This Q&A spotlights Side Hustle with Kyle Morrand, the company’s founder and CEO 302 Interactive, a company that gives an “end-to-end solution” for augmented reality mobile applications, game development, virtual reality and immersive experiences. In addition to its gaming offerings, 302 Interactive develops experiences for projects including assistive technology devices for the visually impaired, training simulators for the U.S. Marine Corps, VR escape rooms and more.
Image source: courtesy of 302 Interactive. Kyle Morrand.
What was your day job (or other sources of income) when you began working on the side?
When 302 began growing as a side business, I used to be still a student at the University of Central Florida and working as a programmer for government contractors here in Orlando, Florida.
My first job out of university was at QinetiQ on projects as a part of the internal research and development program. We experimented with the use of virtual and augmented reality equipment for the Navy. After working there, I started working for one other government contractor working on instructional design solutions for various maintenance and operator training programs.
Although the subject material of those works was not of private interest to me, I learned a lot about conducting research and development experiments and applying them appropriately in the real world. Furthermore, the stability that these jobs provided when we were first shaping 302 Interactive was really essential because it provided me with a healthy creative space when I went home and worked nights and weekends on contract projects inside 302 LLC.
When did you begin your side business and where did you discover the inspiration for it?
I began the studio while I used to be in college as a side project that I could work on during classes. Growing up, I all the time loved playing video games, and when I moved into my apartment in college, apartment 302, I had two roommates who shared that love, and the three of us spent a ridiculous period of time and money buying retro games that we liked. he collected and played consistently.
I used to be originally inspired by watching Indie Game: Movie, a film about the “trials and tribulations of creativity.” It opened my eyes to see that such talented creators with very worthwhile skills were essentially living like ravenous artists, pursuing their passion projects.
In 2013, I began pondering about build a company that may enable digital creators to make use of their creativity without sacrificing healthy living and working conditions. After several attempts, I made a decision to start out a game studio that might help other game studios through collaboration and shared resources. This idea has since evolved into the company we are today, but the core intention of creative sustainability is at the heart of our values and company-wide culture.
What were the first steps you took to interrupt away from the game?
When I got here up with the idea to start out 302, I used to be a computer engineering student at UCF. I began learning about game development from books in the library and quickly decided that I needed to go all the way and learn the art of game design by going to UCF’s game design program. That was the first big step that connected me with many people I still work with.
Shortly after, I purchased my first virtual reality kit, which began me on my path to becoming a technologist. I began tinkering with various VR ideas and presented my designs at local developer meetups, which is how I attracted our first contract projects. The idea of experimenting with recent technologies, presenting the possibilities, and then organically attracting individuals who needed help became our company’s predominant marketing strategy for the first five years of growth. We used no promoting and little or no social media, as a substitute relying heavily on networking at events and word of mouth recommendations for projects.
Another factor that was essential in those early years was investing in a creative team culture. We spent a lot of time together as a team. From design sessions in my apartment to local game jams and even traveling to California for a game developer conference, in the starting we spent most of our time just having fun with the means of working together. This paid off when we began hiring our first employees, because the team members who joined were all the time most interested in our culture, and recent members easily jumped into projects with positive energy.
What were the biggest challenges you faced in building your side team and how did you overcome them?
Two challenges we regularly faced were consistently finding contract work while also attempting to build our own creative projects.
We began as a local development shop, working primarily with startups and small businesses in our community that needed support with their research and development projects. This was a very difficult approach to maintain revenue flow because these projects were area of interest and very diverse. To solve this problem, we began to focus our marketing efforts on building brand and relationships on a national level, participating in events corresponding to Augmented World Expo, Game Developers Conference and many others. Making this investment year after year helped build a strong community of client and supplier partners, which ultimately provided us with a consistent stream of access to recent design work.
On the other side of the business side, we tried to balance our ambitions to supply a stable income from contract work while also pursuing our own creative projects, corresponding to creating our own game or building XR products that we could commercialize. For the first few years, we struggled to perform each goals concurrently, and only recently have we been in a position to more evenly divide our team’s time and resources to effectively manage our client projects while also designing and building recent ones internally. own, creative projects.
This is still an area of development for us, but we have recent opportunities ahead of us, which we consider will help us realize our creative ambitions.
How long did it take for you to attain stable monthly income? How much did the side hustle earn?
In the first three years of 302’s founding as a game studio, we made little or no revenue. Most of our activity at that point consisted of sophistication projects and then promoting ourselves at local networking events and building relationships throughout our community.
In our fourth year of operation (2017), I began freelancing, building small projects for local corporations that wanted to make use of game design and XR technology in their very own businesses. At the end of 2017, we began to consistently implement at least two contract projects at once. This allowed us to earn roughly $5,000-$10,000 in monthly revenue. This trend continued in 2018, when we averaged $10,000 per 30 days and $130,000 in income per year.
When did you’re taking over the company full-time? What does growth and revenue appear to be today?
In the spring of 2018, we signed a contract with Steamroller Technologies to work on a project for Universal Creative. Thanks to this agreement, 302 Interactive had a stable enough revenue forecast that I used to be in a position to quit my day job and join the company full-time. This year we made $130,000 on just a few contract projects. Over the next three years, we managed regular project growth and increased contract rates as we improved our processes and team talent.
By 2021, we were earning an average of $30,000 per 30 days, and in 2022, larger projects helped us double our revenue to an average of $70,000 per 30 days. This trend continued in 2023, where we earned $1.9 million annually.
What do you enjoy most about running this business?
Honestly, what I like most is that the business is a reflection of my life, ambition and creativity. Growing up in a very digital lifestyle stuffed with video games, apps and social media, I’ve had time to reflect on some of the impacts digital technology has had on my life and our society, especially when it involves mental health. Through our company’s commitment to “turning everyday life into fun,” I spend my days transforming our relationship with technology to design a lifestyle that is more playful and ultimately eliminates some of the symptoms of depression and anxiety that appear standard in today’s world. each day life.
Another advantage is that during this trip I get to work with friends as employees and industry partners on fun and meaningful projects that express our collective creativity.
What is your advice for others seeking to start a successful side hustle or their very own business?
Start slowly and rigorously.
Over the years, a few of my friends got really excited about trends they saw on the web and quickly began a business, only to quickly burn out. They have all the motivation, skills and access to resources you think it is advisable to succeed – but I’ve found that rushing into sound business practices and chasing trends normally results in shallow results.
Instead, start your side hustle with more conscious intentions. Take some time to explain the culture you wish your organization to embody and the values, people and resources needed to develop that culture. Then apply your culture and skills to assist your first customer with a problem you’ll be able to easily solve. Once you successfully solve someone’s problem, that first customer becomes an invaluable story in your marketing which you can use to organically attract more customers. The snowball effect of maintaining your culture, sharing your story, and helping more people through your small business will begin.
This approach takes time, but I have found that patience pays off. It permits you to create deeper relationships with your clients and team, resulting in a community around you that cheers on your continued growth and success because they consider in your well-intentioned efforts.
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