From university dropout to CEO: How a housing commission kid overcame adversity to build a business empire that turns over $83MILLION a year
- Usher Group founder Theodore Vairaktaris grew up in housing commission
- Dropped out of uni twice before to starting his own painting business in 2001
- Usher Group is now one of Australia's largest commercial painting companies
Entrepreneur Theodore Vairaktaris is proof a university degree isn't needed to build a successful multi-million business empire from scratch.
He dropped out of university twice before he started his own painting business on the Gold Coast in 2001.
He acquired Usher and Sons Painting Contractors three years later and transformed the small operation into a million-dollar business within 12 months.
Today, Usher Group is one of Australia's largest commercial painting and associated services companies with 500 staff.
The company turns over $83million per year and completed 850 projects last year.
University dropout Theodore Vairaktaris is now a highly successful Gold Coast businessman
The company estimates more than 7000 litres of paint are used daily.
Mr Vairaktaris grew up in housing commission on the Gold Coast and started architecture and business degrees before he ditched the textbooks to follow his father's footsteps and became a painter.
'I studied to be an architect, but when I realised a year into my internship I was spending most of my time … on the computer, I found I couldn't handle it and it was definitely not for me,' Mr Vairaktaris, 42, told news.com.au.
He said his success came from hard work, passion and having a driven team behind him.
'I always knew I wanted to own my own business so I always had that strive. I just had to find what I was passionate about, and the rest just happened,' Mr Vairaktaris said.
Usher Group is one of Australia's largest commercial painting and associated services companies with 500 staff and a turnover of $83million a year
But it hasn't always been smooth sailing for Mr Vairaktaris.
He shares his secrets to success on the Usher Group website, where he recalled his five years of hell dubbed 'The Nightmare Zone' in the hope others can learn from his mistakes.
'I found myself in a position where I was getting overworked, burning the candle at both ends and I just couldn't see the light,' Mr Vairaktaris recalled.
'That was "The Nightmare Zone", that period when you're taking the step from being a contractor with up to 20 staff to becoming a large company but you're carrying the entire weight yourself.
'I was doing everything myself – checking every contract and payment schedule, doing the invoices, dealing with all the clients, trying to build new revenue streams – and I just felt like I was getting nowhere.'
Mr Vairaktaris urges other tradies to follow their dreams and start up their own business
Mr Vairaktaris transformed a tiny company into a multi-million business empire with 500 staff
He urges other tradespeople to follow their business ownership dreams.
'If I could give them anything, it would be the confidence to have a crack,' he said.
'If you're even thinking about it, it means you have the passion. I'm a big believer that fear can be the thief of success and that's why I try to eliminate it from all aspects of my life, particularly business.'
He also wants to spread the word that working in a trade can more lucrative than a uni degree.
'I feel that sometimes when people say they are going to be a tradie, they are looked at the wrong way, but if someone says they’re going to uni after high school, they are congratulated,' Mr Vairaktaris said.
Mr Vairaktaris studied architecture and business before stating his own painting business
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