A young struggling musician at university who finished his degree without any work said his turning point was when he paid $275 to print business cards.
Fady Hanna, 30, is now the owner of advertising company Flagship Digital – which rakes in $3 million a year and is reportedly worth upwards of $12 million.
His creative branding business works with high-profile billion-dollar clients like Coca-Cola, Adidas and Citibank.
But just four years ago Fady’s life was very different.
It all started when Fady was in his final year of university where he was studying a Bachelor of Popular Music at the Queensland Conservatorium, in Brisbane.
A young struggling musician at university Fady Hanna (pictured with his wife) who finished his degree with no job said his turning point was when he spent $275 and he has never looked back
Fady (left) has met with prime minister Malcolm Turnbull (pictured right). He was also the former Gold Coast’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year
With no job lined up, he decided to spend what little cash he had to kick-start his own business.
The former Gold Coast’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year paid $275 on the business cards and worked from home to bring to life his dream – to strengthen the way businesses value and communicated with their customers.
‘I was doing it out of my home. I spoke to a bunch of people that had full-time jobs already who offered to send me work after-hours,’ he told news.com.
Fady had previously worked in marketing at a string of companies but believed that each one lacked a customer-centric focus.
Fady Hanna (pictured), 30, is the owner of multi-million-dollar advertising company Flagship Digital and former Gold Coast’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year (Pictured)
(Pictured) Fady’s music setup at his place in Brisbane while he studied at the Queensland Conservatorium in 2012
Fady’s first tip for a successful business is to understand that at the start you might not pay off the bills – you have to put in the effort before you see any return.
He also said understanding your customer and what they value is also key.
‘I think too many people focus on just trying to pay the bills. For me it was, what can we change or sell or create in order to show value? Revenue is a by-product of showing someone value,’ he told news.com.
While Fady said he has enjoyed working with big clients like Coca-Cola, he said working with the movers and shakers like start-ups is the most ‘rewarding’ and exciting.
He still remembers what it was like to dream big and start small.
‘I was doing it out of my home. I spoke to a bunch of people that had full-time jobs already who offered to send me work after-hours,’ he said
While Fady said he has enjoyed working with big clients like Coca-Cola, he said working with start-ups is the most ‘rewarding’