A couple have made their first £1million after their card game became a bestseller during lockdown.
Jordanna, 29, and Grant Sanderson, 30, from Leeds, had to borrow money from their grandmothers to keep their business going after creating Shot In The Dark, a quiz game that became hugely popular for Zoom parties.
The game features questions which are described as ‘bizarre, interesting and hilarious’ which ‘nobody knows the answer to’ with players expected to make an educated guess or take ‘a shot in the dark’.
Call centre worker Jordana and accountant Grant are now making around £20,000 a month, but launching the business put their relationship to the test and almost made them miss their wedding in August 2018.
Jordanna and Grant Sanderson had to borrow money from their grandmothers to keep their business going after creating Shot In The Dark but have earned their first £1million after a surge in sales during lockdown
But with people kept at home, the popularity of Zoom quizzes and lockdown, sales have been soaring.
Between March and December last year, 70,000 games were sold, making the couple around £850,000, with Shot in the Dark being ranked the top Amazon board game at Christmas, The Sun reported.
Jordanna, 29, said: ‘It went mental and all of a sudden we were selling 200 units a day.
‘People were snapping up games to play with friends and family over Zoom. We couldn’t believe it – our dream was coming true.’
Launching the business put their relationship to the test and the financial stresses nearly cost them their wedding in August 2018
Shot In The Dark is a card game featuring quiz questions which are described as ‘bizarre, interesting and hilarious’
Jordanna and accountant Grant, 30, came up with the idea for the game four years ago and are now bringing in £20,000 a month.
Jordanna said that it has been hard work, with Grant working up to 80 hours a week and organising a wedding.
She added: ‘But everything worked out and the wedding went ahead – I got a husband and a million pound business.’
When they first created the trial run of games, they needed £1,000 and Jordanna got angry when Grant suggested borrowing from their wedding fund.
They used loans from grandparents to cover the initial costs and, on the morning they flew to Greece for their wedding, Grant was still finishing up packing up the games to ship to Amazon ten minutes before their taxi arrived.
Jordanna admitted there was a moment when she thought they weren’t going to make it and would ‘have to call the whole thing off’.
They had to get a loan of £1,000 from their grandmothers for the trial run of games which they sent to Amazon and now also sell their game in Waterstones stores
They spent £15,000 on credit cards to make more games after getting some good reviews on Amazon for the first batch, coming up with the idea after losing games of Trivial Pursuit to Grant’s dad Gary, 63
When they returned, they spent £15,000 on credit cards to make more games after getting some good reviews on Amazon for the first batch. The games are now sold on Amazon and in Waterstones.
They came up with the idea after losing games of Trivial Pursuit to Grant’s dad Gary, 63, with Gary calling the pair ‘sore losers’.
Grant said: ‘I said to Jordanna that we should come up with a game where players get asked questions so crazy, nobody could possibly know the answers.
‘It would be a game of guesswork so players of all ages had the same chance of winning. We spent the next year coming up with random questions.’
Shot In The Dark has now had nearly 2,500 ratings on Amazon, with 89 per cent of customers rating it four or five stars.
On the morning they flew to Greece for their wedding, Grant was still finishing up packing up the games to ship to Amazon ten minutes before their taxi arrived
Players are expected to make an educated guess or take ‘a shot in the dark’ as people don’t know the exact answers to them