Ehsan Ahmed, Founder & CEO – EA Real Estate
A CONSCIOUS decision and his conscience persuaded Ehsan Ahmed to trade a promising career in the City of London for an entrepreneurial hunch in 2014 that paid off. He now heads three successful London-based businesses and reflects: “I had been working as an FX broker, but it didn’t sit right with me,” said 35-year-old Ehsan.
“It was all legal, but 90–95 per cent of our clients would lose most of their money within 90 days. I was young, unmarried, and didn’t want to bring a family into a world where I was part of that system. I could also afford to take a chance on something else.”
And that became Right Room, an online specialist in finding flat shares for professionals in London. The eureka moment was renting a room himself to be close to his City job. His landlord had converted a living room into a bedroom and Ehsan saw the potential to rent whole properties with landlord consent and manage and sublet individual rooms.
He borrowed £7,000 start the venture and says:
“I still have the original three properties, plus many more, and a great relationship with the first landlord, who now enjoys a stress-free retirement income.
“The growth potential for Right Room is enormous as the UK and particularly, London, faces an affordability crisis in both buying or renting accommodation. Our business model enables tenants to live in areas they couldn’t otherwise afford, and landlords earn more. Everyone wins.
“And we must be doing something right because we’ve even had a ‘cease and desist’ letter from Rightmove – the nationwide estate agency portal – claiming our name and logo is too close to its own.
“But we’re not even in their market sector and have operated as Right Room for more than four years with no earlier contact or warnings from Rightmove, whilst doubling in size.”
However, that growth came with challenges, particularly recruitment:
“As a one-man band, I was always in control. But hiring staff was difficult. You’d train someone, delegate, and then they’d leave. You’d be back at square one.”
Then a family friend introduced him to a relative abroad looking for work. Sceptical at first, having tried freelancers before, he gave it a chance: “The lady was based in Southeast Asia and simply did the same job remotely that someone here would do, but for a fraction of the pay. For her though, it was a life-changing salary.”
This sparked the idea for his virtual recruitment and outsourcing agency Right Recruit launched last year. Today, he manages a team of 30 staff across all his ventures, having grown from just four staff. “Without the remote model, we couldn’t afford that scale. We’ve been able to double our business, and I suspect Right Recruit has allowed many customers to do that and more.”
The agency’s key disruptors in a crowded recruitment market are its offshore staffing solutions – helping UK-based SMEs scale up fast and cut costs by hiring trained virtual staff – and a revolutionary fee structure.
“The typical recruitment agency model is charging a 10-15 per cent upfront,” says Ehsan. “But that’s a big hit on the employer and a major loss if the hire doesn’t work out. Instead, we offer a one per cent per month pay-as-you-go recruitment fee and it’s been a game-changer. If the hire doesn’t work out, clients come back to us without having lost thousands and become embittered.
“Most small businesses in the UK struggle to scale because bureaucracy and traditional hiring costs stack the odds against them. Our model gives them the infrastructure they need without the overhead.”
His team sources talent from notable hotspots like Pakistan, Egypt, and South Africa. Right Recruit looks for a track record of long-term employment and all hires go through a rigorous vetting process and trial period. “We look for attitude and commitment as much as technical skills,” says Ehsan. “You can train someone, but you can’t train mindset.”
His client base spans micro to medium-sized businesses, with a focus on those with a £2m-plus in turnover: “Microbusinesses are often too busy to engage,” says Ehsan. “But SMEs see the value and act quickly,”
Speed, or lack of, also affected Ehsan’s third core business, EA Real Estate. Founded in 2021 and originally focused on lettings, EA Real Estate expanded into sales when clients started requesting help selling their properties, but Ehsan added:
“We were held back by the UK’s dreadful bureaucracy and legal system, so we pivoted toward international investment – selling Dubai property to UK clients.
“Dubai’s off-plan property market offered our clients an investment with appreciation potential over the build period. It’s now a key focus. Our goal is to be the leading agency for UK residents investing in Dubai.”
Despite his entrepreneurial success, Ehsan is wary of over-expansion: “My biggest challenge is resisting ‘shiny object syndrome’,” he laughs. “I’ve learned that unless a new idea aligns with my existing businesses and adds real value it must be resisted as there’s so much to do across the three businesses. I need to stay focused.
“Building a brand with consistency is more important to me than chasing fast growth, and I only start businesses to solve problems I’ve faced myself. That’s what real entrepreneurship is – filling a market gap with an innovative solution.”
Now a husband and father of three, Ehsan prioritises family time at home in Highgate and “decompressing” with regular gym sessions.