Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Christine Quaye. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Christine, appreciate you joining us today. It’s easy to look at a business or industry as an outsider and assume it’s super profitable – but we’ve seen over and over again in our conversation with folks that most industries have factors that make profitability a challenge. What’s biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

One of the biggest challenges I have had to deal with. Pricing is difficult because you tend to think of so many factors. Can my potential clients afford this? What are my competitors charging? How much should I charge to make it enticing? Is this too high? Is this too low? The truth is, there is not a set answer. First thing is, don’t look or worry about anyone else. You can use as examples for sure. But if you feel like you need to charge higher, then do that. But don’t charge lower thinking since your prices are lower people are more likely to come to you, WRONG! Adding value to your clients is what makes them say yes. How are you helping them in other aspects of their business? Is there another area in their business that they are struggling with that you make not specialize in? Do you know someone that does? Bring them the solution. Add Value.

Christine, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Christine Quaye and I am the Owner of Blackstar Financial Solutions Inc. We provide Real Estate Investors with Financial Statements and guidance in order to maximize tax savings while applying cost segregation to determine profitability. I grew up in Dallas, Texas. The Triple DDD. I left Dallas to go to the University of Houston where I studied Accounting and received my BBA in Accounting in 2015. After graduating I got into the Real Estate Industry by working as a Property Accountant for a property management company. Ultimately, I was preparing Financial Statements for apartments that were located in Houston. I have been doing that for about 8 years now. You can say that me getting into Real Estate happened by chance but, you know how God works. From here, my curiosity and love for Real Estate grew. I even purchased my property and started a short term rental business where I went on to get into Rental Arbitrage as well. Here in the space is where I saw the need for bookkeeping. Owners were wanting to scale but didn’t have the financials to show what they had been doing or nothing sufficient or accurate and this is where I decided to step in. My goal for my clients is to grow with them and use what they have to grow and obtain more properties. By monitoring the cash flow of the properties you can leverage that to get more properties and scale your business.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

So funding my business, I did the good ol’ bootstrapping method. To be honest, it didn’t take much. With the industry I am in, it is easy to get in with very little money do some work and then use that to get the software and other things you might need. But I started doing tax prep first while I was still working full time.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Pivoting is a tough thing to do sometimes. Especially if it isn’t what you planned or envisioned. If you are someone that has to go with what they want and aren’t flexible, pivoting can be tough. But it is important to realize before it is too late. For me, it was for my short term rental business. Of course, doing AirBnB is what everyone wants to do, you can get rich fast and live the life you want, LIES. I knew this going in though. That wasn’t my motivation. I love Real Estate. And I wanted to also participate as my clients do things. Know and learn their pain points. Things were going well, but last year things shifted. Bookings were slowing down, I was covering the rent for one of the houses, and hoping and waiting for a booking was not working. This went on for several months. Sometimes I would have people book to do proposals and gatherings but it wasnt enough. I still had a whole year left on the lease, I spoke with the owners explained to them what was going on and I had to make a decision that was tough to come to about what I wanted to do. So I had to let go of that house. I came to an agreement with the owners and got out of the lease and sold all the furniture. Not the story you were expecting. But I decided that I would rather get out now then lose anymore and be in a worse place. Pivoting doesnt always mean changing direction, sometimes it can mean cutting off dead weight.

Contact Info:

• Website: WWW.blackstarfs.com
• Instagram: BlackstarFinancialSolutions
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083071125815

Image Credits
Auzenne Photography