How She Was In a position To Depart Her Finance Job After Incomes $76,000 With Her Aspect Hustle
Ruta Drungilaite is the proprietor of A Twist of Date, a enterprise that helps {couples} discover new and enjoyable date evening concepts with digital choices. She shares with us how she was in a position to earn sufficient to go away her finance job and what she did to get 5000 orders from 80 totally different international locations!
1. Are you able to inform us somewhat about your self and what impressed you to begin your corporation?
I’m Ruta, the proprietor and founding father of A Twist Of Date, serving to {couples} to combine up their date nights from the same old Netflix on the couch routine. I labored in Finance for 7 years, since graduating college, and began this enterprise as a ‘side-project’ whereas nonetheless at my 9-5.
The thought for A Twist Of Date got here to me again in one of many Covid lockdowns in 2021. We reside in London, so we’re normally spoilt for alternative of enjoyable issues to do. My fiance and I’ve accomplished all of it: hidden jazz golf equipment, secret cocktail bars, underground performs, wine and cheese tastings, comedy nights, horrible histories boat tour, escape room – model outside meals maze, indoor mountain climbing, quirky artwork installations, driving vary and lots of extra.
Nevertheless, with lockdown all these decisions have been taken away. In consequence, my fiance was discovering it exhausting to give you distinctive date concepts, whereas my very own creativity was solely propelled by it. It dawned on me that there should be different individuals on the market for whom developing with inventive date concepts at residence (not only a film and dinner) can be a wrestle. So I began to consider how I might resolve that downside for {couples}.
2. Are you able to describe the preliminary steps you took to launch your corporation?
My first concept was to create date evening containers delivered to you, which might have every thing set and deliberate for a romantic night at residence. I’ve launched cocktail making containers on the first of February 2022 in time for Valentine’s day, adopted by pottery workshop containers afterward. The containers included playlists, all of the instruments to make cocktails/pottery creations, deep dialog starters and different actions designed to deepen the connection along with your companion.
{Couples} liked these containers and I had plenty of good suggestions, however making the containers by hand has been extraordinarily labour intensive, revenue margins have been razor skinny/non-existent and the quantity of gross sales was not as excessive as I had initially hoped for. In the end, the date field concept was not a scalable or financially viable one for me to proceed.
6 months into my enterprise, I began promoting a PDF of 110 date concept playing cards, which {couples} might obtain immediately and print out at residence. As this concept went nicely, I pivoted my enterprise away from bodily date evening containers towards digital merchandise, increasing my vary with romantic board video games, chilly case recordsdata, escape rooms, dialog starters and extra. That’s when my enterprise began to essentially take off and I knew I used to be onto one thing.
Quick ahead to 2024, I’ve give up my 9-5 in Finance, after receiving over 5,000 orders from 80 totally different international locations, giving me reassurance that my concept solves a common downside for {couples}.
3. How do your digital choices improve date nights in comparison with extra conventional strategies?
Many {couples} have busy existence and demanding jobs, which makes it exhausting to make time for planning date nights that aren’t simply reserving a restaurant or flicking on one other film.
I take away the ache of planning considerate and distinctive actions, as my digital merchandise are primarily near ‘zero-effort’ to arrange. {Couples} can obtain and print my date nights and have a couple of hours of enjoyable actions at their fingertips in minutes.
4. What platforms or instruments do you employ in your corporation?
I take advantage of plenty of totally different instruments, however the primary ones are:
- Shopify for my web site
- Capcut for modifying all of the movies
- Canva for creating digital merchandise
- Instagram and TikTok for advertising
5. Are you able to describe your advertising technique and the simplest channel you employ to advertise your corporation?
My core advertising instruments that drive nearly all of my gross sales are TikTok and Instagram, the place I create natural useful content material for my viewers ({couples} in long run relationships/married {couples}). I present worth by sharing numerous distinctive date concepts which are typically circuitously associated to the merchandise I promote. This fashion, I place myself as a ‘go-to’ particular person for date concepts, which builds belief and credibility with my viewers.
6. How do you entice and retain prospects in a distinct segment market like date evening planning?
My saveable/shareable content material on social media performs a ‘high of the funnel’ function, attracting {couples} to comply with my web page, discover out extra about my model and the superior date nights I create, main many to subsequently buy my merchandise. I supply a ‘100% happiness assure’ to my prospects and all the time go the additional mile to make sure every particular person has a 5 star expertise with my model, which performs a key function in getting repeat prospects.
7. What are some challenges you may have confronted with your corporation and the way did you overcome them?
Constructing my first enterprise has in all probability been the toughest factor I’ve accomplished in my life and essentially the most rewarding one too. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster of a journey with numerous challenges. Listed here are among the principal ones:
- 1. First product not being viable: As talked about above, my first concept of bodily date evening containers was primarily loss making and never financially viable/scalable. Even as we speak, our cabinets are full of a whole bunch of mini alcohol bottles from the cocktail containers I used to promote! I might have given up at this level, however I made a decision to experiment and pivot, which has led me to digital date evening merchandise I promote as we speak, with 5,000+ orders throughout 80 totally different international locations.
