Building a team in affiliate: a 2-person mini venture model

Cem and Esra are 23, live in Odunpazari, Eskisehir, and graduated last summer with no jobs lined up. Instead of grinding solo, they split the thMenu affiliate playbook between them and closed 28 restaurants in 11 months. This article unpacks their real model: who does what, how the money is split, which tools they use, and how you can copy the structure.

Role split: field vs. digital

Cem is extroverted, owns a scooter, and is comfortable in dense areas with parking pain. Mornings 10:00–13:00 and afternoons 15:00–18:00 he visits 6–8 restaurants: short intro, 3-minute tablet demo, business card, photo of the storefront for CRM notes. Daily average: 1.7 demos, 0.4 signed.

Esra runs everything from a laptop: Instagram Reels, TikTok shorts, replies to reviews on the prospect's pages, and "let's digitize your menu" cold DMs. She also sends a 24-hour follow-up WhatsApp to every restaurant Cem visited. That single follow-up step lifted close rate from 42% to 68% — the biggest gap solo affiliates leave on the table.

Commission splitting and the legal reality

thMenu has one dashboard account, in Cem's name, paid to his Wise account. Internally they run a 50-50 verbal split tracked in a shared Excel: every incoming payment is halved and Esra gets an EFT transfer the same day. Simple, works at this scale.

For doomsday scenarios they signed a 2-page internal protocol (not notarised): if they split, the entire affiliate book stays a 50-50 asset, no "who brought who" rules. Tax-wise the income shows under Cem's name; once they cross the annual threshold they will both register and invoice each other. Talk to a local accountant before crossing 200,000 TL.

11 months of data, three big lessons

Total 28 active affiliates, 24 on Pro and 4 on Platinum. Monthly recurring commission averages 9,800 TL at 20% lifetime. Thanks to drip slicing on yearly plans, income is smooth across the calendar. Churn sits at 7% vs. the 11% category average because Esra messages every active restaurant once a month with "how is it going".

• Cold blitz mistake: in month 2 they hit 22 restaurants in a single day. Zero signatures. Speed without targeting is wasted shoe leather.
• Day-of-week truth: Saturday afternoon cafe visits convert at 70%; Sunday slides to 18%. Owners just don't want to talk on Sundays.
• Unequal workload: in month 4 Esra burned out under 8 follow-ups a day. They capped Cem at 5 visits.

FAQ

Can I share my affiliate account with my partner or sibling? The thMenu agreement is tied to one legal person, but how you internally divide commissions and work is your business. A written internal agreement is highly recommended.

Who controls the dashboard login? Whoever opened the account. Cem and Esra share the password, but Esra has no MFA device for it — a real weakness. Use a shared 1Password vault and add MFA on a phone both can reach.

Wouldn't two field reps earn more? Not in Eskisehir. In a 3-week parallel test their total signed deals dropped 11% because follow-up was neglected. Specialization beat duplication.

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