Something From Nothing
The Art of Transformative Risks.
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I have always had the belief that no matter what I set out to do, I will accomplish it.
Some would say and believe that this is a result of the universe giving back what you put out. I would rather argue it’s down to my structure and process in how I tackle challenges with intent in a systematic way without fear of failure and the willingness to take risks.
£0 - £40 million in 2 years
The Background
Once upon a time, in a land not so far away (well, the UK, to be precise), I made a decision that would turn my world upside down - or should I say, right side up? I traded the familiar hum of engineering machinery for the unpredictable whirlwind of the financial sector. And just for a pinch of extra spice, I decided to take this leap not on my home turf, but in the picturesque, pasta-laden landscapes of Italy. Was I biting off more than I could chew? Possibly. Was I thrilled by the prospect? Absolutely.
Here's the kicker, I wasn't just leaving my job, I was leaving everything. The comfort of family and friends - all traded for a place where my 'please' and 'thank you' were met with polite smiles and nods of confusion. My new home was a place where my accent became a novelty and my inability to speak Italian was not just inconvenient, it was downright comical.
And then came the moment of no return, the 'burn the boat' scenario, if you will. Picture this: I'm handed a golden ticket to this grand adventure, but there's a catch—I've got a mere 5 days to uproot my life and move. I had to sell or give away everything. So, I embarked on what can only be described as the world's most frantic garage sale. The house, the car, even the toaster - everything had to go.
Landing in Italy, the realisation hit me like a Vespa in rush hour, "there was no turning back" - A phrase I remember saying while laughing. I'd entered the gladiator arena of financial advising, where the lions were the monthly targets, and the only way out was victory or... well, let's not dwell on the alternatives (notices didn't exist). With nothing but determination and a more than slightly questionable grasp of Italian, I was ready to face the music, even if it was in a key I'd never played before.
The Problem
There's a nugget of truth in the old adage, “If you hang around a barbershop long enough… sooner or later you’re gonna get a haircut”.
My days morphed into a never-ending cycle - in the office at 7am and wouldn't leave until 9pm partying with my new best friends - LinkedIn, Pipl, Lusha, and ZoomInfo. Like a miner in the data mines from dawn till dusk, I sifted through thousands, and I mean thousands of LinkedIn profiles hunting for those elusive nuggets - people who might just need my financial advisory services. Once I struck gold, the next step was as inevitable as it was dreadful: the cold call. Ah, yes, the cold call, that relic of the '90s, a time when people actually answered their phones. There I was, trying to kindle warmth in the icy abyss of unsolicited calls. Spoiler alert: I loathed every ring, every hello, every introduction.
Ever tried to ignite a spark of interest in someone who's ready to hang up the second you say 'hello'? It's as thrilling as it sounds.
It was a peculiar kind of irony, really. There I was, in one of the most beautiful countries in the world, serenading strangers over the phone with offers they could (and often did) refuse. The charm of Italy, it seemed, was lost on the other end of the line.
The Frame
Believe it or not, my old-school, cold-calling crusade actually began to bear fruit. Meetings were set, hands were shaken (figuratively, thanks to the phone), and slowly but surely, my diary started to fill. But as the Italian sun set gloriously outside my window, a stark realisation dawned on me - I was in one of the world's most enchanting countries, yet the closest I got to 'La Dolce Vita' was googling images of the Colosseum during my lunch break - and I rarely took lunch...
Something had to give. The endless cycle of dialling and data mining was as fulfilling as trying to fill the Grand Canal with a teaspoon. Peering over at everyone else in my office, I noticed my peers were all singing from the same hymn sheet, with the occasional solo of a referral. It was time for a remix.
Eureka! The inbound lightbulb flickered to life. Why not draw the crowd to me instead of chasing them across the digital savannah? There was just one snag in this master plan - the company's website was as accessible to me as the Vatican archives. No matter. If Mohammed couldn't go to the mountain, the mountain would have to come to Mohammed.
And so, with a dash of creativity and a pinch of defiance, I set the stage for my grand entrance into the world of inbound marketing. The digital baton was passed, and I was ready to conduct a symphony of clicks, likes, and leads. The game was afoot, and this time, I was playing by my own rules.
