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<\/p>\nGROWING up in a two-bed house on a\u00a0council estate, it was almost impossible for Jordan Smith to imagine that a richer life as a very successful\u00a0entrepreneur\u00a0might lie ahead.<\/p>\n
But aged just 28, he now runs two seven-figure businesses with a combined turnover of more than \u00a312million.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
Jordan founded data firm Gen3Data in 2018, and marketing agency Mamba Marketing in 2019. \u00a0<\/p>\n
He is in the process of buying a \u00a31 million-plus\u00a0house\u00a0in south\u00a0Wales\u00a0to live in with his wife, Sarah, and their two children, both under 10. <\/p>\n
He is also the owner of a Range Rover, a\u00a0Tesla, a handful of classic cars \u2013 including a\u00a0Jaguar\u00a0e-type \u2013 and lots of\u00a0motorbikes.<\/p>\n
He now goes on several\u00a0holidays\u00a0a year, and recently took his family for an all-expenses paid trip to a \u00a315million mansion in\u00a0Beverly Hills, California, with a private chef and chauffeurs \u2013 including top-end\u00a0flights\u00a0with Virgin.<\/p>\n
While he acknowledges that he now lives a very fortunate lifestyle, it hasn\u2019t always been that way.<\/p>\n Jordan spent his early years living on a council estate in the Valleys in south Wales. He is one of seven brothers. <\/p>\n Three lived with him and his mum, while three lived with his dad and new partner.<\/p>\n The young businessman told The Sun: \u201cIn one way, I had kind of \u2018nothing\u2019 growing up. <\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n "We were getting by on a very small amount of money a week, and didn\u2019t have cash for many\u00a0luxuries. <\/p>\n "But in another way, I had everything, as my mum was just amazing.<\/p>\n "She worked a day job as a sous\u00a0chef, and had a second job at night working in a butcher\u2019s in order to provide for us."<\/p>\n Jordan says he learned a lot about the value of\u00a0money\u00a0from his mum.<\/p>\n \u201cShe instilled a \u2018work-hard\u2019 ethic in me,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cShe told me and my brothers that if we wanted something, we had to work hard to get it. <\/p>\n "She once earned enough money to take us on a trip to\u00a0Lanzarote\u00a0by delivering piles of leaflets for \u00a320 a box. <\/p>\n "We had no car at the time, so she posted them all on foot. <\/p>\n "I learned a lot from her attitude, and that\u2019s probably why I now often work more than 100 hours a week.\u201d<\/p>\n Jordan always knew he wanted to strive for a better life, and used his experiences to fuel his entrepreneurial drive.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cMy background helped me to get where I am today.<\/p>\n \u201cGrowing up, I was keen to earn money so I could have a few nice things. <\/p>\n "At 11 years old, I worked in a\u00a0gym\u00a0part-time after school doing a shift from 5pm to 9pm. <\/p>\n "This included cleaning the equipment and putting the weights away \u2013 all the jobs no one else wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n From the age of 14, Jordan and a friend started buying hauls of clothes for around \u00a35 a bag from a local\u00a0vintage\u00a0shop, and then selling them on at a profit.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cI remember making some decent money on a\u00a0Nike\u00a0jacket, as well as on some Superdry stuff. <\/p>\n \u201cEach time we spent most of our earnings, but kept back enough to buy another bag. <\/p>\n "Suddenly I found myself being able to afford nicer clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n Jordan didn\u2019t enjoy school very much, but did manage to come away with eight\u00a0GCSEs, despite doing almost no revision.<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t\u00a0born with the gift of intelligence, but from an early age, I had real drive,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cMum pushed me to carry on into sixth form, but I only lasted about three days before deciding I didn\u2019t have to be there \u2013 so I wasn\u2019t going to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n Initially, Jordan struggled to get a job, despite applying for lots of roles.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a terrible\u00a0CV,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I was eventually fortunate to talk my way into a door-to-door sales job selling\u00a0boilers\u00a0and\u00a0loft insulation. <\/p>\n "The pay at the time was \u00a3150 per week, plus an extra \u00a320 if I converted a sale on the spot.\u201d<\/p>\n Jordan found himself working almost 12 hours a day.<\/p>\n He revealed: \u201cI was young and energetic, and at times, sometimes signing up 20 people a day. <\/p>\n \u201cI earned around \u00a350,000 in just over a year in that role.\u201d<\/p>\n From here, aged 18, Jordan moved into a job at a loan broker, and this took him from Cardiff to\u00a0Greece. <\/p>\n Thanks to a lot of hard work, Jordan was able to earn a huge \u00a370,000 in one year alone.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cSarah came out to join me in\u00a0Cyprus, and for a while, we travelled around a lot with my job.\u201d<\/p>\n When the couple returned to Wales with a bit of money in the bank, Jordan decided he wanted to do a\u00a0degree, and had ideas about becoming either a\u00a0mortgage broker\u00a0or accountant.