This story is another oldie-but-a-goodie. Actually, it's one that keeps getting better every time we revisit it. But first, let's talk about that video? Great production, amazing content.
Checked all the boxes for us and hits close to home for some of our team.
- Web development âś”
- Food âś”
- Inspiring âś”
- Construction âś”
- Great CX âś”
- Food âś”
Alright, let's dive into this fascinating story about how a fledgling web developer from Lahore built his dream house.
From games to forum signatures to WordPress extraordinaire
Muhammad Haris Zulfiqar is a Pakistani Wordpress developer who now lives in Dubai. Haris had an affinity for technology fueled by his passion for gaming. To many a mother's dismay, he hung out a lot at local gaming centers playing Counter Strike.
Of course, what would gaming be without the ability to roast your buddies? Haris joined a gaming forum to communicate and collaborate with his fellow strikers. It was there that he noticed that it had a section for design. He decided to learn how to create in-demand forum signatures that made your profile look cool. He made one for himself and a few for friends.
Creating spurred his desire for more. Haris always wanted to build a website to "show his friends and impress his teachers". So that's exactly what he did.
After a few tries, he found a way to monetize one of them for $100 with AdSense. That was a pivotal moment in his career. It gave him the validation he needed to overcome his family's apprehensions about the time he spent at his computer.
Took a few blows then landed a knockout
He was introduced to WordPress by a theme creator he was working with and fell in love. Haris refined his development chops working with various theme developers then decided to create his own.
At first, it didn't go as planned. His submission was rejected more than 10x by ThemeForest and he was devastated. He almost gave up, but then put his head down and kept going. We're glad he did!
This was a good lesson for me; don’t give up and learn from the failures. Learning from failures is important.
Muhammad Haris Zulfiqar
Instead of a freelancing platform, Haris took the bold step of establishing direct contacts with design agencies. It's an approach that eventually paid off, big time.
Tampa x Lahore
Haris went on to connect with Luke Beck, a designer from Florida. Luke had some success selling his WordPress themes on Envato and was interested in finding a reliable development partner.
They launched a couple of themes together with mixed results. Then, they went back to the drawing board to shake things up. Although their themes would ultimately benefit the companies' whose sites were published, they realized that the people building the sites were at the nucleus of their future.
Understanding this underserved market with unmet needs provided them with laser focus to create a killer product. One that was optimized to the way WordPress developers and users worked. Their product provided greater versatility, improved usability, and infinite extensibility.
A star was born
Luke and Haris launched Avada. It's the top selling premium WordPress theme on the planet. With almost 866,000 sales, it's estimated that Avada powers over 4% of the internet's websites. What a mind blowing achievement!
Let's look at some of their key milestones:
- #1 selling theme on Themeforest
- More than $35,000,000 in sales
- First to reach 100K-800K sales milestones
- More than 25,400, 5 Star Reviews
- Rated #1 in Developer Support
- Built at least two dream homes
WOW! Hats off to Haris, Luke, and the entire team at ThemeFusion. This is one of those unbelievable stories that makes us say:
See mom, a lotta good can come from gaming!
About Rebekah Radice
Rebekah Radice, co-founder of BRIL.LA, has traded narcissism for purpose. When not driving growth, you'll find her tricking family into thinking she's Emeril Lagasse - likely covered in marinara. The spotlight was fun, but impact is better. These days she's using 20+ years of brand brilliance for good.