graduate” once they’ve completed a 4-week Crane Break. Each completion unlocks a new area inside our online community and earns the member a special version of the coveted Crane Pin.

There are 3 things that increase the chances of a successful Crane Break:

1. Great systems & processes. We have an entire section of our online community dedicated to sharing resources, working on processes, and masterminding with members running PM companies of all sizes. And: my full Notion buildout is included with membership.

2. Low-cost, high-skill global talent (RTMs). Our partnership with Sagan Passport unlocks a free “talent pool” of pre-screened and ready-to-hire RTMs for all members (20 new candidates refill the pool each month). Have custom needs? Submit a “white-glove” hiring request for just $900 (compare to $3k+ that vendors charge for this).

3. A mindset transformation: “I could actually do this.” As members complete Crane breaks, they debrief inside the community and share their experience in the form of a quick video or writeup. This helps other members learn and level up. Watching members describe their Crane Break and talk about what it felt like to finally get real time off gives me the chills every time. It’s hands-down the most rewarding part of running Crane for me.

Ready for your month off? Let me know what’s holding you back—Crane member or not.

Roughly 29% of PM Companies are Owned by Women

Last week I gathered some important demographic data about property management business owners via newsletter poll. Here are the results:

If we only look at the male/female responses (total of 201 votes), we find that PM business owners are 29.4% female based on this informal newsletter survey. Is that what you expected?

A few readers suggested improvements to options for this poll question which will be incorporated next time I run it (Other/non-binary option, and accounting for the commonplace husband-wife combo ownership).

One reader wanted to know my reason for asking about this. Here’s what I told him:

By the way, Crane membership is ~24% women (I believe we will close that 5% gap over the next ten days).

New Property Management Companies For Sale This Week

• Here is a property management company for sale in Wisconsin (asking $2.1M)

• Here is an HOA management company for sale in San Diego County, CA (asking $750k, 80 communities)

• Here is a property management company for sale in Miami Beach, FL (asking $250k)

• Here is a property management portfolio for sale in Seattle, WA (asking $300k, 42 doors) Editor’s Note: LOL.

• Here is a property management company for sale in Los Angeles, CA (asking $420k, mix of SF and commercial accounts).

• Here is an STR management company for sale in Clearwater, FL (asking $2.75M).

Industry News & Events

• RealPage is suing the city of Berkeley, CA to stop their new ordinance which bans rent price recommendation software. I’m in favor of any action that stems the tide of overactive city legislation, which is a plague on our industry.

• Crane member Kelsey M shared this awesome writeup on her solution to the pod-departmental debate: The Matrix Structure. I plan to dig into this more.

• Make sure you join the NARPM After Dark (Unofficial) Facebook group. It’s the best way to learn about all the afterparties, hikes, and other events that inevitably take place during NARPM’s national conferences. Last week it was used to organize a few very fun pickleball games!

Closing Thought

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The content of this newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. I may have consulting agreements with, or financial interests in, companies mentioned in this newsletter. Additionally, some of the links included in this newsletter are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through these links. Always perform your own due diligence before making any financial or business decisions.