Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before diving in, our readers would love to learn more about you. Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Absolutely! I am happily married to my wife Jess who I actually co-founded Custom Neon with and we have three gorgeous children together. I truly am a big family guy as I love being there for all the meaningful moments in my kid’s lives. Although, whenever I do get a bit of free time away from work and the kids, I love playing golf.
Growing up I really didn’t enjoy school as I struggled with dyslexia. I found it difficult to keep up with the content we were learning and I just couldn’t relate to my peers. In Year 11, I decided to drop-out of high school and instead start to climb my way up in the working world, which is where my passions truly laid.
At 23, my entrepreneurial journey began when I purchased a Facebook page called, “Dog Lovers”, that managed to grow from 440K followers, to over 4 million! This was bringing in $20,000 a month through affiliate sales. I saw how profitable this type of work was and I was hooked!
In 2014, I was approached by US investors to sell the page, which I did, enabling me to really expand my business portfolio.
In 2017, I was awarded with Young Entrepreneur of the year at Geelong Business Excellence Awards, and in 2018, my Custom Neon journey began.
What started as a $250 investment, after identifying a gap in the market whilst Jess and I were looking for a neon sign for our son’s nursery, is now a global business, turning over in excess of $10 million!
We have actually provided signage for Paris Hilton’s wedding, Elon Musk, Snoop Dog, Facebook HQ, The Grammy’s, The Olympics, The Tennis Open and many more really significant people and events!
I think something I’ve realized is what I lacked in book smarts in school, I made up for in my social intelligence. I developed these skills through watching my relatives who were entrepreneurs and business owners, volunteering at my local church and as a child selling newspapers to businessmen and women at a busy train station.
My first proper role was working for a mobile phone service provider. It was like flicking a switch, my mind was a million miles an hour. I was always looking for ways the business could scale or streamline processes. I was excited, inspired and ambitious.
My enthusiasm wasn’t always well received by senior managers. Having an overzealous high school dropout trying to change old processes was met with some resistance. I realized then, I didn’t want to be stunted by the constraints or ambitions of others and following in my Father’s, Uncle’s, and Grandad’s entrepreneurial footsteps, I knew I wanted to be my own boss.
Mentoring others and enforcing that academia is not a prerequisite to success is something I am strongly passionate about. I’ve started holding talks in schools to inspire those that don’t fit that particular framework of learning.
What led you to this specific career path?
I think that dropping out of school allowed me to get in and start working and getting real world experience. Business and making money are in the family blood, so I always had that hunger for entrepreneurialism. I think ‘Dog Lovers’ is what led me to a business life of in the online and ecommerce realms.
Can you share the most exciting story that has happened to you since you began at your company?
It’s definitely been a fun journey from the word go and the business has kept on growing and going from strength to strength. I think the most exciting story I have had since the company began was getting Voice DMs from Paris Hilton and working with her on her wedding LED neon signs, we created for her. That was pretty unbelievable and a real pinch-me moment!
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
One of the most exciting projects we have been working on is for the W Hotel which opens this October in Sydney. We created 6 large 3.5 metre running emus for the atriums of the hotel. This sign is the largest suspended LED neon sign in the southern hemisphere which is something we’re very proud to showcase. I think this will definitely help in creating more publicity for our brand and help people make designs for their businesses as well as give them some aspiration to create something that will add a bit of personalized flair to their space!
You’re a successful business leader. What are three traits about yourself that you feel helped fuel your success? Can you share a story or example for each?
- I think something that I really tried to take on board (mainly before having kids) was to do things today that others will do tomorrow, so that tomorrow you can do things that others can’t. This was what motivated my work ethic and hustle and is something that I would pin back to the success of Custom Neon.
As for a story for how my work-ethic and hustle helped me, one stand-out moment was when I decided to start to sell something on Facebook in the dog industry. I was going to create a new Facebook page and try and build it up with followers. But my hustle got the best of me and I started to direct message or email out every existing dog Facebook page I could find to see if they would be willing to sell their page. This is how I came across dog lovers, buying it for $5k USD with 440k followers, that hustle got me the head start I needed for it to go on and be what it became.
Take a look at this article from The Sydney Morning Herald to see how I achieved success through the ‘Dog Lovers’ Facebook page:
2. Even though I had dyslexia in my early years, it seems to have improved my ability to have deeper connections with others. I grew an understanding of the value of active listening and empathy. Whether it’s been used to understand a customer’s wants, build relationships with suppliers, or motivate our staff, this skill has been really helpful. A memorable example was when a worker was dealing with personal difficulties. We got down, spoke about the challenges, and created a flexible schedule for them. This not only benefited the worker, but it also strengthened the team’s sense of loyalty and camaraderie.
3. Every entrepreneur will face setbacks. When we first launched Custom Neon, everything was going great, but when the pandemic hit, we were stuck as a lot of the signage we were providing were for weddings and birthdays. We basically had to completely revamp our business and target market due to the lack of events taking place. We instead started to focus on signage for businesses and that is now our main customer base. Without resilience, we might’ve been overwhelmed by the challenge. But this quality helped us to adjust, find solutions and have the business stay on track.
Do you have any mentors or experiences that have particularly influenced you?
I have always been a believer of having a great network of people around you, as they help enable you, this includes experts in their own fields that can help, advise and mentor you with their knowledge and experience.
