What would you do for success?

As one of the Co-Founders of Mortgage Mates I am sat on the plane (which had actual WIFI if we can appreciate the craziness of that 🙌🏼) about to touch back down in Perth after a 27 hour whistle stop tour of Adelaide as part of the Pitch@Palace pitching event.

As a founder you will often be asked by potential investors, other entrepreneurs and interested parties: what have you put into it? Did you sell your house to fund the website development (I met a man today who sold his house to bring his product to market and I was in ore of him) and my answer is I definitely haven’t done that.

Ok, so do you work on Mortgage Mates full time then? Erm, no, I actually have a full time job and have this as my “side hustle” is the answer.

Disappointment sweeps across the persons face with these answers! So you aren’t homeless and unemployed? How do you expect the idea to be a success?!

There is a fine line for a Start-Up between putting enough in to make it work, and putting in too much and losing everything. We’ve all seen the shark tank pitches that say ‘we gave up our jobs, invested 2million dollars but don’t have any users yet’ and they are given the crushing news that not only will they not receive investment, but the sharks don’t actually think the product will work at all.

For us, working and developing Mortgage Mates hand in hand is still an option and one that is working for us well at the moment. However when I received the invite to pitch in Adelaide (with less than a week turnaround) it made me answer that real question, of what would I put in, to enable us to succeed?

The flights and accommodation would cost a not insignificant amount- and timing wise I would have to work Tuesday, fly to Adelaide, Pitch, fly back to Perth (VIA MELBOURNE) and go to work Thursday. It was not an insurmountable feat!

I did what all good entrepreneurs should do- I text my dad. These are the cons of trying to attend- but this is the amazing opportunity I would be missing out on. I woke up to the answer I needed him to give me, which was I had to go. Whatever the outcome, not putting this effort in meant I really didn’t have the effort it would take to make Mortgage Mates succeed.

Earlier today, I was fortunate enough to be chosen as one of the businesses to go through to the next round. This definitely made my trip worthwhile! But even if I hadn’t been chosen, the ability to sit in a room with other people with vision and innovation is invigorating, and the next time some one asks me, but what have you put in to it, I will be able to confidently say, I’ve put in time, money and most importantly passion and that this combination will enable us to continue supporting individuals into the co-ownership market.