Dr Adrian Saville - Starting An Asset Management Firm
In the first episode of the Curious Cult Show season two I talk with Adrian Saville, who built a registered asset management firm which started out as a side hustle between 12 friends.
“I’ve always been fascinated and intrigued by markets and the economy, I grew up in a business family. As early as 13, I remember listening to the radio and would pay attention to the stock prices, the gold prices, and I would build fictitious portfolios. That interest in investment has just never gone away.”
The art of Starting Something: If you can dream it, you can do it
In his early 20s, Adrian took his skillset in investment and economics and started something. Worried about job prospects out of university, and with the support of his friends who had investable assets, he was encouraged to share his expertise in economics which quickly became a useful tool, resulting in an investment club.
“I had growing anxiety and suspicions that I was turning myself into very well qualified, but unemployable.”
Once a month, the club would meet, talk about markets, economies, ideas and build an investment pool. The main idea was to “hopefully make some money” from the investment.
Within two years, the club had made some neat returns, gained some external attention and had expanded from 12 friends to 200 members with investments in the pool. Without intention, his business had grown from an informal arrangement to a licensed form.
“What it showed me is that what you dream is possible.”
Finding your element and being authentic about it
Adrian took a turn left from his father’s wish for him to become a Chartered Accountant and started a mobile disco as a way to finance himself in university. His love of music helped launch the university side hustle which helped develop the skills needed later to establish his investment firm.
“If you love it there’s a good chance it will work.”
Similar to the Japanese concept of Ikigai, Adrian sees business and vocation as a way to make money and live in your element: If you love it, you’re good at it, it gives back to people, and it makes you employable, the difficult work becomes more worthwhile.
“It doesn’t mean it’s easy, but it is a labour of love. And if you are in your element, it will turn into something brilliant.”
You can’t pretend you love something. You either believe in a business, a side hustle, an idea, or you don’t. And from that, there’s a deep well of authenticity which becomes a driving force of starting and carrying a business through the exceptionally difficult times.
“If you are in your element, there’s an authenticity which cannot be masked or bullshitted.”
For the Love and the Money
One of the most sustainable ways to build a business is to love something, make something of it, and have the end goal of it making money so that it can sustain itself.
“If your heart and your intention aren’t firmly in it, don’t set out.”
On the side of making a business of it, you need to make sure you’ve got something which will be able to make money before you take a leap. If you don’t have something people want, it will never be profitable.
“Life is too short to build shitty businesses, but at some point, it is about money.”
Integration versus balance
While working as a professor while maintaining his side hustle, Adrian found it extremely difficult time, but never impossible. It’s about finding the balance and keeping that as healthy as possible.
When it comes to a side hustle while you’re working full or part-time on something else, you need to try to get them to work alongside each in a way where they reinforce each other and feed each other. It doesn’t make it easy, and there’s still a lot of juggling happening, but if you can make them work together, it doesn’t always have to be one or the other, it can be both.
This is where defining success and defining failure becomes crucial, for the side hustle, the full-time position, personal life, and relationships. If something starts suffering, something needs to be addressed.
If you want to get in touch with Adrian or see what he’s up to in the world of business building and economics, find him on LinkedIn, on Twitter, through the GIBS Business School or through his asset management firm Cannon Assets.
