A millionaire has revealed the secrets behind his success and how he clawed his way out from flipping burgers to becoming CEO of a company now worth £10m.
After years 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.
With a desire to leave McDonald’s behind, the 36-year-old took a £100-per-week job as an IT apprentice, quickly learning the ropes – including how to use SEO to make money.
This sparked an idea that would eventually earn Joe and his best pal millions.
Sitting across from each other at their desks, the duo decided to launch FATJOE.com in 2012, developing a system to score top client SEO results – which they say hadn’t been done by another agency before.
Within two years, they made their first million.
“I got good grades in school but when I went onto sixth form, I lost interest completely,” said Joe, 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.
“[After leaving school], I worked mostly on building sites, delivering from factories to shops and flipping burgers in McDonald’s.
“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.
“I had this burning desire to start something on my own and, at the very least, make a bit more of a difference.”
Joe, who is an only child, looked up to his entrepreneur dad, Mick, 60, who owns a first aid training company and inspired him to go the extra mile to achieve his dreams.
He said: “I was really interested in internet business.
“E-commerce was really booming at the time I left school – and I could sense an opportunity.
“At the company I was working for, I was asked to build a website and learned SEO on the job.
“This was the first time I had heard that word.
“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.
“I never got bored and at my next job in an SEO agency, I quickly learned the business side.
“After a few years, they were looking for a salesperson and I suggested for my childhood best friend, Joe Taylor, to join us.
“And the rest is history.
“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 business duo, in 2013 the pair quit their jobs to give the business their all.
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.”
In 2024, 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.
“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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