Some entrepreneurs focus on a single business, building it up, making a career out of it. 

Paul Nielsen is not one of those entrepreneurs.

Since the late 80’s, Paul has embraced the rollercoaster of opportunities that comes with a start-up mindset. His first business failed around the time of the share market crash. Left with next to nothing, luck and circumstance brought him a new opportunity to run a new franchise for Solatube skylights. The rest was history. He built up the company HomeTech to $20million turnover, sold it off, and re-focused on Aotearoa New Zealand property investments and other businesses.

Looking back on it all, Paul sees a long, interesting road that led to the freedom he enjoys today – an early retirement, time to contribute pro bono to small businesses and CoverWell (a lobbying organisation for affordable insurance for Apartment owners), and space to connect with his family. In short, Paul says his entrepreneurship set him up “to do whatever the f*** we want to do.”

Deciding to step back

Like so many entrepreneurs, Paul struggled for decades with poor life-work balance. Too many hours spent in the office, not enough with his daughters. One day, when Paul came home, he caught himself looking a little closer at a picture his oldest daughter brought home from kindy. It was a photo of the whole family – minus him. “That really hit me,” explains Paul. “It still hurts today: I do wish that I had figured out a better way to balance work with family. But it’s incredibly hard to see this when you’re in the thick of things. You know you have to bring food to the table, and that’s the most important thing at the moment.”

A chance encounter at an EO university in Hyderabad, India with EO founder Tony Falkenstein in 2017 led to a huge opportunity to sell HomeTech. Soon after that, Paul was ready to pass on his second business too. 

Paul says, “I was in the trenches for over 30 years, and it was time to move forward. When I stepped back, I was totally focused on the future, and it was definitely the right time for me. I don’t necessarily miss it, but I do also still have my property business going, which keeps me occupied. But I planned towards it, setting goals and a plan and achieving it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I achieved what I set out to do. It wasn’t by chance – I set it up to sell.”

Paul’s experience share  = listen to others who have been there 

While Paul has sidestepped out of running multi-million dollar businesses, he’s definitely not a stranger to the entrepreneurship communities in New Zealand. He’s been an EO member for about nine years, has spent time on the EO board, and has offered his time and expertise countless times as a mentor.

He strongly encourages new people to the game to seek out a bit of direction from those who have been in their shoes before. “It’s so important to listen to others’ experiences, to learn from their mistakes and their successes,” says Paul. One of the reasons for his initial business going down was approaching things a little too quickly and confidently – and today he advocates for new entrepreneurs to avoid the same missteps. But I would never have achieved what I have if it wasn’t for my failure and learning experience. 

“Looking back, I would also tell myself to focus a little bit more. I’m like many entrepreneurs – I get excited and want to chase the new, shiny opportunities. There is a lot of merit to specialising over diversifying, and I sometimes wish I had steered that course a bit more.” 

Getting the best of both worlds

Paul’s life today is full of fun and exploration. Between mountain biking trips and spending time in the Sunshine Coast, traversing the Inca Trail with his daughter (two daughters and one son-in-law are EO’ers), and supporting small businesses and CoverWell in Wellington, Paul enjoys the endless freedom made possible through his property investment business set-up on the back of his businesses. No employees, no management, and no operations oversight.

The only thing he really misses is the camaraderie of his EO forum (Paul has taken a rest, but maybe back). “I really did enjoy being alongside those people, whether it was a night at an event, or engaging with the learnings and the stories from others – those connections were a huge part of my entrepreneurship experience.”

At the same time, Paul still enjoys attending events, discovering new technology, and keeping up with what’s new in the world of business. In this way, EO helps him keep his eyes open and always discovering and learning.