I Built An Online Community For Founders And Made $2K On Launch
My name is Dan Ahn and I run a community called The Self-Improvement Movement (THE SIM for short). The main focus right now is growing THE SIM to help 1,000 people level up their lives by at least 2 points before the end of 2024. Right now we offer 2 weekly calls and a 10-week Self-Improvement challenge, a cohort-based learning sprint.
Our members are early-to-mid stage creators, solopreneurs, and performers obsessed with self-improvement, who want to build stronger social connections and live a balanced, healthy, lifestyle.
I launched the community on February 13th, 2024, after incorporating an LLC on August 31st, 2023. For the first 5 months of my business, I didn’t know what I was doing, other than what excited me the most. I was coaching a few people, writing on LinkedIn everyday, testing out content on different social media platforms, and obsessing over branding.
I kept joining these communities where there was a top of funnel content engine providing free value and attracting leads, an element of supporting people through big internal transformations, and a group of like-minded people to meet and grow with along the way.
I realized this business model was exactly what I was looking for and none of these communities felt exactly like my own as of March 16, 2024, we have 20 members in our community.
Since the membership fees for the first 20 members have been $100, I’ve made $1,900 (I count myself as a member), not including the $2,200 I made through 1:1 coaching when I first incorporated my LLC.
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
Mental health and loneliness are something I’ve struggled with for most of my life. The reason I want to create a community for ambitious people is to create something I, and past versions of myself, would love. I’ve always been interested in self-improvement, struggled to form deeper relationships with people, and been fascinated with creation, so making content, building a business, and character transformation is something I could see myself doing forever.
A year ago I was so anxious and depressed I’d sit in ice baths for 15 minutes to get out of my head and into my body. I’d go weeks without talking to another human, outside of my boss, and my clients and prospects. I was numbing myself with alcohol, food, and video games and I felt so stuck, lonely, and unhappy.
I invested over $32,000 in therapy, coaching, courses, books, and communities to build a stronger relationship with myself and others. The inner work I did has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and what I’m most proud of, and it was expensive, long, and lonely. My goal is to help others at a fraction of the cost, in a shorter time frame, and to do it with a community.
This led me to believe this could be a great business opportunity too. First, we’re in a loneliness epidemic and people crave social connections. Second, Sam Parr launched Hamptons and he talks a lot about community; he killed it with the Hustle. Third, I was joining a ton of communities, meet-ups, and groups and the prevailing theme was how refreshing it is to connect with a group of like-minded people so the anecdotal evidence was there for me too.
I had about ~18 months of runaway when I quit my job and didn’t necessarily do so with a plan to create a successful business. I was so burnt out, all I wanted was some time and space to figure out what was next. I currently have about ~5 months of runway (nearly all of my assets right now are in crypto and that’s blowing up).
Responding to comments, sliding into DM’s, setting up calls, and meeting people a great way for creating warm leads and meeting new people. Then writing good copy, providing social proof, and posting consistently helps attract new members.
Take us through the process of building the first version of your product.
I modeled THE SIM Community based on my personal experiences with other groups where we had calls and I noted what I liked, didn’t like, and thought could be better to design better conversations. My focus right now has been on a few key areas:
1) Setting the Right Expectations
A lot of the communities I joined didn’t share what calls would be about and there wasn’t much consistency with the formatting. To avoid that, I include a description in the calendar invite with what each call is going to be about, send a Slack message to the group with any updates to the agenda, and then preface any nuances before we kick off the meeting. Reminding people why we’re all gathered together and what we’re all doing is important to make sure we’re all on the same page.
2) Create Engagement
Many of the calls I joined as well were webinar style calls where one, or a few speakers, would speak most of the time. There is so much information out there, courses, creators, and books. Even leaders at work do more talking than listening.
I wanted to create a space where people could share, engage, and connect instead of getting talked at and having more information thrown at them. I believe there’s more value in having people open up so most of our calls are designed around facilitating deeper conversations where everyone has an opportunity to discuss and voice their opinions.
3) Accessibility and Over Delivering on Value
I’ve spent a lot of money on self-improvement and only a few of those resources felt accessible for a larger audience of people, and even fewer felt like they gave me more value than I paid for.
My goal with THE SIM is to price my community at a cost anyone could afford so money wouldn’t be the barrier to finding support and delivering 10x value so everyone walks away feeling amazing and sharing what we’re up to so we can grow even more. I believe you can do well, and make an impact, and I want to prove that with my pricing at THE SIM.
Describe the process of launching the business.
My launch strategy has been inspired by the engineering philosophy of ship fast, and ship everyday. I’ve been focused on making 1% improvements to my website, brand, and content while gravitating toward what brings me the most energy.
My initial branding was more focused on coaching and was a bit goofy, playful, and spontaneous. I was having a lot of fun creating this ‘persona’ for my business but I realized I had to start taking myself more seriously and create some more direction, and meaning behind what I was doing. This blog post outlines my thought process behind The Self-Improvement Movement brand and how I came up with it.
I’ve been funding everything through savings I’ve earned throughout the past 5 years. Since I’ve burned through all my cash, I’m now liquidating stocks and crypto to pay monthly expenses. Right now I have about 4 months of crypto left and since that’s blowing up I’m optimistic that can give me more time, in addition to the revenue I’m earning through THE SIM Community membership fees.
The biggest lesson I learned is to prioritize my intuition over traditional advice. One example is everyone says to niche down and I’ve given up on that. Doing more is exciting for me and I get the most energy from working on multiple things at once. I’m okay with building several ideas at a time, even if that means slower growth.
Starting a business has shown me how hard it is to be a leader and how anyone can become more entrepreneurial in their day to day life without taking massive risks and quitting their jobs like I did.
