Mick Donaghy: How he built $1.4M from $7K (after his partnership collapsed) Mick Donaghy's mother died when he was in his twenties. Life's too short became his operating system. He left Ireland. Moved to New Zealand. Became a top-billing recruiter! A few years later, he got his shot at ownership. A partnership to launch an Australian business for the agency he worked. For many reasons, this partnership didn’t work, so Mick paid back his business partner and walked away with $7,000 in his bank account. No business. No plan B. This time, he was doing it alone. GEDON was born - named after his Mum. Ultra-niche: quantity surveying and cost management. One discipline. Total focus. 12 months later: $1.4M AUD in billings. 65 placements. One person every three days. But here's what makes Mick different. He's not building an empire.- he’s building freedom! Currently has 9 people, 5 offshore making 40%+ profit margins. Last week, he won 3 new clients from his personal brand. Zero cold calls. He just bought a 100-year-old house in Belfast. Cash. He drives an old Toyota Corolla, does 30 minutes in the sauna daily and is two and a half years into rebuilding his relationship with alcohol. He’s now set a new and incredible target: 20-hour work week. $300-400K profit annually. This week on The RAG Podcast, Mick tells the full story. We cover: The partnership in Australia that COVID nearly destroyed How he started Gedon with $7K and built it to $1.4M in year one Why ultra-niche made his business borderless The personal brand strategy that replaced cold calling Why he refuses to scale headcount His sobriety journey and the 20-hour work week plan This isn't about scaling fast. It's about a man who lost his mom young, tried a partnership that collapsed, and rebuilt everything from $7,000 into a million-dollar business that gives him his life back. No investor decks. No growth-at-all-costs. Just freedom over headcount. If you've ever wondered whether there's another way to build a business—one that doesn't trap you -this episode has the blueprint. __________________________________________ Episode Sponsor: Atlas Admin is a massive waste of time. That's why there's Atlas, the AI-first recruitment platform built for modern agencies. It doesn't only track CVs and calls. It remembers everything. Every email, every interview, every conversation. Instantly searchable, always available. And now, it's entering a whole new era. With Atlas 2.0, you can ask anything and it delivers. With Magic Search, you speak and it listens. It finds the right candidates using real conversations, not simply look for keywords. Atlas 2.0 also makes business development easier than ever. With Opportunities, you can track, manage and grow client relationships, powered by generative AI and built right into your workflow. Need insights? Custom dashboards give you total visibility over your pipeline. And that's not theory. Atlas customers have reported up to 41% EBITDA growth and an 85% increase in monthly billings after adopting the platform. No admin. No silos. No lost info. Nothing but faster shortlists, better hires and more time to focus on what actually drives revenue. Atlas is your personal AI partner for modern recruiting. Don't miss the future of recruitment. Get started with Atlas today and unlock your exclusive RAG listener offer at https://recruitwithatlas.com/therag/ __________________________________________ Episode Sponsor: Hoxo Every recruitment founder is investing in...
