 You can now follow me on all my social media platforms to find out who my latest guest will be and don't forget to click the subscribe button and the notifications button so you're notified for when my next podcast goes live. I also knew never to declare that I was a gypsy at school because it come with a stigma, liars, tramps and thieves and I think we have to accept stereotypes are out there and they're just a form of abuse. Tomorrow it can all change. Today I could lose it all. We never know what's going to happen. The same ladder we've climbed is the same ladder you slipped down. Success is a journey, a categorically a journey and we never know if we're successful to have reached the last breath. Then we can say yes we live the successful life. I don't believe there is such thing as a bad business. Just bad people that run them. That's why one estate agent on one side of the road can be thriving. The other one across the road can be closing. It's not the business, it's the people. Life carves you and it's the deepest cuts. It's the chunks that get cut out of you that scar you that make you the person you are and it will ever make you a masterpiece or it will make you this horrible misshapen, bitter twisted piece of wood. That's what life can do. It's up to you to make sure those cuts, what's being cut and carved out of you are turning you into a masterpiece. Every time I tell this story I have hairs come up on the back of my neck and it puts a cold light through my body. Boomer on and today's guest we've got Alfie Best. This is mine James. Absolute pleasure brother. So we've got the tagline Britain's Richest Gypsy. How do you feel about that? What is he doing? Are you okay with that tagline? I feel like they've written poorest gypsy moustache. First and foremost thanks again for coming on the show. We tried last week, I got locked out of the studio mate which was a nightmare like I'm usually on the ball with those things but again thanks for giving me your time. No no no listen it's a shame I couldn't get us in because you know you should always bring any key, especially a pie key. Definitely but again it's just you've got a phenomenal story for success. I've met your son Alfie Junior, like great kid man, like head screwed on very polite. Again it has both podcast about the same week but you've raised a good one there and he's very well liked. Everybody speaks very highly of him and you should be proud. Thank you. I am proud. There's no guidelines or books to how we bring our kids up. Sometimes you think you're doing it right and sometimes you think you're doing it wrong and sometimes I think he's bringing me up. But we have a good relationship in the point that I wouldn't say that we're particularly very close but what we are is we're close enough in the way that I think he values my opinion now more than say he did many years ago and to be fair it's at the point now where I value his opinion. So for that point I think I've done alright. Yeah I always go back to the start of my guests where you grew up and how it all began. You know there's nothing really magical about my story and it's no different to a lot of other people's story. It's how we tell them. But I'm a traveller, I'm a gypsy. I was born in a place called Lutterworth. My mum and dad loved cars and lorries so I was born on the side of the road. I think they like the trucks going by. And you know from there on I had a fabulous mum and dad. I've been very blessed with the love, care that I had from them. Were we poor? Only in a financial mindset. As for everything else I didn't think we were poor but in actual fact I think this is a mindset of most survivors from difficult backgrounds and when I say difficult backgrounds what I mean is I never really understood what it meant by being born into a privileged background. I do now. And I think sometimes it can be a blessing to be born into a privileged background and sometimes it can be a curse because if you're born into a privileged background you assume that's the norm. When in actual fact it's not. You know the norm is really to be fair if you think that there is I think 7 billion people on this planet and at last calculation there is 1,500 billionaires. That's a minute amount when you think of the amount of people in the population in the world. So it shows that for me when I look at it I see so many people that are not born should we say from good privileged backgrounds that are going to give them a great education or a great start. I had a great start from a different world. My mum and dad supported me along my way. So for me as hard as it was I didn't think it was a difficult background. My mum and dad were still cooking on pots and pans outside on an outside fire and we'd done that until I was 14 or 15 but it was the norm. No education. I know a lot of travellers didn't really go to school as well but some did, some left early on but what about yourself? Have you ever got to school Alfie? Yeah, I went to school but it was periodic. It was like on and off and the one school that I did actually go to was where we wintered my mum and dad in a yard in a place called Wormley and we'd go back there for the winter and I'd go to school then but school was very periodic. You know, I certainly am not a scholar and I can't read and write that well but you know, social media and the internet has certainly helped, I think a lot of people that skill set academically isn't that good has actually brought them on because we're all now texting everybody even people that can't read and write are actually being brought on by it. What about your relationship with your mum and dad? Was it a close relationship or was it tough love? Definitely tough love. My mum is a very hard woman you know, you look at my dad my dad's a man six foot four and my mum's a woman five foot one they're like, you know, little and large but my mum has got a heart like a lion but I was brought up if I got in a fight and you didn't hit back you got beat but I don't mean you just got back and you got beat. Do I think that was the right way? Absolutely, yeah I do because I think I never ever got bullied at school and I never ever and but having said that I also knew never to declare that I was a gypsy at school because it come with a stigma liars, tramps and thieves and I think we have to accept stereotypes are out there and they're just a form of abuse no different than calling somebody ugly or fat or it's just abuse Who was that to deal with? Coming from a gypsy background we think we're smart we really think there isn't a gypsy that you'll ever meet or a traveller you'll ever meet that doesn't think they're sharp and you know something that's because they all are because if I was starving and I was on a desert island there's only one man I want to be with and that's another gypsy because I know we're climbing that coconut tree and we're getting the coconuts down it's having to is a great master and what gypsies do is they survive and thrive and they've done that all over the world and that's because the travelling community are always erring from a very young age where does that get ingrained in? Is that because it's just survival mode or is it just to learn to answer yourself? If you think of the Americans when America was first populated it was populated whether you take it was Irish whether you take it was Italian whether you take it was English it was populated by immigrants