15 - How The Property Edge Became a Lifestyle, Not Just a Brand - With Milesh Lakhani

What happens when a health scare forces you to re-evaluate everything? In this honest and inspiring episode, Rebecca sits down with Milesh from The Property Edge to talk about why he walked away from a successful corporate career to prioritise time, family, and freedom.

They explore how Milesh built a thriving property portfolio, the power of taking action without a destination in the sat-nav, and why starting with your life – not your business – should be the plan. From walking the school run in 2016 as one of the only dads, to now mentoring others through The Property Edge, Milesh shares practical insights, mindset tips, and his one golden rule: reflect, review, and build the business around the lifestyle you want.

Whether you're early in business or navigating your next chapter, this episode will leave you feeling grounded, motivated, and ready to take action.

🔗 Connect with Milesh

📸 Instagram: @mileshpropertyexpert
📘 Facebook: Milesh Lakhani Property
💼 LinkedIn: Milesh Lakhani (check – this appears to be a Facebook link)
🎥 TikTok: @mileshproperty
📧 Email: hello@thepropertyedge.co.uk

🎙️ Edited with precision by podcast editing master, Mike Roberts of Making Digital Real

⏺️ Got feedback, a question, or want to be on the show? Leave me a voice message by CLICKING HERE – we might even feature it in a future episode!

✨ Subscribe, follow, and share with anyone who’s growing their business between the bells.

🔗 Connect with Rebecca on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rebeccanewenham
🌐 Learn more about Get Ahead: getaheadva.com

Transcript

Today I am joined by the rather fabulous Milesh from The Property Edge and what I loved about this session is how authentic Milesh is at sharing his story as to why he became self-employed and I absolutely love the values that he runs by. So time, flexibility and time with his family and I know that he is super proud that in 2016 he was one of the only dads on the school run and you know we fast forward now nine years and if I'm looking outside my window every morning I live near an infant school a majority of drop-offs are done by dads but back in 2016 Milesh was one of the early ones and he recognised that he didn't want to miss these opportunities. So I know you're going to love this session all around life and business but how you weave business into life and not the other way around so enjoy. 

So Milesh welcome to Between the Bells. Thank you, thank you for having me. Well I'm so sorry you're not my first man anymore we thought you might be but no and I'm really excited for this conversation because we've known each other for a short while haven't we? We've had a one-to-one and then it just felt like the perfect opportunity to share your story about how you set up Property Edge, how you're now running it with your lovely wife and I know you've got lots of gems to share with everyone so yeah I'd love you to yes start off with telling us your story. 

Yeah thank you Rebecca. So I started off working in financial services mostly in senior management over the years. I had a 17 year career doing that and then 2013 my life kind of changed really in that I fell quite ill ended up in Frimley Park Hospital for five months. 

Unexpectedly very young family my daughter was three weeks old and my son was two. I had gallstone pancreatitis just one of the unlucky ones with it but what that did do is really gave me a shift in perspective and I luckily walked away from that and just thought actually what's important and so the values we kind of live by now are time, flexibility and family. So having had the experience of what we did as a family just thought do you know what I want more control of my life and what I say to people now is there was no destination in the sat-nav. 

So I was hungry, passionate, driven all of those things progressing very well in the career but there was no end game and so we had the opportunity to change that and took the action to change that because it's all very well having these thoughts but you've got to do something about it and so that's what led me into the world of property. Built up a portfolio from 2016 which is when I left my job to now. The focus initially was very much around income to replace the salary and then my wife to leave her job as well which we did in 2022. 

So built up a HMO portfolio, buy to let portfolio. The last few years have been very much about capital strategy so how can I make lumps of cash essentially and that's the plan for the next few years. And then last year so I've been doing kind of monthly property networking down the pub type thing. 

Been doing some one-to-one consulting stuff over the last five six years and last year kind of put it all together under what we called the property edge. So that's got various elements to it, consulting, networking, quarterly event, boardroom type setup as well and that hits its first birthday in October. So yeah so anything related to property you know whether it starts how do I start out, where do I start, how do I you know make my portfolio, existing portfolio more efficient, how do I grow it, all of those types of things I'm happy to help people with.

No brilliant and I love your point Malish early on about you know you took action and I think you know I meet quite a few people that say oh I wish I could do this or I'm thinking of this and actually I think you would agree with me it's about breaking it down but actually just getting on with it it's very easy to put things off isn't it? Yeah do, you've got to do stuff. Unfortunately nothing's going to land on your lap unless you're extremely lucky but you have to take the step you have to take the action for that change to initiate the change and start with the end in mind. Yes yeah and I remember when my mum always says that it's sort of you know where are you going and then breaking that down and then that makes it feel less scary doesn't it keep your eye on the prize is one of her sort of catch phrases and I quite I quite like that.

