When you start from the bottom, the only direction you are left to go is up. It’s easy to look at the successful entrepreneurs and business moguls of our day and think of their reality as an impossible dream meant only for the lucky few. But in many cases, this just isn’t true. 

We had  an exclusive interview with our seasoned inspirational Searlco CEO  fondly known as Andy who came from humble beginnings and started Searlco LTD from the ground up.

Since its formation in 2020, Searlco has grown into an established and preferred “one- stop shop” with a comprehensive and ever-growing  international footprint. 

Searlco is a dynamic and leading world class Affiliate Marketing  company that offers unlimited growth opportunities aiming to deliver only the very best in all services to clients across the globe.

Andy formed Searlco on the principles of loyalty and commitment. This deeply ethical approach of work has resulted in growing numbers of associates who prefer Searlco as their partner. 

Journalist: Thanks for taking time for this interview, it’s always a pleasure sharing your  journey with us. To start off, please tell us about yourself. 

Andy:  Ok, I’m 43 years old. I was born in a place called Romford in Essex England. I hold an honours degree in Computer Science and Marketing, I’ve been an entrepreneur for the past 28 years.

I founded Searlco in 2020 just before the Covid 19 pandemic. I wanted to open a business that would help other companies to promote online using Affiliate Marketing. I started Searlco on my own, I didn’t have any privileges as a young man, I grew up in a poor household, below the poverty line. I come from nothing. I didn’t have a father figure either to draw inspiration and encouragement. 

I am the oldest of four siblings. I had to provide for my family and I have been doing that ever since. I founded the company based on the principles of delivering a quality service at a great price to people who want to sell online. 

Journalist: How did you get started with Affiliate Marketing?

Andy:  It’s back in 2004. I actually trained before as a psychiatric nurse, so I looked after mentally ill people when I worked for the Home Office of the UK Government. Whilst working there I went on to get a university degree and I found one of the first cashback websites in the world. 

I began to explore the world of Affiliate Marketing back in 2004. I am more on the development side, so I design and develop interesting technology that is missing in the world. That is where the idea came from. With my computer Science background I design technology that is now used around the world.

I created a Powered Words product, I’m more of a technologist. 

I came up with the name Searclo using my mother’s name as inspiration Susan Earl Co (Company).

Journalist: What was the most innovative thing you have done recently?

Andy: I think Powered Words is the most innovative thing. It’s basically a piece of technology that enables any website in the world to monitor the content. There is no one in the world who does it the way we do it.  Powered Words get you results in a fast moving world, It replaces the old google way. 

Journalist: How do you measure success 

Andy: It’s essentially how much money you make, how much take up you get  for example the success of any product depends on how many people use it, how many people view it, so that’s how you measure success, it’s not always about making money.

Success can be measured in many various ways so CheckAIM is another product. It’s an anti-fraud product that allows businesses to work in a community together to fight fraud and to prevent loss. It’s the first of its kind anywhere in the world. 

Journalist: Which decisions or actions you took were fundamental to your success?

Andy: I think the decisions I took were to get fair products to the market. I do a lot of things from the heart, I build security products or design them that way with pride and passion, I design them to help people from becoming victims of fraud not only on a corporate level but also on an individual level so CheckAIM was designed originally to catch people committing online fraud that cost people tens of thousands and stop scammers.

You have to commercialise products so they can be provided free of charge for the general populous. For example, we as individuals can benefit from corporate usage. It’s much like everything you get today, the fundamentals are providing a free service which is something like Facebook. You have to commercialise it, you have to provide advertising on Facebook paid for by adverts in order to give the service away to members.

It’s exactly the same with products that we have, we commercialise them in order to make it free and most of my stuff that I design is to close the gap to make sure things are fair, and to protect people. That’s where CheckAIM comes in.

Journalist: What are you currently  working on? 

Andy: We always look for innovation, we always look for ways to bring products to the market and improve the services we offer so I’m currently working on Powered Words to bring that to the next level.  

We are looking at improving that and making our proposition go further for clients or even the affiliates to try to bring it to that next level and create the next generation of pay per click advertising and affiliate marketing .

Journalist: What tools do you find helpful in your work at this stage? 

Andy: The best tool in the world is your mind, the ability to think, the ability to create, the ability to innovate, that’s the best tool. If you’re talking about the software development tool, you think of visual studio but I’m a big dreamweaver fan. I encourage all my staff, my contractors and everybody to think freely. I want them to come up with ideas because you cannot build an empire or big business on your own, you have to rely on those around you, you have to trust their instincts. You have to innovate their ideas, you have to encourage them, to give them the freedom to think. The mind is always the best tool.    

Journalist: Did you do anything special during Covid 19?

Andy: I built a business, I built  Searlco during Covid 19 lockdown. I gave people an opportunity to work from home when people were suffering. I found innovative ways to reach a global audience using global talent. We opened offices in South Africa, Philippines, Pakistan ,Germany and the UK. I grew this business from nothing to where it is now.      

Journalist: Thank you so much, for your time today Andy! It was a pleasure speaking with you today!

Andy: The pleasure is all mine!