Landlord king puts the smell of success down to mum and dad
The distinctive smell of boot polish will always serve as a fond memory of where it all began for property mogul Shahan Lall.
From about the age of seven Shahan would revel in helping out his grandparents on their south London stall, selling, among other things, shoelaces and polish.
Such an early experience proved to be good grounding for Shahan – or King of Kings, as his grand Indian name means.
But it is his hard-working parents Arvind and Shirley who richly deserve the credit for nourishing their children’s ambitions, hopes and dreams.
Shahan and his twin brother Shashi were encouraged to always believe in themselves and to never let aspirations be tethered by doubt and defeatism.
A far cry from the stern warning from a former maths teacher that he would never amount to much.
“My parents are my inspiration,” enthuses Shahan.
“Everything I am, I owe to them.
“My father is an accountant, so I was exposed to business people from a young age, and my mother was a head teacher who helped turn failing schools around.
“As an English girl marrying an Indian man back then you can imagine what they went through. They taught me all I needed to know about self-belief.”
Such a strong, loving and stable family background provided the backdrop of now 37-yearold Shahan’s beliefs and busi- ness approach. Born and raised in Maidstone, the soon-to-bemarried former Madginford and Sandling primary schools pupil says success to him is not measured in millions but in the achievements he makes and the good reputation he maintains.
Such attainment wasn’t always easy. Having secured a place from Swadelands to Oakwood Park grammar at 13, he flunked two A-levels first time round and had to stay on a year.
But failure doesn’t seem to feature elsewhere in Shahan’s life.
Having left Kingston University in 2002 with a geography degree and buckets full of ambition, he qualified as a chartered surveyor and began challenging norms and setting his sights high.
Shahan began his working life in sales and marketing at Faversham brewery Shepherd Neame, but it was not long before his career took a new direction, leading to his position today as a significant emerging buy-tolet landlord, owning more than 110 properties rented to tenants across the county.
Having founded Lall Group, he began buying properties across the county.
His philosophy was to “generate excellent returns” by acquiring land and buildings where the company could add value through its expertise in planning, asset management, development and trading.
The Maidstone-based business employs 17 people, having acquired chartered surveyors Porters in King Street three years ago.
Part of his success has been down to investing in high-growth areas like Chatham, where High Speed One and the regeneration of neighbouring Rochester have sent prices soaring.
Any disparaging comments along the way that his aims are unrealistic just serve to spur him on.
Mr Lall says: “I wasn’t the model student, I liked to push boundaries. I was creative in my thought process and, while some teachers recognised this, others didn’t.
“Fortunately my parents always said if you want something bad enough and you are prepared to work hard enough for it, you can achieve anything you want.”
Such positive mantra was enough to give Shahan the selfbelief he needed to be the driven person he is today – even if that does mean 15-hour working days and rarely a weekend off.