and all those immigrants had to become entrepreneurs so gypsies and travellers are born entrepreneurs they're born to thrive not only just survive Was that hard to try and learn trades from a very young age especially lack of schooling lack of reading and writing how did you adapt and how did you manage to adapt and learn? If you don't know and you're learning on the tools it can't be hard can it? When people say oh how difficult must that have been because you know your academic skills weren't oh that's like saying you know God forgive a man that's born blind needs to be able to see to get around the room you adapt you don't know any different I certainly didn't know any different so I learned on the tools and learning on the tools is a way we learn just because society says you have to go to school you have to be educated in this formal way you then take your degree you then go out there and become successful in what format in the format that they say that we're successful and I don't agree with that I actually think that our schooling system is broken and the reason I say that it's broken is this look when you learn to take your driving test you know for your car or your van or whatever they don't just give you your theory fill out your documentation and say there's the keys go and drive the car you have to do the theory then you do the practical with an instructor sitting at your side while you learn to drive the car they do that with every machine whether it's a helicopter an aeroplane that's what with a school they let you take your GCSEs or your own levels or whatever exam it is and then give you the keys to the wide world and say go out there and conquer it hold on shouldn't it be a mix of both shouldn't it be a mix of doing the theory which is your exam and then putting you into the real world piece by piece and it should be paired together what was the first earner you had? the first first earner I ever had good question taking a job at eight years old taking the top of a tree of a monkey tree out which my dad climbed and took out and a monkey tree is what they call a monkey puzzle tree and that was in winchmore hill I remember that I got 30 quid and I thought it was all the money in the world see at that moment is that when you realised I wanted to make more or was it just so young that it was nothing I don't think I understood it then the man that changed my life where money was concerned was when I was 13 I took a job tarmacking off of a man called Mr. Hambrough from the Hambrough's family, trust Hambrough's pension it happened in a state and I got paid £31,000 to tarmack about a mile of road which at that time in like 1983 was just unheard of and I'll never forget what he said to me he said master best he didn't think I was 13 he thought I was 18 he said master best he said you're wasted he said why don't you he said come to work on the estate with me and I thought he was just an eccentric old fool of a man what I realised I was the young undereducated fool because if I'd have foregone any money and learnt from somebody of his calibre who took a liking to me then I'd be a hell of a lot further forward than I am now because it's fine saying I've done well now I've not done well I'm not successful I'm successful at this point in my life tomorrow it can all change today I could lose it all we never know what's going to happen the same ladder we've climbed is the same ladder you slip down success is a journey a categorically a journey and we never know if we're successful to have reached the last breath then we can say yes we've lived a successful life so when you're getting those jobs at 13 and doing your thing and making dole is it just keep going is it survival mode or is it investing how did those entrepreneurship come into your mind have you always been like that success money is a drug and it's an endorphin that gets released in all of our minds if you are and I say this if you think of a job just a normal job where you get the day what's the best day that we look forward to it's pay day that's no different than taking a job knocking on a door what's the best part of that job finishing it and getting paid so it's an endorphin release and one of the things that I did was a nationwide building society book and I didn't realise it at the time but I was creating a saving habit because I started making sure that I paid money into my building society book every day every single day and all of a sudden I'd get withdrawal symptoms if I didn't go in and pay something into that book and it's only when you reflect back on it you realise what you did is created the 28 day reoccurrence habit and by creating that habit of making sure whether you pay a pounding you just make sure that you do it every day at the same time and it becomes imprinted in your brain like muscle memory and then the hardest thing to do is to change from a saver to an investor and once you then manage the skill set to invest and you get whatever you're investing in to produce a revenue strain or then you've cracked it because you're making the age old prophecy of becoming wealthy and what that is is making money while you sleep did you visualise any of that did you have that in your routine area? not at the time it has been a process of where I've looked at what other people have done and studied what successful people have done and looked at what works don't try to reinvent the wheel don't try to reinvent what success is for other people you know if we look at some of the most successful things in the world they've never been changed what's the most successful thing that we can possibly think of it's the wheel and it's still going round success sleeves close I always remember reading I think it was thinking grow rich I think it was Napoleon Howe and that's what he says there are 2,500 rich people on the planet and they all had the same patterns they all had the same patterns the routine was everything that made them who they were they never broke the routine no matter how good or bad they were systems and process systems and process it's like a mechanical engine systems and process and what they're doing is then just kicking off revenue as then processes if you have to get up change your routine every day which we have to change different things because you have to adapt to different situations but if the core mechanics of the business that you're in has to reinvent itself every day how on earth can it have a system that produces money it must be repetition continuous it's like a giant machine just churning through the earth what was your first business over here obviously selling tarmac knocking on doors but my first real business was buying and selling commercial vehicles and what I used to do was go to first auction that I went to was Enfield auction and I used to buy 4 wheel drive vehicles and the 4 wheel drive vehicles I'd send to another auction in Wales auction called Mertha Tidfield because 4 wheel drive vehicles were wanted in places that needed them farmers and XYZ and when I was at Mertha Tidfield I'd look for minis that were automatic or at the time they were mini metros that were auto and I'd send them back to London because in London they always wanted an automatic car so it's about same old thing supply and demand so where the product is needed and you'd make a small amount of profit but I'd be doing it 5-6 times a day and how was that then was that a get-in