Founderoo caught up with Joel Pringle, the founder of Joel Pringle Logo Designs. Joel has a unique angle on being a founder and has created an extraordinary life around making a living. You're going to love this story of how Joel battled a complicated upbringing, to now living as he chooses. This one's a bloody cracker.

Joel what's your backstory?

My childhood had no stability, I left home young, at sixteen years old.

I was originally born in Wales (in the UK) to two welsh parents. My parents moved to Australia when I was one and tried to start a new life. It didn't really happen. They divorced soon after, and my childhood was spent with each of my parents travelling along the full length of the Australian East coast.

I went to nine different schools, including 'walkie talkie school' as I used to call it, usually reserved for educating children on remote cattle stations. I lived in fifteen plus places, including tents, caravan parks and non-listed rentals.

We would move each year or even more. As an adult, I've worked out, this constant moving was because my parents were on the run from the law. This was the result of a family mystery that I've never been able to fully uncover.
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I lived in my own flat in the city and worked at McDonald's. I had nothing, in fact, I had a lot of generational problems. Poverty, no skills, dependencies, I was impressionable.

I took a pretty useless graphic design course, I say useless as I could have got the info from the net.

I worked for a guy who saw my creative talent and life inexperience he exploited both of them. Through this, I realised I needed to work by myself and to do that I needed to get past my personal problems.

So I was hyper honest about what was wrong in my personality. While I was always talented creatively, I decided to tackle any shortcomings that stood in the way of me being able to be successful in business.

It took roughly eight years, and through that time, I've opened my laptop everywhere from the gutter to yachts.

One yacht I purchased and lived aboard with my fiance for a year or so.

Before I had a business, I thought about what I was good at. I thought:

I've always been able to draw, so I'll start a business that is the most commercially viable version of my drawing. I'll start a logo design business.

I've built a business that has survived the GFC, a divorce and Coronavirus. In fact, it's thrived in the face of each of these threats.

Tell us what your company does?

My company provides the best logo experience on the planet. My logo service is the perfect balance of high quality, low cost, and speed. I’m also a friendly guy who genuinely wants people to succeed.

‍How did you come up with the idea?

I never had a lightbulb moment. I simply look at what people want. People want the best for free yesterday.

If you can give them the best, for a low price, asap, you'll do well. My business offerings are obsessively customer focussed. I do not judge, I simply listen and deliver.

So Joel Pringle Logos is simply an answer to a few common problems such as 'graphic designers aren't very good.' I make sure my work is excellent.

'Graphic Designers are too expensive.' My work is incredibly affordable.

'Graphic designers take forever.' My process is lightning and allows me to deliver thousands of projects a year.

How did you come up with the name of the business?

The name of a business is incredibly overrated and incredibly irrelevant. Amazon would make exactly the same money if it was called Online Shop that Jeff created. Brand names are different.

How did you go about building the product?

I built an incredibly efficient production line that ensures every project gets the love it needs.

I looked at each step of how a traditional designer operates and asked 'does the client actually care about this thing or is this just a designer justification?' If the answer was that the client didn't care about it or I felt it was a step a designer was taking to justify their employment, I just got rid of it.

Traditional graphic designers would have you believe they will make love to your business while learning every part of what you do so they can make a glorious orgasmic logo creation.

This approach creates starving designers and wack logos that need minutes of explanation. I keep it simple, both the design itself and the process behind it. It took me eight years to perfect.

What did you need to do for the launch?

I focussed on creating an amazing life for myself and sharing it on social media to bring attention to my services, which I knew were really good.

Nobody cares about the thing you made. When people see the fantastic life you’ve created, then they care. You have to prove your offering is amazing.

The way I did it is I showed people what my sales transformed my life into. It’s slow at the start, but so is everything.

I started with showing people I could invest in a second business, hardly anybody cared. Then I showed I could work from anywhere, people began to catch on, then I showed the second business getting huge clients like Google, Porsche, etc.

Then I showed I bought a yacht and could live on it while working from anywhere. Then bought a house, my dream car, shared my income and a little of my relationship. It’s a pretty unispirable person to not take notice after that.

How have you grown the business?

I intentionally keep every part of my business as small as possible, except for the number of people I help. I market through Facebook / Instagram. No lucky breaks, just figuring out the best plan ahead of time and grinding till it works, call that whatever but that is what goes into it for me.

What have been some of your biggest failures along the way?

I invested in non-digital businesses and the wrong partner. I blew about 50k and had a child with the wrong person, so I had to work double hard to make parenting work. The remedy was simple: now I’m just quality digital business and have found a great network, including a quality partner.

What’s your biggest selling product?

Logos. www.instagram.com/joelpringle

In the future it will be my remote business course called Remote Business Pro, dropping mid 2021.

What day to day digital tools do you use?

TickTick list app. Adobe Illustrator. Instagram.

What book has been a great inspiration to you as a founder?

I don't read books, I find books are too much of a commitment, and my gut feel on peoples social content is all I need to learn and move forward with.

I orbit all people and all views via social media. For instance, I follow people I do and don't agree with. I do this to learn about why they are, how they are, and why people place value in them. I then have a better understanding of cultural behaviour. I feel cultural behaviour is the only thing worth knowing. All books etc. are just a projection of cultural behaviour.

Anything you read, watch or listen to that help's you run your business?

I only officially follow accounts I have strategic business relationships with. For instance, right now I follow one account on Insta, @portlandroads_whitsundays because they're supplying two luxury yachts I am using to take several of my followers out for a week to talk about 'Remote Business Pro' stuff.

I am my own drive, and I rarely rely on outside assistance. However, my partner Eve is the one exception here. Without her, I would still be successful, but it wouldn't be as fun, fast and enjoyable. Eve's an amazing force in my life and behind the scenes in our business.

What are the biggest pieces of advice you’d give to other founders?

"Make it cheaper. Make it better, Make it faster. Keep going, never stop refining."

What keeps you up at night regarding your business?

Nothing. Business is the simplest part of my life. It’s hard work, but I never worry about it.

What’s the biggest surprise you’ve had being a founder?

Peoples ability to consider their offering valuable when it is rubbish.

Of course, I could list a million awesome feelings, but something that continually comes up for me is people telling me they want to have a life like mine.

When we dig into it, they're trying to sell something worthless for a really high price, and they just cannot fathom why they are not succeeding.

Have you ever felt like quitting, if so why?

Never. Ever. Death can try.

What quote(s) do you live by?‍

“My best always.”
(Nuli Secundi)

In a few words what does it mean to be the founder of a business?

Means to an end. Tool to power an amazing life.

Where can people find out more about your business?

www.joelpringle.com.au
instagram.com/joelpringle