Day in the Life of a $2M/Year Embroidery Business She Built in her Teens

Soulmate Customs started with an investment of just $300 for a small embroidery machine and achieved $1 million (approx. 150 million JPY) in sales within 11 months of founding. With zero advertising costs, a TikTok post went viral in its first week, leading to rapid growth.

Posts 5-10 videos daily across all platforms: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, and Facebook. One viral video recorded 93.8 million views and 5.2 million likes.

Currently, 50% of orders are hoodies, followed by keychains, then necklaces. Approximately 60% of customers are from the US, with the remaining 40% being international (e.g., Germany, Australia, Canada).

The key to success is creative testing: systematizing viral video formats as "pillars," batch-producing six videos within each pillar, and continuously testing new formats in parallel.

All embroidery designs are hand-drawn by real artists. Clothing blanks are sourced from US manufacturers, while jewelry is procured from Chinese manufacturers. When orders surge, the first shortage is personnel (artists and packing staff).

Family-run business: Mother handles production management, brother handles paid advertising, father provides support, and she herself manages marketing, social media, and event planning. Currently, there are approximately 20 employees, and the office has moved 4 times in 4 years.

Her parents ran a factory with 200 employees in Albania, but closed the business and immigrated to the US for their family's future. At one point, they lost money and faced difficult circumstances, but the success of Soulmate Customs saved the family.

The loneliest part of being an entrepreneur is growing apart from friends of the same generation. Communities of empathetic fellow entrepreneurs and mastermind groups become a source of emotional support.

The most important thing is to just start without waiting for perfection. Over-analyzing or listening too much to others' opinions leads to discouragement. Failure is also a learning experience, and the only true failure is giving up.

The most important thing in business is the ability to analyze numbers. Intuition can lie, but numbers do not. Even creative individuals need to acquire analytical skills.