32 Empower Wealth

A specialist property investment business, Empower Wealth is built on the mantra of helping people achieve their desired level of wealth.

“Decisions that involve money carry a high level of emotion and potential stress,” says founder Ben Kingsley, and so there’s a focus on providing educational tools and professional advice, to help clients feel comfortable managing their money, and making investments in property.

The business achieved revenues of almost $8 million in the last financial year, an 116% increase year-on-year, landing it the 32nd spot in the Smart50 list.

Kingsley says he’s still learning as he goes, but one of the main lessons he’s taken away from running the business so far relates to understanding the motivation of employees.

“Early in the development of the business I had some staff whose personal motivation wasn’t strongly aligned with the vision we were trying to create for the business.

“Making decisions to cut ties with these types of people is hard and challenging in the short term, because in many cases they can do a solid job if you are only judging them by the revenue they bring in,” he says.

However, when a business is starting up, moving on without those employees “could be the best thing you can do for your overall team’s culture”.

Kingsley’s advice for other founders is to make sure you’re in a business you feel passionate about.

Once, he says, he thought about starting a coffee business in China — even though he doesn’t drink coffee. Ultimately, he could see a strong business opportunity, but that wasn’t enough.

“If it’s just for the money you ultimately will not be fulfilled by the impact that business makes on the world,” he says.