Case study · 0→1 Product · Founder
YogDharana: from zero to 180 paying customers
Tripled daily class attendance from 30% to 90% by redesigning onboarding, then grew a 0→1 wellness product to 180 paying customers and $38k revenue.
- Product
- Online and offline yoga and nutrition programs for lifestyle conditions (PCOD, diabetes, obesity, thyroid)
- My role
- Founder · product, growth and operations
- Timeline
- Aug 2024 – Apr 2026
- Channels
- Instagram · website · community workshops · corporate wellness · referrals
- Tools
- WordPress · GoDaddy · HTML/CSS · Zoom · Canva · Google Trends
The problem
Customers joined motivated, but about two weeks in they stopped showing up. Only 30% attended class every day during the first month. For a program built around health outcomes like weight, PCOD or thyroid management, leaving in month one means the customer never sees results. Without results there are no referrals, and the business cannot grow.
How I found the cause
Data
Tracked daily attendance and renewals, which pinpointed the drop-off at around week two.
Survey
Asked active and lapsed customers why they stayed or left.
Conversations
1:1 feedback calls to understand each customer's journey.
The pattern was clear: motivation faded after the first weeks, and customers had no structured way to see their own progress.
What I changed
| Area | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Onboarding | No single place to join; sign-up, schedule and plan were handled separately | A website and onboarding platform with program choice, schedule and plan in one place |
| Motivation | No structured goals after joining; enthusiasm faded around week 2 | Challenges and rewards to carry customers through month one |
| Personal support | No regular check-ins on progress | 1:1 consultation and feedback calls to adjust each customer's plan |
| First step | Customers had to commit before seeing value | A free diet plan and free workshops as a low-risk entry point |
| Daily attendance | 30% (month 1) | 90% (month 2 onward) |
Growth engine
I tested low-cost acquisition channels and doubled down on those that converted.
Free community workshops
At dance studios, art studios and a resort wellness retreat
Corporate wellness
Free monthly online corporate workshops, plus a role in my employer's wellness community
Instagram and website
Discovery and sign-up, with content built around what people actually search for
Word of mouth
Became the strongest channel once retention improved
Key decisions and trade-offs
- Retention before acquisitionI fixed month-one drop-off before spending more effort on new customers, because referrals depended on results.
- High-touch, then structure1:1 calls don't scale, but they showed me what to systemise into challenges and the platform.
- Free as a funnelWorkshops and diet plans cost time, not cash, and became my cheapest acquisition channel.
Results
Fixing month-one drop-off turned a struggling program into a growing, referral-driven business.
Daily attendance, month 1 vs month 2 onward
Paying customers, with no paid marketing
Revenue from a 0→1 product
Repeat customers (over 55% of the base)
20+ customers upgraded to premium personal training (over 10% of the base).
What I'd do differently
I would set up cohort tracking by channel from day one. That would show which channels brought the customers most likely to stay, not just the most sign-ups. I closed YogDharana in April 2026 to focus on my MBA.
Product lens
- User value
- People managing PCOD, diabetes, thyroid and weight issues needed to stick with a program long enough to see results. Results drove referrals, and referrals drove growth.
- Prioritisation
- I fixed retention before acquisition. Month-one drop-off was the biggest leak, so onboarding and motivation came before any new channels.
- Learning
- High-touch 1:1 calls showed me what customers needed. I then turned that into scalable features like challenges and the onboarding platform.
Build lens
- Setup
- I built the website and onboarding flow on WordPress, hosted on GoDaddy, with program selection, schedules and plans in one place. Classes ran live on Zoom, and promotional images and videos were made in Canva.
- Implementation choices
- I used WordPress for speed and low cost, and wrote custom HTML and CSS where templates fell short. I used Google Trends to find the health terms people searched for and wrote website content around them for SEO.
- Operational learning
- Tracking daily attendance made the week-two drop-off visible early. Next time I'd add cohort tracking by channel from day one.
Skills shown