What do you currently do?
I founded Property Moose, an online property crowdfunding platform which allows anyone and everyone the opportunity to invest in a slice of property from £10. Now I work alongside a great team of passionate individuals helping to democratise property investment.
Property Moose offers a range of investments from buy to let properties which aim to provide monthly rental returns and a share of any capital growth, to loans paying a fixed interest rate, and exciting property developments where people can potentially get a great return and also may help to solve the housing crises. We think this is really exciting and hope that others do too.
What is your inspiration in business?
I am a firm believer in following your passion and always enjoying what you do. Of course, there are days (and nights) when you don’t but, generally, if people aren’t happy they should do something about it. Far too often do I hear young people tell me they would love to set up their own business and they should just give it a go. I eventually followed my own advice at the age of 28, giving up my career as a solicitor at a top tier private equity practice and taking a chance. A calculated risk of course!
Who do you admire?
I am very lucky to meet some amazing people, all of which I admire in one-way or another. From entrepreneur billionaires to people trying to make the world a better place. There are too many to mention but all of them have the same thing in common, they took a chance and gambled to follow their passion. People shouldn’t be afraid of failure.
Looking back, would you have done things differently?
Yes! I have made a lot of mistakes along the way but would like to think I got more things right than wrong. Those mistakes allowed me to grow and develop my skills as a business owner though so, would I do it differently, maybe not. Of course there are some decisions I would change though!
What defines your way of doing business?
I wanted to make a difference to the way everyday people save and invest, and through Property Moose, planned to open up the traditional barriers to property investment. Historically, property investment has out performed every other major asset class and I believe that everyone should have the chance to get some exposure to property in their portfolios.
Not only that, but we have a very hands on relationship with our members – we are always contactable personally in work hours, evenings and weekends, and we’re always delighted to meet members in our offices or in the coffee shop. We are not a faceless investment business – we are part of the same investor community.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out?
Build a great team around you. At the start, you have to do everything to the best of your ability but, to really scale, you need a great team. That also doesn’t mean a team of clones but people who are good at different things and compliment you as a person. Know what you’re bad at!
