Your Poor Background Does Not Determine Your Future

This is the story of Oliur Rahman, who was born in a poor family in the UK, and also has a South Asian background.

Oliur Rahman grew up surviving on benefits and social housing. None of his family members had formal education or even owned a property.

Oliur Rahman never expected to be a wealthy man in the future, not to talk of buying a house.

Oliur Rahman never knew about the internet until he was 15 years, because his parents could not afford it by then.

When Oliur Rahman got exposed to the internet, he immediately bought his first smartphone from the money he was saving, while he was working as a waiter.

He immediately started selling his graphics design work online which are, Icons, Logos, and Wallpapers. 

That was his first experience of selling digital products online, so he started making money gradually.

Instead of using the money he was making online, Oliur Rahman bought his first laptop computer so that he can start learning new skills online.

Oliur Rahman refused to enter college, by convincing his parents to give him one year to make money online, before entering university. 

Fortunately, in that same year Oliur Rahman made enough money online to support himself and his family. He paid the rent and also helped with household bills.

Oliur Rahman started sharing his graphics design work on an online platform called, Dribble, where he got noticed by clients. He also started designing website templates on Tumblr platform.

Oliur Rahman learned how to design websites by watching video tutorials on YouTube. He never got formal training for these skills, but by watching video tutorials on YouTube.

His graphics design work became popular, and was approved by Tumblr in 2014 to start selling his work on the platform.

That milestone significantly increases his income, and starts earning around $20,000 to $30,000 per year.

Oliur Rahman was still living with his parents when he started making that money. He saved a huge sum of money, and finally bought his first house.

Now living on his own, Oliur Rahman became a founding designer at a company called Plasso, where he worked for a year. He had always wanted to be part of a startup. Plasso paid well and he was given shares in the company for being an early employee.

Oliur Rahman started an online store called ULX Store in 2018 to sell his graphics designs and other products.

In the year 2015, Oliur Rahman started a YouTube channel to provide insights he wishes were available to him at a younger age, demonstrating that success is attainable without a privileged background or formal education.

Oliur Rahman began taking his YouTube channel seriously in the year, 2020 when he realized its potential for scalable income through sponsorships and Adsense revenue. 

His YouTube channel grew to around 100,000 subscribers, which attracted sponsorships and enabled him to charge significantly for sponsored content.

Oliur Rahman online store known as, ULX Store became very successful. His desk accessories were in high demand due to COVID-19 pandemic. That same year, his online store generated $1M revenue.

Oliur Rahman YouTube channel was also generating a significant amount in passive income from Google Adsense, sales from digital products, and sponsorships arranged earlier in the year, which was astonishing to him.

In 2023, Oliur Rahman earned around $600,000 from all his online income streams.

Oliur Rahman has now relocated to Dubai, but his house is in the UK.

Note:

Success is attainable without a privileged background or formal education.