Client success story
Gunjan MalhotraStudy Abroad Consulting
From Offline-Only Consulting to a Validated Paid Acquisition Model
How High Profit Coaching built a paid micro-offer funnel from scratch, tested it in Delhi and recovered 60% of front-end ad spend — changing a founder's belief in what online marketing could do for his business.
Before
Offline referrals
- Referrals
- Offline only
- Unpredictable journey
After
Structured digital acquisition
- Paid ads
- Paid micro-offer
- Pre-qualified prospects
Key results · Delhi pilot
Front-end ad spend recovered
60%
Delhi pilot · not profit or ROAS
- Model benchmarkBenchmark
- 50–200%
- Pilot market
- Delhi
- Client's next move
- Raising Funds to Scale
Broader model range — not Gunjan's result
Controlled pilot, not a national campaign
In progress
Client overview
- Client
- Gunjan Malhotra
- Industry
- Study Abroad Consulting
- Markets
- Australia, UK, Canada and other destinations
- Offer
- Paid micro-offer course covering SOP writing and the study-abroad process, leading into high-ticket 1:1 consulting
- Campaign
- Controlled Delhi pilot
01Background
What did the client need?
Gunjan runs a study abroad consultancy helping students apply to universities in Australia, the UK, Canada and other destinations.
The business had been built offline, through referrals. He needed a way to acquire students online — and proof that it could work in his category before committing to it.
He didn't need to be told online marketing works. He needed to see it work for his business.
02Where we started
What was the starting situation?
- 01
Offline and referral-driven
The consultancy ran entirely offline, relying on referrals.
- 02
No paid advertising experience
The business had never run paid advertising before.
- 03
Skeptical about online acquisition
Gunjan doubted that online acquisition could work in the study-abroad category.
- 04
Students researching for weeks
Prospective students spent weeks researching free information before deciding.
- 05
No filter for serious buyers
There was no structured filter between casual enquiries and serious buyers.
- 06
A long, unpredictable journey
The conversion journey was long and unpredictable.
It won't work for me.
03The system
What did we change?
We built the marketing infrastructure from scratch — a paid micro-offer and a complete acquisition funnel — and tested it in a controlled pilot before any decision to scale.
A.The acquisition funnel
How a student moves through the system- 01
Paid Ads
Reach students interested in studying abroad.
- 02
Paid Micro-Offer
Introduce a structured, paid learning experience covering SOP writing and the application process.
- 03
Course Consumption
Help students understand the process, requirements and common mistakes.
- 04
Pre-Qualified Student
Identify people who have demonstrated buying intent and engaged with the material.
- 05
High-Ticket Consulting
Introduce personalised consulting to suitable prospects who need further support.
Not every micro-offer buyer becomes a consulting client — high-ticket consulting is offered to suitable prospects who need further support.
B.The pilot validation process
How the model was tested before scalingBuild from Scratch
Offer, funnel and ad infrastructure
Launch in Delhi
One controlled market
Measure Front-End Recovery
How much ad spend the micro-offer earns back
Validate the Model
60% recovered at the front end
- 5
Prepare to Scale
Client now raising funds
04The result
60% of Ad Spend Recovered at the Front End
The paid micro-offer was designed to recover part of the acquisition cost before the high-ticket consulting sale.
In the Delhi pilot, micro-offer sales recovered 60% of the front-end ad spend. The other 40% was not recovered at the front end — that is the role of the high-ticket 1:1 consulting offered to suitable prospects.
- Total ad spend
- 100%
- Recovered at the front end
- 60%
- Not yet recovered at the front end
- 40%
- 60% is front-end ad spend recovery. It is not profit and not ROAS.
- The 50–200% figure is a broader model benchmark, not Gunjan's individual campaign result.
- Exact ad spend and recovery amounts have not been published.
Detailed pilot figures
Pending verification- Pilot ad spend
- — pending verification
- Front-end revenue recovered
- — pending verification
- Micro-offer buyers
- — pending verification
- High-ticket consulting clients
- — pending verification
Client reaction
“Gajendra, it is working — now I have to scale it at the massive level possible.”
05The shift
From “It Won’t Work for Me” to Raising Funds to Scale
Before
Skeptical that online acquisition could work in study abroad.
Pilot
Watched a controlled Delhi pilot recover 60% of front-end ad spend.
Next move
Pursuing fundraising to scale the model.
Fundraising is the client's next move — it is in progress, not completed.
06Why it worked
What made this case study different?
Built from zero
No previous ads, funnel or online acquisition — the infrastructure was built from scratch.
Validated before scaling
A controlled Delhi pilot tested the model before any larger investment.
A paid filter for intent
A paid purchase acts as an initial qualification signal, separating serious buyers from casual enquiries.
The key strategic shift
From
Weeks of free research and casual enquiries
To
A paid first step that signals buying intent
Before vs. after
The transformation
Before
- Offline, referral-driven consulting business
- No previous paid advertising experience
- Skeptical about online acquisition in the study-abroad category
- Students spent weeks researching free information
- No structured filter between casual enquiries and serious buyers
- Long and unpredictable conversion journey
After
- Marketing infrastructure built from scratch
- Paid micro-offer and complete acquisition funnel launched
- Model tested in a controlled Delhi pilot
- 60% of ad spend recovered at the front end
- Paid purchase acts as an initial qualification signal
- Founder gained confidence in the model and began pursuing fundraising to scale
07Proof
Proof & evidence
Pilot ad data, the micro-offer page, the recovery breakdown and the client's own messages — published once verified and shared with the client's permission.
Delhi pilot Ads Manager screenshot
Campaign data from the Delhi pilot.
Evidence coming soonMicro-offer landing page screenshot
The paid SOP & study-abroad course page.
Evidence coming soonAd spend vs. front-end recovery breakdown
How the 60% recovery was calculated.
Evidence coming soonClient reaction / WhatsApp confirmation
The original message, shared with permission.
Evidence coming soonFundraising decision or follow-up confirmation
Confirmation of the client's next step.
Evidence coming soonThe core lesson
You don't have to bet the business to find out whether online acquisition works.
Build the system, test it in one controlled market, and measure what the front end earns back.
A validated model turns “it won't work for me” into a plan to scale.