Table of contents

• Getting Into Property in the UAE
• What Buying My First Commercial Unit Was Actually Like
• Why I Decided to Sell After the Refurb, and What Happened Next…
• The Business Lessons I Took from Buying My First Office
• Moving Forward

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

I’m Adam Thornhill, an entrepreneur and investor based in Dubai, originally from Liverpool, England. This series looks back at the early stages of my career – the businesses I built, the mistakes I made, and what those experiences taught me about building something that lasts. I hope you find these lessons useful. I’d love to connect with you if so.

Getting Into Property in the UAE

At the end of 2023, I was looking for office space for Source Travel, a UK-based online travel agency and consultancy I founded with my friend, Heather Fletcher.

Most of the team I had in the UAE were working remotely, and we were meeting a couple of times a week at my place to catch up and run through what needed to be done. This worked for a while, but it wasn’t an arrangement you could build a business around. I realised that if we were going to grow, we needed a proper office.

When I started looking at commercial property in Dubai, it didn’t take long for me to realise that prices were far beyond what I could justify. The market had been moving steadily since the post-COVID recovery, and anything decent was just far too expensive.

So rather than forcing something that didn’t make sense financially, I started looking further afield. This is what led me to Ajman, the smallest of the seven United Arab Emirates, with quiet beaches, a lovely relaxed culture, and a much lower cost of living than Dubai.

I came across a commercial unit that stood out straight away. It was a bank repossession being sold at a distressed price, and on paper it looked like an opportunity. The problem was, I didn’t have the capital available at the time, and the property wasn’t eligible for a loan.

At the time, I was still running taxis through AJT Hire, so I made the decision to sell a number of vehicles to raise the funds. My family in the UK held power of attorney for me, which meant we could act fast and get everything in place quickly. 

Not long after that, I had the keys.

What Buying My First Commercial Unit Was Actually Like

The reality of buying my first commercial property was very different from how it sounds on paper. The place smelled strongly of cigarettes and mould, the ceilings were damaged, and everything looked dark and outdated. It wasn’t something you could just clean up and move into. It needed proper work. Work I was going to have to do myself. 

Ever the self-starter, I got to work. Ceilings came down, old furniture was cleared out, and the space was soon cleared and ready for refurbishment. At that stage, it was just about getting it back to a blank canvas.

But once the initial work was done, I knew I needed help to get it finished properly. I reached out to a few British expat groups on Facebook to find tradies, and a couple of lads from the Wirral got in touch. 

Since we hailed from the same area, there was a natural level of trust there, so we agreed on a price. I sent a deposit from my UK account, and that was the last I ever heard from them. 

This was a costly mistake, a frustrating setback when you’re trying to get things moving. But I could either dwell on it or move on – the work still needed doing.

So I pushed on. I took on a lot of the work myself and brought in locals where needed. It wasn’t the most efficient way to do it, but it got the job done. Slowly, the unit started to come together, and eventually it reached the point where it was usable as a proper office.

The problem was that the whole refurbishment took months, and during that time, things had really shifted with Source Travel. Staff numbers had dwindled, and I had already started thinking about stepping away from the business. The original reason for buying the unit just didn’t seem necessary anymore.

Why I Decided to Sell After the Refurb, and What Happened Next…

With the refurbishment complete, I decided to put the office on the market. What happened next really surprised me.

Between the price I had bought it for and the work that had gone into it, the value of the unit had increased by over 50%. On top of this, I had sourced high-quality second-hand office furniture, which meant I could sell it as a fully furnished space and increase the overall value even more. This was the point where the property market caught my attention.

After that, I started looking at property differently.

Instead of focusing purely on old, abandoned properties that needed lots of work, I began researching off-plan developments across the UAE, both residential and commercial. I spent time understanding which areas had the strongest growth potential and how to structure deals in a way that didn’t rely on me being involved in every stage.

This venture became less about doing everything myself and more about putting the right structure in place to create a viable business. This crucial change in perspective led to L5 Properties, my Dubai-based property investment company. 

The Business Lessons I Took from Buying My First Office

Buying that first unit in Ajman wasn’t a long-term plan. It started as a practical decision and turned into something else.

Looking back, the deal worked out, but the way I approached it wasn’t ideal.

Trying to manage the project while also doing a large part of the work myself stretched my time more than it should have. It pulled focus away from other things and made the whole process slower than it needed to be.

It was one of those situations where you get a good outcome, but you still know you wouldn’t do it the same way again.

All of this showed me that there was real opportunity in the UAE property market, but it also highlighted the importance of how I approach that opportunity.

Moving Forward

Since launching L5 Properties, my focus has been on approaching real estate in a more structured way, building something that works over time rather than relying on one-off projects.

The Ajman deal was the starting point, but who knows where it will lead?

If you’re inspired by my story, please get in touch – I’d love to hear from you. 

The post What My First Property Deal in the UAE Taught Me About Timing appeared first on Adam Joseph Thornhill.

Table of contents

• My Love of Cars: Where It All Began
• My First Lesson in Vehicle Loss
• From Driver to Trader: Getting into Business
• The Land Rover Discovery TD5: Learning to Improve Value
• The Subaru: Discovering Restoration and Patience
• A Crucial Realisation: Overlooked Vehicles Present Real Opportunity
• The Fiesta ST and Letting Go
• Returning to Cars in Dubai

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

I’m Adam Thornhill, an entrepreneur and investor based in Dubai, originally from Liverpool, England. This series looks back at the early stages of my career – the businesses I built, the mistakes I made, and what those experiences taught me about building something that lasts. I hope you find these lessons useful. I’d love to connect with you if so.

Throughout this series, I’ve written about calculated risk, resilience, and long-term strategic decision making. We’ve discussed my health, my hobbies and my entrepreneurial pursuits, and it’s been great to share my story publicly.

