Why the Hard Way Still Works: A Developer’s Decade of Relentless Growth
My journey started 2009, when I was just 22 years old. At the time, I was delivering Chinese takeaways six nights a week and trying to get my foot in the door of the property industry. Fast forward to today, and me and my team are developing £50 million worth of property per year, hold a portfolio worth £30 million, and run a network with over 1,000 active investors.
But this didn’t happen overnight, and it definitely didn’t happen by accident.
What I had, and what I still rely on now, is grit, a willingness to graft, and a genuine curiosity about people. If I had to name the quality that underpins everything, I’d boil it down to one thing: relentless intent.
Starting Out and Finding My Feet
I started sourcing deals before sourcing was even a thing. The market had just come through the 2008 crash, no one was buying, and I was still delivering takeaways on evenings and weekends.
There was no regulation, no compliance, and no ombudsman back then, just estate agents ringing me up saying, “We need to sell this, make us an offer.”. At that point, I wasn’t buying myself, but I knew people who were.
That first 18 months was like the wild west. I managed to put myself in a position where I was representing 10 to 15 good buyers who were cash-rich, but time-poor. They needed the deals, and I became the guy in the middle, the connector, finding these deals for them. I’d go to the few networking events that existed then, collect emails, set up old-school Google Groups, and keep in touch with prospective investors. It was basic, but it worked.
And all the while, I kept that Chinese takeaway job going. Not because I loved it, but because I didn’t want to take a penny out of the business until I had to. Six nights a week I was dropping off takeaways, but I always spotted empty houses on my routes, and slowly started to build a pipeline of opportunities.
My mates used to laugh, they were Rugby lads, pint in hand, giving it the big one: “You’re not a property investor, you’re a delivery driver.” But those jokes started to dry up when they were ringing me a few years later, kicked out by their missus and looking for a room in one of my HMOs.
Lettings, Leverage, and Lessons
One of my early clients, who bought 25 properties through me, suggested we set up a lettings agency. I said yes. Why not? I didn’t know anything about lettings, but I bought a £200 startup pack from South Court, it came in a folder thicker than my head, and I had to just figure it out. That was the start of our lettings business, which we scaled to around 1,000 tenancies before selling it in 2021, ten years later.
I didn’t buy my first property until around 2012. For a while, we focussed on buy-to-lets and social housing units in Runcorn, where we found a brilliant arbitrage. Cheap four-beds for £60–70k that rented for £800–900 through the councils Local Housing Authority (LHA) rates. Not glamorous, but solid cash flow and low hassle.
But the real growth kicked in when I partnered with a high-net-worth investor who was happy to fund HMOs. I brought the deals, did the work and sorted the planning while he brought the capital. We went from 0 to 350 rooms in just a few years, converting everything from old pubstodentistry’s, office blocks and even YMCA buildings.
We were converting buildings into houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) before the strategy became trendy. Commercial properties were under-utilised, and residential buyers weren’t even looking at them. That gave us an edge, and we’d move fast, get planning, and delivered high-spec, sui generis HMOs while others were still hesitating.
That’s one thing I’ve always been good at, spotting a trend just before the masses do. And yes, there’s risk in being early. But, if you get it right, the upside’s huge.
The Power of Compounding Growth
By 2018, we shifted focus to residential development: mixed-use schemes, commercial-to-resi conversions, and small-block flats. That year, we delivered around £1 million in gross development value (GDV). In 2019, it was £2–3 million. 2020, £6 million. Fast-forward to 2024, and we delivered over £50 million in GDV.
People think that’s fast. It doesn’t feel fast. But that’s the Buffett effect: you grind for years, then you compound. You lay foundations, build systems, you get better at hiring, delegating, delivering. Then it starts to snowball.
We now hold around £30 million in assets, with 300–400 tenants at any one time, depending on sales. We’re also deep into the apart-hotel space, with 71 units live and another 40 coming online by 2026. It’s a niche, but we’ve nailed it. Corporate stays are booming, people want more flexibility than traditional hotels, and the margins are strong.
Looking back, it’s been intense. But what keeps me going isn’t just the deals, the figures, or the portfolio, it’s helping others to succeed.
What Strategies Work Today?
Right now, social housing is on the rise, and I don’t say that lightly. It’s a sad indictment of where the UK’s at, but it’s also an opportunity for investors who want steady returns and secure tenancies.
Apart-hotels are another big one. People want more space than a regular hotel, more autonomy, and the corporate world is catching on. Add to that the slow death of high-street commercial, and you’ve got a chance to buy undervalued buildings and repurpose them.
At the top end of the market, I’ve seen a lot of high-net-worth individuals leave the UK over the past few years, especially during Covid. They were done with the tax, done with the politics, done with the weather. But this year, for the first time, I’ve started to see some of them come back. Not because the numbers have changed, but because life has. They’ve had their first kid, or their mum’s unwell, or they’ve realised being in Dubai means being away from everyone they care about. That emotional pull is real.
Don’t get me wrong, many who left won’t return but for some I think the shine wears off, and the UK starts to feel like home again. It’s early days, and we’re still seeing more leave than come back. But if we keep punishing the people who contribute the most, eventually they go, and once they’re gone, it’s hard to get them back.