The Action
Armed with nothing but sheer will and a newfound zeal for web design, I forged my digital kingdom. A website of my very own creation, a beacon for the weary UK Expats stranded in the vast sea of financial uncertainty in the EU post the dreaded Brexit. This wasn't just a website, it was a lighthouse guiding the lost ships back to financial security, all without having to leave the comfort of their espresso-laden terraces.
In one ambitious week (with Ludovico Einaudi in my ears), I transformed into a digital strategist, deploying an arsenal of digital assets. With a flurry of activity, a website was born, flanked by a Facebook page overseeing 15 Facebook groups, a purpose-driven LinkedIn page, and an Instagram account. I will let you guess how many cups of coffee I had in me… it’s probably higher than what you think…
Nothing was perfect but the foundations were there and that is what I needed to build momentum.
A website and social presence wasn’t enough. The plot thickened as I ventured into content creation, populating my website with blogs that weren't just filler but genuine beacons of insight. These pieces were strategically shared across social platforms, aiming to boost visibility and drive meaningful traffic.
But the real game-changer? A meticulously planned advertising assault across Google, Meta, and LinkedIn. This wasn't just about casting a wide net, it was a targeted hunt for those in need of my services and those who fit my ideal client profile but didn't know it yet.
The masterstroke, however, was refining my data mining tactics. No more aimless searching. I zeroed in on UK expats masquerading as London locals on LinkedIn, exploiting a common oversight in location updates. This approach didn't just find leads, it uncovered a goldmine of potential clients newly arrived from the UK and untapped by the competition.
This wasn't just throwing things at the digital wall to see what stuck. It was a calculated, multifaceted strategy to carve out a niche in the crowded digital marketplace, proving that with the right approach, even the most saturated channels can yield untapped opportunities.
The Result
I had 24 channels bringing in leads and potential business. My diary filled up with quality meetings, my pipeline was strong, my business expanded. I found myself setting meetings with heads of investment banks in Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Switzerland and able to get referrals from them as well. Everything was going great, I felt like I uncovered Pandora's box and business was literally just coming to me.
But then, as fate would have it, Covid waltzed in uninvited.
Amidst the global standstill, I became somewhat of a nomad, dodging lockdowns with a laptop in one hand and a coffee in the other, yet unable to set foot on the Emerald Isle. After my third evacuation out of Italy, I finally made it back to the Emerald Isle and I decided not to go back to Italy but instead, stay - even though I had no house, car, or anything (I was staying with family and friends due to lockdowns). I had no backup, no company to walk into, nothing. However, I told my partner that I wasn’t going back and I will find a way to stay while walking away from over £30,000 in commissions due from new deals - that hurt a bit…
Fast forward a month, and there I was, embracing a new role at a different financial advisory firm, this time casting my digital net across the vast oceans to the USA - a market I had never ventured into before due to licensing. Yet, this wasn't just a repeat performance, I was armed with the wisdom of my past exploits. Shifting gears, I rerouted my digital strategy from the EU to the USA and lo and behold, the magic worked again. Before long, I was opening dialogues with the heads of the pharmaceutical world, TV celebs, and financial magnates.
I do remember there was one immensely successful man who rotated between France, USA, Switzerland and Italy who laughed as the financial markets dropped during covid. His exact words were “Covid doesn’t bother me, I have more than enough liquidity to survive any market downturn” - To date, the only person to say this to me… he didn’t become a client - he had no need for me but, it was a very interesting chat with him.
Reflecting on the journey from zero to a £40 million portfolio in just over two years, it's clear the real shift was internal. The moment I stopped trying to copy everyone else and out-yell the noise but instead started pulling people in with a beacon of value, everything changed. I'd stepped into the financial arena as an engineer out of his depth, and yet, here I was, not just surviving but thriving.