Back in late 2020 I got a business coach right at the time the business was growing each year at 400%. This mentor gave me the tools I needed to continue achieving this and brought in structure and processes during the significant growth period in our business. We still use a lot of the things he taught me in the business today.
What have been the most effective tactics your organization has used to accelerate product growth?
I think the most effective tactics have definitely been SEO, PR and social media advertising.
We were able to position Custom Neon at the top of search results for a range of relevant keywords by investing in SEO. This has not only increased organic traffic to our website but also established our position as the industry leader.
PR has been so helpful in building our brand image and credibility. By getting our story and products featured in blogs and news sites, we’ve been able to reach a wider audience and position ourselves as industry leaders.
For Custom Neon, platforms like Instagram, TikTok and Facebook have been goldmines. By creating visually appealing ads showcasing our products in real-world settings, we’ve been able to capture the attention of potential customers. We actually even had one of our TikToks go viral receiving over 1 million views where we had a customize your own sign day with our staff.
Check the video out here: https://www.tiktok.com/@customneon/video/7124820129619119362?lang=en
What do you see as the biggest challenge with respect to scaling a product-led business?
Custom Neon is very different to when I was scaling other businesses. In previous businesses, you had to worry about stock and inventory as you would have to time ordering to get the stock in time.
Custom Neon provides a custom product so we don’t need worry about pre-purchasing stock. For us, the biggest challenge was our processes and making them as automated as possible, both for our customers, but also for our manufacturers.
What, in your view, is a good litmus test to screen for a skilled and effective growth manager?
Reviewing past achievements, adaptability, and the capacity to combine creativity and data can serve as good litmus tests.
Look for results like what have they grown, and by how much? Have they introduced a new channel or method that resulted in significant user acquisition or retention? I value a track record that showcases not just growth but sustained and scalable growth.
Effective development managers should be flexible and willing to change their tactics when needed. During interviews, I typically put forward fake scenarios involving unexpected market shifts or challenges to see the applicants’ problem-solving abilities.
A potential growth manager should be able to brainstorm and come up with new ideas. I often ask candidates to present a campaign or strategy they’ve come up with and executed, and then find out how they measured its effectiveness and the data-driven decisions they made.
Can you describe a product growth tactic you or your team has used that was more effective than you anticipated? What was the goal, how did you execute, and what was the outcome?
We turned our old model, which involved having a custom product that needed to be designed manually and given a design proof before having the customer purchase, into an e-commerce website that designs LED neon signs and displays what they look like and can then be purchased through the website by the customer. Because of this, we were able to grow over 400% year on year for 4 consecutive years.
Thank you for all of that. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your experience, what are your “5 Best Ways to Drive Product Growth”? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.
1 . Test and learn — This is great way to drive product growth by learning what your customers want. Working out what sells and how it sells provides excellent insights to continue to drive product growth. I scaled one of my past entrepreneurial ventures, Pearly Whites, as I started running advertisem*nts. I invested $120 into a Facebook advertisem*nt, which made 3 to 4 sales at $99 each. Through testing ads, you can find out if this is a profitable avenue and if your product is well-liked by the public.
2 . Scale — Once you have worked out a winning formula, you can continue to scale your ads to new heights, replicating the formula with new content as well as repeating tests and continuing to learn what is working and what isn’t. Scale whatever works and take down anything that isn’t working. Through these methods, I have been able to successfully scale 3 to 4 brands turning over a combined $70 million in sales.
3 . Customer reviews — Positive customer reviews of your products speak volumes to potential new customers and help convert sales. From the beginning of Custom Neon, we reached out to our customers asking for reviews. These reviews have been so beneficial in giving our brand a transparent and high-quality image.
4 . Customer referrals — Encourage your satisfied customers to become advocates for your product. Implement referral programs that reward existing users for referring new customers. Word-of-mouth recommendations can be a powerful driver of growth. Provide incentives, such as discounts or exclusive access, to motivate customers to spread the word about your product. For Pearly Whites, we had an affiliate program where we paid affiliates to sell our products. That meant we had other people selling our products for us.
5 . Influencer marketing providing free products to influences is a great way to drive product growth.
In return for receiving your product, influencers will showcase your brand to their audience who can then become a new target market who purchase your product. You can also make the most of the collaboration by getting content from the influencer for further marketing activities and social proof.
What is the number one mistake you see product marketers make that may actually be hurting their growth outcomes?
The number one mistake is definitely focusing too much on making the right product and getting the perfect branding or content before working out if it would actually sell and have a need in the marketplace. Test and learn first before spending too much time making a full business.
It has been said that our mistakes can sometimes be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I can’t think of anything too funny unfortunately. Pretty early on in my entrepreneur journey, I said yes to almost every opportunity that came my way, that meant I was trying to run 5 to 6 different businesses at the one time. Some worked, some didn’t, the reality was that I couldn’t be everywhere at the one time doing everything. I had too many plates spinning. What I learnt from this is unless you have good managers and structure around you, then you are best to work on one thing and do that thing well!
We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them :-)
I think it would have to be Connor McGregor. I just love what he achieved and how we went about it, not only in his sporting career but also his business.
Thank you so much for this. This was very inspirational, and we wish you only continued success!
