the Founder Files

Scaling a Property Business from Scratch - Greg Blend & Grant Friedman, Africrest Properties

Season 4 Episode 18

In this episode of The Founder Files, we chat with Greg Blend and Grant Friedman from Africrest. From starting with nothing but ambition and a few naive assumptions, they scaled their property business to managing over 3.3 billion rand in assets!

We delve into how they managed to scale their business without initial capital.

We also explore their unique approach to sourcing feedback from tenants and customers at scale, ensuring that property improvements are based on tenant input and preferences.

Additionally, they share insights on building robust systems during rapid expansion and scaling their team effectively to sustain growth and success.

Too Long; Didn't Listen? Here's what to look for:

00:00 Introduction
02:37 Welcomes
03:02 Africrest’s Business Model
06:28 The Scale Of Africrest Today
09:12 Africrest Founding Story
13:53 Starting A Property Company With No Cash
20:47 Greg & Grant’s First Property
30:34 Getting Useful Feedback From Customers
36:53 Merging Into Africrest
43:57 Brought To You By Metavolve
45:20 How To Stay Aligned As A Leadership Team
49:52 Making Sure You Choose The Right Partnerships
58:24 Converting Office Buildings To Apartments
01:03:29 Scaling The Business Through Covid
01:11:58 Changes To Handle Rapid Growth
01:21:28 Learnings From Rapid Expansion
01:25:53 The Future Of Africrest
01:28:29 Why Choose The South African Market?

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Connect with us directly:

- Greg Blend on Linkedin

- Grant Friedman on Linkedin

- Cameron on Linkedin and on TikTok

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