Chris Lamb

Chris Lamb is a property developer and investor located in St. Catharine’s, Ontario, Canada. He is a first-generation builder that’s enthusiastic and excited for new opportunities. His passion allows him to work around the clock. He is interested in building affordable housing communities and investment properties in the Niagara Region.

A graduate of Brock University with a B.A. in Political Economy, Chris set his sights on a post graduate degree in International Business Management from Niagara College. While most of his years had been at Brock University, Niagara College had been a better environment for Networking and relationship making. Niagara College proved to be a more intimate learning experience and place for growth.

After leaving Brock and Niagara he wrote realtor exams, and Tarion home warranty exams. This helped him be well rounded in the industry of real estate as a whole. Occasionally, he has returned to Brock for hobbies such as their wine and spirts educational course or Spanish as a second language course.

Currently, he works under Revel Realty in Niagara Falls with a fun a compassionate group of people. Design, style, and efficient building processes drive his job sites to ensure timeliness and economic growth. He is fulfilled and appreciative that he works as a full-time home builder.

He enjoys meeting new people and exploring new environments. He is always seeking further experience and advice from others knowing everyone has knowledge to give, so feel free to reach out.

Where did the idea for your career come from?

NewCastle Communities was named after my father’s place of birth. My father taught me long lasting lessons surrounding hard work and a job well done. My father Paul showed me that when value is made, rewards come. These rewards may to be given in the short term, but if you consistently make and add value, eventually you will get noticed.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

I often wake up and exercise and stretch. Although I’m not the fittest, I am healthy both physically and mentally. On the days I’m not exercising I wake up and stretch to produce good blood flow. Blood flow helps me throughout the day for energy and thoughtfulness. I then make my first couple hours the highest producing. In other words, my toughest tasks are tackled in the morning as I believe. On site work and site clean-up are accomplished throughout the afternoon. Bookkeeping and reconciliation is done near the end of the day. Throughout the night I send out emails and marketing correspondence. The last hour I always turn off my screens, read and decompress.

How do you bring ideas to life?

I always try and breakdown plans into steps. I organize the variables I can and cannot control and work within them. I use tools such as day planners and giant charts to ensure I’m staying on track. My field is fortunate that consultants are readily available to assist in project monitoring whether It be on or off site.

What’s one trend that excites you?

International home buyers are learning to love and live in Niagara. We are truly fortunate in the home building business for investment from both local and foreign places. Having multiple demographics allows us to cater differently and effectively to the needs of our buyers. This is an exciting trend, as it shows strong growth for the coming years.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Constant sleep schedules and good eating habits are the easiest rules to follow to accomplish productive working hours. The harder ones consist of managing your strengths and weaknesses and decided where your time is inputted. A constant evaluation should be done of where and how you work most effectively.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Kill your ego! The best advice is the advice you consider. This sounds easy however being ego free, and flexible with other people’s input will help you avoid failure. You can’t make all the mistakes yourself, so take others experience into consideration.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

Construction is a nickel and dime business, not a dollar. People often hear of big payouts at the end of the project. The public minds think you buy land, build, and make huge sums of money. If you’re not watching your spending on almost a daily basis the budget can get destroyed.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

This question answers itself. Find what you love to do and/or good at doing and see the important into repetition. This can be reading, working, training, collaborating. Whatever your job consists of, realize you will need 5-10 years of doing thinks over and over until they really start to monetize. Basic principles applied over and over again can lead to great success.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
Online marketing, as this article shows is the most effective way to communicate. Being able to geo locate your demographic and creating a strong online presence leads to unlimited opportunity.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

I recruited the wrong supervisor. This so far has been the most stressful experience in business. I hired someone who I believed to be experienced to run job sites. They were fairly productive at work however, this was overcome by personality disorders. I was constantly surrounded by mood swings, anger management issues and possible court filings by trades. I was threatened, extorted, and bullied. This employee was demeaning to other employee’s and trades. He had threatened to make claims regarding work safety to income and wages. I overcame this with proper legal representation and going the most information I could about how to handle terminations. In the end I realized the more knowledge you have, the less stress you have.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

If I were just coming into adulthood, I would start up and operate as a smart home consultant. I would cater to baby boomers to help set up their tv’s, internet, computers, tablets, smart speakers and more. I see huge value in assisting older generations in showing them the feasibility of new technology in their home. This could be charged by an hourly rate or by the job. I believe there would be a demand for homeowners to see the utility in their laptops and tablets.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

An Air-fryer! $69.99. I love cooking and this accessory added to my options, especially in these times of quarantine, I try and making cooking at home as exciting as possible. M

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

QuickBooks is exceptional for almost all businesses. It’s the task all business owners hate to do, and many I know are weak at. The more initial organization you put into it, the more time you will save in the future exponentially. Banks, lenders, and accounts will all be impressed and happy the more knowledgeable you are with this program or its competitors.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker has recently been added to my book of favourites. Its subtitle is the case for reason, science, humanism, and progress. The main theme in the book explains all the criticisms of modern day and why many are fallacies. We often except the information that’s given to us instead of looking into it ourselves. Hunger and poverty have gone down, average life span and GDP of gone up. The poorest countries in the world now have a longer life span than the most developed did, 100 years ago. It’s extremely refreshing to read in these turbulent times. The book assures you, the world is not corroding (although it seems that way)

What is your favorite quote?

Build for the masses and dine with the few. I often review my products and insure they are accessible to large demographics rather than only building what I like. While quality is always a goal, it’s important to consider what everyone can afford and access.

Key Learnings:

• Centralize your values to what fulfills you.
• Don’t make all the mistakes yourself.
• Be open minded and flexible.
• Repetition of simple principles add up exponentially.
• Utilize technologies that are comparatively affordable.