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While many of his peers were using their student loans to go out and have a good time Ryan Walton was investing his into his business.

And it has paid off.

Aura Ads is quickly closing in on a 拢1m run rate In its first year.

Like all good business people, it was all about spotting that gap in the market and exploiting it. For Ryan, that gap was DTC marketing.

This is direct to consumer marketing using video and reaching customers on social media. Or, to put it more basically, it is making video content for companies to build their brand awareness on social media.

Ryan already has an impressive roster of clients, which include Huel, Pact Coffee, Abbot Lyon, and Freddie鈥檚 Flowers.

鈥淒TC brands rely on paid social, specifically Facebook ads, to drive a large proportion of their sales revenue,鈥� explains Ryan.

鈥淭he performance of that sales channel, particularly customer acquisition, is extremely reliant on great creativity to convert prospects into paying customers.

鈥淭he current options on offer in the market were extremely limited, and with the rapid move to online, which was accelerated by covid, I decided to create something purpose-built for the market.

鈥淪omething that I knew first-hand from running my own small DTC brand and talking to friends who ran eCommerce brands - would immediately gain traction and be of interest to the DTC market.鈥�

This lead Ryan to start Aura Ads.

鈥淎ura Ads is our DTC-focused subscription service that allows our clients to produce beautiful direct response creative for paid social on a monthly basis, friction-free,鈥� explains Ryan.

鈥淎s far as I鈥檓 aware, it鈥檚 the first of its kind; a fully productised service business, which makes it even more exciting.鈥�

In terms of monthly recurring revenue, Ryan says the business is heading towards a 拢1m per year run rate and expects to be there within the next few months.

He adds the company is sitting on six figures in the bank and they are maintaining that margin despite rapid growth.

Despite being only 23 years of age Ryan has gathered a lot of experience to get himself to this point. And the company has been built without any loans, apart the money he used from his private student loans.

鈥淲e received no business grants and no investments,鈥� Ryan says.

鈥淚 bootstrapped the company with my student loans, using the money to live off whilst I started to make the business cash generating.

鈥淚 was always in the mindset that the business should be self-sustaining and revenue-generating from day one, I didn鈥檛 want to lose any equity whilst it was still finding its feet.鈥�

He also reached out to friends to help gain further understanding of the markets and their needs.

鈥淲hen I was first starting the business, I was lucky enough to meet a couple of friends who, at the time, ran early-stage eCommerce brands and through those relationships, I was able to really understand the pain points of the market and understand what they needed most,鈥� Ryan explains.

鈥淚 also wanted to get a feel for the market first hand, so I set-up my own little eCommerce brand, a dropshipping store [a business model that allows entrepreneurs to start an online business and sell products to their buyers without ever actually stocking the items themselves] that sold accessories for French Bulldogs.

鈥淭his was very much a sandpit for testing different ideas and understanding what worked and what didn鈥檛.

鈥淚 wish I could say that business was successful, but the reality is that I made a lot of mistakes and learned from them. It was also the platform with which I was able to build my understanding of the eCommerce space and credit my success now with that sandpit.鈥�

As with every business the pandemic threw up plenty of obstacles to overcome. As well as concern for the mental and physical wellbeing of his staff, Ryan was also having to deal with working out a way to continue shooting videos despite the intermittent lockdowns. This meant he and members of his staff resorted to building studios at home for product shoots.

鈥淲e also gave a small discount to brands that chose to use animation rather than taking part on on-location shoots, as this would decrease the amount of time members of staff had to spend in new places, with new people,鈥� said Ryan.

鈥淲e preferred to give the discount than put staff and actors at any sort of increased risk.鈥�

Despite the pandemic, Ryan has been able to build the team at Aura Ads. In February he was a lone operator, and over the past year, he has brought onboard seven members of staff. He anticipates hiring around four more people in the coming months.

Ryan is also looking for office space to house the team and has space for shooting and editing.

Working for himself has always been the aim for Ryan.

鈥淚 wanted to be a changemaker, to be able to just 鈥榙o stuff鈥� when I felt like it rather than be prohibited by someone else,鈥� he says.

鈥淚 detest the idea of being stuck in a job that you don鈥檛 particularly enjoy, with little ability to influence the company you work for or your immediate environment.

鈥淚 feel like I have a talent for accruing knowledge and applying it to areas that I think could be developed into something more than they are now. Across the few part-time jobs I had before starting my company, I always felt like reporting to someone else would reduce my ability to do that.鈥�

The key bit of advice Ryan has for someone starting a business is to think small. Not for the business but the idea.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e much better off becoming an expert in a more specific, niche market rather than being a generalist,鈥� he explains.

鈥淭he most valuable advice I can give to someone who鈥檇 like to start their own business is; understand and segment your market. Spend time understanding your target customer, what their needs are, and how you may be able to help them.鈥�

Ryan is ambitious for the future. He doesn鈥檛 see any limitations.

鈥淔irst and foremost we want to get to our 拢1m run rate target. That鈥檚 our big objective at the moment. From there, I think it鈥檒l be a case of scaling up further and aiming ever higher. 拢5m? 拢10m? Who knows, but it鈥檚 all absolutely achievable for us,鈥� he says.

鈥淲e鈥檒l also be taking on some investment with partners we think will help to rapidly accelerate our growth and open up new doors, which is extremely exciting.鈥�

Ryan is also keen to point out that he wouldn鈥檛 be able to have done this without his support network.

鈥淚 have so much love and gratitude for family, friends, and my partner who has all backed me 100%, giving me the ability to confidently make decisions knowing that I have people who will support me no matter what.鈥