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Martin Millard: From humble beginnings

From a bankrupt vineyard resort owner to induction into the Harcourts Hall of Fame in 2016, Martin Millard has seen both ends of the business spectrum. This rare combination of life experiences has shaped a unique approach to real estate, business and life itself. Martin tells Elite Agentโ€™s Kylie Dulhunty what makes him tick.

Martin Millard has been through the wringer and come out the other side.

Heโ€™s still a little crinkled, definitely more enlightened, and has a dry, but earnest, sense of humour.

Unorthodox is the only way to describe the Harcourts Solutions Managing Directorโ€™s journey in real estate.

Itโ€™s a career that started 19 years ago with Martin wearing a borrowed suit and busted shoes, pounding the pavement for PRD Paddington in Brisbaneโ€™s inner suburbs, desperately trying to make ends meet for his wife, Sally, and their four children, Emily, Felicity, Olivia and Patrick.

โ€œThe world as I saw it was coming to an end,โ€ he recalls.

It was a far cry from his days as a high school PE teacher and later the owner-operator of Queenslandโ€™s first vineyard retreat, ironically named Happy Valley, at Stanthorpe.

Never afraid of hard work, Martin toiled tirelessly at Happy Valley Vineyard Retreat.

He was the gardener, the chef and he worked around the clock to build it into a 300-seat restaurant and 30-cottage resort.

ROCK BOTTOM
โ€œThings came unstuck in 1999,โ€ Martin recalls.

โ€œI confused work ethic with business nous โ€“ I was a hard worker, but I wasnโ€™t very smart.

โ€œIt was a case of the classic saying โ€˜if you donโ€™t know who the dumbest person in the room is, itโ€™s probably youโ€™.โ€

Martin says the quality of lease documentation he signed and the quality of his trusted advisers turned out to be severely lacking.

He ended up bankrupt and the decision was made to move the family from the country to the city to try and turn things around.

โ€œIt was pretty ugly,โ€ Martin says.

โ€œWe had four kids under five, I was bankrupt, I didnโ€™t own a car, I didnโ€™t own a suit and the only proper shoes I had were a pair of RM Williams with a big hole in them.

โ€œThere was no further down I could go.

โ€œI had to borrow money from my stepmother and one other person lent me $30,000, but I had to pay that back very quickly.โ€

In a new city where he knew no one, Martin worked hard, door knocking, gathering listings and sales.

Heโ€™s the first to admit real estate hadnโ€™t been on his radar until now.

Until he had to get things right and support those he loved, and yet felt he had let down, the most.

Martin says his first foray into real estate taught him two things โ€“ how to work hard and perform well, and what kind of leader he did and didnโ€™t want to be.

ENTER HARCOURTS SOLUTIONS
His climb back to the top continued and in 2006 Martin bought Harcourts Solutions.

Then he immediately sacked all the staff.

โ€œI didnโ€™t want anyone in the business that I wouldnโ€™t let babysit my kids or sell my house,โ€ Martin says.

โ€œIt took me all of 30 minutes to work out there was no one there that Iโ€™d let do either, so I sacked them.โ€

Since then, Martin has rebuilt the business from the ground up and now has a team of 85 staff.

He also took the unusual step of being a non-selling principal.

He hasnโ€™t sold a property in more than a decade.

Not selling allows Martin to focus on running the business and putting his colleagues, the people he says he works for, first.

Martin says Harcourts Solutions is a reflection of who he is and the core values of safety, worthiness, having fun and being courageous.

โ€œThe greatest achievement is having people come through the business and setting themselves up for life and retirement,โ€ he says.

โ€œI want people to like coming to work, to generate enough revenue to feel compensated for effort and to have a balanced, mindful life.โ€

A DIFFERENT KIND OF BUSINESS PLAN
It should come as no surprise then that Martinโ€™s business plan is a little different to what most business people would create.

โ€œMy first business plan said โ€˜I want to be the worldโ€™s best dad and the worldโ€™s best husbandโ€™,โ€ he says.