In essence, I had sculpted something out of nothing, proving that sometimes, the best way to find your path is to create it yourself
£0 - 9 million in 1 year
The Background
Fresh off the rollercoaster ride of the financial sector, I leapt into another thrill-seeking venture - the buzzing, electrifying world of startups. This time, the mission was to help a software startup pivot from a cosy subscription model to the fiercely competitive arena of payment solutions. Picture stepping into the ring with giants like Zettle and Sumup, armed with nothing but a slingshot and a dream. And just for kicks, our marketing budget was, well, imaginary, and management was a story for another day…
The Problem
A Herculean task of shifting our business model without losing sight of our revenue or, heaven forbid, our customer base with no marketing budget. The prospect was as daunting as trying to sell ice in Antarctica—everyone needs it, but no one wants to buy it.
The Frame
What did I have access to? An existing customer base… I knew from the beginning that I wouldn’t be able to switch every single customer over from the subscription plan to the card payment plan as it would cost them too much but, at the same time, I knew I had enough to get started… and that’s all I needed. The financial modelling for this pivot was completed by one of my colleagues, Stephen - this gave me great insight into who to target first and why.
The Action
Then came the onslaught of personal outreach. Yes, I resurrected the art of the phone call, dialling my way through the customer list as if I was living in the '90s again... For those elusive souls without a number to their name (management rejected phone verifications… I know…), emails were dispatched. No stone was left unturned, no detail too minor. I laid out the red carpet, explaining the why, the how, and the what’s in it for them with the transparency of a glass door. I had to be transparent as the industry is incredibly blurred plus I was competing with giants…
While doing this, I set a personal mission to get referrals from customers - something that wasn’t really done in this startup…I don’t know why… On top of this, I would engage with people on LinkedIn to drum up more business and forge partnerships with accountants - most of my customers used accountants so why not partner with them… it was logical to me.
The Result
Lo and behold, the universe conspired in our favour. Not one, not two, but four and a half channels (the website gets half credit for effort… it was awful) became our lifelines to the world, funnelling leads and opportunities our way. In a twist that would make David vs Goliath look like a fair fight, our company's foray into card payments was gaining traction and winning against Sumup, Zettle, Worldpay etc, clocking in over £9 million in a single orbit around the sun. We managed to boost our monthly recurring revenue, charm our users into sticking around, and cut down costs for our customers - a hat trick that had us pinching ourselves.
And so, amid the racket of startup life, I found myself once again creating something from nothing, proving that sometimes, the best way to move mountains is one stone at a time.
Maybe Something From Nothing?
And so, the saga continues. Armed with little more than a dream and the kind of stubborn optimism that’s gotten me this far, I find myself at the threshold of a new adventure. This time, the quest is to breathe life into a fledgling B2B2C software startup, destined to serve as a bridge between businesses and consumers while competing with … cough cough… Microsoft, Zoho, Hubspot, Salesforce. The twist? I’m going solo on the funding front—no venture capital knights in shining armour for me, at least not yet. Why? Because there’s something thrilling about building castles from sand grains, about being the architect of your fate, no matter how unrealistic that might seem.
The terrain is uncharted, and the outcome? As predictable as a coin toss. But then again, wasn’t it the same when I ventured into the turbulent seas of finance? Or when I took a fledgling startup and steered it through the murky waters of a business model pivot?
Here’s my blueprint, as simple as it is audacious (it’s so simple I struggle saying blueprint):
Observe and Contemplate: Step back, take in the view, and understand the problem. Detach from the emotions - easier said than done, but essential.
Frame and Plan: Once the problem is in full view, sketch the outlines of a solution. This is where the dream begins to take shape.
Act: The part where most tales end before they even begin. Action is the golden key to every locked door.
Reflect and Refine: The journey doesn’t end with action, it merely evolves. Analyse the outcomes, optimise the strategy, and keep moving forward.
Rocket science? Far from it. This is the art of turning the intangible into the tangible, fueled by realism, honesty, and a bit of that magic we call logic.
As I stand on the precipice of this new chapter, the path is anything but clear. But if history has taught me anything, it’s that from the void comes the most spectacular of creations.
Here’s to building something monumental from the ground up - again.
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Thanks for sharing David. I hope your readers gain something positive from it!
Inspiring stories. The secret is to stick around but what's Behind the Scene is fierce uprooting winds.