The biggest shift I’ve seen is that buyers are no longer just cash-rich and time-poor. These days, more people are cash-poor and time-rich, and they’re willing to graft. But they need guidance, strategy and mentorship. And that’s where we’ve stepped up with Prosperity.
On Prosperity: The Anti-Guru Network
With Prosperity, we didn’t set out to build a community of over 1,000 active investors. It just grew out of our values. We don’t sell dreams, we sell reality.
Most networks have 95% newbies and 5% pros. Ours is the other way around. People come in with their sleeves rolled up. They’re not here to get rich quick. They’re here to build long-term wealth, sustainably.
If I wanted 5,000 members, I could have them tomorrow. Just slap on a few “financial freedom in 30 days” ads and watch them roll in. But that’s not us. I won’t attract the wrong people with the wrong message and then build content around a lie.
Prosperity is about connecting doers. It’s about networking, and I mean real, intentional networking, which is something that has been a cornerstone of my entire journey.
The Power of Intentional Networking
I turn up to every event with intent. Not to “show face” or collect selfies, but to understand who’s in the room, what they need, and how we can help each other.
I ask questions like:What do you do?What do you need?Who can I connect you with?
That mindset built my business from nothing. I’ve introduced people who went on to do million-pound deals. I’ve had people message me years later saying, “You helped me back in 2012, I’ve never forgotten it.” That’s the long game. That’s why I still reply to 90–95% of my messages. It’s energy most people can’t maintain, but it pays back in spades.
You never know where someone will be in five or ten years. I remember the people who gave me time when I was a 22-year-old delivery driver with no money and no track record. And now, I make sure I pass that forward.
Lessons, Losses, and Living With the Chaos
I’ve made a major mistake every year! But I don’t seem them as failures, I learn from them all.
The day you think it’s all smooth sailing is the day life punches you in the face. If it feels too easy, something’s probably about to blow up.
Here’s a big one: never put money on a pedestal. Money isn’t a value, it’s a tool. Too many people confuse financial status with personal worth, and they get burned. I’ve been there, I’ve worked with rich people because they were rich, not because they had the right values or skills, and it never ends well.
Another truth: most people are fundamentally good, but practically bad. They mean well but don’t deliver. That doesn’t make them evil. It just means they’re not ready. And if you believe someone’s sales pitch without doing your due diligence, that’s partly on you. Take ultimate accountability because that’s where real growth lives.
Can You Handle the Pressure?
People always say to me: “Danny, I want to do what you do.”
And my answer?
No, you don’t.
You want what I have, but you don’t want to do what I do, there’s a difference. Most people aren’t wired for it.
In property, everyone hits a wall at some point. You get into something that feels overwhelming. A big mistake, a cashflow crisis, a deal that goes sideways. And in that moment, you ask yourself: "Is this the end of the world? Or just a hard week?"
The truth is that most challenges feel bigger than they are. What sets people apart is how they respond. Do you zoom out and break the problem down,or do you panic and freeze?
If I’ve learnt anything, it’s this: what looks like the end is often just the start of something better. But you need the grit to push through it. You need intent. And you need to be willing to help others, not just yourself. That’s where the real rewards lie.
Property is a game of endurance. Of timing. Of spotting what others don’t and acting while others wait. But more than anything, it’s a game of people. Understand that, and the rest will follow.
I still question myself weekly. Is it worth it? Is the juice worth the squeeze?
There are some amazing things happening in my life that don’t excite me anymore but would have meant the world to me years ago. We opened a luxury apart-hotel three weeks ago, and I didn’t even go as I wasn’t in the country. Not because I didn’t care, but because as the projects get bigger and more frequent, even the big moments start to feel less significant. That’s the mental battle I’m still working through.
For me, beauty is watching others rise. That’s what Prosperity gives me. I get my buzz now from seeing someone do their first deal, raise their first bit of investment, and get their first win. I live vicariously through them, and I love it.
Closing Thoughts
I’ve done nearly every strategy under the sun, buy-to-let, HMOs, commercial conversions, social housing, apart-hotels, development, even ran a construction company and sold a lettings agency.
But the core of my success hasn’t been strategy. It’s been mindset:
Say yes, then figure it out.
Show up with intent.
Value people over money.
Help others with no expectation of return.
Take full accountability when things go wrong.
And when you do get that win, celebrate it, but don’t let it define you.
This industry can give you a lot, but it can also take a lot. You’ve got to be honest about what you want, what you’re willing to sacrifice, and whether the outcome is worth the grind.
If you’re ready for that reality, not the Instagram version, but the late nights, the anxiety, the setbacks, and the slow burn, then maybe, just maybe, you’re built for it.
But if you’re still not sure, come along to a Prosperity event.
You’ll find out pretty quick.
I look forward to partnering with Blue Bricks Magazine and showcasing one of our members in each issue going forward. Like Blue Bricks, we believe in value, integrity, and putting people first. To discover more about Prosperity, and how you can get involved, use the details below.
Danny’s details
Instagram: @dannyinmanproperty Facebook & Linkedin: Danny Inman
Prosperity Network
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