for you to then jump on the car trade what it was is I would go as far to say one of the hardest businesses that I've ever been involved in why's that? because you were investing your money and you didn't really know what you were buying it was going through an auction and you didn't know what state it was in you had to make an assessment of what that vehicle was like and the reason that I didn't ever ever pull them out and try and sell them to the general public is because as a dealer you were responsible and I couldn't be responsible that I didn't know anything you know I didn't live with it or whatever so I made the choice that I was going to be a trader and that trader is no different than buying stocks and shares of your product did you ever, obviously you're going to make mistakes that's part of life, did you ever get fucked over and you fought not again buying a shady car and you prove out engines fucking fail out of it I actually bought a petrol a petrol transit that was knocking and if anybody doesn't understand what that means it's like when the camshaft is going and I thought I bought a diesel put it on petrol then I bought a diesel and it was actually a petrol transit did you have business partners or anything or were you just flying solo? no no I was flying solo how was that? terrifying sometimes but what I would say to you is it's fine having a partner and it's great sometimes to bounce things off it is because I've had several partners luckily most of my partnerships have been good partnerships the best advice I can give somebody about having a partner is in business is don't have a partner because you're liking have a partner because he brings a great skill set to that business because the only conversation you should be having with a business partner is not about going down the pub and having a drink or the football should be about the business so you want to talk to somebody who's actually going to bring the business further up the ladder how do you learn how to trust in the business game is that just by giving someone a chance or is that how did you pick who to trust because in business people are ruthless and since I've been legit I've probably had more people try to fuck me over than I was when I was active back in the day I have a policy that I run within all my businesses I ask nobody to trust me and I ask not to trust anybody else simple as that I don't want to trust anybody and I certainly don't want them to trust me see when you started making waves and started getting a lot of attention and becoming very successful and people knew who you were and how much money you had like how hard does that for you there's a lot of envy and jealousy with that there's a lot of people proud of what you're doing look I think you're going to get envious you're going to get jealous and you're also going to get people that are proud and you're going to get people that are supportive of you and it comes with all walks of life you get that but everybody gets that in one form or another all of it is good for you used in the right way because if somebody is a little bit envious of you it can help spur you on if somebody is a little bit supportive of you it can help spur you on it's how you take it like I have a little saying that I use which is we all have fears they can either or drive you the choice is yours I choose my fears to drive me whereas if you allow your fears to consume you they can hold you back stop you going out the front door what makes you still get up in the morning to keep succeeding like you've got all the money in the world so for people saying that you're worth over a billion like what gives you your drive then I'll feel it because people hit a certain target and they just accept maybe a hundred grand quarter of a million and go I'm happy with that buy a flat go off your holidays what does it turn on then what does it turn on become fear as I go back to what I said earlier I'm on a journey my journey is not complete and I'm not successful I'm successful at this moment in time who knows what tomorrow brings and let's not the worst thing you can do is start believing your own hype start believing your own bullshit because that's all it is we're only borrowing everything we have every part of success every asset that we own is borrowed and that's only borrowed for a period of time my job is to create as many soldiers and that's in the form of money and bring those soldiers in and then send those soldiers back out to conquer more soldiers and bring those soldiers back and then we send the soldiers back out to battle and the more soldiers you've got the easier the battles are to win what's your daily routine like Alfie I get up my alarm clock goes off normally about six or six thirty I don't get up every morning at six thirty but I may get up at say five mornings at six thirty I'll get up have a wash I'll go for a run I'll either do thirty minutes or twenty minutes for a run I'll come back washed, shaved out the door and then it's an hour's drive to my office and for that solid hour I'll be on the phone hands-free I must add on the phone constantly doing all of my calls phone goes on silent then I'll work through all of my emails clearing out the rubbish blocking off people that I've got my emails that shouldn't be emailing me with spam emails and then replying to the ones that are important and then rearranging them so the emails that I need to be reminded about on a daily basis because it's a project that I'm working on so they're still there but they're arranged in order then I'll schedule out what deals and transactions that I'm working on I'll go through I'll make the calls to each of my team then if I feel that they're not getting the results that they should from the solicitors, surveyors valuers or whatever it is they're dealing with I'll then pick up the phone with them copied in so it'll be a two-way call and ask why are they not being I have to do that again my team are as important as me if not more important then I'll leave the office and I'll go to each park maybe I'll do two or three visits and I'll go and visit the parks and now that's on an average day but on another day I may be going and looking at a new deal so I won't go to the office and I'll be driving out or I'll fly out with helicopter it depends how far it is away and I'll look at a new transaction and then on another day potentially I'll have some sort of meeting scheduled in but today when I've come to do this podcast review because I'm in central London I've had four of my meetings all scheduled in for this day so I get the use of the whole day that's fucking mad I feel like he always looking for the next hustle because you're constantly business orientated which is clearly see that you've got businesses you've got so much on the go are you always looking for an adventure? I'm looking to just succeed in what I'm doing I'm not looking to I'm not looking to be anything more than what you say I love what I do I'm empowered that I'm actually feel that I'm changing people's lives I'm creating the solution to affordable homes we're selling park homes at 50% less than you can buy like for like bricks and mortar the government are against it why? because it's not financially viable for them there's no stamp duty there's no land registration fee council tax is band A electricity on average is 28% cheaper the list goes on and people can sell their home and buy a new