<\/p>\n \u201cAs I had no A-levels, I had to do an access course to be eligible,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cOnce\u00a0 I\u2019d got this, I embarked on a degree in Financial planning, investment and risk at the\u00a0University\u00a0of South Wales.\u201d<\/p>\n One of Jordan\u2019s first "pivotal moments" came after he\u2019d graduated, when he got an offer from an IT company, Solutions in Technology.<\/p>\n \u201cI was around 21 at the time, and had decided I needed to earn more to fund the lifestyle I wanted to lead,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cThe\u00a0recruiter\u00a0told me the firm wanted to hire good sales people, and that my name had come up. <\/p>\n \u201cI went in there extremely confident saying I\u2019d never missed a sales target.\u201d<\/p>\n After explaining that he knew about sales \u2013 and not\u00a0technology\u00a0\u2013 the firm agreed to pay him \u00a318,000 basic, with the ability to earn \u00a380,000 on top in commission.<\/p>\n Jordan went from strength to strength, first gaining the title of \u00a0"Sales rep of the year" in his telesales role, before getting promoted to a "field salesperson" with a car. <\/p>\n This meant he had the potential to earn more commission, at 30% as opposed to 10% previously.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the time, I\u2019d just found out Sarah was\u00a0pregnant,\u201d said Jordan. <\/p>\n \u201cThis spurred me on to want to earn even more, as I didn\u2019t want our child to have the same upbringing that I\u2019d had. <\/p>\n "One of the salespeople taught me about how to really sell IT solutions. <\/p>\n "This included learning how to be more corporate, and how to wear a suit and tie. <\/p>\n "By my 22nd<\/sup>\u00a0birthday, I was taking home payslips of around \u00a330,000 a month.\u201d<\/p>\n This enabled Jordan to sell his house in Newport, and buy a bigger home just outside\u00a0Cardiff.<\/p>\n \u201cThe company grew massively, and I was a significant part of that,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cI was doing sales and marketing, including\u00a0Facebook\u00a0Ads and Google Business. <\/p>\n "I was involved in the many different ways to sign up customers \u2013 and gaining so much knowledge on an almost daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n By capitalising on the databases and "lead lists" which he\u2019d built up, Jordan was able to start his own business, Gen3 Data in 2018.<\/p>\n \u201cMuch of the following year was a rollercoaster where I was earning \u2018footballer\u00a0money,\u2019\u201d he added. \u201cThat said, I was also working every minute.\u201d<\/p>\n By the end of 2019, Jordan had founded Mamba Marketing with the help of his wife, Sarah. <\/p>\n Between them, the two of them worked on getting the company off the ground.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the first year alone, Sarah and I signed 170 clients, many with big retainers,\u201d said Jordan. <\/p>\n \u201cWe went from four staff to eight staff \u2013 and kept on growing. In no time at all, I was earning a few\u00a0million\u00a0a year.\u201d<\/p>\n Fast forward a few years, and Jordan now owns offices in Wales,\u00a0Dubai\u00a0and\u00a0New York, and has provided data and marketing for a host of big household names, including\u00a0Rightmove\u00a0and\u00a0Nestl\u00e9.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI may live a very fortunate lifestyle now, but I want to remind young and aspiring entrepreneurs that it\u2019s not all\u00a0supercars\u00a0and big houses,\u201d said the marketing and data expert. <\/p>\n \u201cVery few just get \u2018lucky.\u2019 For most, it\u2019s down to a strong work ethic, grit and determination," he added.<\/p>\n "The only way to get there is by being consistent and relentless. You need to work harder than everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n Jordan adds that people often wrongly think that only those from rich backgrounds go on to do well.<\/p>\n He added: \u201cSome believe the fact they didn\u2019t have opportunities works against them, but it can work in your favour, too. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve had no financial help. The only thing I got was knowledge from some of the amazing individuals I met along the way. <\/p>\n "This includes Sarah\u2019s father who was a huge motivation. <\/p>\n \u201cHe was a really hard-working businessman, and I learned a lot from that \u2013 including how to build a business back up from nothing. <\/p>\n "I also got a lot of inspiration from my mum. She always used to say: \u2018If your dreams don\u2019t scare you, they\u2019re not big enough.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n At the same time, Jordan admits he has had his fair share of struggles.<\/p>\n \u201cThere have been times when I\u2019ve been really low as a person, and times when I\u2019ve wanted to quit,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cBusiness is really hard. I have a really nice life now, but my brain doesn\u2019t stop, and I\u2019m always dialled up to 100. <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/close-up-ten-twenty-pound-818778910.jpg\")
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