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?
All 19 members of The Self-Improvement Movement came inbound after posting online. I’ve been involved in various communities and meeting new people in WhatsApp Groups as well so nearly 50% of the people who’ve joined are friends, people I had several previous interactions with, and the other 50% came in cold.
Most of my posts fall into 2 categories, ‘personal storytelling’ and ‘building in public’. On the personal storytelling side, I write about what’s going on in my life, and lessons I’ve learned, and share progress updates on my goals. I’m plugged into several communities, growing THE SIM Community to 1,000 members, training for 100-mile-ultra and the 1,000 club, and partnering with a ton of brands, so there’s lots to talk about.
On the ‘building in public’ side, I share updates on membership growth, and testimonials on what members are saying each time we meet so people love to see how I’m growing my brand, community, and business.
Most members who’ve joined said they resonated with something I shared and appreciated the testimonials they saw on my website. The vulnerability of my writing and the social proof from other members has been a core pillar of why people have joined.
Some themes I’ve been noticing that make THE SIM Community unique are:
- We’re diverse in age, occupation, and personalities
- We have a 20-year-old Customer Success Manager and a 45-year-old father of five who’s a solopreneur
- We have a serial entrepreneur who immigrated from Kyrgyzstan and a Korean American speaker who’s interviewed Kamala Harris
- We have a Software Engineer turned Bookkeeper and therapist in training as well as a former Forbes 30 Under 30 CEO turned Product Manager and Content Creator
- We aren’t afraid to be vulnerable
- Each week we share our highs and lows, and discuss things that haven’t gone well in our lives, and the level of authenticity in our group conversations is what brings us closer together
- We’re all kind people
- A lot of my posts center around giving more than taking and being generous, so I’ve attracted a lot of people who resonate with this value
Responding to comments, sliding into DM’s, setting up calls, and meeting people is a great way to create warm leads and meet new people. Then writing good copy, providing social proof, and posting consistently helps attract new members. I post multiple times a day on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, and Instagram. Most people have come through LinkedIn, I’d estimate around 80%.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
Today, I’ve made $1,900 with 20 total members in my community. I’ve also made around $2,200 through 1:1 coaching.
Currently, the community is growing consistently. Nearly one person has joined every day since launching and the feedback has been promising. Many members have been asking how they can help grow the community which shows my goal of over-delivering and spreading through word of mouth is working.
I am launching a podcast, and moving more into video content soon, so I’m excited to collaborate with other creators and entrepreneurs to share their self-improvement stories. I see a lot more people in the community with new perspectives keeping the energy fresh. I’d love to see member-led workshops, meetings, and small groups forming based on location, interests, and demographics, with in-person events and swag as well.
People want to connect with 3 groups of people, the people behind them whom they can teach, the peers beside them whom they care and share experiences with, and the mentors ahead of them whom they can learn from. The goal of the SIM is to provide a space for all of these people to co-exist.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
Starting a business has shown me how hard it is to be a leader and how anyone can become more entrepreneurial in their day to day life without taking massive risks and quitting their jobs like I did. Sometimes a perspective shift is all you need and asking for help is more important than making any crazy changes to your lifestyle and making big, irreversible decisions that might put you in an awkward financial situation.
Needing to manage myself has given me a lot more empathy for the people who’ve managed and led companies for me in the past as well since I see myself doing a lot of things that I don’t want to be doing, and not doing things that I want to be doing. Life and business are not simple so I have more grace for people in leadership positions doing hard things.
I’m constantly reminded that the grass is, in fact, not greener on the other side, and the ability to make the best of your situation, no matter where you are, and giving everything you have is the most important skill you can develop.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
Slack is the core part of our community since it is the primary means by which we all communicate. Calendly is helpful for scheduling calls, Beehiiv is nice for running my newsletter, and Google Meets is more cost effective for meetings.
We’re an online community with multiple weekly calls so these are the tools that work best so far for async and live communication.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
The most influential book I’ve ever read is ‘A Million Miles in a Thousand Years’. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to anyone else because it was personal to me. I shared a lot of similarities with the author who wrote a memoir about achieving a lot and still feeling unhappy. He then went on a journey that was eerily similar to all of the places I wanted to visit, which was Machu Picchu, and a bike ride across the US. There’s some stuff about healing relationships with his parents too that hit home so there’s never been a book since where I felt so emotionally connected to the author's experience outside of Don Miller.
I also love what Andrew Huberman and Steven Bartlett have done in the podcasting space. Huberman because he’s made such dense health topics accessible to the public at no cost and Steven because he’s normalized the mental health conversations with so many successful entrepreneurs. I’ve consumed a ton of their episodes and love both of them as people, and the wisdom they’ve shared.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
Trust your intuition. Steve Jobs said it in one of his famous speeches. Jeff Bezos talks about following your heart. No one can teach you to tap into your instincts. You have to do it on your own by taking massive action.
Doing so will be your competitive advantage. You’ll develop a unique perspective in the world and you’ll learn lessons no one else has because you’ll be the only person who’s taken the path you have. You’ll blaze a trail for many others to follow and others who want to carve their own paths.
Never put someone else on a pedestal. Everyone is on their own journey and your adventure is your own. Trust you’re heading in the right direction. Everything else will fall into place.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
I’d love to work with any ambitious interns obsessed with community building, content creation, and self-improvement. The opportunity would be mentorship based with the chance for pay on performance and could be as many hours as the person could dedicate to consistently, week over week. My email is [email protected] for anyone who’d like to reach out.
Where can we go to learn more?
- Join the community
- Subscribe to the newsletter
- Visit all my links
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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