I got expelled from school & told I was nothing

Sep 28, 2023

YOU don't have to be clever to be a millionaire, according to businessman Jordan Franklin.

The Bristol-based entrepreneur, who lives with his partner Phoebe, was expelled from school at 15 and teachers told him he’d be ‘nothing’ when he grew up.

Now, at the age of 36, Jordan is worth over £15 million, has bought his own island and drives a Rolls Royce - and you could do it too.

Here, Jordan tells Fabulous how he turned his life around from school dropout to super-rich without passing a single test.

"Growing up I was a bit of a problem child. I didn't mind school and had great friends but while they sailed through exams, I struggled massively.

I remember sitting in a classroom at the age of ten feeling terrified that the teacher would ask me to stand up and read aloud or ask me a question.

They put me in the bottom class for every subject and I felt embarrassed and ashamed. The only way I could cope was to be naughty and disrupt every lesson.

I had no respect for anyone and school staff called me the class joker. In year nine my maths teacher sat me down and said ‘Jordan, you’re going to be nothing when you grow up’.

She was right. I got suspended for starting a fight in the middle of a GCSE science exam, then I was expelled - I was a lost cause and no one wanted me as their pupil.

I missed a whole year of studying before we found a school who’d have me and I even managed to get a few GCSEs.

I scraped a D in science, an E in English and an F in maths. I didn't even care, it was all a joke to me back then.

While my friends went to college and university, I spent two years of my life in a factory earning £165 a week cutting and bending panels for machinery. If I was late, even by five minutes, they cut my pay.

At 18, I wanted a change. I bought an old car from a friend, fixed it up and sold it for a few hundred quid profit.

Within months I was selling 15 cars a week off my mum's driveway and earning more than I ever imagined.

At 26 I decided to try selling vans, hired a team of staff and made £200,000 in a year.

My business got so big that I was turning over £15 million a year and in 2021, I signed a deal with Kazoo who bought it for £6.5million.

I never ever thought I’d become a millionaire, but it's changed my whole life. I drive a Rolls Royce, I have a property empire worth £15 million.

Instead of living in my mum's spare room, I’m building a house on my own island with 44 moorings.

People probably think I have loads of money but I don't. I invest any spare cash to give myself a passive income. I’ve just become a partner in a new business selling Shepherd's Huts and everyone wants one.

My teachers were wrong about it, but I’d never tell them that. I was an idiot, and I’m sorry I was such a naughty child.

I’m embarrassed when I think about my behaviour as a kid - I wish I could go back in time, but I can't.

Instead, I want to tell any kids who struggle at school that they can do anything they want to if they try. Be good, read books, meet people and believe in yourself - you could be a millionaire too.