Profile

Offer your clients outstanding service

Monica Bradley is the founder and Managing Director of Surrey-based award-winning mortgage broker, MB Associates. Monica formed her company over 20 years ago and has grown the business considerably since her early days as a young mortgage broker.

Monica now has 19 people working in her Cheam-based firm and remains as passionate about her business today as when she first started. She is about to open a third office and has more plans for expansion. Monica tells Borough Business magazine how she has achieved success…

I’m often asked what leads to success. There were some key things that helped me build and grow my business. The first was having a clear vision of what I wanted my future to look like.

I started in financial services in 1987 and knew that I didn’t want to work for anyone else. I started advising clients on mortgages and financial protection, as well as investments, inheritance tax planning and wills and trusts. However, I became best-known for offering mortgage advice, so I chose to focus on that.

We’ve had success as a business quite simply because we provide a consistent and reliable service. If your business has a good reputation, people will tell their friends about you.

I personally enjoy dealing with people and have always been able to find new clients as I’ll chat to anyone! Over the years, I’ve employed a proactive approach with clients and encourage my staff to do the same.

I made a lot of sacrifices when building my business. In my early career days, I became known for being late to parties as I was always working!

I’m often asked what it’s like to work in a maledominated industry. I’ve been strong, and have stuck to what I believe in, and I haven’t had any issues. I genuinely don’t think about it as I’ve always been treated as a professional who is well-regarded.

As a business, we’re used to dealing with a variety of people. Some clients face difficult financial situations. We’ve also helped older borrowers who have ended long-term relationships and thought they were too old to get a new mortgage.

These days I focus more on growing the business, rather than working in it, and I’ve been able to do this because I have a great team. My staff genuinely want to provide the best possible service for our clients. We always recommend what is right for the client, even if it means telling them it’s not in their best interests to buy a property straight away.

During these difficult times of rising costs, it’s more important than ever to serve our clients well. We feel very strongly about ensuring all clients pay the lowest amount of interest on their mortgage, for the lifetime of the mortgage.

To succeed as an entrepreneur, having stamina and an appetite for hard work are both essential, along with a positive attitude. When things go wrong you need to focus on finding a solution rather than focusing on the problem.

Learn from the best. Find other people in your chosen field and ask what they did to be successful. This knowledge could help you achieve your goals much faster.

Have an open mind. Always keep learning as the business world doesn’t stand still. If I learn one new thing from a meeting, that meeting has been worthwhile. Think outside the box and be creative in your thinking.

Diversify if you can and think about other ways you can serve your clients. We’ve recently started offering mortgage clinics for companies as part of their employee benefits package. We go into businesses and offer free workshops for their employees to ensure they are getting the most competitive rate on their mortgage. What better way to help someone for the first time than to save them money?

More Information Visit www.mbassociates.net or call 020 8652 5240