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I became an accidental millionaire after working a dead end job in McDonald’s flipping burgers… with zero qualifications
Despite not having any qualifications Joe started his own business and the risk clearly paid off
A MAN who became a multi-millionaire despite sacking off university revealed it wasn't 'that hard.'
Joe Davies, now 36, went from flipping burgers in McDonald's to owning a multi-million pound company in just a couple of years.
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After years of working in dead-end jobs, Joe Davies from Birmingham longed to make a name for himself – an aspiration he shared with his childhood friend, Joe Taylor.
Now he shares the key to his success and how he made every opportunity work for him.
I hated it, as I felt like I wasn’t doing anything important.
Joe Davies
With an itch to get out of the fast food chain, Joe decided to apply for a £100-a-week it apprentice job where he quickly learned the ropes and how to use SEO (search Engine Optimisation) to make big bucks.
This allowed him and his childhood best friend Joe Taylor to make their first £1million in just two years.
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The pair decided to launch FATJOE.com in 2012, developing a system to score top clients SEO results - which they claim hadn't been done by another agency before.
He said: "I got good grades in school but when I went onto sixth form, I lost interest completely,” who now splits his time between Birmingham and Barcelona.
“I didn’t go to university like I had originally planned as I got fed up with learning and I only wanted to make money.
What is SEO?
SEO is a process used to optimise a website's performance on search engines.
The better it is optimised, which can be done by adding lots of links to website pages and using key words people are searching for, means they will be easier to find online and appear higher in search engines such as Google.
“[After leaving school], I worked mostly on building sites, delivering from factories to shops and flipping burgers in McDonald’s.
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“I hated it, as I felt like I wasn’t doing anything important.
“I wanted to create something but my motivation wasn’t very high in these jobs.
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“I had this burning desire to start something on my own and, at the very least, make a bit more of a difference.”
Joe added that he was inspired to own his own company like his dad, Mick, 60.
The entrepreneur was tasked in his first job to learn all about E-commerce and SEO, which he did diligently.
“I couldn’t put my finger on it but it had elements of engineering, coupled with creativity and marketing, which really fed into my creative personality," he added.
I wanted to be rich and in a rock band. 1 out of 2 isn't bad
Joe Davies
When the company was looking for a new salesperson, Joe knew exactly who would fit the bill his long-time friend Joe.
"The rest is history," he continued.
“As kids, we dreamed of being rich and famous, with our own rock band.
“One out of two isn’t too bad.”
after realising they made a great team, the friends decided to quit their job and begin theoir own company together.
Joe said: “We rented an office from day one to make it ‘real’ and at the start, we did everything ourselves.
“Me and Joe would be working up to 13 hours a day just to get everything done.
“Before long, we hired out first employee, Emily, who was a vital part of our success, and then built a large team of specialists and writers to help us serve our ever-growing roster of clients.
“We accidentally created this great solution, a service platform for agencies to outsource SEO services, that even our old agency uses today.”
Joe's tips for success
Now the company employs 100 people across the globe including 16 in office, and the client roster features 1,000 agencies.
Now, eager to help other people, Joe Davies shares his advice and top tips on how to succeed – including the key three traits to become an entrepreneur.
He added: “Personal drive to become better is number one.
“Curiosity to poke around and try out different ways of making things work is second.
“But most importantly, a drive to make money.
“It’s cliche, but just starting something – do and build.
“A lot of the problem for me was procrastinating and thinking about the right time to start, in which there never is one.
“There’s no such thing as having a ‘destiny’ in life and it’s all about working hard and seeing where this takes you.
“I don’t like to think too far ahead, because even with grand plans, they can change.
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“I spend a lot of time travelling around the world, at the gym – and still playing guitar.
“But I think my dream of selling out tours is one I’ll keep under wraps for now.”
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