Would you like to go from a simple suburban duplex to iconic building developer? Making thousands of mistakes along the way but persisting and breaking through the 'development ceiling'?

Shane Wilkinson is the founder and managing director of Melbourne’s Pace Development Group. He has been developing property since he was 19, and has so far done more than 100 projects.

Over 21 years, Pace has delivered more than 2,000 homes and more than $2 billion dollars’ worth of real estate, including one of Melbourne’s most recognisable buildings, the Icon overlooking St Kilda Junction.

"I've made thousands of mistakes over the years. Thousands!" Shane Wilkinson

The company has four projects currently under construction, three settling later this year and a further 1,758 apartments in its pipeline.

It’s a long way from Shane’s humble beginnings doing a simple duplex project in suburban Melbourne.

We have a great conversation covering a host of topics including what Shane has learnt along the way, the biggest pickle he has found himself in and the one thing you need to focus on if you want to succeed in property developing. Also keep an ear out for Shane’s advice for how to deal with problems.

This is a broad discussion which I’m sure you will enjoy.

Lessons for real estate developers

This is another cracking conversation with a guy who has gone all in on his developing career. Here’s a couple of things I took out of that chat:

1. If you really want to succeed as a property developer you need to go all in

Shane made it clear that he has gone all in with his developing, and in his view that is what you need to do if you really want to succeed. He has slowly built up the business from humble beginnings and has broken the ceiling that he spoke about, and now his company has the balance sheet to take on big projects. So how much are you prepared to go all in?

2. Deal with problems straight away

I like how Shane was really clear that the best way to deal with problems is to tackle them straight away. Don’t let them fester or get out of control. Deal with them early and move on. Simple but powerful advice.

3. Learn from your mistakes and keep going

Shane mentioned that he has made thousands of mistakes over the years, but he has picked himself up, dusted himself off, learnt from it and kept going. I agree that perseverance is a key trait if you plan on sticking around long term in the developing game. I think the secret is not to make the same mistake twice and not let the stumbles keep you down. What’s the biggest mistake you have made in your career so far? Let me know by leaving a comment on the page of this episode, number 61, over at propertydeveloperpodcast.com

Alright, if you enjoyed that conversation with Shane Wilkinson then you should jump into the past episodes of the show and take a listen to my chat with developer Danny Ciarma in episode 30. One of my favorite conversations so far… Danny has delivered some beautiful apartment projects and shares some of his lessons,