Alpha Wealth is a dynamic financial services company. Their team of fully qualified Financial Advisors provide individuals and companies with an excellent level of service and advice, which cannot be replicated anywhere else.
What makes Alpha Wealth different is their honest approach in providing financial and practical solutions on a vast array of costs and savings, from health to mortgage protection insurance.
We sat down with the businessman who started it all and curated such an incredible team to build this company into the powerhouse it has become; Nicholas Charalambous, Managing Director of Alpha Wealth.
What was the key driving force behind you becoming an entrepreneur?
It sort of just happened, as I never set out to be a business owner. I was a very good financial advisor and felt that I could offer a better service if I was able to make decisions than being restricted by others.
To what do you attribute your success?
Without question my wife, Vera. She has always been the rock and allowed me the freedom to work long hours and motivated me when I needed it.
How do you manage stress?
Stress can be an issue and I have struggled at times in my career with this. I have found my family to help with dealing with this and getting the work/life balance correct recently, as this is hugely important. Also, I have found exercise a great stress reliever.
Tell us about your best and worst days at work?
Every day is different and that is what I really enjoy about this job and environment. There is a great team here and they make work more enjoyable and we try to have a laugh, as that is important.
Worst days are when things go wrong, such as an event like Brexit, which causes clients a lot of uncertainty and, in some cases, panic.
What do you do when you’re not at work?
Spending time with my family is a big part of my social time. I have three children, Josh,13, Ava who is 10 and Millie who is six.
I do try to exercise three to four times a week, mostly jogging and using the gym – although you wouldn’t guess this by looking at me!
How has being an entrepreneur affected your family life?
We started Alpha Wealth in 2013 in the recession, so that was particularly hard. For the first four and a half years it did take me away from my family more than I would have liked. Thankfully with the team we have here I am now able to spend more time with my family and I am much happier for it.
How do you define success?
That is an interesting question. I believe success is being happy in yourself, knowing you did your best for each and every client. That is all you can do.
What is your favourite aspect of working for yourself?
The autonomy of making decisions. I spent a lot of years working for banks in Cork and felt at times conflicted to the advice I could give clients.
If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
I would definitely not have put so much into the business, as sometimes it is hard to see the road ahead but if you believe in yourself anything is possible. I am proud of what we have achieved in our five and a half years.
How did you come up with the name for your company?
Being from the Greek part of Cyprus, Alpha was a natural name, as it is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and indicates being first. “Wealth” is important, as we help all different types of clients maximise their wealth, whether it is to buy a house to retiring on a comfortable income.
What kind of culture exists in your organisations and how did you establish it?
We have an passionate culture in Alpha Wealth because what we do is very serious, as we are dealing with people’s finances. Having said that, it is a very flat structure in that I feel we all equally play a role in helping our clients from Jemma, our Marketing Manager, to all of the support staff and Financial Advisors.
If you could talk to one person from history, who would it be and why?
I am really interested in modern history and one of the people I really was intrigued by in growing up was Mahatma Gandhi. I read his biography and found his life story really interesting.
Alpha Wealth
9 Eastgate Village, Little Island, Cork
021 206 1780
info@alphawealth.ie
alphawealth.ie