How high school dropout launched $1 million digital marketing agency

Lucas Cook left school at age 16. Just four years later, he is his own boss, with a team of 20 working for his successful digital agency.

Lucas Cook always had an entrepreneurial streak.

The Melbourne teen launched his own T-shirt company when he was just 14, and he ended up dropping out of school two years later midway through Year 11 to focus on the label full-time.

But his fashion career was short-lived, with a trademark dispute ultimately ending the business.

“I didn’t want to restart. I’d already started from the bottom and gone through all the hard work of building it up,” Mr Cook said.

“I began thinking about what I’d learned in running the business, what I’d been good at. I realised I had a flair for marketing. I knew how to draw customers. I knew how to get sales.”

He began selling Facebook advertising by cold calling business owners from his bedroom, winning over his first five clients quickly and easily.

He officially launched his digital marketing company Co Media when he was 17 and began hiring staff, but said that initially, he had “no idea” what he was doing.

“There was no proper structure for the company. When staff began to leave, I realised I wasn’t running it the best I could. Six months in, the company was back to one staff member – me. I knew I had to figure out the proper systems and processes. So I did,” he said.

He developed a business strategy that attracted clients to him rather than cold calling, invested all the resources he had into value-based marketing, developed his own business strategy into a proprietary asset that secured clients and managed to win over a number of big companies, which became clients.

Today, at age 20, Mr Cook has a team of 20, consisting of contractors and a few staff, creating more than $1 million in revenue.

He told news.com.au despite his current success, he had experienced setback after setback in his young life.

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Lucas Cook overcame a string of setbacks before launching his business. Picture: Instagram/lucascook

“When I was applying for after-school jobs, I found it really weird that I was declined from them all – I was quite offended and I definitely lost a bit of self-confidence,” he said.

“Then the clothing business happened by accident. I had a lot of ideas at a young age and when I wasn’t accepted for any jobs, the idea of making my own T-shirts came to mind.”

He said the decision to close his clothing brand due to the trademark issue was a “slap in the face” but that it had “planted the seed of my career journey”.

“Being a young person and going out there was quite daunting, but I learnt not to take no for an answer,” he said.

“I began cold-calling strangers who probably thought, ‘Who is this pre-pubescent boy on the phone?’

“But when you call enough people, some start to notice and eventually I had a few yesses, which was awesome.”

Mr Cook said he had “always struggled” at school and that after he left, “real life hit me in the face”.

“We all have moments when our backs are against the wall and mine was when I left school with my confidence diminished. I knew it was up to me now and mummy and daddy didn’t have much control,” he said.

“I didn’t have school or basketball to fall back on and I decided to do whatever it takes, but I ended up running before I walked by hiring so many people before I had systems and procedures in place.

“I have by no means gotten to where I want to go – in fact, a lot of people look at me and my age and think, ‘Wow he’s loaded’ or whatever, but actually that’s not the case and it costs a lot to have a team and maintain a business.”

He is now developing a post-COVID expansion plan that includes the US, Dubai, and Hong Kong.

“I didn’t reinvent the wheel as a digital marketing agency. I just polished it,” Mr Cook said.