Exactly that. Keep your eye on the prize. Right Malish so that's brilliant thank you for sharing that so if we move on to our sort of quick fire question would you like to share perhaps some of your favourite tools or lessons that you've experienced? So you won't be surprised when I say this the mobile phone is for calling so it's very easy to be on social media message somebody whatsapp somebody ping them an email. 

When I speak to people on the phone now I find myself saying I hope you don't mind I'm going a bit old school and picking up the phone and talking is that okay? I don't feel like I should have to do that but people are very fearful of speaking to people and I think you know in the world where technology is enhancing every single second of the day I think that human interaction whether it's over the phone or face to face is so so important so that is my favourite tool and I'll always try and pick up the phone and speak rather than just resort to message. And it's interesting it's I think as a generation if I look at my kids you know their late teens early 20s even they rarely pick up the phone unless it's in an absolute emergency. It's very easy to get hidden behind the phone isn't it when actually I know very well that you get your best interaction and the best spontaneity by actually and we shouldn't say being brave and picking up the phone but I think we do see it like that sometimes.

Yeah absolutely and don't get me wrong there is a place for the whatsapp message in the email but I think we do replace those things with the traditional pick up the phone and speak to somebody in fact doing that can be a lot quicker. Oh no totally I think it's almost like well what's the worst that can happen someone can say oh sorry I can't talk to you let's rearrange and actually speak later so I know I love that yeah very good thank you. Any others or was that your main one? That was the main one I think. 

I like that thank you and you and I were laughing when we met up a few weeks ago because I don't give my mobile number out to many people because I want to sort of choose how available I am and that's an interesting point as well about how you protect yourself on one hand but then are open to having conversations on the other so. Completely yeah once they're in into the circle then absolutely it's all about the phone call. Wow and then in terms of your bell ringer moment Milesh so what would you say is your single most important takeaway? Does it have to be single? No it can be as many as you want. 

