So, after twelve months of client conversations that kept me awake at night, I finally did something about it.
The Premise Effect: What Business Are You Really In? is now available on Amazon!
The Conversation That Broke Me
March 2025. I was sitting across from David, a medical equipment supplier in Brisbane.
Ten years in his warehouse. Profitable business. Great team. Solid growth trajectory.
I asked him to calculate his cumulative rent.
He pulled out his phone. Tapped the calculator. Looked at the screen. Put the phone down. Picked it up again. Checked his working.
“One million dollars,” he said. “I’ve paid a million dollars in rent.”
Then he looked at me and asked: “What do I own?”
The answer was nothing. Not one square metre.
I showed him the numbers. His landlord’s $1 million property was now worth $1.34 million. The $700,000 loan had been paid down to $528,000. Total wealth created by that property: $516,000.
David’s business generated that wealth. His landlord captured all of it.
He sat quietly for a moment. Then: “Why didn’t anyone tell me this ten years ago?”
That question has haunted me ever since.
The Pattern I Couldn’t Unsee
After that conversation with David, I started seeing it everywhere.
June 2025: Tom in Wagga Wagga. Three-year-old manufacturing business. Profitable. Wanted to buy his warehouse. NAB declined. Westpac declined. He thought finance was impossible.
I matched him to a Tier Three specialist lender who loves regional NSW industrial property. Approved in three weeks. Tom didn’t know Tier Three lenders existed.
August 2025: Sarah in Melbourne. Seven years renting. Paying $165,000 annually. Showed her the 15-year projection. At current rates, she’d pay $3.1 million in cumulative rent. Property equity she’d own: zero.
She stared at the spreadsheet. “I thought rent being tax deductible made it smart.”
October 2025: Muhammad in Brisbane. Medical centre purchase. I knew lenders that specialise in medical property. Approved at competitive rates.
Every conversation revealed the same thing: business owners making seven-figure decisions without the full picture.
What I Realised Over Those Twelve Months
These aren’t uneducated business owners. They’re smart, successful people running profitable businesses.
But nobody had explained they’re in two businesses.
Everyone focused on business number one: operations. Revenue. Profit. Growth. Team. Systems. These owners excelled at this.
Business number two—the property business? Their landlord ran that. Built equity. Captured appreciation. Generated tax benefits. Created generational wealth.
Same building. Two businesses. Different owners.
The worst part? It’s not like people deliberately hid this from them. It’s just that:
- Accountants optimise for tax (rent is deductible!)
- Lawyers review leases (your lease terms are acceptable)
- Banks assess serviceability (your profit supports borrowing)
- Business coaches focus on operations (grow your revenue!)
Everyone stays in their lane. Nobody connects the dots. Nobody shows business owners they’re already funding a property business—just not theirs.
The Moment I Decided to Write It
November 2025. End-of-year client review with James.
Twenty years in manufacturing. Successful business. I calculated his cumulative rent: $2.15 million over two decades.
I asked: “If you’d bought your premises twenty years ago, do you know what it would be worth today?”
He shook his head.
“Approximately $2.7 million in equity. Instead, you paid $2.15 million in rent and own nothing.”
James went quiet. Then: “I did everything my accountant told me to do. Kept capital in the business. Maximised tax deductions. Stayed flexible. Focused on my core business.”
“I know,” I said.
“And I’m $2.7 million behind someone who ignored that advice.”
That night, I opened a blank document and started writing. If I had one more conversation with a business owner who discovered too late they’d been in two businesses all along, I was going to lose my mind.
Someone needed to explain this clearly. Apparently, that someone was me.
What’s In The Book (Because You’re Wondering)
The Premise Effect does three things:
Part One: Recognition
Helps you see you’re in two businesses. Shows you how to calculate your personal Premise Effect—the wealth gap created by who runs your property business.
I use real examples. David’s million in rent. Tom’s three-week approval after two major bank declines. Michael and Sarah—the two Brisbane business owners who started the same year, achieved identical business success, but ended up $1.66 million apart in wealth.
Real people. Real numbers. Real outcomes.
Part Two: Readiness
Before you can activate your property business, you need four elements in place: Capital, Cash Flow, Commitment, and Competence.
The book shows you how to assess each element. Where you are. What gaps exist. Whether now is the right time or if you need six months, twelve months, or longer to get ready.
Because buying your premises isn’t always the right answer. Sometimes renting is genuinely smarter.
Part Three: Activation
This is where my 15 years arranging commercial property finance becomes useful.
I reveal the four-tier Australian commercial lending structure that most business owners don’t know exists. Then I show you how to match your property type, location, business age, and financial strength to the right tier—and how to work with specialist commercial finance brokers who understand this landscape.
Everything you need to make an informed decision.
The Opening Story (My Dad)
I open the book with my Dad’s story.
Decades running a joinery business. Beautiful custom furniture. Established client base. Always rented his workshop.
When he retired and sold the business, he walked away with tools, equipment, client list, and goodwill.
His landlord kept the building. The building my Dad’s rent had paid off over twenty years.
My Dad never considered buying. He followed conventional wisdom. Kept his capital in the business. Stayed flexible. Focused on his craft.
He built a successful joinery business. His landlord built a property empire. Same workshop. Different business models. Completely different wealth outcomes.
That stuck with me. Still does.
Who Should Read This Book
This book is for Australian business owners who:
- Currently rent commercial premises
- Have operated 3+ years
- Pay $80,000+ annually in rent
- Plan to stay in their location 10+ years
- Wonder if buying makes strategic sense
If that’s you, this book could change your wealth trajectory.
If you’re a startup, planning relocation, or running a location-agnostic business, this book will help you understand why renting makes more sense for your situation. That’s valuable too—informed decisions beat default decisions.
How to Get It
The Premise Effect is available now on Amazon in Kindle:
Get it here: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0GKHYJG4H
If it helps you recognise you’re in two businesses before you’ve paid another $500,000 in rent, it might be the best money you’ve ever spent.
Want Your Specific Numbers?
The book gives you the framework and formulas to calculate your Premise Effect.
But every business is different. Your property type, location, business age, financial strength, and growth trajectory all affect whether activating your property business makes sense for you specifically.
Book a complimentary consultation and we’ll:
- Calculate your personal Premise Effect over 10, 15, and 20 years
- Assess your readiness across the four elements
- Identify which lender tier matches your deal
- Determine realistic approval probability and timeline
- Discuss whether buying aligns with your wealth-building goals
No obligation. No pressure. No cost.
The Question My Dad Never Asked
“What business am I really in?”
He thought he was in joinery. He was actually in joinery AND property. He ran one brilliantly. His landlord ran the other.
I wrote this book so business owners stop making that same mistake.
The building you operate from is going to make someone wealthy over the next fifteen years.
The book helps you decide if that should be you.
