Hassan Younas stared at his phone screen with wide eyes. His eyebrows furrowed and his lips in a frown. How did he let it get this bad he thought to himself.
Unlike his friends, Younas didn’t have a job and the few dollars that were in his bank account were rapidly dwindling. The boy was sad, hopeless and worried about his future.
“I had nothing that summer, I think I maybe had $20 in my bank account and I remember taking a screenshot of my balance and promising myself that I would never let it get this bad,” said Younas.
New beginnings
Wanting to get himself out of this penniless situation, the 18-year-old had a burst of motivation and decided to pursue his own business.
Younas says he always hated working a regular job and despised the idea of waking up each morning to commute to an office.
“I have always been someone who finds ways to make money from flipping things or other side hustles,” he said.
During this time, Younas was planning on redecorating his room and in doing so, he stumbled upon a neon sign on Amazon. It was only $100 and in that moment something in Younas’ brain clicked.
He was going to flip the sign. He had an idea with lots of potential, and that’s when he founded his company Neon.YYC.
“Once I got my first neon sign, I listed it on Facebook Marketplace for $200 and after 6 hours, I already got seven inquiries,” said Younas.
“Later that day I sold it for $185, so I made $85 during that day, really with no risk and during that time, it really felt good.”
Younas continued doing this for the entire summer and had made more than $1,000 in profit.
Once the summer was over, Younas began studying business, majoring in finance, while also trying to keep up with his brand.
Custom signs
Since signs from Amazon were pre-made, they couldn’t be customized. However, that didn’t stop customers from making customization requests, but Younas says he would just brush them off.
“When the sales from the Amazon signs started to die off, I began to think. I needed to think of something else and work harder,” he said.
Seeing the need, Younas decided to start taking requests for custom work.
“I started this on Instagram and for the first month, I didn’t get any inquiries.”
Booming business
After a long month of waiting, Younas finally got a big break — his first sale.
“I felt so amazing, this first sale validated the business model so much for me and all I did after that was continue to find more clients,” he said.
Younas’ second client was a lot bigger than his first — the owner of a club in downtown Calgary. He was opening a new location and wanted a couple of neon signs.
This was a huge deal for Younas as he had only been in business for a couple months.
“I met up with him, and that was my first ever business meeting, and we discussed what he was looking to get made,” said Younas.
“It was an amazing experience. As much as I love the money part of things, I really enjoy meeting new people and creating new experiences like these.”
Seeing a sign
Younas has created several signs since then, some great, others not so much.
“There was this one time, I got asked to do a sign for a club here in Calgary, and it was supposed to say, ‘horny angel,’ and I thought it was the weirdest thing ever, funny, but weird,” said Younas in a previous interview.
Younas’ favourite sign is ‘The Moon,’ which is a soft neon sign with yellow and gold. The business that requested it is The Moon Tea House, a bubble tea cafe near Victoria Park.
“I love bubble tea and I always go to that cafe to get a drink and when they reached out to me for a sign, I was really happy to help out as I love going there,” said Younas.
Tooba Javed is a customer of Neon.YYC.
“My brothers love this anime called Naruto and I was looking for a gift for them and that’s when I accidentally stumbled upon Neon.YYC,” Javed said in a previous interview.
At the time, Javed’s brothers’ birthdays were approaching, and she had decided to get them a custom sign related to the show.
“My brothers loved the sign, it’s their favourite thing ever. They have it up in the basement and it’s literally always on,” she said.
Future plans
Having just turned 19-years-old, Younas says it felt “so nice” to run his own business after having nothing for so long.
Younas is now receiving business from all over Canada, including cities like Edmonton and Vancouver.
“It’s crazy how this idea was started due to me finding something for my room,” he said. “I’m still not even close to where I want to be. I have so many more ideas that I want to pursue for Neon.YYC.”
Neon signs have become the next ‘go to’ signs for businesses. Many people are starting to transition from old LED signs to neon signs.
“It was an amazing experience. As much as I love the money part of things, I really enjoy meeting new people and creating new experiences like these.” – Hassan Younas
“Everyone has a use for it and it gives life to a room,” said Younas.
“I do believe things might change over the years and that I would need to adapt to those changes to be one step ahead of my competitors.”
Younas says it is his goal to make a sustainable living off of his signs.
