Adviser decided to go self-employed early on – and it's paying off
If tenacity is one of the key qualities to becoming a successful mortgage broker, Aatif Fazal (pictured) is a fine example of how a single-minded focus will take you far in this industry. Still only 25, and qualified only 18 month or so, Fazal is rapidly building his own Manchester-based business, Frida Finance, specialising in commercial mortgages and bridging. Having struggled to find employment with a brokerage, he decided to go his own way.
“From six months ago, compared to now, I've seen a big jump in business and looking back, I don't regret it one bit at all,” Fazal told Mortgage Introducer. “I'm actually quite happy that I took the plunge, I went in deep and went self-employed because I'm building my own business from scratch. It's starting to pay off now.”
While he hankered after a job in financial services, Fazal’s career started in sales, working in a call centre for the gas and electricity industry. A chance chat with a customer led to some life-changing advice. “I established a rapport with him and he told me he was in finance,” Fazal explained. “He said to me, ‘If you want to get into finance, I'd suggest you do your CeMAP. If you like it, get into that type of work and then slowly, slowly start building up your qualifications and getting into the finance world. You’re still young, if you get into it now, you’ll be rewarded.’ He sold it to me.”
Fazal followed the advice and attained his CertCII and CertPro certifications. He has worked hard to establish himself as a self-employed mortgage and protection broker – even offering to take business calls as late as 11pm. “I was waking up every single day, early doors,” he explained, “getting out on the road for 8am and hitting the high street. I was doing the groundwork, finding cities and towns where all the estate agents, accountants, and property professionals were, doing research about all the professionals. I was going in with a with a big bunch of business cards, making introductions, letting them know what I did and asking for client referrals. It was really hard at the start because I didn't have much experience in the industry, but I got a lot of good support from my network, Connect. If you're struggling to place a case with the lender, they help you out.”
He continued: “Once I got a few clients, I really gave them my best level of service, went above and beyond for them and they were really happy with it. From there, things just started picking up, and more and more inquiries were coming through.”
Read more: How brokers can improve the homebuying process for people with disabilities
The energy of bridging and commercial mortgages
Having established himself in residential and buy-to-let, building his business through referrals, Fazal has moved into the bridging and commercial space, an area he aims to make his own – benefitting from market trends, such as southern property developers expanding into Manchester. “With residential, you know what to expect - it's like a pattern, and it's mainly first time buyers. Now, when it comes to commercial and bridging, the market is so big and vast. It keeps me energised and motivated because I'm thinking, ‘Oh wow, I didn't know that, but now I do know it.’ I'm not sure if it's because maybe I've not had that much experience there, but every case is different, so all this is exciting.”
Would Fazal recommend to other young brokers coming into the industry to go straight into self-employment? “I think it depends on the individuals themselves,” he reasoned. “If they’ve got that motivation. It's a whole different ball game to being employed. With employment, you've got the security of your basic salary, you're going to be getting qualified leads. If you are self-employed you need to go out there into the market, you need to really push yourself. It’s a risk.”
Fazal plans to expand his broker business and bring in other advisers. “What I want to do is give the opportunity to brokers and welcome them into the industry, which I didn't have,” he said. “That is my long term plan.”
While Fazal’s career is still relatively new, what would he say is the best business lesson he has so far learned in his career? “If you don't ask, you don't get,” he said. “If you're going to be afraid and not actually get out of your comfort zone, then you're missing out on a lot of opportunities that you didn't even know were out there. Just by talking to someone, just randomly approaching someone that you've never met before and just having a conversation with them, you don't know what's going to come out of that conversation.”
