Don’t let the fear of striking out prevent you from playing the game

From a young age, I always knew that I wanted to be a millionaire. Whilst most people dreamed of being actors or doctors, I wanted to be able to do what I enjoyed and in return, earn the biggest reward.

I was asked as a kid what I wanted to be when I grew up. My answer was I wanted to be Santa. Let me explain… He only has to work one night a year and everybody loved him. I wanted to be able to put in as little effort as possible and still get what I wanted. And I knew that I wanted to be a millionaire by the time I was 30.

On the side of my day to day J.O.B as a mechanical design engineer, I set up a video rental store and rented all the videos as well as video recorders to work friends. My business grew and just before my 30^th birthday, I sold my company to Video Store Plc and took more of the money in stocks.

I was a millionaire. I had achieved my dream.. On paper.

Everything was great and I partied all the time.

There is a reason why the Video Store Plc is not a recognised name. It went into administration and because I took my money in shares, I was no longer a millionaire.

That had to be one of the hardest moments of my life. Suddenly, I was right at the beginning again.

But, something was different.

I knew what it felt like to be a millionaire and I would do anything to be back in that position again. I had drive and a passion to get there. I would do whatever it took.

The secret to becoming a millionaire…

I started to drive taxis.. sometimes doing double shifts in order to build my income back up. I’ll never forget how it felt driving the people I used to go partying with around. However, I was determined.

I quickly learnt that I could buy another for £3000. If I worked so many extra hours, I could buy the car in 10 weeks. I even got my wife driving taxis so that we could buy cars quicker.

I call this my “get ahead money” or “get ahead time”. Are you determined to get ahead?

In no time at all, we were leasing cars out to other taxi drivers and created a mini taxi empire. But there was still a niggling thought. This wasn’t my passion.

Then I had my lightbulb moment.

I spoke to a friend of mine that owned a Ferrari garage and wanted to know who his main customers were. His answer: Either IT or property. Well, I’m definitely not that great at IT so I thought I would give property a try.

Using some cash I had, we bought 6 properties the “conventional way” by putting deposits in. I thought there must be an easier way!

Speaking to some lawyers, we found out about a mortgage product that allowed same day refinancing. Using this method, I was able to buy properties quickly and importantly, without having to put cash in.

I set myself a target of buying 52 properties in 52 weeks. I pulled it off in 48 weeks. And the rest they say is history.

I have been an active property investor since 2004 and I know that the goalposts are continually changing but playing the game (actively investing) has enabled me to keep on scoring.

It doesn’t matter what you think you know, you don’t know what you don’t know. Being around people who are experienced and knowledgeable can help you to meet your goals quicker.