Jason Hood, 27, pictured, has revealed how he went from heartbroken and broke to running his own million-dollar business
A 27-year-old entrepreneur revealed how he went from being broke and heartbroken after the sudden death of his mother, best mate and grandma to building a million-dollar business in just 12 months.
In early March 2019 Jason Hood was living in London, trying to keep a failing business venture with friends afloat, when he got a phone call from his younger brother Matthew asking him to come home.
His mum had just been admitted to hospital, diagnosed with cancer and had just days to live.
‘I got the call on the Saturday, I arrived to be by her bedside as soon as I could and she died on the Wednesday,’ he told FEMAIL.
After a rushed departure from the life he’d built in London Jason had just three days by his mother Natalie’s bedside before she took her last breath, she was just 53.
His grandmother had died a few months earlier and his best mate Jonathan, who was still in London, died suddenly, aged 36, in June.
Jason was living in London when his mum Natalie, pictured, got sick with late-stage melanoma – he arrived home in time to say goodbye
Pictured here with his brother Matthew, sister Alicia, father Warren and late mother Natalie before the family lost their ancho in March 2019
Jason had moved back in with his father, brother Matthew and sister Alicia after his shock departure from London.
But within six months he began to get itchy feet and decided to launch his own research and development firm, Bourkehood, in honor of his late mother.
Bourke is Jason’s mother’s maiden name. Hood is his surname, making the business name deeply personal and his drive to make it succeed even greater.
R&D firms, like Jason’s, secure funding and grants for businesses to help them grow and give them the ability to invest in their own future.
He started the firm using his own savings, living out of his aunt and uncle’s house in Sydney’s west so he could pour all of his money into the business.
Then covid hit – but Jason knew he couldn’t let the pandemic ruin his attempt at building his own firm.
12 months later his business is functioning across four countries, has 20 staff, and has a seven-figure turnover.
Jason lost his grandma before his mum passed away suddenly
Jason moved in with his family, including his brother, before heading to Sydney to start Bourkehood
Jason fell into the job in London after doing exercise science at university – following it up with a masters in finance.
But quickly realised he was a natural fit after becoming the top R&D firm in Europe’s number one salesman in just nine months.
So he started up a business with his friend – but during 2019, what he refers to as ‘the year from hell’, it went belly up.
‘The life lessons I learned out of the first business collapse have served me well,’ he said.
‘I wouldn’t change it at all. It has allowed me to build up Bourkehood which is a good legacy as well.’
Jason was thriving in London, having made good friends and discovered his career as an R&D consultant
Jason now lives in north Sydney, but has plans to move to London or New York to continue to grow the business.
‘I have really good people in Australia and they will run operations here and across New Zealand,’ he said.
‘If you can’t leave your company to run without you then in my mind it isn’t really a company.’
Jason has plans to be the biggest R&D player in the world. He currently has 220 clients and has successfully brought in over $30million in grants to help them grow.
‘It is really nice to see our clients thriving and growing as we do,’ he said.
And his clients are equally as happy.
Jason and his family in happier times – he is proud to have named his company using his mother and father’s family names
‘We breathe a sign of relief when we know we will be working with Bourkehood knowing they will always act in the best interests of the business never letting the client down,’ Kajal Pala from Pala Australia said.
Jason knows the heartache that comes with losing a business and is happy to help people hold onto theirs and look into research and development to help them thrive.
‘Especially with Covid, some of these businesses would have closed down, but we help them secure some grants so they don’t have to,’ he said.
To grow a business from infancy to turning over more than a million dollars in just one year is a big effort but Jason said he knew he could do it.
‘I am satisfied but not surprised because I backed myself,’ he said.
The key difficulty with operating an R&D firm globally is that every country has their own framework for grants.
Jason pictured with his younger brother and sister, Alicia, who inspire him to push harder in business
But Jason has managed to secure experts from his key markets, across New Zealand, the UK and USA which insures everything runs smoothly.
Jason says he is happy to make his family proud.
‘Dad is a pool installer and doesn’t say much but is pretty proud of what I have done,’ he said.
He continues to stay in close contact with his family who help to drive his ambition every day.