How the rich invest: Chris Morris

Computershare founder Chris Morris has proven adept at spotting opportunities and building businesses in unsupportive environments. Photo: Jessica Shapiro

Chris Morris has been told there are a lot of reasons why he shouldn’t open a brewery on rural land at Cape Schanck on the Victorian coastline.

Many local residents say the $7 million development, which will also feature a restaurant and function centre, will pose a risk to native flora and fauna.

They say it is out of keeping with the peaceful surrounds and will cause previously unseen traffic and pollution problems.

The rich more than most don’t like being told what to do, so it is not surprising that Morris wasn’t phased by angry locals.

After a long battle, Morris’s brewery plans were approved by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in August and more recently he has confirmed his intention to proceed with the project.

Few members of the BRW Rich 200  will ever give up on an investment because other people want them to. Patience and persistence are important parts of their investment strategies.

The company that made Morris rich, listed share registry Computershare, was one of the first big technology-based success stories in Australian business.

It was started by Morris in 1978, long before a teenage Julian Assange started hacking computers, let alone the first dotcom boom in the late 1990s.

Morris was never a brilliant computer programmer, nor is he a great beer maker, but he has proven adept at spotting opportunities and building businesses in unsupportive environments.

The lesson: don’t be curtailed by pessimism whether it is yours or others. If you have a good idea, keep the faith and do what needs to be done to see it through to the end.

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