Step into the world of Tanner Hicks, a business maestro whose roles as a private investor, multiple business owner, and business coach have made him a pillar in the industry. Tanner has a knack for identifying lucrative opportunities and transforming them into thriving enterprises. His strategic insights have been instrumental in navigating complex market dynamics, leading to remarkable success across a diverse portfolio of ventures. As a private investor, he has a keen eye for potential, often backing groundbreaking projects that shape the future of industries. Owning multiple businesses, he manages to juggle various responsibilities while maintaining a consistent track record of growth and innovation. As a business coach, his mentorship has empowered countless entrepreneurs to reach new heights. Tanner’s unique blend of experience and expertise sets him apart as a true leader. Discover how his visionary approach continues to influence and inspire the business world.
What inspired you to transition from a traditional career path to becoming an entrepreneur and investor, especially considering the pivotal moment you experienced at age twenty-three?
I had always had an entrepreneurial side to me and liked the idea of working for myself at some stage in life. I no longer wanted a cap on my earning potential. I also wanted additional time freedom so I could take more holidays, enjoy my hobbies (big golf fan) and raise a family without the pressures of complying to a “boss”.
I also wanted to start building for my future so I could get to a point where I didn’t ever have to work again. However, naturally taking a big step like that felt risky. It wasn’t until I was lying on that bed in the operating theater that really made me realise how short life can be and how I needed to take immediate action. Before I had additional responsibilities and liabilities that would only make the decision feel even bigger.
The journey since going full time in 2015 has certainly been a challenge but it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
How do you prioritize choice, financial security, and growth in your approach to mentoring aspiring property entrepreneurs?
Most people who join us within the Property Entrepreneurs Club have similar goals, most of which are driven by financial security and time freedom. However many people have yet to recognise the importance of continuing growth. It is that growth that gives us a sense of progression and fulfillment and so within our programmes we promote individuals take a breathe before jumping two-feet in. To write out a clear business plan, tied to their personal lifestyle goals.
We then have something to measure success by and to keep everyone focused on their unique plan and set of goals.
Can you share some specific strategies you employ to help your clients navigate the overwhelming amount of information in the property investment industry?
Having experienced the challenges of building a property business firsthand, I understand how overwhelming the amount of information in the property investment industry can be. That’s why over the years I developed a number of specific frameworks to help my clients remain focused on the areas that will fundamentally move the needle in the biggest way.
Success in property fundamentally falls down to two things. Firstly, how good an individual is at identifying & structuring good property deals, and secondly how good they are at raising the necessary funding.
We therefore prioritise these two areas within our content, support and coaching. The main core of our content revolves around my DO MORE DEALS FRAMEWORK™which simplifies the whole process of securing and funding deals into six steps. It cuts through all the excess and unnecessary clutter of information and keeps people focused.
I also introduce the framework in my best selling book “Do More Deals” which is available on Amazon. I share a roadmap for transitioning from a side-hustling “property investor” to a “Serious Full-Time Property Entrepreneur with a Proper Business.” This roadmap includes developing a solid property-based plan, which is crucial for success. By formalising business plans and operational frameworks, my clients gain that clarity and direction.
We then go into more depth around specific strategies that people can employ to attract opportunities, deals and investment to them. I emphasise the importance of building a team and network of people who understand and support their goals. This collaborative approach not only eases the burden of navigating the “guru” industry but also opens up new opportunities for growth and expansion.
In what ways do you strive to maintain openness, authenticity, and approachability in your interactions with clients and mentees?
I don’t sugarcoat things or present a polished facade. Instead, I share my own journey openly, including the hurdles I face and any lessons I’ve learned along the way. I openly say to people that I am not perfect, but then neither are they, and so we will all continue to make mistakes. But it is important to recognise that if we are not making mistakes then we are not taking risks and are not growing as a result.
All my close clients have my mobile number and are encouraged to contact me at any time of day. We have also built a team of incredible, highly experienced coaches within the community who are also prepped and readily accessible for our clients. In any business, problems and issues don’t follow a set schedule and so having access to support whenever a client is presented with a challenge is incredibly important.
There’s also no room for fear-mongering here; we believe in empowering our community members with knowledge and confidence. The most valuable asset of any community is its people so we try to do what we can to put them in control and to be open and authentic with each other. That collaboration fundamentally is what helps people to achieve more.
Reflecting on your decision to follow your passion wholeheartedly, how has this journey impacted your personal and professional growth?
Working for yourself and breaking out of the typical 9-5 structure is hard. I thought it would be easy but all of a sudden you have to take responsibility for everything. If you don’t control the emotional side it can get overwhelming. Especially putting an awful lot of pressure on myself to maximise efficiency and income. For every minute I wasn’t working in my business, was a minute I was wasting. At least that is how I felt in the first few years.
This led to a breakdown in 2017 but this was arguably one of the best things to happen to me. It taught me a lot of big and important lessons about life and business. I learnt that it was my ego that had prevented me from reaching out for help beforehand. Having recognised and taken responsibility for this I made a commitment to myself to improve my communication skills, build better structure and proactively seek support more frequently. Since then I have had a multitude of business and life mentors – some paid, some just close family members and friends.
I created clear boundaries between work and personal life. I secured a separate office space and set specific time schedules for tasks. This instilled a sense of focus, whilst also ensuring multiple aspects were continuously progressing without feeling like something was becoming too big and overwhelming. This structure empowered me to be more productive, more focused and more empowered. I rekindled belief in myself and belief in what I could achieve.
Unsurprisingly from that point onwards I’ve rarely looked back, stress and anxiety levels dropped, income started to rise and this only just reinforced the importance of self development and personal growth.