So I touched on it earlier start with the end in mind I think that's really really critical in whatever you do so we'll leave that one there I think the other thing as well when you've got your own gig your own business and you've got all the pressures of you know in between the bells time wise it's really being clear about doing the things that serve you and not the things that don't so you can often find yourself doing stuff and being really really busy but actually how much of that is serving you how is it benefiting you just taking that time to think about that at the end of the week or whatever it may be to understand what is serving you and how well. Yeah because I think that's true because it's actually it might be serving you but is it is it how long is that going to last and that whole piece around reflection isn't it because I remember when we met up you said you're good at reviewing how things have been and then setting your intention for the following week and things aren't you? Exactly that yeah yeah so network's a classic example and I guess there's there's varying degrees of effort in terms of what that reward is going to be so networking is is one that's a mid to long term thing that you should be doing but if it gets a point I know certainly I've been there where I've done too much networking where I've had less time to do the doing and so it's just a case of reviewing that and saying okay yes this is a mid to longer term play where it will serve me but in this week by doing x number of events it's not served me in in that it's stopped me from doing other stuff that might have been you know more priority for that time that for that week essentially. Yeah and I suppose it's having putting that time in to be honest and reflect is it so funnily enough I'm just running a networking workshop this week and we've been looking at people saying oh I've gone to this meeting and I haven't got anything and I won't come back so it's sort of it's balancing all of it isn't it in terms of how much effort you put in and showing up as the best version of you and giving some of it time but just because you enjoy going and you like to chit chat with your friend doesn't actually mean it's the right place for you longer term but it's how much effort you put in and when do you when are you brave enough to say actually this isn't working exactly that and it's about how you manage your time and what tasks priorities you've got on at any given time to then decide and having that foresight to decide okay the next month is looking like really busy so I've only got time to do a handful of networking events so let's be selective about which ones that we go to where do I feel like I need to be more than others and you prioritize it that way because you've got other stuff ongoing another month it may be slightly different where you've got more scope and more opportunity to go out and about and network and meet people and increase your networks and that's absolutely fine as well so I think the awareness piece is important and then playing it through and reviewing it is is equally important no absolutely oh very good anything else and this is just over over the years of experience and being in business pay for advice because the cost of that will far outweigh the cost of going alone and the time in making mistakes that you may make whereas if there's somebody around you who's got the t-shirt who's got the experience and knowledge that can help you you're going to get there a lot quicker so don't look at the small small amounts when you compare it to the you know the opportunity cost of getting it wrong or slowing stuff down and not making decisions yeah no I can totally remember when I first set get ahead up I had the opportunity to work with a business coach and it seemed like such a big amount compared with everything else but it was the most invaluable thing I did and I'm always saying that to people it's about actually investing in your time and it might feel a bit scaring a bit overwhelming but you're right the opportunity costs usually outweighs that doesn't it but then the flip side is having a confidence to stop the hat advice when you feel that you've come perhaps to the end of the road or bringing in different people for different parts of the business exactly that and actually that's that should be seen as a sign of growth because you've grown through those things with the support and so you're ready to move on to the next stage whatever that may be and that may not be with the person who you started out with and that's cool yes and it's not a negative is it and I think you're right that that's just the cycle of where you're going yeah and you can still keep in touch with people can't you and I think yeah no and I love it I will often say well I've had a marketing coach I've had a coach with a franchise and I've done various things but it's only ever served me to a certain point and then it's the sort of that recognition of moving on but it's about celebrating as well isn't it and saying actually this is where I've got to fabulous now who else am I going to involve in the inner circle exactly that and like you I've had I've had coaches mentors of some kind for the last 15 odd years even when I was working and since I left work whether it's mindset whether it's business whether it's specific to property whether it's health and fitness there's always been somebody that I've had along the way with that specific element of life yeah and I think I found that's been really helpful so I'm not relying and I often would laugh about you know I wouldn't have any friends left or still be married if I hadn't had external input because there's a limit isn't there so how much you want to talk about the business with you know out of the core hours so um exactly yeah thank you um and then in terms of school drop-off shout outs and I from memory your kids are they secondary school now I can't remember they are yes yeah so school's still a thing school's still a thing although we don't do the school run anymore so the the shout out is walking the kids to school when they were younger because it just gave us that interaction it was one of the times that they just chatted freely and openly without any other distractions so that was really really good and then of course they go to secondary school where that's not there anymore so one thing we've done as a rule and continue to do is wherever possible this means getting up ridiculously early but we have breakfast together and we have dinner together and on the weekends lunch so we are around the table no phones no distractions and that gives us that real quality time where we're just chatting about our days having a bit of a laugh having a bit of a moan if needed um so that that having that in there is is really really critical um and something yeah I'd recommend to anyone and everyone no love it and it's very much as a traditional family would have been isn't it yeah we use our dining table for dining exactly and I thought and I I find a certainly in the past I found that in the car as well we'd have really good conversations when we're not staring at each other so there are different venues aren't there for different things but that's a lovely way to start and end your day because that's where that communication is vital isn't it Vince yeah definitely that you're right about the car as well you you there is something about it that's different to be at the table or you know having a face-to-face conversation where you're staring each other in the face and then that's why interestingly sometimes if you're having an awkward work conversation picking up the phone is easier than a zoom for example I think sometimes but yeah there is it's all the different mechanisms isn't it all the tools in the toolbox exactly yes and choosing them for the relevant the relevant activity so oh no love that thank you that's brilliant and then probably always my most exciting bit what is your homework assignment Malish so here we go um there's been a bit of a theme um it's really just taking time out to reflect and review in life and business and I say in that order on purpose because we're all you know a lot of people listen to this are going to be business owners why are we in business for a better life so actually shouldn't that be our priority so I would say just take that take a step back whether it's half a day couple of hours in a location that isn't the norm so not in your office or whatever take yourself away just give yourself that time to review and reflect all the good things that you've done the learnings over the period and actually dare to look out a bit further what does the next two three five years look like within life what life stage are you going to be at what where are your kids going to be what does that look like and if you really want to get into the detail you can do that on a financial basis as well to say okay what what do we need each month to be coming in versus where we are now and in doing that by accident or by default or on purpose you've come up with a plan for your business in terms of what you need to be achieving within your business so start with the lifestyle bit and then weave your business into it in that order I think that's really really important to do something that you know we do we review one thing that we're proud of is our structure within our business so we have weekly monthly quarterly meetings quarterly is a strategy day where we're doing just just as I said we're reviewing the last quarter looking out into the next and where does that line up against our five years are we still on track or does it need to change because it's okay to write something down for five years time and you might want to change it it doesn't mean it's fixed and set in stone no and I think sometimes people can worry that if they are doing that that they are sticking having to stick to it and actually like you say everything comes around and I love that part of business being woven into life because that's the whole balance piece isn't it exactly that yeah yeah certainly with our values in having time having flexibility more time with the family it is very much led by that so what's the lifestyle we want to be living and then how can we make sure that the business businesses feed into that definitely oh no Manish that's brilliant thank you yeah no I knew this would be a great episode and you've been really honest and authentic and I think that's vital in what we're doing isn't it and we only have one stab at this and I've loved yeah I've loved your story and I've loved what you've shared with us so thank you very much keep doing what you're doing and no doubt I will see you very soon at an event yes thank you very much for having me god pleasure