2. Data hole. More often than not I didn’t know what I used to be doing, however I used to be keen to study and persevere. I didn’t have an enormous price range to begin with, so I’ve accomplished every thing myself e.g. coding my web site by trying to find solutions on YouTube, clumsily utilizing Adobe Illustrator to design my emblem, writing privateness coverage, Ts&Cs and different authorized documentation for my web site, creating and designing all of the merchandise with none expertise with Canva, studying to make TikToks and develop on social media, by no means having even used TikTok earlier than. All through my journey, I’ve all the time tried to embrace the mindset of “I do not know how to do that, however I’m certain I can study”.
3. Making an attempt to construct the enterprise with a full time job. There’s no magic or secret right here – balancing my demanding day job and a enterprise has been very powerful. I attempted to work on my enterprise as a lot as I might on the evenings and weekends, however after a full day of ‘firefighting’ at my day job, I did typically really feel emotionally and bodily depleted, so it wasn’t all the time potential to work on my enterprise as a lot as I’d have appreciated to. I’ve needed to settle for that I solely have a lot power and time and for this enterprise is to be sustainable, I needed to prioritize my well being, psychological well being and total wellbeing, despite the fact that it meant that issues are transferring slower than I’d have appreciated to within the quick time period.I needed to be cautious to look at and spot any indicators of my psychological well being taking a toll attributable to overworking and prioritize taking relaxation in addition to doing issues that carry me power and pleasure. My strategy was prioritising consistency of motion – making an attempt to do at the least somewhat bit on daily basis to construct and develop my enterprise.
8. How lengthy did it take you to see constant month-to-month income?
Within the first 6 months of launching my enterprise, my complete income was lower than £3k. 7 months in I’ve had my ‘Flirty Cube’ printable board recreation go viral on TikTok, which introduced in over £700 in simply 3 days, which is after I knew I used to be onto one thing and began to see extra progress from leveraging natural social media to drive gross sales.
As my gross sales have been principally pushed my movies going viral, the revenue ranges diverse considerably from month to month e.g. 7k one month and solely £1k one other. I’m nonetheless engaged on diversifying my advertising methods and income streams to realize extra consistency in income e.g. using electronic mail advertising, rising my presence throughout different social media platforms, engaged on paid model partnerships.
9. When did you understand you may give up your job and go all in with the enterprise?
I’ve had 5,000+ orders from 80 totally different international locations and made round £60k in gross sales earlier than quitting my company 9-5, which reassured me that my concept solves a common downside for {couples} all internationally. With the enterprise idea verified, I felt that I might make this enterprise work, if I devoted my full consideration to it.
I’ve constructed up my private financial savings to maintain myself for at the least the subsequent 12 months, after which I’m hoping to be driving sufficient income to pay myself a wage that’s just like the one I had with my job in Finance. Leaving my well-paid job in Finance is the largest danger I’ve ever taken, however I completely love the enterprise I’ve constructed and consider that with consistency, self-discipline and a progress mindset I’ll be capable of make it work.
10. What recommendation would you give to different aspiring entrepreneurs seeking to begin a enterprise?
Discover a ache level. There’s a sensible guide known as ‘Competing towards luck’ by Clayton M Christensen, which I like to recommend for each aspiring entrepreneur to study figuring out and fixing actual issues.
Validate your concept. Each entrepreneur thinks their concept is incredible, however the one strategy to confirm it’s to see if anybody is keen to pay for it and if it may be worthwhile. When you’re seeking to give up your company job for a facet hustle, I feel it’s important to show your idea earlier than you do.
Prioritise motion over perfection. Be taught to be snug with releasing your concepts into the market and testing them earlier than they’re excellent. The extra messy/scrappy motion you are taking, the faster you’ll get the suggestions you want and be capable of study from it. No level engaged on perfecting your product for years simply to seek out out nobody needs it.
Do one thing you’re really all in favour of. Ask your self whether or not the thought you select for your corporation is one thing you really care about. When you do, the setbacks and disappointments that you simply’ll encounter alongside the best way can be price persevering by means of.
Embrace the expansion mindset. It’s simple to fall into the sufferer mentality, blame the circumstances and really feel sorry for your self, when issues don’t go to plan, but it surely received’t serve you nicely. Take possession of the failures and give attention to what you possibly can study from them. Domesticate the mindset of curiosity and countless studying.
Keep true to your values. We see the stereotypical high-flying entrepreneur going with no sleep for weeks, working all hours of the day and having no time for social life or relationships. Whereas this may work for some, I’m an enormous believer of deliberately defining what ‘success’ means to you personally and consciously selecting ‘the worth you’re keen to pay’ within the totally different points of your life to get there, as a result of I feel you are able to do something, however not every thing. I do know my well being, and relationships with household, buddies and fiance all the time come first and I’m not keen to ‘drop the ball’ on these points of my life, even when it means my enterprise may develop slower.
11. The place can we discover you, as we’re all followers of you now?!
Web site: https://atwistofdate.co.uk/
Instagram: @atwistofdate
TikTok: @atwistofdate
Thanks a lot Ruta for sharing all of this with us! You shared some actually nice stuff!
Be certain to take a look at A Twist Of Date to seek out extra info.
