Harry Sanders: How homeless Melbourne teen started multimillion dollar SEO agency StudioHawk

Harry Sanders was an angry 17-year-old sleeping under a Preston bridge when he took the first steps to starting a multimillion dollar business.

Harry Sanders started a global SEO business while he was homeless. Picture: Mark Stewart

As Harry Sanders took a selfie with the Thames and London Bridge as a backdrop, it was a surreal moment for the 23-year-old from Melbourne.

Earlier in the week, he’d had another pinch-me moment as he waited nervously in the foyer of the BBC World News building.

“I felt so out of my element. I was in a massive city that I’d never been to before and I was seeing places I’d only ever seen in pictures,” recalls Sanders.

“Then I ended up being interviewed by the BBC World News. As I waited in the foyer I thought ‘I don’t know which idiot organised this, but they shouldn’t have done it.’ I felt like an impostor.”

Harry Sanders. Picture: Mark Stewart

Sanders is an expert in search engine optimisation (SEO) and is the founder of SEO agency, StudioHawk.

Any time you search for something in Google, the organic results below the advertisements are what most people click on. Sanders and his team are paid to ensure their clients appear at the top of the results list.

With its HQ in Prahran, StudioHawk has clients including The Good Guys, Officeworks, New Balance and The Reject Shop and the business has a multimillion-dollar turnover.

In 2019, Sanders opened an office in London and now plans to conquer the American SEO landscape.

Not bad for a business that began when Sanders was 17, homeless and sleeping rough.

“My family life was unstable from when I was about 14 or 15. Mum and Dad divorced and I was between homes. Mum had some mental health issues and then Dad’s partner indicated I was no longer welcome and I ended up on the streets,” Sanders says.

“I remember being really angry and wondering where I was going to stay that first night. I had a duffel bag, my laptop and I stayed under a bridge in Preston. It was awful but it was a gamechanger.

“Being homeless humbled me. I knew I had a particular skill and I wanted to do good work and make enough money to get a home — I didn’t want to be a burden to anyone.”

While he slept rough at night, during the day Sanders took his laptop to the local St Vinnie’s to use the Wi-Fi, charge his mobile, call potential clients and build the business that would become StudioHawk.

As a kid, Sanders spent his spare time and some of his school week on computers. He discovered search engine optimisation at 13 after his Dad’s boat business lost money through an expensive lock-in contract with an SEO business.

“They promised him the world and took a lot of money. I wanted to do things differently,” he says.

By the age of 14, Sanders was training other people how to use the technology.

“A local agency saw what I did and asked me if I’d run a training day for their staff. They didn’t know I was 14. I rocked up in a suit but still looked 14. The chief financial officer’s face visibly shifted when I explained I was there to do the training,” Sanders says.

“But I did the training and they offered me a part-time job. I was still at high school but I skipped three days a week to work. My teachers didn’t love me but they knew my family situation and I was able to complete my VCE.”

Studiohawk gradually gained momentum and clients. In the first year, Sanders made $30,000. It was enough to get him off the streets and away from couchsurfing and into a sharehouse.

“I can’t describe the feeling of having my own room. The weight I’d been carrying lifted,” he says.

Harry with his StudioHawk team. Picture: Mark Stewart

“I didn’t know if the business would work — I gave it a 2 per cent chance initially — but I had no other option. My first clients gave me a chance, my fees were lower, I worked hard and I got results.”

During the second year of business, Sanders met StudioHawk general manager Jacob King Stanley at a networking event.

“Then I was in a state of fear because I had another person relying on this weird SEO company that I’d started while couchsurfing. Within six months we’d hired two more people.”

The agency has 36 people in Australia and four in London. Part of the StudioHawk mission statement is to give less fortunate people an opportunity.

“We take on people from all walks of life who feel it’s almost too late to have a career. I wanted this agency to be a place where people love to work. I look around our office and I can’t be more grateful,” Sanders says.

“I couldn’t care less about adding another 10 per cent to the bottom line. I just want to create a company where people love to work and where clients love our work. That gets me up every day.”

With the Australian business growing 40 to 60 per cent year-on-year, and the London business thriving — there is only a handful of specialised SEO providers in a UK market 100 times bigger than Australia — the next step is to set up in the US.

But in the midst of this expansion, Sanders’ feet are firmly on the ground.

“I don’t think I’ve changed much. I got my Responsible Service of Alcohol licence a few weeks ago so I can pick up a bar shift on a Saturday night. I like to keep learning and you need to re-centre yourself sometimes,” he says.

“I had to fly Jetstar the other day and caught myself thinking ‘but it’s not Qantas’. Then I thought, are you serious? Can you hear yourself? Do you remember where you came from? You have to humble yourself.”

Sanders rents a home in Prahran and spends his spare time hiking, playing computer games and skateboarding.

Despite being financially comfortable, he admits to being “very frugal”.

“I always go the $2 option at Baker’s Delight — it’s where I used to buy things to eat when I was homeless. That’s still my mindset,” he says.

But money has brought some welcome rewards.

“Mum is a beautiful and generous person and I love her to bits. I’ve helped her get a home. Now I can look after her and I love that.

“And I have Basil, my miniature Schnauzer. I’m not so frugal with Basil — he gets top of the line.”