Money & Me: ‘My biggest milestone was becoming a sterling millionaire by the age of 30’

Paras Raichura walked away from a high-paying job in finance to build a digital marketing agency in London. A decade later, the risk has paid off.

After studying business and marketing at university in London, Mr Raichura, 37, worked in investment banking with a tier 1 bank for five years in Canary Wharf.

“I did that for a few years and quickly realised that I didn't want to have that life where I would be working for somebody and being only able to take 25 days off a year. I wanted to create something for myself, so I left my job, took a risk and set up my company,” he says.

“Coming from an Asian background, the focus was very much on stability and education while growing up.”

In 2015, the British citizen set up PNdigital, a digital marketing agency in the UK and expanded to the UAE in 2023. His company partners with brands in sectors such as real estate, e-commerce and hospitality to support their digital presence.

The chief executive now lives with his wife and two-year-old son in Downtown Dubai.

Did wealth feature in your childhood? What did you learn from it?

I've not come from a wealthy background, we were always just OK. The focus was on saving, which taught me discipline and respect for money. But based on what I know now, saving is important, but it's far more important to look at ways to grow your money. You don't generate wealth through saving. You generate wealth either through owning a company or investing in assets.

My father had a lot of knowledge about investing in the stock market. Just being around him when I was younger gave me knowledge that I wasn't aware of until I got older, and I was able to utilise it to make smarter investment decisions, challenging the idea of playing it safe and taking more calculated risks.

How did you first earn? What did your first job pay?

I did a paper round when I was eight years old and was paid £20 ($26.7) a week. I was up very early from Monday to Sunday and there was an element of discipline gained from doing that at such a young age.

Any early financial jolts?

Absolutely. As a student at university, I was in debt.