Exploring Life & Business with Charles Breeden of BPI Real Estate Inc.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Charles Breeden.

Hi Charles, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was born in Fort Knox, Kentucky in the early 70s. I grew up moving around a lot because my father was in the US Army. During my childhood, I lived in Kentucky, Germany, Texas and South Korea. I graduated high school in Mannheim, Germany, my father’s last assignment prior to his retirement from the Army.

I went to college at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN and spent my junior year abroad in Regensburg, Germany. After graduating in 1995, I taught English in South Korea for one and half years before going back to graduate school at The American University in Washington, DC, where I met my wife, Miho. I graduated in 2000 with a master’s degree and spent two years at The GIC Group in Alexandria, VA, consulting in the agribusiness industry before landing a job at PA Consulting, consulting in the energy industry.

We moved to New Jersey in 2005 so that I can attend NYU’s business school. After graduating in 2007 with an MBA, I joined JP Morgan for one year. Unfortunately, the economy was crashing as a result of the mortgage market meltdown, and I lost my job in investment banking after one year. I returned immediately to PA Consulting and worked there for another three years before receiving a job offer from Accenture, ironically to consult banks in setting up their stress testing programs, required by the banking regulators to avoid a similar economic meltdown induced by banks.

We moved to Yorba Linda, CA, in 2013. I left Accenture to try and establish roots in Southern California and help shoulder the burden of caring for our young boy, Charlie, who was born three years earlier in Hoboken, NJ. I joined Hyundai Capital America in Irvine in 2013 as a direct report to the Chief Risk Officer and stayed there for almost three years, eventually taking the role of Chief Risk Officer myself for a brief period of time before leaving to rejoin Accenture in 2016.

I spent another 8-9 years at Accenture, the last few years as a Managing Director. Towards the end of my time there, I started investing in small businesses in Southern California, one in Mission Viejo (Courtyard Offices), another in San Clemente (Image Studios SC LLC) and a third in Carlsbad (Prime Executive Offices LLC). I left Accenture this past February to devote more time to my entrepreneurial pursuits, including managing these three businesses and starting a new consulting firm based in California (WGS²D Consulting LLC).

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
If you referring to my struggles buying and managing my businesses in SoCal, then I certainly experienced some struggles along the way. I studied business management at NYU, so I understood the mechanics of evaluating businesses, buying them, etc., but I was still working as a managing director at Accenture at the time, which was a very demanding job. When I first bought Courtyard Offices, it was an independent executive suites business with good cash flow but had operated with a very favorable lease. Unfortunately, the new lease terms for me were significantly higher than for the prior owner, so I needed to redirect all of my resources to improving the marketing for the business, especially digital marketing, which hadn’t been a focus of the prior owner.

Earlier this year, I bought my second and third businesses, Image Studios SC LLC and Prime Executive Offices LLC. Image Studios SC LLC at first blush is in a similar industry, and certainly I had learned a lot from Courtyard Offices that could be applied to the management of this business. But there are some stark differences. Typically, there is no office manager at a salon suites location, so the owner has to self-manage. Also, unlike an executive suites business, the business owner must maintain all of the leasehold improvements (HVAC, plumbing, etc.), which are substantial and can result in a lot of work when issues converge. At an executive suites business, these areas are generally the responsibility of the building owner. On the flip side, I feel that the marketing support is very robust for my salon suites business, in large part because the franchise has partnerships with excellent marketing firms.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
BPI Real Estate Inc. is the holding company that owns Courtyard Offices, Image Studios SC LLC and Prime Executive Offices LLC. BPI Real Estate is focused on investing in businesses that cater to providing a working environment for entrepreneurs and independent professionals in Southern California. Courtyard Offices and Prime Executive Offices lease out executive suites, mostly to small businesses and therapists. We provide them with amenities that help them operate more like a larger company, with mail receiving services, a fully manned reception, a business lounge area for their customers with free coffee and tea and access to conference rooms and day offices.

Image Studios SC LLC is a salon suites business. It provides beauty professionals the chance to rent their own space much more economically than leasing a large salon or renting a chair. In this environment, they have complete control of their business – how to design their space, their hours of operation, their clientele, etc. Each studio comes equipped with a wash basin, a mirror, cabinets and a rolling station. We also have a break room with a refrigerator, washer and dryer, a microwave and cabinets to store personal effects and they can enjoy their breaktimes outside on the 1000 sqft patio with a view of the Pacific Ocean. As of now, the patio is only accessible to them and their clients.

I continue to be inspired by my customers. I have tremendous respect for anyone who tries to run his/her own business given just how hard it is to attract and keep clients and survive on your own when the economy turns (or even when it doesn’t). With BPI Real Estate, I am hoping to contribute to their success in some small way.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I think that it’s important to try and have a positive state of mind when running your own business. This frame of reference is reinforced by several books that I’ve read recently, including Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill, Buying Back Your Time by Dan Martell and The Wealthy Franchisee by Scott Greenberg. I truly believe it, which is why I try to practice mindfulness every morning when I first wake up. I try to visual the outcome that I desire for my pursuits and then I take action throughout the day to achieve them.

A close second would be empathy for your client. Trying to understand your client’s perspective is key to helping them address concerns and providing them with a product that they will want to keep using on a recurring basis.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.courtyard-offices.com/, https://imagestudios360.com/studio_locations/san-clemente/, https://primeexecutiveoffices.com/, https://primevirtualoffices.com/, and https://primemeetingrooms.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imagestudios_sanclemente/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IS360SanClemente/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-breeden-4a45673/
• Other: https://www.yelp.com/biz/prime-executive-offices-carlsbad and https://www.yelp.com/biz/courtyard-offices-mission-viejo