Entrepreneur outlines billion-pound ambition

Entrepreneur outlines billion-pound ambition

A 28-year-old entrepreneur who left the legal sector because he thought the industry was "outdated and failing" has told Insider about his ambition to create the first billion-pound big data business in Leeds.

Sohail Rashid, winner of Entrepreneur of the Year at Insider's 42 under 42 Awards in 2013, founded Property Place in 2011 and after securing investment is taking the fight to the likes of Zoopla and Rightmove.

He began his career as a frustrated lawyer who was pushed into the profession and, despite being made a director of a law firm at 24, felt the industry was "outdated and failing".

"You have to ask how many lawyers can we  sustain? The law sector is not in a good place and you only have to look at the number of firms that have gone under in recent years to realise that it needs to change. Yet, we continue to churn out thousands of law graduates.

"My passion wasn't in law, it was in business, media and technology. I thought the writing was on the wall for law firms so I decided to do something new."

Instead, Rashid wanted to be innovative and look at new ways to do business. Social media search tool Property Place is already one of the largest networks in the UK and has 3.4 million profiles of house movers, connecting people with property across the country.

Data gathered is used to create unique insights for agents and developers so they can target the most likely deals, while consumers can get access to tailored properties from a wide variety of sources.

"It enables agents to deliver tailored marketing campaigns and incentives and reduces waste by targeting those who are actually considering moving," said Raschid. "This is the future for data-rich businesses and how they can sell."

Last year, Rashid was forced to seek funding to support the development of the business and secured £2m from Finance Yorkshire and Ingenious Ventures.

"Without investment, there is no business and we managed to get two good partners who provided access to the capital we needed and let the management team run the business."

As Rashid works towards his long-term goal of becoming a big data giant, he says his next step is to grow the profiles on his database and also look at diversifying his offer beyond property.

"My aspiration is to create a billion-pound big data business in Leeds," he said. "That's never been done before."

To read a full interview with Rashid, Insider's Entrepreneur of the Month for March, pick up a copy of the Yorkshire Business Insider, out now.

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