How To Build A Successful Business And The Power Of Giving Back with Reece Mennie

Reece Mennie (@reecemennie) is an entrepreneur, podcaster, investor and B2B expert. He is the CEO and co-founder of Hunter Jones, HJ Collection and Bigas Marketing. He joins Chris Van Vliet to chat about how he got started as an entrepreneur, tips on how you can start a business, the best advice he's ever received, what he's learned from working with Grant Cardone, why it's important to have great mentors, we also discuss his boxing gym called Dennis & Dyer Boxing Academy, his podcast called "Mennie Talks", the importance of giving back and much more!

For more info on Reece visit: https://www.reece-mennie.com/

I know that a lot of people are not in a job that they necessarily love. I think the great thing about you is that you always created this for yourself. Was that something that started for you early on?

“At a very young age I would always look into something that I wanted to do and not what other people wanted me to do. I started working with my dad from a very young age, and I learned that. Going back to before that, when I was at school, because here in the UK you are at school for a long time. I was doing paper rounds and working through the 6 week school holiday we get in the summer. My friends would be out playing football or whatever, and I would get a part time job just for those 6 weeks. I just wanted to get a feel of the working environment, because academically I did not enjoy school. Nothing at school motivated me and I was not very inspired, I mean I enjoyed seeing my friends and messing around. But when it came down to it, I was more interested in getting out there and experiencing the world while making money. At that young age, I was motivated by making money.”

A lot of people want to start a business and see people on Instagram showing you how glorious it can look? Where do you start?

“You need to want to do it, you need to have a plan and you need to realize what it takes. You can’t go into business and just look at all the glory and think that it is easy because somebody else is really successful. In my opinion, if you are going into business, then you have to go all in, give it everything and make sure that it is the right time. I listen to many entrepreneurs that give advice to many people. The things they always say are like ‘Just start.’ And it is about just starting, but it’s got to be not necessarily the right time, but the right time for you. You need to stand what is in it, because if you don’t go all in, you won’t succeed.”

How did you know what kind of business you wanted to go in?

“At the start I didn’t. I had a few different businesses, I worked with my dad in the printing company, we grew that and I got a good feel of what business is. What I mean by that is the darker side as opposed to just going to work and getting paid. As a kid you just think that you go to work and get paid, and if you are the owner then you get paid more. They don’t realize that you are responsible for collecting money and for being responsible for the employees. I learned that from my father at an early age, and that was when I realized that if I didn’t go all in then it isn’t going to work.”

You’ve been your most successful in real estate, where did that all come in?

“So that’s a funny story. I was working for a company that was introducing these property opportunities to high net worth and sophisticated investors. The company I worked for was successful with that, I built the team and we did really well. But I was looking at it and thinking that there’s so many different things that I could do myself that would make this a much more enjoyable place to work and better for the investors. I spoke to the people I worked with, and they had no interest in doing these things. So I thought my time is now, I put the business together from scratch and just grew it organically. We started raising money for property developers, and then went on to team up with one of my business partners and make our own development company.”

Is there any broad advice you can give to somebody who is looking to get into the real estate market?

“Well it depends what they are looking for. When you get into a property deal, you need to know what you are looking for. It could be the yield, holding the asset, flipping the asset… There’s a lot of different advice I can give, but if people are really interested in getting into the property market, I can talk to people about what they want and point them in the right direction.”

Both personally and professionally, what drives you right now?

“Well right now it’s my kids that drive me and leaving a legacy, making sure that they have everything that they need. I have a 5 year old daughter and I have just had twins, so that’s my main motivator there. I’m a family man and enjoy family time when I am relaxing.” 

How do you balance it when you can give your kids everything they want, but you shouldn’t?

“Yeah you have to be careful. You don’t want to be spoiling them, it’s about educating them and having them grow up in the real world. Every day I am giving them information that I have learned and executed, it’s about advice.”

You are also a fellow podcaster. Where did the idea come from to start a podcast?

“The idea was to put myself in a situation I was in 10-15 years ago. If there was a podcast that would spark the answer to that question that I was thinking about, that would have been great. I interview high profile entrepreneurs, people that have run multiple companies and have been successful. I get into their mindset and try to figure out what it takes. If you are not a doer, it won’t work.”

How do you take the stuff you have learned and apply it?

“You just have to do it and experience trial and error. You’ve got to make mistakes to learn, the only people who don’t make mistakes are people that don’t do anything. People have to try and grow an organisation and make mistakes, because if not then they will never make those big decisions.”

What would you say is the biggest mistake that you have made, and what did you learn from it?

“The biggest mistake I had was having a business partner at 50/50. Going in now, I would rather be slightly less or a majority shareholder than straight 50/50. Because then at the key decisions, you become at loggerheads. One can’t make a decision without the other, and you just waste time. Even if it’s 51/49, then someone can make a decision.”

As we look ahead to 2022, what are your goals?

“So we are looking to grow the academy I have, the boxing academy. We are looking to grow the property side of the business with 1,000 units a year and to get 100,000 people to get a return on their investments. There is also a USA expansion coming too, I am looking forward to getting into the American market.”

I end every interview talking about gratitude. What are 3 things you are grateful for?

“Family, being here every day and my businesses.”

Featured image: Forbes