Timothy Almoo sold his influencer marketing company FunBytes in 2022.
Tim Almou.
Timothy Almoux became a millionaire when he sold his influencer marketing company for an eight-figure sum at the age of 27, but he says it’s not easy to become extraordinary.
Almoo, the co-founder and former CEO of FunBytes, grew up on a council estate in deprived south London and says his remarkable success came at the cost of sacrifices, including giving up a healthy work-life balance.
“I believe in hard work. I don’t agree with the idea of work-life balance at all,” Almoo said in an interview with CNBC Make It.
“I don’t think that anyone who’s ever accomplished anything important has done it by maintaining balance. That’s just a myth.”
“There’s a season for everything,” Armoos explained, a time when you have to work really hard. He said these seasons vary from person to person and could last three months, three years or even 10 years.
“There are times when you think, ‘I want to achieve this goal, I want to get results that are different from other people, I want to get extraordinary results.’ And the way to get extraordinary results is to do extraordinary things – literally do things that are out of the ordinary,” he said.
This means putting in the extra effort to “increase your chances of success” rather than balancing.
“season”
Armoo reiterated the importance of having “seasons,” which he said might mean focusing on work at times to keep you busy, and prioritizing family, health and personal life at other times.
“When you’re in a family stage, you don’t have to balance your work and personal life. You should just focus on building the best family you can,” he said.
Armoo was just 14 when he started his first business: a tutoring company that connected students in need of help with others who were good at certain subjects. He took a cut of the fees.
By the age of 17, he had sold his second company, an online blog called Entrepreneur Express, for £110,000 (about $145,000).
He follows in the footsteps of many CEOs and billionaires, including Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, who have dedicated large parts of their lives to building companies.
The Microsoft co-founder recently told CNBC Make It that when he was in his 20s, he didn’t see the point in taking holidays or weekends, but now that he’s 68, he advises those around him to take time off when they can.
Meanwhile, Buffett, 94, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, still works six days a week and comes into the office on Saturdays.
