Balancing Consulting/Side Deals & Work
I'm curious to how everyone is structuring their consulting gigs/side hustle outside of work? I just started at a firm where the hours aren't too crazy and I want to continue consulting/syndicating on the side. For those of you who've done/do this, how do you make the balance? I'm assuming nobody discloses that they do this to their employers, but if you do, how have you brought it up? My side stuff doesn't compete with my day job work (different asset classes, markets, equity sizes, etc.) so I don't think it's worth bringing up but wanted to see what others do. Only reason I'd want to mention it at work is because in my wildest dreams it'd be great to be able to pull coworkers' or firm's capital into my side deals (but I got a long way to go before then of course).
I don't think it's particularly unusual for people in real estate to invest in real estate with their own personal funds. The "structure" would be entirely dependent on what they're doing.
Thanks @CRE. I guess what I meant with "structure" is if people talk about their side gigs often at work and the implications of that. Ex. "What did you do this weekend? I had lunch with some brokers in a market because we're looking to invest in an XYZ deal", etc. I know this might sound rudimentary and that it'll depend on the firm's culture, but I'm relatively new to the industry so I'm curious what others do.
This sounds like a mistake. You know you're on shaky ground already, which is why you re asking the question in the first place; going to in a bragging about your weekend of high powered lunches seems... unnecessary.
And sure, you don't mean it as bragging or obnoxious, but it'll still come off that way to your coworkers. And while many places will tolerate employees running small deals on the side or doing a few hours a week of work on their own account, no one is going to be happy to have you more or less inciting other people to complain or also go do their own thing.
Keeping your mouth shut is good advice in basically any possible situation. You'll learn more, if nothing else.
If you're interested in consulting, check out bullpenre.com
They're solely focused on CRE consulting and offer hourly, part-time, and full-time freelance opportunities (with legitimate clients within the industry too)
I'll check it out. Thanks for the recommendation! Sb'd.
Make sure you read your employment agreement carefully.
What kind of firm are you are at will probably dictate a bit of this.
The large firms that I worked at all prohibited all side gigs because of advisory rules on handling third party money. I was required to divest from an inherited business (I owned 100% but the company is run by others) that had no real RE ties (it owned a bunch of RE as an owner-user) because it was considered an outside business activity. The other option was to go to our CIO/CEO/Head of Compliance to get some sort of waiver, which I was told was a very, very slim chance of happening.
Said another way, if your firm takes outside capital or is SEC registered, then you are acting as a fiduciary as an employee and avoiding conflicts of interest (no matter how small) is paramount.
If you are at a smaller family shop, I would probably still disclose at least to your boss and confirm they don't have an issue as long as it isn't affecting your work.
The current idea of "multiple streams of income/having a side-gig" isa wonderful cultural shift, but in finance is really difficult to achieve while working for others
Good points, thank you. My firm mostly manages it's own money and raises funds. Nothing public. So I should be OK but I'll check.
I am actually getting out of the landlord business as my side hustle and want to do things more passively. I love real estate, like my full time job, but the stress/hassle/time commitment of being a Sponsor/GP has really eaten away too much of my time. I would think differently in my 20s, but now that I am a bit older - im much more interested in backing other sponsors and finding other passive ways to invest...though this is just my $0.02.
Investing and being a sponsor seems glamorous, especially when you are doing it on your own. But as a scrappy/bootstrapping operation, it takes away every living second you have, leaving no time for your friends/family/hobbies.
I did the landlord thing in my 20s too. Was fun for a while but I got busy with my day job and ended up hiring a management company. I cashed out about 4 years ago and have been passively investing through a fund that focuses on land banking/residential subdivisions. More return for 0 of my time beyond writing checks.
I work part time as a consultant doing acquisitions/strategy for a family shop in a completely different market. As I’m young (1.5YOE) it was a big talking point in my interview for my new full time position.
I told them I’d like to maintain the role as it was a great source of side income, I was learning a lot, and it wasn’t a conflict of interest w/ new company in any way (different sides of the country).
I had them amend my contract to allow/acknowledge that I would also be doing this part time work, but stated it wouldn’t interfere, and new/main job would always take precedent.
It hasn’t proved to be a problem one time, but I agree with everyone else’s comments about talking about the job. The few times I’ve brought up this other position as the talking points genuinely relates to conversation, I received muted responses.
If you’re a good employee and know your standing with your company, I’d mention it/discuss. If you can show them why it’s valuable to you, and you’re valuable to them, they’ll be more inclined to approve.
good luck!
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