So during the week I was asked to answer a few questions for a friend of mine for his college assignment. This was a great privilege and I enjoyed answering them and I though I would share them with everyone on here so that people could finally get an idea of my business life.
Q1: Just a quick and brief detail about the company – its name, when it was founded and what does it do?
The name of the company is Enfusen. Founded in 2007. The company has taken on many different names since launching and has been re-branded many times due to changing trends in the online market. My side project recently started in Ireland is Flimber Media. Enfusen’s primary offerings are online marketing which caters for large fortune 500 companies and local businesses and small businesses. We cover all aspects of online marketing, SEO, PPC, Social etc. We also offer web development packages and App creation. I guess we are an all in one online marketing company.
Q2: As far as I am aware you dropped out of college to set up this company. What was your motivation to get into entrepreneurship?
I have been in the online scene since 4th year ( age 15 or probably long before this). Building websites and businesses and then flipping them for profit. I actually started buying domains on ebay for $0.99 when others were paying $8.99 , I could then make huge profit on these. I went to college but dropped out to work online full time. I always liked the idea of being an entrepreneur and working for myself. Coming up with new and innovative ideas and then implementing them and seeing the results. Everyone needs a team and I do get coached a lot by bigger business owners and learn a lot from mine and their mistakes. The internet changes every minute and you always need to be on top of new trends in order to succeed. Being an entrepreneur and choosing your own working times and being able to work from anywhere in the world has always enticed me. I also really like the fact that being an entrepreneur I can brand myself as that.
Q3: How did you go about setting it up? First steps.
I generated income and made sales online as an affiliate. Selling other peoples products for a % of sale. As mentioned I also built websites and flipped them for profit. Having made money for myself I thought why not offer this as a service to others and make 10x what I am now and build a “business”. I started by building myself a website on which I listed my services..Web design..online marketing…lead generation and product sales funnels. From here I used my online knowledge to get my site to rank in search engines for my keywords. I tracked all traffic and after getting a frenzy of calls I set up a new mobile number ( my personal number would ring when out with friends, not professional ). After closing a few sales I now had “clients” it was time to set up office in my house and hire and outsource team to look after the work.
Q4: I know you were the founder and CEO, but did anyone else help you to set up the company
This company was set up completely by me in about 2 days. However I did get ideas by searching online forums and blogs etc.
Q4: Probably the most important question, how did you source the finance to start up your company? Ireland is one of the hardest countries for small firms to source finance. Did you find this to be true?
I did not require finance as I had the skills already to build such business. The only thing it cost me was time. The good thing about getting online is that websites etc are build using a particular skill and as mentioned a lot of time and patience. My only cost was a €5.99 a year hosting account I bid for on ebay and a €5.99 a year domain. When I got my first couple of clients I now had Capital and funding for any other projects I undertook an to pay others to do the nitty gritty work so that I didn’t have to. I hired VA’s( Virtual assistants) to look after clients etc Now when you have all that in place and you only look after the administration side of the business life is good. You have a self sustainable business and free time on your hands.
Q5: What were the key success factors of the business? How far did you take the company? e.g. number of clients, turnover levels, etc
The company has had a few successes. We had clients making hundreds of thousands of dollars worldwide due to us getting them top positioning on Google in their niche. We built landing pages for them which in turn generated leads. In 2012 the new owners launched ( With my help ) a software which I co founded and in 4 days it had generated 6 figures in revenue and sold over 4000 copies. The company with me in charge had 2 outsourced workers. Now it has 38 employees worldwide. Im not to sure of the overall turnover however. Flimber Media is just me and it’s a one man show at the moment with a few out sourcers.
Q6: You mentioned that you were approached by an American company looking to buy your company. How did this connection happen? Did you do business with overseas clients? Had you become international very quickly?
That is correct. At the age of 14 I sold my first website project to an American investor ( who I cannot name ) for a small amount. We kept in touch and I would always tell him my new projects and what I was working on. It was later to be he who would purchase my company from me. The thing with running an online business is there is no boundaries to where you can sell to and the people whom you can do business. your businesses becomes international instantaneously.
Q7: Why did you decide to sell the company? Did you feel you had taken the company as far as you could? Did you feel that there was limited growth opportunity in Ireland for your business?
I decided to sell because it was to much for me to handle and I wanted to have the experience of selling a company. I replicated the process again straight after selling. I am now also a top player in the original company due to my fast knowledge of the services offered. I felt that the new owners ( Fortune top 1000 owner ) could leverage his current clients and grow the business further in turn bringing me more revenue. The company could not grow in Ireland. Having access to the USA marketplace was what was needed.
Q8: If you could give 4 pieces of advice to young entrepreneurs, based on your experience, what would they be?
Implement implement implement implement! I am not being smart but these are my 4 pieces of information. If you do not implement your ideas then you will always be a dreamer. The speed of implementation from taken an idea to a final product or service is key. Opportunities don’t go they just go to someone else who is ready to take them.
Q9: Any plans for the future in terms of entrepreneurship?
I plan to build my personal brand to a level where I can coach other businesses to replicate what I have done in order to propel their businesses further. The rest are secrets 