He began by paying himself 500 pounds a month from the profits, which he has increased to 1,000 pounds a month and is saving up to buy his first car.
Akshay Ruparelia, an Indian-origin young boy has become one of Britain’s youngest millionaires. His online estate agency business, doorsteps.co.uk, got valued at 12 million pounds in just over a year of being established.
Are you wondering what makes his story different? Well, Akshay is all of 19 years old.
Nineteen is usually when most teenagers are halfway through college, but Akshay juggled school work and negotiating property deals for his no-frills business.
It offers to sell properties for a fraction of the cost charged by established high street estate agents.
Traditional estate agents charge thousands of pounds in commission to sell a house – and he does it for just £99, as reported in Mirror.
In less than a year and a half into business, Akshay’s online platform has been ranked the 18th biggest estate agency in the United Kingdom. In his own words, Akshay is on a mission to disrupt the agency business model.
“Why give an estate agent a small fortune just for putting photos of your house on the internet?”
Being online is just one of the innovations of his business model. For example, he has moved away from agents with fancy cars and flashy suits. Instead, he has hired self-employed mothers to show prospective clients around the listed properties.
He says that they will not only be honest in their dealings but will also ensure that they portray the right picture to the prospective buyers.
Akshay is said to have started off his business with 7000 pounds he borrowed from relatives. Today he employs 12 others to work for the business.
In the initial stages of his business, he hired a call centre to answer calls coming into his work while he was at school. He would return the calls after his classes, reported Business Standard.
Akshay has got an offer to study economics and mathematics at Oxford University but has decided to put that on hold to grow his business.
Photo Source: Facebook
He began by paying himself 500 pounds a month from the profits, which he has increased to 1,000 pounds a month and is saving up to buy his first car.
Both Akshay’s parents are hearing-impaired and couldn’t be prouder of all that he has achieved already.
His father, 57-year-old Kaushik, is a care worker and mother, 51-year-old Renuka, is a teaching assistant for deaf children and a support worker for deaf children with Camden Council in London.
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