Long before I started building companies, consultancies, or investment portfolios, however, there was something far simpler I was drawn to – something that taught me early on about independence, profit and loss. Cars.

My Love of Cars: Where It All Began

Even as a child, I was drawn to cars. It wasn’t just about the flashiest models or how they looked – it was how they worked, the intricate mechanisms under the hood.  

I was fascinated by the idea that thousands of individual components could function together as one system. When maintained properly, it boggled my mind that this machine on wheels could take you anywhere you wanted to go, and that you were in complete control.

While most people saw cars purely as transport, I saw them as mechanical systems that could be understood, fixed, improved and, in some cases, rescued. This curiosity led me to study a BTEC in Vehicle Technology at school, which later inspired my first taxi business.

Then, at sixteen, I bought a scooter and completed my CBT. It wasn’t glamorous, but it gave me something far more important: independence. For the first time, I could move without relying on anyone else.

My First Lesson in Vehicle Loss

At seventeen, my uncle, who was a motor trader, gifted me a Renault Clio he had picked up from auction. The car was far from perfect – the alternator was failing and it had its own quirks – but it was mine.

I learned to drive in that Clio. Every stall, every smoother gear change, every small improvement happened inside that car. Passing my driving test felt like independence officially earned. But a week later, my beloved car was written off in an accident.

It was an early lesson that freedom can be temporary, and that loss doesn’t ask whether you’re ready for it.

From Driver to Trader: Getting into Business

With limited money, I bought what I consider my first real car, which was a Vauxhall Astra. By modern standards, it was pretty basic, but it represented momentum – a life moving forward.

I soon discovered that although I loved driving, it wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to be more involved, and somehow combine my passion for cars with my aptitude for business. 

I started going to auctions, just observing at first. I watched experienced traders evaluate vehicles in seconds, making decisions quickly and without emotion. Gradually, I started participating, buying, and selling on a small scale.

Not every deal worked, and some mistakes were expensive. But every misjudgement refined my instincts. Cars became more than transport; they became my first experience of buying low, improving value, and managing risk – all crucial entrepreneurial lessons. 

The Land Rover Discovery TD5: Learning to Improve Value

One of the most memorable projects from that period was a Land Rover Discovery TD5.

I purchased it as a project vehicle and converted it to make it more capable off-road, preparing it for events I planned to attend. This was the first time I was able to take something functional and improve it through effort and understanding. 

The TD5 was a huge milestone for me and reinforced a principle that has stayed with me ever since: value is often created through intelligent improvement rather than initial perfection.

If you buy correctly and make calculated upgrades, you can increase both utility and appeal, but if you over-invest emotionally or ignore margin, the numbers rarely work in your favour. That balance between passion and practicality is something I still apply in business today.

The Subaru: Discovering Restoration and Patience

Around the same time, I completed a full restoration on a Subaru. Restoration teaches patience in a way few other projects can, because shortcuts reveal themselves later, usually at a higher cost.

Working through that process strengthened my appreciation for doing things properly the first time. It also highlighted something important: effort compounds. The more time you invest in understanding a system, the more confident your decisions become.

A Crucial Realisation: Overlooked Vehicles Present Real Opportunity

Not all the vehicles I worked with were exciting: Ex-Royal Mail vans, Peugeot Partners, Transit campers, and Hackney cabs formed part of the mix. These were vehicles most people overlooked, but they taught me that assets don’t need to impress – they just need to perform. That distinction later fed directly into my first taxi business, where vehicles became income-generating tools rather than passion projects.

There is a difference between loving something and monetising it, and learning that difference early shaped how I evaluated opportunities moving forward.

The Fiesta ST and Letting Go

Just before leaving the UK, I bought a Ford Fiesta ST. This purchase represented progress – it was one of those cars you looked forward to driving, not because you had somewhere important to be, but because you enjoyed the experience itself.

Not long after buying it, however, it was stolen and never recovered.

The financial loss was frustrating, but what stayed with me was the personal element. It symbolised a chapter of work and independence, and losing it created a strange sense of closure.

Looking back, that moment became one of the factors that pushed me to leave the UK. Sometimes losing something creates the space for something new to begin.

When I moved to the Netherlands, cars became distant for the first time in years. I drove rentals when needed, but ownership creates a different level of connection and responsibility.

I also noticed how significantly more expensive vehicles were compared to the UK. Cars that would be affordable at home carried substantial premiums there. It reinforced an important lesson: geography shapes opportunity. The same asset can carry different value depending on location, demand, and regulation. 

Returning to Cars in Dubai

When I moved to Dubai and decided to stay long-term, my love for cars returned.

Dubai is a city built for driving, and I enrolled with Copart locally. Following the floods, there were significant numbers of damaged vehicles entering the auction that many people avoided.

But years earlier in the UK, I had learned how to evaluate vehicles quickly and without emotion. Assessing damage, calculating potential repair costs, and weighing risk against margin felt less like starting again and more like returning to fundamentals.

What Cars Actually Taught Me

Looking back, cars were never just about transport for me. They were my first exposure to risk management, loss recovery, margin awareness, and opportunity recognition. They taught me how to detach emotion from investment decisions and how to improve an asset rather than simply consume it.

But most importantly, they gave me independence. Perhaps this is more meaningful to me because I was born with clubfoot and movement was restricted, I don’t know. 

All I know is that before offices, before employees, before consultancy or investment portfolios, cars gave me movement. That movement created autonomy, autonomy created confidence, and confidence made entrepreneurship feel possible.

If you’re inspired by my story, please get in touch – I’d love to hear from you. If you’d like to work with me.

The post What Cars Taught Me About Risk and Independence appeared first on Adam Joseph Thornhill.