In the past few months Property Ladder presenter Sarah Beeny has given birth to her third son Rafferty, been hospitalised due to a burst appendix, overseen her property developing business and kept her dating website (mysinglefriend) ticking over nicely.

If you were describing Sarah, 'lazy' would not be the first word that sprang to mind. Enthusiastic, energetic and focused would definitely be up there though. We caught up with Sarah to find out what drives her...

Did you have problems starting up your property developing business when you were 24?
I didn't because when you are young you have more energy and you are prepared to take more risks. I'd definitely struggle more now because of my children - they have given my life a different dynamic completely. When we started the business (Sarah set it up with her (now) husband Graham, and her brother) we stayed up all night, we'd work at weekends and stop every now and again for a beer and curry.

What made you go into the property developing world?
I knew all about buildings and was familiar with building sites from a young age as I had been around them all my life because of my dad's job as an architect. I was encouraged by him to help out from a young age, so that industry was what I knew and was the obvious choice of business for me. We had a lot of help from my dad when we started the business, who was the voice of experience on everything from installing drains to drafting planning applications.

How did the business go in the first year and what did you learn?
We started when the bottom had fallen out of the property market in the early 90s and no one wanted to touch the building industry. Everyone was obsessed with the dot.com boom at the time and when we said we were starting a building company people said we were mad. But in actual fact there wasn't much competition because of that and we flourished. Not that there haven't been blips and hair-raising times but we have worked hard and been lucky too.

I don't have any formal training and I do slightly regret not listening at school but to be honest I'm not very good at being told what to do. If I had taken more notice I could have looked at training to be a surveyor or architect, but as it is I've learned as I've gone along and I learn something new every day, which is the most exciting thing about this profession. It's so diverse because every single building is different and has different criteria and there are so many elements to any property that it's never boring. You have to deal with practical issues like how buildings stay up, all the way to the fixtures and fittings and issues like where you can source a certain type of tile. The Government helps too by changing the rules and regulations all the time, which you have to keep up to date with!

Was it difficult running a business with your husband and brother - did you have problems agreeing?
We've always got on really well. Although I can understand people saying don't mix business and pleasure, I get to work with my two best friends and spend all day, every day with people I would want to spend my evenings and weekends with. We do fall out regularly and it's usually me with one or other of them with the third coming in to break it up and smooth it over. My husband and brother have only fallen out with each other about three times in the 12 years we've had the business - and then made it up the next day. I'm still involved, but not nearly as much as I used to be.

Did you have to fight your corner for people to take you seriously because you are a woman?
I am not a very good feminist and I don't want to be a man, but what I've discovered is that you don't have to fight your corner in this business. If you want to buy a house, then someone is going to sell it to you, whether you are a woman or a man, young or old.

You can get away with more as a woman and because I started young, I built up a relationship with agents and bought a lot of properties over the years - I found that made them take me seriously. In a lot of ways women are better in this sort of industry because they are more organised. I've seen many building sites that have failed because of a lack or organisation and a well run site needs to be organised if it's going to thrive. Women are often better at that side of things than men in my opinion.

You ran the business for 12 years - what is the secret of your success?
Organisation and hard work. You've also got to have realistic cash flow and clear accounting - none of this writing figures on the backs of matchboxes.

You kind of fell into doing television by the sounds of it - how come you ended up presenting?
It started when I met a girl at a hen party and the next day her sister-in-law, who was a television producer phoned to see if I would like to do a screen test for a new property show to be aired on Channel 4. I didn't know anything about the television industry but it sounded like it could be a laugh.

They had a nugget of an idea for Property Ladder but it was vague.

I found it easy talking to the camera about a subject I happen to know about - there was no script back then and I still don't have one now.

I don't find it nerve-wracking doing the show as there's only a handful of people in the team and we all get on well. There are still moments on television when I find it scary and it gets my heart racing, usually when it's live in front of an audience, but with the normal show I'm fine.

What did you think of the concept of Property Ladder and did you suggest any changes to do it differently?
I don't get that involved in the format but when it comes to buildings, then that's much more my area. It seems to work - it must do because we did our 100th show last series and we are working on the 8th series, which will be aired in spring next year. When I started I didn't think a second series would be commissioned, let alone still be going eight years down the line.

Which Property Ladder case studies stick in your mind the most and why?
Philip Martinson and Stephen Hodgkinson from the first series back in 2001 - we've actually been back with the programme twice to see what they've done with their property since we did the first show, because they have a fantastic eye and are incredible designers. When we first went they really wanted to develop their home and they had exquisitely good taste. It was an exciting project, although they did install a terribly expensive kitchen, against my advice! They've now set up their own interior design business.

What did you do with your business when you were filming the series?
At the beginning I tried to do everything including running the business and doing the accounts, but when I had my eldest son Billy, something had > to give so I stopped doing the accounts and I stepped back from the business quite a bit because I had to buy time for my family. I now have three boys, aged four, two and three months.

You've branched out into other programmes including Streets Ahead and How Toxic Are You? How do they compare?
Streets Ahead was a good idea - it was about getting the people in one street to work together to improve the look of the outside of their homes. It turned out to be a great show and really instilled in people a sense of community, but logistically mixing building work on a whole street and television was a nightmare.

How Toxic Are You?, shown on Channel 4 last year, was so interesting because I knew nothing about the subject matter before, although I was interested in as a concept. I was on a mission to find out how many chemicals there are in make-up and beauty products and the results were fascinating. It did give the chemical industry a kick in the behind too and it made me make changes to my own life. There was criticism at the time about a presenter talking about science, but we made a point of making sure we said 'man-made' chemicals throughout the programme, because there are chemicals that occur naturally in products. And one time we forgot to say 'man-made' and the chemical industry picked up on that. But what I wanted them to do was dispute my findings completely, which was that some chemicals used in make-up and beauty products have been linked to cancer and hormone changes. But the scientists didn't dispute that at all, which was frightening.

What was the concept behind mysinglefriend?
That's my bit of light relief and is basically a website where you can set up your friends with other people. It came about when I woke up in the middle of the night and realised that I'd run out of people I could set my friends up with! I am a control freak and love to meddle in other people's affairs, which are both faults in my character. On mysinglefriend your friends describe you, which is much less embarrassing than having to describe yourself. It's been incredibly successful - we've had hundreds of weddings and loads of babies too.

What do you think will make a difference to people when it comes to selling their homes in this tenuous market?
More than ever before you need to consider the design inside your home if you are going to sell, as it will make a big difference to the value of your home and I'm talking thousands here, not hundreds.

If you struggle with colour and design - and lots of us think because we painted a good picture when we were 12 that we have design flair and we really don't - then invest in an interior designer. They are under appreciated as there are some who are no good, but many who are brilliant. There are rules with colour and design and if you do it yourself and make mistakes it can be costly to put things right again.

You can pay from £1,000 for a designer to come up with a concept, or pay more for them to do the whole job including sourcing the materials and carrying out the work.

In this current climate you just can't get away with predictable and dull decor because you won't sell. In the past I've advised people to keep their house neutral when selling, but there is a big difference between bland and neutral. What I don't want is for people to have purple spots on the walls as this is very off-putting for potential buyers.

There are hundreds of neutral colours that don't have to be off-white or magnolia, from green, to red, to blue. And when you are getting your house ready to sell, don't just paint the walls and think that's all you need to do. You have to think about everything in the room and how it will work together. Otherwise it's like going out for a nice supper wearing a fabulous pair of shoes but teaming them with an old top and dirty jeans.

Look at the whole picture and you will sell your house for the price you're expecting.

photographs: john carey

First Published in At Home with Sarah Beeny, September 2008