Hey there, fellow entrepreneurs and techies. The name’s Alan Fuller, and I’ve got quite the journey to share with you. From dabbling in online advertising to trying my hand at running an e-commerce sailing store to eventually creating WordPress plugins, my career has been anything but boring.
I may live a quiet life nowadays near Woking, England with my wife, kids, and grandkids, but I’ve explored everywhere from Bahrain to the rolling seas over the years. I was always a hands-on, DIY kind of guy, taking things apart as a kid and puzzling over how to put them back together again. Little did I know those skills would serve me well as an entrepreneur down the road.
After project managing for a bit, I took a risk and bought an online sailing store. Let’s just say a year of selling nautical parts out of my garage taught me that not every business idea is a smooth sail. But it did lead me to build my first WordPress site, which opened up a whole new world of web design.
The rest is history, as they say. My business partner (aka my son) and I ended up rebranding what felt like a hundred times as we evolved from Google Ads to cloud consulting and finally to WordPress plugins under FullworksPlugins. Here’s the wild rollercoaster ride that got me here today…
My Early Days Tinkering and Building Things
From an early age, I was always taking things apart to see how they worked, whether it was Meccano sets, electronics, bicycles or cars. I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of fixing and improving things. One of my first entrepreneurial ventures was buying and selling motorbikes while still at school. I’d buy a bike, do it up and sell it on for a profit.
Learning Technical Skills
My interest in technology started in my late teens. I did an apprenticeship in electronics and then worked for several hi-fi companies, gaining valuable technical experience repairing amplifiers and speakers. In the late ’80s, I moved into IT, learning skills in Novell NetWare, Microsoft NT and SQL Server. For over 20 years I worked as an IT contractor, honing my technical and project management abilities.
Trying and Failing – Then Pivoting
My entrepreneurial journey post-2008 came with several changes in direction. Initially, I started a contract project management business. Then I purchased an online sailing parts business but couldn’t make it profitable after a year. I teamed up with my son to start an AdWords agency called Roibot, building my first WordPress site as our sales website. We soon sold more WordPress sites than AdWords contracts and renamed the company ‘Locally’. We acquired locally.co.uk, so renamed again to Fullworks Digital. Despite becoming Google Partners, my son left, and I was left with the WordPress business, searching for direction.
Through all these ventures, my technical and problem-solving skills were invaluable. I learned that failure and pivoting are part of the entrepreneurial journey. Now, over 10 years on, I have built a successful WordPress products business, and I’m excited to see what the next 10 years will bring!
Becoming a Project Manager and Buying a Sailing Business
After many years working as a technologist in Corporate IT, in 2008 I decided I wanted a change of direction. I started working as a freelance project manager, helping companies implement new systems and software. The work was interesting but somewhat unfulfilling. I yearned to run my own business.
An opportunity arose to purchase an online sailing parts retailer, so I took the plunge. For a year, I ran the business from my garage, but despite my best efforts, I couldn’t make it profitable. The sailing market was too niche, and the overheads were too high. I had to face the fact that this wasn’t the right path for me.
While the sailing business struggled, I began working with my son on a new venture. We set up an AdWords agency called Roibot to help local businesses with online marketing. To showcase our services, I built our first WordPress website. Soon we were getting more requests for WordPress sites than AdWords work. We pivoted, renaming the company ‘Locally’ and focusing on building WordPress websites for local businesses.
My son’s interests changed, and he left Locally to start an unrelated business. I was left holding a WordPress agency we had grown. Over the years, I’ve honed my skills and developed a suite of useful plugins to help my clients.
Though the journey has had ups and downs, I’m now focused on what I enjoy and do best. My little WordPress agency, now called Fullworks Plugins, allows me to solve problems for clients in a creative way. The sailing business taught me an important lesson about following my passions, and I’m grateful for where I ended up. My life has taken an unexpected but fulfilling turn.
Starting an AdWords Agency That Became a WordPress Business
Early Days in AdWords
When I first started my agency, Roibot, I was laser-focused on Google Ads (then called AdWords) consulting and management. AdWords was still a relatively new platform, and businesses were eager to get help setting up campaigns to drive more traffic to their websites. For a while, things went well. We signed a few retainer clients and built out their AdWords accounts, optimizing bids and ads to improve results.
The Transition to WordPress
As Roibot grew, I realized many of our clients also needed help with their websites. We started offering simple WordPress website builds as an additional service. Before I knew it, we were doing more WordPress work than AdWords consulting. My son and I decided to rebrand the company to Locally and focus primarily on WordPress.