park home for approximately 50% or less putting a lot of money in their pocket to live the dream is it for everybody? no do I make mistakes at it? yes I'm not perfect but what I am doing is I'm being passionate about what I do I love what I do I'm driven at what I do so I can't ask for any more than that I'm blessed what made you get into that Alfie? what was the decision to jump on the park homes? who better to buy a caravan from than a gypsy I've lived, breathed simple as that I've lived, breathed and believe in the product you know don't sell something that you don't believe in don't sell something that you wouldn't use I'd still be living in a park home today no question about it regardless of the size of my house I'd be living in a park home today if it wasn't for one reason when I live on a park all of a sudden I have no down time because you've got a constant flow of residents still coming over to see you and listen not that I've got anybody coming over to see me my residents are anybody but we all need that shut off time sometimes yeah to recharge what was it like buying your first park? euphoric euphoric euphoric like I'd conquered all my dreams it was a park called Lakeview Park at Runford it cost £1.7 million it was in 1990 no sorry that's no no no it was in 2000 that I bought it 22 years ago yeah 2000 and it was all the money in the world and I remember people saying that I'd lost my mind paying this amount of money for this mobile home park and I can only say that it was a euphoric feeling yeah felt like I'd made it in life was that the first proper time that you felt everything you've worked hard for working from the ages of 8 to then was that your biggest investment so far? it was definitely the biggest investment I'd ever made I can't say that it was there was something more it actually felt that I belonged and I'm really serious the first business and I'd done a number of other business from them from van hire to mobile phones to trading trucks around the country I'd done several other businesses before that most of them successful not all of them but that was the first business that I actually say to you touched my soul really is that because it was connected to what your upbringing was? felt that I already knew it it makes sense it's like the way I would describe it it's like being a cyclist and then open in a bike shop that's what it was like how hard does that have some of these telling you it's a bad idea, it's a bad investment what you have in the balls that you've got to then jump in and go for it anyway and then making it succeed doubt is a horrible thing but it's important to have somebody says to me do I take advice I take advice from everybody and advice can come at the most difficult in different times for instance when I bought Lakeview Park there was this resident that walked in lovely lady she went Mr Best what on earth made you buy this mobile home park what a terrible investment collecting some small pitch fees from all these residents and I didn't say a word but she didn't realise how powerful her advice was why? because she'd missed the whole point of what she'd said what a terrible investment it was to collect all these pitch fees from so many residents why would I want to do it and it told me everything it told me I was collecting small money from a lot of people what nobody else wanted to do which was very successful do you see my point so she was telling me that a lot of people thought it was a bad thing to do but they'd missed the whole point if you want to be successful in life monetary wise don't look to take a million pounds off of one person look to take them out a pound off of a million people so it's not easier to do because I've had Joe Foster on a few weeks ago he was the man who invented Reebok Reebok wasn't doing okay but it wasn't doing great but there was nothing a man came up with an idea instead of the Reebok trainer to create the aerobics show he says no I don't know anything about aerobics don't be so daft the man says look please this is the next big thing they've invented something to make 200 or 1000 shoes they've done it, they sold out in a day within three years it was a billion dollar idea just like that it changed Reebok and became the biggest brand in the 80s and 90s it's some fabulous stories that I've heard fabulous stories that they I think about them all the time and the most important thing is never ever dismiss someone's opinion they haven't got to accept it but listen to it have you ever been spoke out of an idea and you've kicked yourself later on no, no is that because you're just so straight on it's your decision that if you feel like you'll just go for it the businesses that I don't believe there is such thing as a bad business just bad people that run them that's why one estate agents on one side of the road can be thriving the other one across the road can be closing it's not the business, it's the people one of the greatest stories that I love to tell is about a business of a guy down on his luck and he's walking along a Mexican beach and he sees this quite good looking pebble but it is just an ordinary pedal and he picks it up and he thinks what a great business idea he's going to sell pebbles and what he did he put a stone in a box and called it a pet stone and drilled holes in the boxes and marketed it as the pet stone and who he marketed it to was people that lived in flats that didn't want to keep a cat or a dog in a flat but they wanted to give their kid a pet so they bought them the pet stone in a box it was in like a little cage he sold that business for 13 million a year after he started crazy, eh so an idea can be the wrong idea to the wrong person it can be the right idea to the right person same as having the right information you can have the right information at the wrong time you can meet the right person at the wrong time in business or anything else it's actually about bringing the two together I've met loads of people at the wrong time I've met some great people at the right time and it was only learning that don't look to meet somebody who is who is the best person in their job when you're only actually starting out of that job you need to meet the person at the next level at that job because you're not going to do a magnificent skyscraper jump and end up there success is a ladder and it's one step at a time what's it like to have a field business horrifying soul destroying and even worse when your personal life is on the line and I've been there every time I tell this story I have hairs come up on the back of my neck and it puts a cold puts a cold light through my body I had I was 20 years old 19 or 20 years old and I had a murmur I collapsed across the desk before this happened I was driving a brand new 911 convertible Porsche I had a £550,000 house I had a £350,000 van hire centre and four flats in a place called Palmerston Road I was the echelon of success of a 20 year old I was a millionaire and I looked the part felt the part and I thought I could walk on water I really did and it's funny how we tell a story and now I'm smiling because I think back to how I felt then and my god did I have a rude awakening and I realised I was just a baby in a crib waiting to have their bum slapped severely and many times because I didn't understand what recessions were it wasn't the recessions fault I was bankrupt but I didn't go bankrupt and one of the worst things