A Cardiff entrepreneur who fled a war-torn country as a child before building a property empire worth millions from scratch has set up a new business to help families who are struggling financially to enjoy an affordable holiday. FlickHoliday, launched by businessman 32-year-old Rahim Bah, is a brand new website where people can register their house, upload some photos and then swap their home.
Speaking to WalesOnline, Rahim said that the aim of his business is to help anyone, regardless of their financial situation. It comes after the businessman was just 15 when he fled from Guinea in west Africa, something which he says was a "very difficult and scary time".
Rahim arrived in the UK with no money and unable to speak English. Far from the troubles of Guinea, he said he still found himself in a "worrying" situation, but his life gradually turned around.
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"You are a teenager at the age of 15 years old, in a different country, in London without your parents and having to go to a foster home - it was really, really scary. It was a very worrying situation because I was thinking my life was finished because I didn’t know anyone, I couldn’t speak the language. It was horrifying. But thankfully the UK Government at the time did what they did best and housed me and put me through social services. I was lucky enough to have an amazing foster family [who] helped me.”
Rahim was encouraged by his foster mother, Hannah, to work hard which eventually led to him studying accountancy at Bournemouth University. After three years of working in an investment firm and packaging business, Rahim relocated to Cardiff in 2015 where he set up Bah Properties, specialising in property sales, lettings and management.
The property developer started his portfolio with virtually nothing, but various property programmes such as BBC's Homes Under the Hammer became the main sources of inspiration that drove him to keep working towards his goals. Years later, the property developer would eventually appear on the programme.
Speaking to presenter Martin Roberts, he said: "I used to work nine to five, I didn't like it, I hated it, so I decided to quit and I started out by not buying the properties but leasing them. I did the first one and then moved on to another one and then used the proceeds from there to start building my own property portfolio from there. Then I had my own estate agency and started buying my own properties.
"Literally I started from zero to doing what I'm doing now, there are quite a few properties in my portfolio, worth a couple of million or so. It's due to the people I work with as well, I really commend them as well."
He added: "If I can start my property investment journey with little of my own money, to what I'm doing now, anybody can do it, there's no reason for you to be thinking you need lots of money to do it. As long as you put your mind and focus into it, you will absolutely smash it."
By now, Rahim has been working in property for over seven years. He lives with his wife and three children in Cardiff, and is about to embark on his next challenge - running his new business FlickHoliday. On top of this, Rahim will be donating 5% of any profit he makes through the business to help build homes for the homeless in Africa, to provide a shelter to a family in need.
He said: “I’ll take it back to when I was in foster care. When I was a foster child, I always wanted to go on holiday. But I couldn’t go on holiday because my foster mother couldn’t afford it. It was very expensive - she had her own three kids, me and two other foster kids. So it was very expensive for us to go on holiday.
"As a result, I never went on holiday. But I told myself, one day I will find a way to make people who cannot afford to go on holiday, to go on holiday. At the time, I didn’t know what concept I needed to make it happen. But what prompted me to do this was when I went on holiday to Sierra Leone one year. When I went there, driving to the airport along the roads I see people not wearing shoes, not wearing shirts, they don’t have houses. I thought, this is so sad.
"I’ve just come from a country where everyone has shoes and jackets. And I thought, what can I do to help these people? It got me thinking. I’m in the UK, where you have people that couldn’t afford to go on holiday, including myself as a kid. I knew that others were like me. I thought, how about I create a platform where people who can’t afford a holiday can list their property and swap with someone who wants to go on holiday that also couldn’t afford it at a different location, without paying for the accommodation.
"At the same time, we could offer small charges and from that then we could donate 5% of that proceed to the homeless people in Africa. I thought to myself - I could do this, I could really, really do this. I’m not just helping people who can’t afford to go on holiday, I’m also helping building houses for the homeless. That was my epiphany moment."
Rahim is excited to see where his new business venture will take him, with the need to help others continuing to be at the core of everything he does - something that he hopes others will pursue too. He said: "What the UK has done for me and my family, I feel like I was welcomed here with open arms. I feel like this is my country now, especially here in Cardiff - this is my adoptive home. That is one of the reasons I decided to launch this business here in Cardiff.
“I think the UK is a naturally open and helpful country. I think that is why it is one of the greatest, if not the greatest in the world. The diversity, the community it has is just invaluable - you could not get this anywhere else in the world. It’s a country that allows you to be whoever you want to be.
"It’s an open and caring country, which in its turn has helped the country. If you look at the hospitality industry - we have lots of diverse communities there, if you look at our health industry - the NHS, we have lots of diverse communities there too. It’s just sad to see that some politicians are using it as a political tool as a way of causing a field of animosity around a group of people.
"Generally, people who come to this country are people that are running away to save their lives and are genuine people that are ready to work. They came here to better themselves. I’m really grateful to have started this business, to be able to help people. I’ve been grateful to have lived in the UK, and be accepted as part of its community especially here in Cardiff - my home, and it will be my home forever."
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