Becoming Google Partners
Despite the transition, we still valued our Google credentials. In 2016, we earned status as official Google Partners, demonstrating our team’s expertise in AdWords and other Google products. Becoming Google Partners gave us more credibility with clients and opened doors to new opportunities.
Going Our Separate Ways
After a few years, my son decided he wanted to pursue other interests outside of Locally. I was left with a choice: shut down the WordPress side of the business or carry on alone. I chose the latter, rebranding once more to Fullworks Digital and focusing solely on WordPress consulting and development.
Looking back, my company’s journey was quite winding, but through each transition, I gained valuable experience. I started as an AdWords business but discovered much local demand for WordPress. For over 10 years, my business evolved to match my interests, resulting in the WordPress Plugin-focused company I run today. The path wasn’t straightforward, but with some experimentation, I found my niche. For any entrepreneur, that’s the most important first step.
Pivoting to a Plugin Business
Being just a WordPress agency on my own was not something I wanted.
Through all the pivots and rebrands over the years, the most important lesson I’ve learned is to follow your interests and passions. Don’t be afraid to make changes to your business model to incorporate new skills and opportunities. But at the same time, hold onto what makes you unique and gives you a competitive advantage. For Fullworks, that means never abandoning WordPress even as I venture into new areas.
Staying nimble, adaptable and willing to evolve with technology trends has been key to survival as an entrepreneur. My journey from AdWords to sailing to WordPress and cloud consulting has certainly kept me on my toes, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. The thrill of the pivot is what entrepreneurship is all about.
Finding My Passion in WordPress and Plugin Development
When my son left the business, I was at a crossroads. The cloud consultancy side of things wasn’t very easy to win clients, and I lacked the design flair for building WordPress websites . I decided to dive deeper into WordPress Plugins and focus the business around it.
Learning the WordPress Platform
To become highly proficient in WordPress, I spent hours learning its architecture, studying plugins, and building demo sites. The more I learned, the more passionate I became. I found WordPress to be a robust yet flexible platform, and the open-source community around it inspired me.
Developing My First Plugin
I had published my first free plugin on WordPress.org way back around 2011 and it is still supported and populare today, Stop User Enumeration https://wordpress.org/plugins/stop-user-enumeration/
Around 2015, I built my first commercial WordPress plugin. It was a real estate data conversion plugin but gave me a taste of plugin development. Creating something that helped other users and made a few good sales so fueled my motivation.
So I had prior experience in a limited way of WordPress Plugin development.
I went on to develop plugins for events, security, anti spam, and more.
How My Business Found Its Focus
With each new plugin, my business grew into its current model. We rebranded to FullWorks Plugins to reflect our focus on commercial plugin development for WordPress users. I have found my passion in creating solutions that help people build and manage their WordPress websites. The ability to work remotely on plugin development allows me flexibility and creativity.
Though the journey here had twists and turns, by following where my interests led me, I found my place in the WordPress community, you can often find me on WordPress Slack in the #forums or #pluginreview trying to contribute in my own way.
My role as a plugin developer gives me a sense of purpose in supporting other entrepreneurs and small businesses. The path of an entrepreneur is rarely straightforward, but with persistence, you can find your passion. For me, that passion became plugin development, and I’m excited to see what the future holds for FullWorks Plugins.
Wrapping up
You can see it’s been quite a journey for me over the years – from Corporate IT to AdWords to WordPress and beyond. There have been twists and turns, rebrands and redirects, but in the end, I’ve found my passion in building WordPress plugins. While the path wasn’t linear, each experience taught me something new and brought me closer to where I am today. I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had and excited to see where this entrepreneurial journey will take me next. Though there will no doubt be challenges ahead, I’m ready to lean in and give it my all. My advice? Don’t be afraid to pivot, trust your instincts, and most importantly – follow your heart. The rest will work itself out in the end.
Read More
If you haven’t read enough already there are a couple of posts out there covering different aspects of my journey.
WpFounders
“At WPfounders, we showcase the journeys of founders from thriving WordPress businesses, delving into their challenges, offering invaluable advice, and even glimpses into their personal lives.”
See: https://wpfounders.com/wordpress-plugin/alan-fuller-display-eventbrite-events/
Freemius
“Freemius is the new standard in selling premium & freemium software, plugins, themes, templates, and SaaS.”
See: https://freemius.com/blog/success-story-alan-fuller-fullworks/
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