that happened to me is I had to sell the car I had to move out the house I had to rent the house out I was lucky to do it I had to move off the pitch I was lucky of saving what I had but the worst thing that happened to me was gone into a thing called negative equity that's actually when your mortgage is more than your property is worth and in that recession people were just giving the keys back to the bank and I never did that I didn't do it I thought through and thought it's got to turn it's got to turn maybe through and I moved out and I put a mattress in the back of an escort van and I slept in the back of the escort van for nearly three months but I did what needs must I did whatever it took I did what I needed to do to get out and I managed to get enough money together through the rents to cover the mortgage repayment but the negative equity what I thought was my downfall was my saviour because if the banks have had any equity left in the property they would have repossessed them but because they would have had to have taken a bath on some money and I was paying the mortgage they stayed in and let me tell you that was the most difficult time of my life and I can only say to you that had a defining effect on my life what I would say to you is people talk about life mould you life doesn't mould you not at all that's a blessed way of putting it life carves you and it's the deepest cuts it's the chunks that get cut out of you that scar you that make you the person you are and it will either make you a masterpiece or it will make you this horrible misshapen bitter twisted piece of wood and that's what life can do it's up to you to make sure those cuts what's being cut and carved out of you are turning you into a masterpiece that humble you yeah yeah really big bullets to then being homeless yeah that turns you from believing your own hype believing what people are telling you and do you know the worst thing about believing what people tell you all the time how great you are and how good you are is you start to believe your own decisions you no longer ask people to question your decisions and that's why I go back to I ask nobody to trust me do you know why I ask nobody to trust me because I'm not God I get it wrong and if I ask them to trust me what I'm actually saying is believe me well I want them to check I want them to check for me do you know why the more people that seem to be checking for me the less mistakes I make do you feel any pressure on your life because I've spoke to you a few times now you're very down to earth you've taught me so much over that usually I'm the one doing the talking but I walked away from your conversation I'm thinking fuck me that we sat in a cafe and just a couple of hours chatting and you blew my mind with some of the stuff that you said and I was surprised that usually you think business oriented but you spoke about a lot of kind of spiritual stuff and other stuff and I'm thinking wow man that it made me think and it takes a lot of people to do that with myself that's good of you to say and I feel humbled by you saying that but I'm no different than anybody else all I have is an open mind and I'm willing to take on anybody's view and because there's another little saying a little man that I have the truth can become a lie spoken by the wrong person in other words it's how you listen into it it's how there are three sides to every story your side their side and the truth because we all strum up how we see things in our own view because we actually see things differently it's like when the police go and take a statement off of somebody and the two witnesses that were both standing there that are completely unbiased give two different versions that's because they've both seen it differently what makes a good businessman? systems and processes and being driven inspiration is 10% perspiration is 90% if you follow that you'll be successful see when you do your shows and you're in all the newspapers now like you're kind of a celebrity so how hard is that I'll feel like people know you because now you're out there in the public domain like would you is it easier not know people know your business because if people know your business they know you've got dough everybody must want from you and how do you know who's real and who's not so is that or is it good for business like how does it work I'm certainly not a celebrity far from it but what I've embraced is notoriety for what I do and why have I embraced it because it's free publicity and free publicity saves me advertising in newspapers I'm directing traffic to my websites so when somebody googles me now or they happen to watch this podcast they want to know what I do what do they mean what does Wildcrest do what does Veroom Motorhome hide it all of a sudden I'm directing traffic to my websites it's free advertising and a lot of people might frown upon that but the truth is that's why I do it do I feel it makes a difference in my personal life absolutely and I swear if I wasn't getting those benefits out of it to the business I would never do it because I believe a private life is a happy life Wildcrest Parks Veroom Motorhome Hire Wildcrest Events Best Park Home Finance the list goes on but what I would say is for us business is key and you know something what I would say what I love to see what we don't do James in this country and don't take this as if I'm rubbing your back take it as a fact you're a credit and don't realise it you're a credit to the British business field because you've not gone down there and gone right I want to go you've gone to some real diverse characters in business and shown that success can come from anywhere not just one place there's enough in this country to celebrate our business people and our entrepreneurs you're an entrepreneur you're out there doing it that takes willpower we none of us have every good day it takes determination to get up every morning and keep plugging it and that we're not being celebrated enough what we celebrate is sports people actors politicians our staple diet 20 years ago in this country was Coronation Street and EastEnders they're all committing suicide and going skiing come on we want to see some success here we want to show that everybody can be successful in any which way you're successful but keeping it successful is difficult but you're happy now success and you've got that in a fucking bundle so you can see that with a smile on your face but again how do you maintain it Alfie is that that moment where you were homeless that you never wanted to lose it again to keep going pushing anybody that gets above their station I don't have a lot of time for I really don't because anything can happen to anybody at any time and I always try to say especially to my son and to him I said look you never know what's around the corner we never know what's coming and you meet the same people on the way up as what you would do on the way down you want to be waved at on the way up and made a hand on the way down so make sure you politely and correctly both ways how is it having a son like how much pressure do you because he's such a good guy man let's get the world at his feet but how much added pressure do you think it is for someone when their dad is so successful I think it's more difficult for Alfie than it's ever been for me and the reason I do he suffers more criticism than I do the amounts of times that I see on social