What’s your big Why?
Entrepreneurs and business owners hear this question all the time. The idea is that your big why should keep you going when the going gets tough. The thing is, most people don’t dig deep when thinking about their big why. They think it’s no different from the reason they got into business in the first place.
Real estate entrepreneur Manzoor Syed knows very well that those are two very different things. Manzoor’s big why, for instance, is hardly even remotely connected with how he got into real estate in the first place. His goal is to build a legacy around changing lives and empowering others. Real estate is simply the means he chose to achieve this.
Through his company, Pebble Developments, Manzoor aims to empower the public to play a part in the creation of affordable housing through crowdfunding. Real estate investing, an endeavor that’s historically been reserved for the rich and the few, is now being made accessible to everyday people, thanks to Pebble.
For the next decade, Manzoor Syed hopes to have Pebble develop affordable housing not only across Canada, but also across the world. It’s a tall but noble pursuit, considering that as of 2016, according to research in partnership with UN-Habitat, only 13% of the world’s cities are considered to have affordable housing.
As for his real estate coaching business, Manzoor’s ten-year goal is to help 10,000 people retire from the rat race in favor of a life of financial freedom. Either by helping people build up their own real estate investment portfolio or by helping others close their first deal, Manzoor wants to empower people to take matters into their own hands.
But, at the end of the day, if you ask Manzoor Syed about his end-goal — the one thing he wants to achieve before he can truly be satisfied with his legacy — his answer might not be what you predict.
“I would say my end goal is to build top-notch schools that would provide private school education for free in third world countries,” he said. “That’s the end-goal I’m working towards. And obviously, to do that, I’m going to need a lot of money.” The journey’s just begun.