Business Reboot

The Business

Nexttt One ran two businesses. Both were in trouble, for different reasons.

The modelling business was shrinking. E-commerce shoots were moving to AI. Ad budgets were shifting towards content creators. Print, hoardings, brand films and fashion shows still had work, but budgets were falling.

The academy had no cash flow. It ran a three month offline modelling course. Once a batch started, there was nothing more to sell until the next admissions.

My brief was simple. Make both businesses work.

I worked with a 13 member team across business development, sales, digital marketing, content, finance and operations. Together, we made three decisions that changed how the business worked.

1. 1Strengthen the agency.
2. 2Strengthen the academy.
3. 3Make every part of the business work together.

Chapter 1

Strengthen the Agency

Part A. Sell content, not just models.

Brands were buying finished content. The agency earned only from model bookings, while most of the budget went to production houses. So we started producing and selling in-house UGC content.

We worked directly with brands to produce creator style videos for social media, opening up a new revenue stream beyond model commissions.

Delivered content for five to six brands.

Part B. Reach brands instead of waiting for them.

Current clients & referrals weren't enough. We built an outbound system to reach brands and agencies directly.

The outbound system:

• Get contact details from Google Maps
• Reach out through calls, Instagram DMs and emails
• Onboard freelance bookers on commission to scale what worked

I automated data collection from Google Maps, the booking assistant made phone calls, and the social team DMed 10–15 brands a day on Instagram.

Almost all UGC clients came through Instagram DMs.

Chapter 2

Strengthen the Academy

Phase 1. Bring in cashflow.

The academy had zero cash flow. Students paid for the course and portfolio together, but there was no fixed payment schedule. Payments were often delayed, while classes and portfolio shoots continued throughout the course. The business kept spending before it had recovered the course fee.

We repackaged the payment structure and the course module. Students now paid for classes first and the portfolio later. Separating the two made the pricing easier to understand, gave students the flexibility to complete their portfolio later, and helped the academy recover its course fee much earlier.

Phase 2. Fill the next batch.

Batch 4 became our first performance marketing campaign. We scripted, shot and edited three Meta ads in house. Then we A/B tested all of them, and scaled the winner.

People reached: 83,626 | Leads generated: 337 | Ad spend: ₹3,811

Then we worked the leads. Every lead went into a tracking sheet. We called them, confirmed attendance for a demo class, followed up, collected advance payments and filled the batch.

337 Leads | 50 Came for demo | 11 Students enrolled

Phase 3. Sell between batches.

Once admissions closed, the academy had nothing left to sell for the next three months. So we built two businesses that could run between batches.

1. PORTFOLIOS by Nexttt One

Got our in-house stylist to lead this project. Together, we fixed the deliverables, pricing, creatives and the freelancers required to run portfolio shoots in our studio. Then launched the portfolio business with two offerings:

• The Fresh Face for beginners
• The Nexttt Face for professionals.

2. Nexttt One Workshops

Got one of the mentors to lead this project. Together, we built one workshop module, designed the business around it, and launched it on District by Zomato.

Chapter 3

Make every part work together

1. One studio. Shared in a weekly rhythm.

The same studio, mentors and creative team powered every offering.

2. Every offering served a bigger purpose.

The workshop and portfolio brought people in. Freshers were introduced to the academy, while professionals were scouted for the agency.

We trained talent on one end and got them work on the other.

Next scene

Let's build something together.