This Facet Hustle Highlight Q&A options Katy Allen, 38, of Nashville, Tennessee. Allen is the founder and CEO of Artful Agenda, which pairs “the perfect of paper planning with digital comfort,” offering a customizable expertise throughout units. Responses have been edited for size and readability.
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Clever Agenda. Katy Allen.
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What was your day job or main occupation once you began your facet hustle?
I used to be in direct gross sales with Usborne Books and Extra (now PaperPie) and led a gross sales group of over 2,000 consultants.
When did you begin your side hustle, and the place did you discover the inspiration for it?
I began engaged on Clever Agenda in 2017. I got here up with the idea for it when speaking to an in depth good friend at my daughter’s child bathe in 2016. I all the time liked paper planners, however I wanted one thing digital that synced with Google Calendar. I could not discover something that did that whereas additionally specializing in being aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable to make use of.
What have been a number of the first steps you took to get your facet hustle off the bottom?
I employed a enterprise coach. On the time, her coaching business was pretty new, so I used to be capable of get a really reasonably priced charge. She was a supervisor of a co-working area right here in Nashville and was well-connected due to the enterprise homeowners she met there. She was capable of set me up with conferences with individuals who had expertise with UI design, app improvement, and so on.
The opposite factor I did that was tremendous vital was create a personal Facebook group the place I posted all of my mockups and concepts. At first, it was simply associates whose opinions I trusted, however the group quickly grew to incorporate different individuals who purchased into the idea of Clever Agenda. This group gave me unimaginable perception into what sort of product I wanted to make. I posted pricing surveys, requested for suggestions on mockups and extra.
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Clever Agenda
Are there any free or paid assets which have been particularly useful for you in beginning and operating this enterprise?
The factor that basically allowed my enterprise to take off was investing in paid online advertising. I might say my advert company, Foxtail Development, was an enormous a part of my early and continued success. My recommendation could be to seek out an company that may provide strategic progress consulting together with really operating your advertising.
In the event you may return in your enterprise journey and alter one course of or method, what would it not be, and the way do you want you’d completed it in another way?
The primary improvement firm I used was not match. I want I had been extra hands-on in choosing out the corporate I went with, and I want that I had discovered an organization keen to do a hard and fast worth construct of my preliminary product — it is laborious to seek out, nevertheless it does exist. This is able to have protected me from a runaway finances with no workable app to point out for it! I ended up switching improvement corporations after the dangerous expertise with my first, nevertheless it was a tricky and costly mistake.
Relating to this particular enterprise, what’s one thing you have discovered notably difficult and/or shocking that individuals who get into such a work must be ready for, however seemingly aren’t?
It would not matter how superior your app or software program is — you’re almost certainly not going to grow your business efficiently and not using a vital advertising finances. It is easy to be a bit naive at first and assume that if one thing you make is nice, it can simply organically unfold. I feel lots of apps battle as a result of all of their finances goes into creating the app, however then they do not have sufficient of a consumer base to turn into worthwhile.
Are you able to recall a particular occasion when one thing went very unsuitable? How did you repair it?
The primary improvement firm I went with blew by means of my budget and solely had half of the app developed. I paid what I owed them to get my code, and I discovered somebody right here in Nashville who was capable of assist me interview new builders. He was a UI designer who was comparatively well-connected. He was capable of introduce me to my present improvement firm and helped me negotiate a hard and fast worth deal to take the code I had and make it prepared for launch.
How lengthy did it take you to see constant month-to-month income? How a lot did the facet hustle earn?
I began incomes modest but constant month-to-month income straight away as a result of I had constructed up a big group of beta testers in my non-public Fb group. As soon as I launched, they have been excited to turn into paying prospects. I made $1,000 to $2,000 a month, however I wasn’t worthwhile as a result of I had overhead prices for issues like tech help. It wasn’t till I ran advertisements for six months that I began to become profitable.
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Clever Agenda
What does progress and income appear to be now?
Our annual gross income is correct round $3.5 million now, and our common month-to-month gross is round $275,000. We’re positioned to develop 10% yr over yr within the second half of 2025. In our earlier years, progress was fairly fast — over 100% growth yr over yr.
How a lot time do you spend engaged on your enterprise? What does a typical day or week of labor appear to be for you?
Clever Agenda is now my full-time job. I do not promote books anymore as a result of this took off a lot. I’m normally obtainable throughout typical enterprise hours, however I’m somebody who likes to have facet quests, so I am not all the time engaged on Clever Agenda the entire day. I’ve three younger children and a 100-year-old home that we’re reworking, so the quantity I work every day varies enormously. If we have now an enormous initiative or inner venture, I’ll get hyper-focused and work the complete day and into the night. However I even have days after I’m simply checking in, answering some messages and specializing in different issues in my life.
What do you take pleasure in most about operating this enterprise?
The flexibility it has afforded me and the truth that it is not repetitive or mundane. The truth that I get to faucet into my strengths, technique, problem-solving and creativity makes it extra fulfilling.
What’s your greatest piece of particular, actionable enterprise recommendation?
Deal with getting began like a scavenger hunt. Consider one particular person you possibly can attain out to for advice or to select their mind. They are going to seemingly have the ability to level you in a path, and the place they level you is the subsequent cease in your scavenger hunt. It took lots of conferences and being pointed to the subsequent one who would possibly have the ability to assist me to determine the right way to really take motion and make it occur. Be keen to ask lots of questions and go within the path you’re pointed. Each particular person you discuss to is one other clue in your journey.
This text is a part of our ongoing Ladies Entrepreneur® sequence highlighting the tales, challenges and triumphs of operating a enterprise as a girl.
This Facet Hustle Highlight Q&A options Katy Allen, 38, of Nashville, Tennessee. Allen is the founder and CEO of Artful Agenda, which pairs “the perfect of paper planning with digital comfort,” offering a customizable expertise throughout units. Responses have been edited for size and readability.
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Clever Agenda. Katy Allen.
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