After completing his MSc. in international Business Master’s Degree at the University of Worcester in 2011, Fernando Raymond wanted to take over the business world.
However, finding a suitable role proved harder than anticipated and being a Sri Lankan in Great Britain, Fernando encountered challenges in the UK job market so instead he ended up dishing out fast food at McDonalds.
Fernando had no intention of giving up and returning to Sri Lanka. He was determined to make it in the British Business World and this attribute worked in his favour to becoming an entrepreneur eventually. Being committed to investing all his time and effort in learning WordPress, SEO and digital marketing skills marked the beginning of Fernando’s digital entrepreneurship journey, leaving McDonalds behind.
Inspiration & Drive to Start a Home Business
Fernando always wanted to be his own boss but did not really know how to go about it. While he jobbed at the fast-food restaurant, he discovered that starting a blog can generate an income. So, he set up a WordPress blog about SEO which led him to establish himself as an SEO expert. Local London business owners found him on search engines while looking for SEO services near them and started enquiring.
He realised that SEO was a useful and desired skill that he could offer to make money online. He read many home business success stories in magazines, books about digital entrepreneurship and joining the new rich like “The 4-Hour Work Week” and was inspired by the digital nomad lifestyle.
He saw the potential of the online business market and as more SEO and WordPress training enquiries flooded in, he decided to establish his own SEO agency ClickDo Ltd. in 2013. Setting it up from scratch, Fernando worked day and night until his client base grew and with it his team. In 2021 ClickDo Ltd. employs 14 staff members and Fernando now lives a self-governed and fulfilled life, far removed from working in a stuffy kitchen for a minimum wage. He now lives the life he envisioned, managing his business operations remotely while traveling, meditating and doing the things he loves.
Set Up & Financing a Home Business
To set up his first blog, Fernando Biz, Fernando bought the domain and got web hosting for a few bucks. Once he had a few paying clients through his blog with regular SEO fees rolling in, he used this income to set up his first SEO agency website for ClickDo Ltd. Fortunately, he became friends with fellow Sri Lankan Kasun Sameera who jobbed at Tesco at the time and learned web design and development skills. Together they built the SEO business websites, and the agency grew, offering services beyond SEO such as web design, guest posting services and social media marketing.
Fernando’s SEO clients enquired more about web hosting for their business websites that ClickDo managed, which made him realise that he could connect web design and WordPress training with web hosting. With the revenue from ClickDo he set up his next home business in 2018, the web hosting company SeekaHost Ltd. Both internet businesses never received any government funding or crowdfunding. Fernando grew both home businesses by living a frugal lifestyle and investing all the savings and returns to expand both companies.
Best Home Business Achievements to Date
Fernando and the ClickDo Team are immensely proud of having helped hundreds of business owners in the UK grow their businesses online, building their brands and increasing their exposure and profitability. Check out the ClickDo Case Studies page for reference or check the ClickDo Google Business reviews.
Fernando and the SeekaHost Team are on a mission to help 100 million people get online with high-quality web hosting for a very affordable price. The company never stands still and continues to offer solutions that help every business owner, freelancer, or private person to start a website, blog or internet business. In the last three years since SeekaHost was set up, Fernando and his team have expanded their services by offering various types of web hosting such as PBN hosting and Minecraft server hosting. The digital marketing training platform SeekaHost University emerged too, offering expert digital marketing courses and tutorials so that everyone can learn the skills to get online.
Finally, they have been busy drawing up the first ever WordPress blog hosting control panel allowing anyone to host a domain and get online with a WordPress blog in less than 60 seconds.
This innovative blog hosting services solution gives beginners as well as experienced bloggers access to a tool that helps to set up and build a website in no time. Plus users can also track their website data with one click in the control panel to manage the website’s performance with analytics tools all in one place.
You can watch Fernando’s explainer video on the SeekaHost YouTube Channel:
Working from Home – The Advantages
Fernando truly loves the laptop and digital nomad lifestyle and the freedom of working remotely. His ClickDo and SeekaHost teams all work from home and he has been managing his teams remotely for the last 7 years. In his experience remote workers are more efficient, enjoy more freedom and flexibility, have a better life/work balance, and have fewer expenses such as travel cost, etc.
Fernando’s home businesses enable him to practice yoga and meditation daily and he shares on his social media profiles. He is convinced that working from home can lead to a healthier and more fulfilling life, with the right amount of discipline of course. Fernando blogs about different healthy practices and techniques like grounding and digital minimalism to provide insights into the ideal digital nomad life.
What the Future Holds for the Two Home Businesses
Fernando’s two home businesses continue to strive. ClickDo Ltd. has been affected by the pandemic with clients like rubbish removal companies having to reduce their costs and expenses. But Fernando focuses on other business clients that are still keeping afloat like dental practices, accounting firms or law firms. ClickDo Ltd. has become an established household name in the digital marketing agency industry in London and will be in the UK with around thousands of subscribers to its blogs and services in the near future. It is planning to be relevant for people looking to work online, building home businesses, and earning a living from online work or freelancing. You can see some home business related books ClickDoers have published on Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B086XJZVRB/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0.
SeekaHost Ltd. has gained more clients during the pandemic as more people purchase web hosting and game hosting. The company is expanding into the Minecraft game hosting and WordPress web hosting market internationally. SeekaHost Ltd. continues to build its web hosting brand with the goal of at least 1 million customers around the world and 100,000 enrolled students to the SeekaHost University soon.
Fernando describes his mission with his businesses as follows:
“Many bloggers and SeekaHost University students I talk to encounter the same drawback: the technicality of setting up, managing, and running a blog or website, let alone several. Me and my team at ClickDo and SeekaHost have created many guides, tutorials, and support materials like online courses to help with this. I want to encourage people to get online, I want to provide technical solutions that make the whole process of setting up a business website and managing an online business as simple and affordable as possible.”
Two Home Businesses Changed Fernando’s Life
When Fernando looks back now, he does not recognise the person that used to work at McDonalds. His home businesses have turned him into a professional business owner who manages people all over the world. He has learned so many digital skills that have paved the way for him to lead an independent life that he oversees. Because his digital enterprises have liberated him from doing jobs he never wanted to do, he advises everyone to familiarise themselves with digital skills that are in growing demand as many more career opportunities arise in the World Wide Web.