media that he's had it given to him and let me tell you this for what it's worth not a dollar not a dollar help of course advice of course will I go with him in helping with the business of course alone of course in terms of repayment terms because that's the real world is there beyond that you know you need to make your own way the hardest thing in life is making a choice and that choice is this am I hard on my kids or do I give my kids what I didn't have and that's a real dilemma because do you know what the easiest thing is I want them to have more than me well that's great because somebody's going to come along and take it off of them look if you look at the amount of lottery winners that end up staying lottery winners is minute that's because it's one thing getting it it's another thing keeping it and the most important thing is to learn both you picked it up earlier when you said saving Alfie how did you get to the investment and that's hard choice to realise that money's a tool and it has to go to work it's a soldier that money works for you you have to decide is your money a prisoner that you have to hails and feed or is it a soldier that conquers and wins the balance Alfie giving them a life that you never had to then spoil them do you know what I mean understanding the value of money and understanding to go out and get it yourself because you've lived it you've been working since 8 apparently I'm so soft but I understand wash those dishes and then you can get something or do something clean the house or wash the car I feel bad about it and you may not like this I don't believe in rewarding children for chores the reason being what you're doing is showing them that X washing the dishes for say 5 pounds or whatever is that's the monetary value to do a job we want to create business people and entrepreneurs not everybody can be that successful as a manager you can be successful as a doctor you can be successful in any other field as well but from my perception what I like to see is ok if you wash the dishes and pack the dishes you get a pound for washing them a pound for packing them you know what I'm saying you get an extra 50 pence for non breakage all of a sudden you're now creating structure and system like a business man more profit how much pressure comes on your life do you feel pressure or are you at a stage where you just think I'm ok I run my businesses like they're bankrupt I'm serious I run them like they're bankrupt and that keeps your head above water keeps it sharp keeps my team sharp I'm a very blessed man I have some phenomenal people that are around me to mention just a few Wazim Hanif David Sundlund Zabaya Ian Farr Catherine Disney my PA Mishu is in marketing I'm calling those people out I've got some phenomenal Darren Busby these people that work with me I get to stand on their shoulders and take the glory of what they're doing but what I have done is created a dream of what we're doing what they're sharing in because I really believe we're changing the face of affordable homes and I want to do it worldwide I want to do it worldwide we'll do it worldwide categorically will be the biggest park home operator in the world how many park homes do you have now? currently we have 97 by the end of this year we'll have 108 and we're currently at 16,000 residents across the UK it's like 16,000 park homes which is your target to hit? we don't have a target it's a limitless it's a limitless sorry I'll rephrase that we do have targets, our next target is 100 we know we're in line to surpass that our next target is 100 when I hit that 100 I'll then put another goal not target, I'll put a goal in place because as I said, if you think of this as a football match it's never over till the season's over and we're still playing the game so our next goal is 100 we're at 97 we know we're going to surpass that by the end of the year we're going to be at 108 the next target will be maybe 125 we'll hit that but if you ask me what's our substantiated end goal there isn't one it's limitless our goal that we need to achieve is beyond 220 parks because that's the biggest park operator and they're in America used to be some watch communities I think it's somebody else now so when you a park home then for anybody that doesn't know what is a park home, what's the vibe like is it just like a caravan park how does it operate a mobile home park started as a touring caravan park a caravan that you put behind your car and tow then it became a static caravan a caravan static in other words it's a big caravan that sits on a park doesn't ever really move then it became a mobile home and that became a home that you live in all year round then it became a park home and they started to look like bricks and mortar bungalows then it became a park home bungalow which is what we have now and they're homes that are prefabricated homes built in a factory delivered on site they're on a chassis but are bricks round at the bottom so to the naked eye you'd think they're a bungalow and you're living on a like-minded bungalow estate and I say this to you, is it for everybody? No, it's not but every resident that we have I can absolutely categorically say 97% of our residents are very happy you've always got the small minority that are not but I'm not here to please everybody I'm here to please most of the people Can you buy one and rent it out? Of course you can I love the homes man, I love that nature and good vibes and good people and I genuinely love all that stuff This is what I would say to you is we're living in a society today where we want it now and the reason that the government is against this is the government wants you to mortgage your home pay for your home be in your home when you're retired and die and give them 40% they don't want you to sell your home free up your capital buy a park home and go off and live your life and sail around the world on world cruises and have an MS80s in the drive because you're spending their money you're spending their 40% so for me this is a model that is categorically the solution you didn't see me use the word social housing it's affordable housing See when you create something like that and it's growing every day how many people go okay I'm going to try that a little bit We've got a waiting list this may surprise you of 325 people who have checked this this morning because I knew I would bring it out 325 people that have paid deposits waiting for a plot or a home to come available on our parks 325 people paid their money down waiting for their home to come on now that's phenomenal that's like saying you're going in the car garage to buy a car you've got to go on a waiting list and I know that does happen with certain cars but that shows you that it's wanted it shows that what we're doing the public is behind So it's a win-win It's a win-win for everybody How do you Do you ever take the eye off the prize though that sometimes how do you celebrate, how do you enjoy life or is it just constant work daily because you're scared of double mattress and back of a van again no to be fair with you that's not what comes across my mind of course I celebrate but my life is a celebration I never thought I'd ever get to where I am now I never thought that I'd be the person that I am now I never thought that I'd be blessed enough to be able to do the things that I do so I'm walking on water I'm just making sure that the canoe is next to me