A FORMER electrician is now a self-made millionaire aged just 26 and he credits his success to watching YouTube videos.
Richard Dickson decided to change job after finishing his apprenticeship and move into the property business, learning his initial tricks and tips from business leadership clips on the social media platform.
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Richard was so successful that he made a whopping £100,000 in his first year as an entrepreneur and was soon a self-made millionaire, splashing out on flash cars and luxury holidays.
He said: “I spent a lot of time on the internet, and I stumbled upon a bunch of entrepreneurial YouTubers and content creators.
“I decided to spend more time learning through their free online content. “
Richard, who now gets to enjoy the likes of McLaren, Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz and BMW cars, didn’t always have such a glamorous lifestyle and began his working life as an apprentice electrician to his dad.
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He explained that he made this decision as he was ‘on the fence’ about higher education and didn’t want to get into debt.
Richard, who lives in Glasgow, admitted: “You know what they say about trades, it’s a job for life. But the life I wanted was never going to be facilitated by being an electrician.
“I never had a plan in place for what I wanted to do after I finished my apprenticeship.”
Luckily for Richard, he went down an internet rabbit hole that led him to his now career.
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He said: “I eventually decided to start attending different events.
“I’ve always been a good speaker. I’ve not really had an issue confidence-wise when I’m talking to new people.
“That allowed me to flourish at some of these different events – creating new contacts and making new friends, even as a young guy with very little to offer other than a decent conversation.
“I had a base level of education that came through online content. But I think it’d be fair to say that when I started actually making money, it was because I had invested a lot of time into my education working with the right people.”
This was five years ago when Richard was still in his early 20s, and after being inspired by and mentored by the people he met, he set up his own property brokering business.
He described his work as being similar to that of an estate agent, but stressed that he’s ‘far better’ than that.
Richard added: “We deal with investors only. We deal with clients who say, ‘I want a 15-property investment portfolio in this area, can you go and get me it?’
“We go out and actively market for properties. I find properties that have never been on the market, and I negotiate with those homeowners directly to get them what they want.”
But even though Richard made his fortune quickly, he stressed that it was far from an easy feat.
He said: “I formally launched my business in January 2019, and by Christmas, I had made £100K. That’s not to say it was easy because it was fast.
“Making your first £100K is very tough, especially doing it quickly. You’re not 100 per cent sure that everything you’re doing is right and you make mistakes.
“I just happened to land some really good clients and really good transactions that allowed me to make ultimately a really good income, which I scaled up.
“When I made that first £100K, that was the time when I saw my lifestyle change the most.”
Richard said that after he’d reached this point, he simply saw his extra income as a way to make more money through investment and have treats like fancier holidays.
Reflecting on what it was like to make his first million, Richard said: “Materially, nothing changed in that moment, but growing up in a place that wasn’t super wealthy, it was a huge tick to my self-worth.
“I thought, ‘I f**king done that.'”
Richard’s top five tips
1. Live with your parents to save money and invest it into a business.
2. Find someone who has the life you want and convince them to be your mentor.
3. Be careful of the friends you have around you as it can be a lonely journey.
4. Don’t share your dreams with your family as they might tell you they’re unrealistic.
5. Understand that going to university or college isn’t a prerequisite for success.
Since making a success of his business, Richard has been able to travel the world and fulfil his teenage dreams.
He said: “The best things about my success have been getting the chance to travel the world and things like that.
“I just love cars too – driving a fast car, getting in nice cars. That’s all I wanted when I was a kid, so I think I do all that for my younger self.”
But he did admit that his newfound success and wealth has had its downsides.
He added: “It’s also hard when you have a certain level of success, building new friendships or even relationships as well. You don’t know why someone wants to be around.
“Thankfully, I’ve got a group of friends who are very solid. I’m one of the least successful people in my group, who are all entrepreneurs. “
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When asked what the biggest secret to his sudden success was, Richard said he puts it down to being around the right people.
He said: “I totally believe that I would have been successful anyway, but I wouldn’t have done it as fast without being around the right people.”
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