So far in our blog series, we’ve heard from experts from the events, VAT consultancy, and coaching industries. Don’t worry if you have missed any of these, you can find them all in the blog section of the Mantralis website.  

This series gives both new and experienced business owners the chance to hear from fellow founders and CEOs on the ups and downs of running a business. Keep reading for this episode’s interview with Saam Lowni. 

Winning Secrets of a CEO –Saam Lowni 

Today, we focus on a leader in the field of property finance solutions; Saam Lowni is the founder and managing director of Merryoaks Finance. With over 20 years of experience in the industry, we knew he was the perfect person to interview for our winnings secrets of a CEO series! 

What is the most important benefit of running your own business? 

The more I put in, the more I get out. Building an asset that I can exit and sell, managing my time on my own terms, and not needing to ask for permission. Although the business can dictate my time, at any point I can adjust without risking falling out of favour with a boss that damages my career. 
 
 What qualities do you appreciate most in the people that you work with? 

We judge everyone on their attitude, aptitude, and aspiration. All three need to be in line with our expectations to make things work. They need to have a positive can-do attitude. Their aptitude needs to be at the level to carry out the job/task sufficiently and their aspiration needs to be in line with where we want to take the business. Outside of that, trust and loyalty are massively appreciated. 
 

What is your biggest top-tip that you would give to someone just starting their own business? 

Write a plan to convince yourself that it works on paper before spending loads of money on logos, brand guidelines, etc. That plan may not be followed but it gives a good idea of how it should start to earn revenue. Outside of that, learn to run a P&L and even more importantly a cashflow forecast as this is the oxygen of the business. Without it, you will not survive. 
 

What is the mistake you’ve made in your business journey that has taught you the most? 
 
A very recent one is being too trusting and not having agreements for collaborations written down on paper. 

What are your main values in your business life and how have they impacted where your business is today? 
 

In our tagline, “Highly Experienced, Relationship Driven, Solution Focused”, relationship-driven and solution-focused are the main values that drive us. Above all the technical things we do, we value relationships above all else. Our positive can-do attitude ensures we remain solution-focused and pragmatic which is what our clients need. 

A great big thank you to Saam for sharing his knowledge and giving us an insight into his experience running his own business!