when I fall in the water you know be aware that we're not geniuses be aware that we're not flawless people and I'm certainly not but I'm celebrating, I'm loving life I feel like a Premier League football player that's just won the World Cup every day I didn't think I'd be here not doing this how do you keep that mindset though because I know people it's maybe only worth maybe 50 grand 100 grand a world, they design their clothes and they think they're bully big bollocks like they seriously think that and obviously yourself what you've got what you've achieved and to be sitting here so humble and presenting yourself so aware and putting things across it it simplifies people as well for business the right things to do, the wrong things to do for me to criticise anybody for where they are in life and how they feel about it but the one thing that I would say is this there's a synergy that's always put around fake it until you make it I'm sorry horse manure no, no get up show up, dress up and most importantly work up you won't have to fake it then yeah that's true do you know why because it doesn't matter where you are on the ladder of success and remember success is measured in many different ways not just financial but it doesn't matter where you are on the ladder you know if people see you put the effort in they want to be there for you they want to be alongside you because they can see that you've got minerals and that comes in many different ways yeah, how do you does it become our lonely journey as well success to be at the heights you're at and to keep believing in yourself because every time it just seems as if you've just kept levelling up and levelling up and levelling up but there's no stopping you to what you want to achieve like I said, success is a journey if I start looking at it as a destination then I start changing my mindset as long as I remember that it's a journey as long as I remember that my journey is not over until the last breath then I can keep enjoying it I can keep doing what I'm doing I can keep pushing forward and as long as I keep telling people please don't trust me please check for me please make sure that I've not made a mistake isn't that I'm doubting myself it's actually become becoming smarter because the more people that I've got checking the less mistakes I seem to make it's amazing that, isn't it? How do these other travellers treat you? um do you know something I'm the same person I was 30 years ago as I am today so no different That's a good thing because I know a lot of travellers man they're loyal to the core they are loyal but they're fucking crazy they're so crazy man but do you know what I would say to you is being a traveller is like having an extended family but you know, we're all cousins and I guarantee to you you bummed and travelled you say you was with Alfie but that's my cousin because somewhere down the line we will be How was that watching your son feeding? How hard was that as a father who I think I can relate to every father that's ever seen their boy getting in a boxing ring you want to be punched yourself you don't want your son to be punched it's like you're in the ring yourself I got a partner two partners one called Simon O'Donnell one called Simon McDonnell and both of their boys are boxing at the minute and both of them can have a fight and I've looked at them when their boys were boxing the other day and I physically saw them like they were shaking different people when your son's in the ring and they're for him when do you think you'll go to America hopefully January or February why haven't you been there already we have North Carolina but it's about understanding the market and the timing of going there at the moment everything globally is on a high and the problem is the highs that we're in now things can only go one way and I personally think within the next 18 months we're going to have a terrible recession and I think that's going to happen in the US as well so I want to be buying into the market on a low level and I don't want to be in there at the high levels having to lick my wounds and work through it on a low level and then working up that's my view where do you get your buzz from now Alfie do you still have a target if I get views on a certain podcast but the buzz goes I need more what's your satisfaction firstly firstly is obviously seeing the company grow and looking at the stats of how it's going forward secondly seeing my children progress on a journey of their owners they're carrying on and most importantly reevaluating myself when I'm talking to people like yourself James because the feedback that you give me I then take away and reanalyze and I see where I need to correct myself and that's the buzz it gives me because it means that I'm genuinely learning all the time not necessarily becoming a better person because we have to fail to grow seeing you've got the wheels in motion and you're becoming successful and you're working hard and millions are coming in is there a point in your life you go pfft I could retire here everything's pinnacle moments in your life well people are estimating your worth over a billion that's unbelievable there's only 7 billion people on the planet to be in that thousand that just shows you the caliber a guy that you are but how do you there's moments in your life well let me say this to you firstly the success hasn't always hasn't been created by me I'm just the orchestrator and there is a lot of people that as I've said I've got to take the credit to stand on their shoulders secondly I don't have that money I wish I did that money is invested into businesses assets and generating so let's not lose sight that I still live a normal life I don't live any different but could I sell up and could I retire absolutely but what would be the point of life what would be the point of taking life and saying I don't want to do anything I just want to go and do the things I want to do the things that create a buzz I don't want to grow old I want to grow old disgracefully disgracefully come on where's the money in there where do you go for the future where is I hope we best go you see we've done it all already nah we haven't done it all I've just scratched the surface do you know one of the greatest blessings that you can have as a person is when you meet certain people that you gel with and you don't have them see those people but when you see them again you're the same person to them but you've grown a little bit where they can help you and you can help them whereas I've seen a lot of people they meet people and they never want to see them again do you know what I'm saying and I've been blessed I've been blessed and I've got five or six very close friends one of them called Big Paul and I can honestly say he's the most true blue man I've ever met in my life and he has been another person that's helped me on my road and my journey yeah no question about it do you take team off do you travel even when you're on holiday yeah of course I've got a business in Barbados I went there and I thought I've got work so I set up a business and now we have a business there called Barbados VIP Villas and we own about 10 villas there and we rent them out I love it I don't want to sit on a deck chair and get a suntan because otherwise I'd be sitting there thinking how can I invent a sun cream that's better and I want to sell it that's my it's not that I don't switch off that's