Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Wood.
It’s an honor to speak with you today. Why don’t you give us some details about you and your story. How did you get to where you are today?
My journey started when I read the book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” and decided to start investing in property. Me and my wife Gisela started researching the Swedish market where we lived and realized quickly that it was very hard for new investors to get started. We decided to instead start investing internationally, we researched multiple markets before finally realizing that the UK would be the perfect market for us. We hired a mentor who promised to help us figure out the rules, customs and get the necessary connections to succeed.
Well, we started out by being ripped off for about 400 000 GBP, money we did not have, we had raised it from investors. We were on the brink of bankruptcy before we had the opportunity to meet Kim Kiyosaki, the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad. We hosted her at an event in Stockholm and as the organizer we had the opportunity to get to know her, take her out to dinner, and she gave us some amazing advice. She helped us restructure our debt, restructure our deals and start turning around our portfolio. Fast forward about 5 years and we have a successful portfolio with properties all over the UK.
I’m sure your success has not come easily. What challenges have you had to overcome along the way?
The hardest part was telling the investors that had trusted us with their money that we had lost it, that we were 400 000 GBP in debt and didn’t know how to turn things around. My accountant called me and told me it was time to file for bankruptcy. That would have meant that the investors would have lost pretty much their entire investment. Explaining this to them and working to turn the portfolio around was very tough. Without the support of amazing people like Kim Kiyosaki, the Tony Robbins organization and many, many more, we probably would have had to file for bankruptcy and our investors would have lost everything.
With the help of the right people we were able to turn things around which has been a true blessing.
Let’s talk about the work you do. What do you specialize in and why should someone work with you over the competition?
There are many companies that teach property investing, especially in the UK and many of them are very, very good at what they do. The problem for most of us who don’t live in the UK, is that all these companies are UK owned and run, meaning they have never experienced building a portfolio in a country they don’t know, a culture they don’t know and doing it while 1000 miles away. This is the reason we lost 400 000 GBP when we started out and is the reason we started Momentum Property Education.
Because we had investors who saw both our “collapse” and our turnaround, our progress became almost public knowledge. When we had started turning things around people from all over started reaching out and asked us to help them. Initially we said “no” as we had built our portfolio to spend more time with our family, but we did know what they were going to face, and when someone asks for help, it is hard to say no.
We decided to start helping those who reached out and when they started having success, avoiding the mistakes we had made, it was such an amazing feeling and we decided to do it professionally. We partnered with a brilliant investor Lukasz Brzyski and formed Momentum Property Education. We have since helped hundreds of people from all over the world succeed in property investing internationally.
What’s your best piece of advice for readers who desire to find success in their life?
We have found that success comes down to a simple formula K.A.P Knowledge, Action, People.
If you can get these three parts right, you will succeed in everything you do. Warren Buffet once said that he never invests in a business he doesn’t understand. That is amazing advise and why “Knowledge” is the first step of the formula. You need to learn about your chosen profession, you need to understand the business or investment, both at a macro and at a detail level.
The danger many risk though is to get stuck in the learning and analysis phase which is why step two is “Action”, you need to test your theories in real life and get feedback. Learn, test, analyze the results and try again. It is a never ending circle which will help you steadily grow and reach your goal.
Finally, “People”, people will be the final key to your success. You cannot succeed with anything without the right people behind you. People will bring you deals, invest with you, give you news, support, help, advise and mentorship. Without the right people around you, you will not succeed, with the right people, you will find it is easier than you could ever imagine.
Speaking of success, what does the word mean to you?
To me it is being happy. It is about finding your purpose and having growth in all 5 areas of your life “Finance, Mission, Health, Relationships and Spiritual development”. If you can reach your goals and continue to grow in all areas of your life you are a success no matter what anyone else thinks.
For me personally it is being able to spend time with my family, to be able to do the things we want, to travel, to learn and grow, together.
What’s next for you?
We are very excited about our next phase, we are building some large developments in the UK and have some very exciting partners in Momentum Property Education which we see will further help our students become more successful. In the end, our mission is to support our students in both learning how to invest in property, having the right team to make sure their deals go well and help them secure the funding to build a portfolio that allows them to live the life of their choosing.
Finally, how can people connect with you if they want to learn more.
Connect with us on social media, just search for Momentum Property Education, feel free to subscribe to our Youtube channel as we every week come out with videos and interviews with experts on passive income, property investing and the latest developments in the economy https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSmIDF8a-ZKNr-_R1dZBtDA we also have a free online course the “3 simple steps to property investing” that will help you start your property journey. You can find it at https://www.momentumgift.com