Accounting technician – Veres Picton & Company – www.verespicton.com

“My dad and I joke all the time that we’re playing Monopoly, only with our lives,” says Kent Greaves. He grew up in Stony Plain, and has already owned two businesses—a slate installation business and an accounting business.

Like any Monopoly player knows, you win some… you lose some. And this keen entrepreneur is ready to get back into the game with a goal to make money and develop a skill set.

The 25 year-old, an accounting technician at Veres Picton & Company, holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree and is finishing 14 months of course work to become a certified accountant. “Accounting will teach me what I need to know about business,” Greaves explains.

He recognizes that being an entrepreneur is risky, so he wants to make sure he has a solid plan before owning a business again. Greaves wants to work in the “business of necessity”— people will always need to eat and have a place to live. The plan is to invest in franchises like McDonald’s and Tim Horton’s, and to buy real estate such as apartments, houses and commercial buildings.

In fact, he and his entrepreneur father have teamed up to buy two or three houses—one every six months—in need of TLC and renovate them for rental. “Our first purchase will be this September. Right now, we are finalizing the business plan and gathering the team.”

Greaves idea is to work hard now so that he can work less in the future. “My goal is to work two to three days a week while still making $100,000 a year.” This ambitious young man also wants to sail around the world with his family. “I’d start in Vancouver and head south and then head east.”