โ€œEvery business plan Iโ€™ve done since 2004 has started with those two lines.

โ€œI donโ€™t think Iโ€™ve always achieved them but that has always been my aspiration.

โ€œTo be a great dad you have to walk your talk. Kids donโ€™t listen to what you say; they look at what you do.

โ€œThe first thing I put in my diary is my kids sporting events, and I never had meetings before 9am because I took my kids to school every day.โ€

With that in mind, Martin set up Harcourts Solutions with a mantra of working smarter and getting the most out of every hour, but not necessarily working more hours.

โ€œWorking 24/7 is not wrong, itโ€™s just not what I wanted to do,โ€ he says.

โ€œWhat I hated when I started was the concept that you had to drive yourself into the ground to be successful.

โ€œSuccess isnโ€™t just about money. I think there can be a big disconnect between being effective and working hard.โ€

Martin says his business philosophy and how he treats colleagues at Harcourt Solutions revolve around the concepts of safety and security.

โ€œIn a business world, your staff are who you work for and they care what you say and watch what you do,โ€ he says.

โ€œThey care how you treat them and I wanted to create a plethora of good relationships. โ€œAs a husband, you want to make sure your wife always feels safe and secure, that youโ€™re reliable and that youโ€™re trustworthy.

โ€œThese are all standard behaviours when you love someone, and it also relates perfectly to being a good business owner.โ€

HEALTH SCARE
With business flourishing again and the troubled times fading into the distance, life decided to throw another curveball Martinโ€™s way.

Two years ago, while enjoying a postcycling coffee at a cafe, Martin wasnโ€™t feeling quite right.

Just minutes later he was in the back of an ambulance in full cardiac arrest.

โ€œOne minute I was having a coffee with mates and the next I was asking them โ€˜what does a heart attack feel likeโ€™?โ€ he says.

Initially, Martin told his riding buddies to call him a taxi home, but they called an ambulance instead.

โ€œIโ€™m about as lucky as you can get,โ€ Martin says.

โ€œHad I had the heart attack outside the ambulance, the likelihood of me living was about 1 per cent.

โ€œThe guys I ride with are beautiful, really intelligent men and they made a strong decision.

โ€œThat decision saved my life.โ€

Martin says the quality of oneโ€™s life is reflected in the quality of their relationships with others and he credits his wife Sally with being a โ€œnext level human beingโ€ who encourages an attitude of gratitude in their family.

โ€œI was told marriages donโ€™t last in real estate, but weโ€™ve been married for 26 years,โ€ he says.

TEAM EFFORT
Martinโ€™s fellow Harcourts Solutions partners, Etienne Labuschagne, Kathy Brown and Brendan Whipps, are also like family.

โ€œAll three are dramatically more intelligent than me,โ€ Martin muses.

โ€œThey all approached me to come into the business, and each of them has their own level of authenticity.

โ€œI think a lot of businesses today focus on short-term gains and are purely about dollars.

โ€œI think they saw in me a business that allows people to feel safe, worthy and powerful.โ€

Martin retired for the first time three years ago but credited Brendan with enticing him to come back, and now there are no plans to hang up his keys a second time.

Instead, he will work on Harcourts Solutionsโ€™ next five-year plan, which involves upskilling and building greater outcomes for staff, establishing better systems and processes, and improving key business metrics.

If Martin were to advise young agents starting in real estate, heโ€™d encourage them to have a strong belief system and to continually strive to improve themselves.

โ€œYou can always be a better person today than you were yesterday,โ€ he says.

โ€œAlso, ask yourself why youโ€™re doing what youโ€™re doing and make sure your behaviour aligns with that โ€˜whyโ€™.

โ€œThen bring everything back to a simple model and make sure you have the highest skill offering or knowledge in the area you want to achieve in, or link up with people who do.

โ€œBe really grateful and humble about every opportunity.โ€

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Kylie Dulhunty

Former Elite Agent Editor Kylie Dulhunty is a freelance content producer for the Elite Agent audience, leveraging her extensive copywriting and real estate expertise.