Entrepreneur Mo Chaudry is the businessman behind some of Stoke-on-Trent's biggest leisure and fitness attractions including Waterworld and M Club.
The 61-year-old also runs M Investment Group, which has a property and equity portfolio, and Cheshire-based fitness equipment wholesaler, Pulse Fitness, which is part of the wider Pulse Group.
But Mo would be the first to admit that is has not been easy an easy ride to get to where he is today.
Here, as part of our How I Made It series on BusinessLive, Mo tells us how he went from living in a £10-a-week bedsit to the owner of a multi-million pound business empire.
How did your career first start?
I started out in insurance sales after graduating, living in a £10-a-week bedsit.
I started my first business in 1985 as an independent financial adviser (IFA) and expanded into commercial property where I quickly became successful.
In five years, I went from being a pauper to a millionaire before the age of 30.
I went on to acquire Waterworld in 1999, which was failing, and I managed to turn it around – and it just went from there.
My current group of businesses are now mainly in the leisure sector – ranging from the design, manufacture, installation and servicing of gym equipment and the design and build of leisure centres, to running fitness clubs, soccer centres and leisure attractions to childcare.
What was your 'eureka moment' when you realised you had a good business?
Even before investing in any of my businesses I learnt about my core characteristics.
I realised very early on in my adult life that I had a natural empathy with people and if I believed in what I was doing and with the right attitude and endeavour then nothing could hold me back to achieving my ambitions.
I suppose I am your classic rages to riches story. If you believe it you can achieve it!
With the beauty of hindsight, what would you tell your younger self when you were starting out?
Have more faith in my abilities, to think big and don't hold back and not to worry about your weaknesses too much but focus more on your strengths.
What does the future hold?
I am involved in businesses that I enjoy and we have kept them private and I have not had a need or desire to sell out, so as long as I continue to enjoy what I do, we will carry on and scale organically.
All of my businesses are now under the next generation management, and it's good to have family involved so there is no pressure to sell.
Personally, I would like to focus more on philanthropy particularly people in the developing world.
If you weren't running your businesses, what would you be doing?
I would probably have either been involved in professional sports coaching or I would have been a corporate lawyer – I have always enjoyed the hustle and bustle of corporate and commercial law.
Who is your role model in business?
There are a lot of great and iconic businessmen and game changers in every generation but I have never really followed anyone else.
I believe you have to find your own way in life, focus on your own talents and successes and not compare yourself to others.
Which business or business person is getting you excited at the moment?
There's not one in particular, but if I had to pick it would be Warren Buffet for being such a legendary investor, Bill Gates because he is making the world healthier with his aim of eradicating poverty illnesses and probably Elon Musk for being simply a maverick genius, not conforming and challenging the norm.
Finally, which business idea do you wish you had had?
Any that would have changed society for the better on a global scale.
I didn't have the opportunity to be a game-changer at that scale, for me it was simply a case of survival and earning enough to pay my way.
But there are no regrets, we have to deal with the situation that presents itself and make the best of what we have.