Having a bulletproof mindset, belief in yourself and taking responsibility for every positive and negative result is essential for success when you work for yourself. Whilst life isn’t always perfect, and you will have your challenges as we all do, you can flourish with the right mindset and approach.
What advice would you offer to individuals who are contemplating a similar leap of faith into entrepreneurship, particularly those who may feel constrained by conventional career paths?
We only get one life. So if there’s something out there you want to achieve, do it because no body is going to randomly phone you up and offer it to you out of the blue.
Working for yourself is one of the most challenging yet rewarding things a person could ever do. You have to shatter any limiting beliefs, break off any shackles of self doubt, and give less of shit about what is about to happen next. Because let’s be honest, it’s you caring too much about things that has prevented you from achieving the things you’ve wanted to date but not yet achieved. You might want to read that bit again…
If you are the type of person who cares about what people might think about you, or what they might say about you – then there’s your first fault. Because I can tell you for free right now, that no one actually cares anywhere near as much as you think they do about what you do or don’t do from now on (as long as it’s within the law of course).
And the people who do care about you, only want to protect you but often they don’t understand a life as an entrepreneur. People are afraid of the unknown. It’s your job to prove them all wrong.
So it’s time to set yourself free from any self doubt, any unnecessary comparisons and embrace the journey. Take some risks. Be outspoken. Aim high and pull the trigger.
There will be haters, doubters, non-believers, and then there will be you, proving them wrong!
How do you envision the future of property entrepreneurship evolving, and what role do you see yourself playing in shaping this landscape?
There are current challenges the world is facing right now and many are already feeling the pinch financially, or they’re bracing themselves for tough times ahead. Even the changes in technology can make property entrepreneurship more exclusive because of how quick AI and tech disrupts every industry. But within these struggles lies a hidden opportunity for growth and success. It’s often in times of uncertainty that the greatest opportunities emerge. Those who are ready to step up, take calculated risks, and embrace innovation will find themselves on the path to great success.
In shaping the future of property entrepreneurship, I keep this potential for growth front and centre. My team and I are committed to staying informed and continually researching to keep pace with the latest trends and developments. This ensures that PEC members and clients are empowered to leverage these changes rather than feeling discouraged by them.
My aim is to continually nurture an environment where individuals can thrive, even when times get tough. I see a big shift in the way in which people live to a more transient environment, so things like airBNB, short lets will only continue to grow. Fixed contracts will get shorter as people continue to seek more flexibility and freedom of movement.
Could you share a particularly memorable success story from your career as a mentor and coach that highlights the transformative impact of your guidance on a client’s journey?
One particularly memorable success story from my career as a mentor and coach involves one of my clients, Sam. He approached me several years ago after listening to one of my talks about my journey into property. Sam had always harboured a burning desire to pursue property full-time but, after a few years of flipping houses, he felt no closer to his goal.
Sam’s strategy involved buying houses to live in, renovating them to add value, and then selling them to move on to the next one. Each time, he moved his wife into a wreck, spent countless hours outside of his already busy full-time job to keep costs low, and renovated each property. He would sell the house, make a small profit, and repeat the process. His aim was to save enough cash to invest in a property that could generate a secondary income stream, eventually hoping this income would surpass his primary job earnings.
During a brief chat, I identified that, while Sam believed property was the right vehicle for him and his long term visions was to become a full time property developer, involved in large multimillion pound projects. He had done some initial research and education but picked rent-to-rent serviced accommodation as a strategy to build some quick income.
However I identified that he had a few limiting beliefs holding him back – one of which was that he didn’t feel experienced or knowledgeable enough to work with investors and raise funding for bigger deals. He thought he had to do the lion share himself, questioning, “Why would anyone work with me and lend me money?”
Sam is a great guy, humble and caring about others and his reputation—traits that, while admirable, needed balancing as they were holding him back. I assured him that after a few short months of working together, focusing primarily on his beliefs, he would be able to raise enough money from investors to buy and complete on a bigger property deal and go straight into developments.
Long story short, within four months, Sam found a disused pub with potential to convert. The deal needed a total of £750,000 to buy, convert, and exit. He raised nearly every penny from four separate individuals, contributing only fifty thousand pounds of his own cash. Within a year, he had built a pipeline of 4 projects with a gross pipeline value of £6.5m! This highlights one of the things that I always teach my PEC members and clients, the importance of addressing limiting beliefs and leveraging external support.
In your experience, what are some common misconceptions or pitfalls that aspiring property entrepreneurs encounter, and how do you help them overcome these challenges?
Many aspiring property entrepreneurs tend to jump straight into searching for properties to sell, flip, or rent, bypassing the crucial step of assessing their current position in terms of time, money, knowledge, network, and skills. It’s essential to understand these aspects of yourself first, so you can leverage your existing strengths and address any gaps where you might need help.
In order to turn any vision or dream into reality we need a solid plan. But like in any journey, whether it’s in property, life or business, before we can start mapping out exactly how to achieve our desired results, we have to take stock of where we are right now.
Looking ahead, what are your aspirations and goals for both Property Entrepreneurs Club and Ajito Capital, and how do you plan to continue empowering individuals in their pursuit of financial and time freedom?
My goal is to continue growing our community and to help 50 high profile clients complete on 50 profitable property deals by the end of 2026. I want to create a space where learning, support, and sharing knowledge are at the heart of everything we do. This way, we can help our members confidently navigate the constantly changing industry.
I would then love to start working with some of our members in a collaborative way to help fund projects, collaborate and do more joint ventures together. I believe so much in collaboration as not only can multiple people win, but we can win together and enjoy the moment.