what I love doing I love working am I sometimes too busy yes and that can be a problem why because you need to focus because without focus you can't get to a spearheaded point to push it forward must focus how many kids you got Alfie and how does that affect them by being so driven because I'm always on the road and my kids are back in Glasgow so part of me says I do this for my kids but part of me thinking my kids probably need me more than ever they're at a critical age so I'm in constant conflict with myself to give them these things and we can do things together but then time is precious man I haven't and this is an honest I haven't seen my kids for 20 years metaphorically does that make sense I haven't seen anybody metaphorically I've seen them when I've been working it's a horrible thing to say to you but it's true so how do I find the balance in that then because I'm always I need to go to America I don't need to do anything but to go levels and above and beyond because I'm so hungry for success I'm so hungry to succeed let me be really honest with you Jones I'm not a successful person in every walk of my life where family is concerned I can't say that I've nailed it because I put the business first and we have to know our own flaws have I been a good father no have I been a good provider yes have I been a good teacher I think so have I been hard yes would I go back and change some of those things yes but we can't change the past we can only embrace it and learn for the future now I try to be a better friend if that makes sense because being a father being a mother is one of the most difficult jobs in the world and all you can do in my opinion is be there for your children and try to leave them ready for the world I've seen fathers that are much better fathers than me who had much more attentive time for their children but they enjoyed doing that they didn't do it because it was the right thing to do they enjoyed doing it whereas I was I didn't want my children to be in the same position I was in but I'll give you a quick story my father said to me I said Dad what are you working for come on you don't need to work as hard as you're doing now well I've got to have an eye I said this is not so long ago as well I said why is that now my dad owns three mobile home parks three small mobile home parks and his money is blood money it's blood blisters he's 76 years old works every day to this day and it's manual work still goes out digging holes laying bases laying drains is a builder every day he drives a van every day goes to work and works on the tolls not there drinking on the tolls so I said to him I said Dad I'd rather you and mum enjoy the time I said I'm working for you and I've got to make sure you I'll leave you with something I said I think I'm alright I said do you know I think I'm a you went nah nah nah well I'll tell you what I said give it to me now he went what I said give it to me now I said surely you want the benefit of giving it to me now it's going to be more tax efficient I said give it to me now what are you going to do with it I said I'm going to spend it I'm going to cash it and spend it he went well I can't do that so that in set mind of where we all want my dad's one of the hardest working men harder than I work is the hardest working man I know honestly and can you see why he keeps wanting to work because obviously that'll be good you know that's going to be you at 70% but you know he looks 50 he looks 50 so what I would say is I'm an expert in retirement I would say to all of my residents the one I meet please don't ever retire the body can't do 30 40 years and then shut down the mind goes I have a charity called the wildcrest foundations and I'm implored to eradicate dementia and I've set a goal that we are going to start to raise enough money to build a medical research centre where we're going to fund wholly and solely to help find a cure for dementia because I've seen a lot of it and I've seen what it does not to the person to the people around them it's not an illness that just affects one person it's an illness that affects the whole family where they've got this person that was a superstar but he's basically dead inside a living body that's not functioning doesn't make sense and you then have an outside source person telling them about stories when you're thinking is this that real person they're like a ghost living there and with the foundation that we have we pay for everything from the company pays the Wildcrest foundation for all of its employees any money that's donated to that cause we make sure it goes directly to the cause nothing else we pay for everything that's about from a charitable point of view the only thing that I've really become and we've raised money for different causes but that's the thing that's really spiked me I felt needed changing cause it wasn't just about the person it was actually about the family did you lose someone close to it? I didn't but I've seen so many of my residents that have had their family and it's affected them and they've gone through their savings trying to help them paying for them to be looked after and care homes and such of so I thought it's about time it really affects people in a lot of ways the more I saw it the more I felt that somebody like me and I don't shout about it too much cause I don't want to be seen as a do gooder I want to do it because it's the right thing to do that makes sense James how many businesses have you got Alfa? 17 17 still a lot man how do you stay on that path I have a report every single week from every single business and I spend one day analysing each of those reports and their cash flow as well as procedure see if it's not making cash flow do you think the business or do you keep working at it? a business can only fail because it's got failed people in it it is down to the people that's one estate agents that survives the other estate agent on the other side barely survives it's the people do you think we're at a time where on this world now it's easy to succeed or do you think it's harder? I think it's easy if it's the right people again it's just all down to the individual just down to the people going forward for the future what's the plans where do you go? global domination of the park home industry for anybody watching struggling you've been there to being on your ass and losing it all sleeping in the back of a van to then be one of the most successful men on this planet it's a big fucking it's a big thing to have on your shoulders but it's true what advice would you give for that person? start don't wait start any doubt that you have analyse it, chew it over but start time waits for no man so make sure you're not waiting for it exactly bro let's start Alfie if I come on again telling your story I've thoroughly enjoyed that no doubt a lot of people watching this will pick up a lot of tools and techniques why you keep succeeding, why you've never quit and why you're successful and why you're the man that you are would you like to finish up on anything? I wish everybody the best it's been an absolute pleasure being on here with James and I think I've learnt as much as anybody else has, thank you working anybody get a hold of you and social media is what kind of stuff Alfie I'm on Instagram, I'm on Facebook and I'm on Twitter I'm Alfie Best Senior, not Junior he gets the credit some of the time thanks Alfie, God bless you take care