Nick Kruger, Director & Principal, Your Haven Realty
For some, the spirit of entrepreneurship catches on at an early age. They feel it in their bones—they are born to be an entrepreneur, to the point where nothing else in life could make them feel satisfied. Filled with the passion of their ingenuity, ambition, and creativity, they learn the ropes at an early age and eventually become successful in what they do. Despite the challenges in their path, these entrepreneurs demonstrate that with hard work and a determined mindset, anything is possible. This story is going to unveil the inspiring journey of one such indomitable business leader, Nick Kruger, who started early in life and managed to achieve unparalleled success as a leader with his diligence, sheer perseverance, and a vision to deliver a strong value proposition.
Nick had a keen interest and passion for entrepreneurship and a sound negotiating skill from a very young age. When he was about 12-15 years old, he started selling lolly bags to his peers at boarding school. Later, he stepped up his game to sell beer posters. All these came naturally to him as if it is ingrained in his genes.
He always wanted to buildhis own business but was nervous and afraid of failing. But, it all changed when the company he was working with just sold the rent roll and he went to work with another franchise. One of his investors would always suggest to him that he should open his own office.This investor owned a block of commercial shops and he was ready to give the shop front rent-free for 6 months to Nick. While, stepping down to one income was a nervous decision, after discussing it with his wife, Nick finally took the plunge and launched Your Haven Realty, a leading real estate agency based in the heart of Brisbane’s inner-city suburb of Fairfield in 2017. “Secretly my client knew it would be a success as did my wife and here I am 4 and a bit years later in the same shop front hitting our targets/goals and doing what we love. It’s been really hard work, lots of tears, and late nights but I’m so glad we did it and gave it a go. I’d rather have tried and failed than not tried at all,” asserts Nick.
Building Trusted Relationship with Clients
Having expertise in all aspects of property sales and rentals combined with a passionate, proactive, and professional team, Your Haven Realty offers a world-class experience to its customers. “It might sound corny, but our dream is to find your dream home. It’s all about listening to the client; we like to match clients with what they want. A lot of our business comes from referrals and we’re highly regarded in the industry. This means a lot to us,” states Nick.
Unlike the sales-focused real estate agents who give that sleazy vibe and do and say anything to get the sale, Nick prioritizes people over profit while building a long-term relationship with them. He always strives to listen and understand what all parties want and treats every client the same way. Being a down-to-earth kiwi bloke and a people person, Nick loves forming relationships with clients. For Nick, it’s not just a simple one-sale deal; it’s about future repeat business.
Leading By Example
According to Nick, a good leader should lead by example and never give up. It’s important to him to work in and with the team to ensure a high quality of service and communication is maintained. Nick diligently leads the team and ensures and fosters a culture that is productive and motivating by incorporating a work hard, play hard office environment with Nerf gun wars, dinner and beers as a team, and team-building activities throughout the year.
When it comes to defining success, Nick elucidates, “Personally, I believe success is a moving target, we set goals that we achieve and then set new ones. We’re always chasing success. Like Matthew McConaughey said in an Oscar speech ‘there are 3 things that you need each day, 1 – something to look up to, 2 – something to look forward to and 3- someone to chase!.’”
The Initial Challenges
Being an entrepreneur often comes with challenges and roadblocks, and Nick’s journey was no different.Starting the business from scratch with zero clients, no franchise name, and without buying a rent roll whilehaving no income stream was one of the major challenges he had to face. But defying all the odds, Nick has established himself as a successful entrepreneur as well as a leader. He affirms, “Real Estate is a competitive market and its dog eat dog, going up against some big agencies is not easy for an unknown brand. It may surprise you but one of our business services as a Real Estate agency was offering basic Garden Maintenance – basically lawn mowing services. People used to say, ‘you’re a real estate agent/agency, why are you mowing lawns?’ but it didn’t bother me. I was hungry to keep the business going and any income stream was going to keep the lights on.”
“What people did not realize was that in mowing this lawn, I was forming a new relationship with potential clients. From this I’d pick up new properties to manage and to this day (4 and a bit years later), I’ve sold two properties for clients that we started out from mowing their lawns 4 years ago,” he adds.
The Roadmap to Future
Your Haven Realty has significantly grown over the years and recently, it has achieved awards for being no#3 in Brisbane and 4th in Queensland for Property Management. As a leader of the company, Nick looks forward to its continuous growth and aspires to make it no# 1 in the years to come and further expand its reach to other regions.
As a proud father of two, Nick is also excited about the possibility of his children following in his footsteps, taking over the business, or taking it to new heights. His son Harry is now 7 years old and has grown up with Real Estate all around him. When he was just 4 years old, he created his own real estate shop at daycare, replicating an office like his Dad, renting and selling different properties to children. Nick also has a daughter named Isabelle who is 2 years old.
This makes Nick really proud and excited for the future.