Where It Started &
How It Got Here
Every business in the current portfolio sits on a foundation that was built long before it existed. The early ventures — a coffee shop, a cleaning company, a burger franchise — taught more about operations, scale, and execution than anything else could.
Before the Portfolio, There Was the Foundation
The businesses Ray runs today weren't built in a vacuum. They were built on the back of everything that came before — including the ones that don't exist anymore.
Buzzing Oasis
Coffee Shop · 2015–2017
The first business. Opened in 2015 with older brother Sal — a proper coffee shop, not a side project. Running a hospitality business from day one puts you in the deep end fast: staff, suppliers, cash flow, customer experience, and the reality that margins are tight and execution has to be near-perfect every day.
Buzzing Oasis ran for two years. What it gave Ray wasn't just a story — it was a real-world education in operations, people management, and what it actually takes to run a business with physical premises. It also made it clear that the most scalable businesses aren't the ones with the highest rent.
Prodigy Cleaning Services
Commercial Cleaning · Founded 2016 · Now Sydney Commercial Clean
Started during the Buzzing Oasis years — because building one business while running another is just how the pattern goes. Prodigy Cleaning Services was a commercial cleaning operation, built and operated from the ground up. The business proved the model, built the systems, and grew a solid client base across Sydney.
The business has since been rebranded to Sydney Commercial Clean and is now owned and operated by brother Sal Breslin. Ray still runs the digital side — SEO, web presence, and digital infrastructure — keeping it performing online. The client roster includes commercial clients across Sydney, among them Defence Bank — Kuttabul Branch, Potts Point. A business that passed hands but didn't lose its foundation or its clients.
Slide N Shake
American Burger Franchise · Founded 2016
Slide N Shake started with a simple idea — bring proper American-style sliders and shakes to Sydney. Ray co-founded it with a business partner, opening the first store in Gordon, NSW. The concept landed immediately. Sliders and shakes led to full American burgers, and the demand made franchising the obvious next step.
From a single store in Gordon, Slide N Shake expanded across Sydney through licensed operators:
Six locations across Sydney, all running with licensed operators. Building, franchising, and scaling a food business is a masterclass in systems, brand consistency, operator management, and what happens when a concept genuinely resonates with people. Slide N Shake did all of that.
Featured on Channel 7's Sunrise
Slide N Shake was featured in a Sunrise campaign on Channel 7 — one of Australia's highest-rating morning programs. National reach for a brand built from the ground up in Sydney.
What Those Years Actually Built
The early ventures weren't detours. They were the curriculum.
Operational Reality
Running a coffee shop and a cleaning business at the same time teaches you how operations actually work — not theory, not frameworks. Real rosters, real margins, real problems at 6am.
Franchise-Level Scale
Taking Slide N Shake from one store to six franchised locations in a few years is a hands-on education in brand systems, operator relationships, and what it takes to grow something beyond yourself.
Pattern Recognition
Every industry has the same underlying problems: finding customers, retaining them, building systems, managing people, and staying profitable. Solving those problems across multiple industries makes you faster at all of them.
Formal Certifications
Alongside direct experience, Ray holds formal certifications across digital marketing, SEO, and web platforms — covering the tools and disciplines used daily across the business portfolio.
SEMrush
Google, Duda & Canva
Fundamentals of Digital Marketing
Google Digital Garage
Google My Business Basics
Google Web Designer Basics
YouTube Channel Growth
Certified in Web Design
Duda
Certified Platform Specialist
Duda
Canva Essentials
Canva (via Network Infinity)
The Portfolio Keeps Growing
The story isn't finished. If you want to work with someone who's been in the rooms, built the businesses, felt the pressure, and still chooses to keep building — start with a conversation.