Business

The Difference Between Business and Street Smarts With Australia’s Youngest Millionaires Fotios Tsiouklas and Alan Gokoglu

Published

4 years ago

September 11, 2020

Many entrepreneurs identify themselves in a monopolistic way, which is either formal or informal business characteristics. Rarely will you find a hybrid type. Fotios Tsiouklas and Alan Gokoglu have, however, altered the narrative. Not only are they popular in the more corporate tech industry, but they as well have an identity in the multiple club businesses they have set up.

With the current growth in the e-platforms, the market base has expanded. Social media platforms have made the world look like a small village. For instance, you can easily communicate with another individual in less than a second whose location is more than 10,000 miles from your area. New technology has made communication very easy and eventually solved a lot of demographic hindrances that existed before.

Let’s have a close look at a clubbing environment. Well, you may have noticed that most clubs have a similar description of people who are rough along all edges. However, Fotios and Alan have made a slight twist to the concept. With the establishment and acquirement of Mango Fridays, Levels Melbourne, Club Sacred, and UNI BASH, Australia’s youngest self made millionaires, innovated a platform that has brought the American college party culture to Melbourne by combining all the universities and allowing students to mingle, network, and meet other university students.

By throwing house parties, they have united influencers through Melbourne and used the nightclubs to network with Australian celebrities who end up working with their agency and clients. Fotios and Alan applied their entrepreneurship business skills to identify revenue-generating platforms in the clubbing industry while balancing it with fun, drinks, and music.

On the other hand, the app development business has placed them at the top of the corporate ladder. The establishment of Kickspan, which was initially created as a basic growth service for social media, led over 12,000 paying clients to sign up for their software in under 24 months – leading to a $5m valuation from this alone with a stable 7-figure subscription business. Nevertheless, having the privilege and exposure to the real world made them realize the market gap. To accumulate clients, they have used strategic data provisioning as a primary source of traffic that leads to a dedicated landing page with a strategic sales funnel. Fotios and Alan also invest their money wisely into Real Estate with their AF Group.

Fotios and Alan have struck a balance between fun and business. Their tech business focuses on the development of apps to address the missing niche in the market. For instance, they have developed an app for young ones aged between 3-6, which will help them learn through fun and, at the same time, open these kids to the world of innovation. They also created a Greek learning app named Metropolis.

Fotios and Alan have signed collaborations with celebrity artists to boost their advertising and marketing strategies by having celebrities as their brand ambassadors. For instance, to push BodyBlendz product collection, a partnership between Blac Chyna, Body Blendz, and the Chemist Warehouse was the best option, simply because the celebrity acted as a practical example that the product works correctly and her image portrays the result.

Business is not only about making profit but addressing long term problems and focusing on the growth strategy. Make yourself known by differentiating yourself and uniquely attack the market to gain a positive influence.

Business

Turning Tragedy into Triumph Through Walking With Anthony

Published

6 days ago

April 18, 2024

Rosario Farell

On the morning of February 6, 2010, Anthony Purcell took a moment to admire the churning surf before plunging into the waves off Miami Beach. Though he had made the dive numerous times before, that morning was destined to be different when he crashed into a hidden sandbar, sustaining bruises to his C5 and C6 vertebrae and breaking his neck.

“I was completely submerged and unable to rise to the surface,” Purcell recalls. “Fortunately, my cousin Bernie saw what was happening and came to my rescue. He saved my life, but things would never be the same after that dive.”

Like thousands of others who are confronted with a spinal cord injury (SCI), Purcell plunged headlong into long months of hopelessness and despair. Eventually, however, he learned to turn personal tragedy into triumph as he reached out to fellow SCI victims by launching Walking With Anthony.

Living with SCI: the first dark days

Initial rehabilitation for those with SCIs takes an average of three to six months, during which time they must relearn hundreds of fundamental skills and adjust to what feels like an entirely new body. Unfortunately, after 21 days, Purcell’s insurance stopped paying for this essential treatment, even though he had made only minimal improvement in such a short time.

“Insurance companies cover rehab costs for people with back injuries, but not for people with spinal cord injuries,” explains Purcell. “We were practically thrown to the curb. At that time, I was so immobile that I couldn’t even raise my arms to feed myself.”

Instead of giving up, Purcell’s mother chose to battle his SCI with long-term rehab. She enrolled Purcell in Project Walk, a rehabilitation facility located in Carlsbad, California, but one that came with an annual cost of over $100,000.

“My parents paid for rehabilitation treatment for over three years,” says Purcell. “Throughout that time, they taught me the importance of patience, compassion, and unconditional love.”

Yet despite his family’s support, Purcell still struggled. “Those were dark days when I couldn’t bring myself to accept the bleak prognosis ahead of me,” he says. “I faced life in a wheelchair and the never-ending struggle for healthcare access, coverage, and advocacy. I hit my share of low points, and there were times when I seriously contemplated giving up on life altogether.”

Purcell finds a new purpose in helping others with SCIs

After long months of depression and self-doubt, Purcell’s mother determined it was time for her son to find purpose beyond rehabilitation.

“My mom suggested I start Walking With Anthony to show people with spinal cord injuries that they were not alone,” Purcell remarks. “When I began to focus on other people besides myself, I realized that people all around the world with spinal cord injuries were suffering because of restrictions on coverage and healthcare access. The question that plagued me most was, ‘What about the people with spinal cord injuries who cannot afford the cost of rehabilitation?’ I had no idea how they were managing.”

Purcell and his mother knew they wanted to make a difference for other people with SCIs, starting with the creation of grants to help cover essentials like assistive technology and emergency finances. To date, they have helped over 100 SCI patients get back on their feet after suffering a similar life-altering accident.

Purcell demonstrates the power and necessity of rehab for people with SCIs

After targeted rehab, Purcell’s physical and mental health improved drastically. Today, he is able to care for himself, drive his own car, and has even returned to work.

“Thanks to my family’s financial and emotional support, I am making amazing physical improvement,” Purcell comments. “I mustered the strength to rebuild my life and even found the nerve to message Karen, a high school classmate I’d always had a thing for. We reconnected, our friendship evolved into love, and we tied the knot in 2017.”

After all that, Purcell found the drive to push toward one further personal triumph. He married but did not believe a family was in his future. Regardless of his remarkable progress, physicians told him biological children were not an option.

Despite being paralyzed from the chest down, Purcell continued to look for hope. Finally, Dr. Jesse Mills of UCLA Health’s Male Reproductive Medicine department assured Purcell and his wife that the right medical care and in vitro fertilization could make their dream of becoming parents a reality.

“Payton joined our family in the spring of 2023,” Purcell reports. “For so long, I believed my spinal cord injury had taken everything I cared about, but now I am grateful every day. I work to help other people with spinal cord injuries find the same joy and hope. We provide them with access to specialists, funding to pay for innovative treatments, and the desire to move forward with a focus on the future.”