In January 2024, electrical engineer Görkem (32) and mechanical engineer Selma (30), a married couple living in Kayseri's Kocasinan district, made a shared decision: they would enter the thMenu affiliate program together. Both kept their full-time engineering jobs while running evening and weekend one-on-one conversations with restaurant owners. After 22 months they had closed 132 signups and were earning 28,400 TL in recurring monthly commission. The numbers are striking, but the real lesson is the natural stress-sharing and clean role split that working as a couple made possible.
Role Split: Görkem on Outreach, Selma on Closing
Görkem owned first contact and demo. On weekday evenings he sent a short demo video to 20-30 restaurant owners via WhatsApp, followed by 8-12 minute pre-calls. His engineering discipline meant every conversation got categorized in Notion: interested, not-interested, retry-later. Selma owned closing and after-sale: sending contracts, first menu upload, and first-week support replies.
This split delivered two wins. Neither partner fell into "I own the whole funnel" burnout. And the restaurant owner experienced two distinct points of contact, giving the feel of a small team — even though it was just the two of them.
Stress Distribution: The Couple Advantage
The same hits every affiliate gets — rejection, late-paying restaurants, cancelled deals — hit them too. The difference: when Görkem was demoralized on a given day, Selma kept the motivation tank full, and roles flipped the next week. Of the 132 final signups, 41 came from restaurants that initially said no; one partner gave up, the other tried again two months later.
They ran a 90-minute "operations meeting" every Monday evening. Three questions: which pitch landed last week, which segment (kebab houses vs cafés) closed faster, which neighborhood gets prospected next week. They also rehearsed pitches by playing each other's prospects.
- Outreach quota: 15 new restaurants per day (Görkem)
- Close rate: 18% (churn under 4% thanks to Selma's after-sale)
- Best window: weekday 21:00-22:30 (owner free after closing)
Engineering Discipline Applied to Affiliate
Görkem and Selma used their engineering background in two specific ways: number-driven decisions and process optimization. End of every month they ran cohort analysis in Excel — are the 6 restaurants signed in January still paying 22 months later? Why did March cohort churn spike to 12%? They actually answered those questions instead of guessing.
On the process side, they A/B tested four demo video variants. The winner was 8-second intro + 47-second feature highlight, which produced 23% more reply rate. These small cumulative wins are what made 132 signups in 22 months realistic.
FAQ
How are taxes handled when a couple shares commissions? In Turkey each individual files separately. Even if thMenu commission lands in a joint bank account, each partner declares their share on personal income tax.
Is 22 months sustainable alongside full-time engineering jobs? They averaged 14-18 hours/week on affiliate work. Living together makes time optimization easier — dinner can turn into a strategy meeting.
How many of the 132 signups are in Kayseri itself? 94 inside Kayseri (Kocasinan, Melikgazi, Talas), 38 across Nevşehir, Niğde, and Sivas. First six months were Kayseri-only; they expanded to surrounding cities after that.
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