Today LIMA has two types of products: we make books (printed books) and online courses about pastry and chocolate.
We have been operating for 7 years. More than 5000 students from over 100 countries graduated.
We are still a family-owned little Co-Op as we were 7 years ago. We still have four main people involved in the project.
I proposed to start the online school because it was the idea on the surface. In 2016 we were organizing a few hands-on offline master classes and we received a lot of requests to make it online. So we made it online.
I started this project with my muse, work & life partner (my wife), and because of it, I say "WE" all the time. The project is really about "US", not about "ME" in a conceptual sense. I can say that I am the architect of the whole project.
From the beginning, I was responsible for everything in the project. Everything, what's that?
I was filming and producing the video content.
I was creating the e-learning platform (we've chosen the path to make it ourselves without using ready-made services as we had a clear vision of how it should be).
At the same time, I and my wife changed our living country (we moved to Poland).
As you can read in the previous part, where I was delivering cakes, we changed the country mainly because of the tragedy we faced before. Changing the country wasn't connected with our project.
The project became our life at full scale. Our personal life became 100% connected with our business.
After creating two online courses on Pastry and Bakery themes we found (or maybe we hunted?) amazing partners to make the project bigger.
We released the course about chocolate design with Andrey Dubovik and Ronya Belova. Then one more. And one more. And more.
Today they are famous pastry chefs around the world. They are still with us in this project. The moment we started working together was mostly about mind connection. They were beginning their path in the big world of pastry as we do.
With partners, we became stronger and we became an international online school. We created online courses in English and Spanish languages. We started to operate in English.
Students' photos, source: @lima_academy (Instagram)
We became popular in a limited category of classes on pastries and chocolate design. Until today I continue doing all work alone.
Including product design, filming, production, student assistance (partly), sales, and SMM.
The whole monetisation model is based on the influencers (=authors of the courses). Everyone involved in the project as a course author influences enough to generate desirable revenue.
Today it is common thing when influencer starts monetising content by selling it through different supportive platforms. Seven years ago it was something new.
We were making project by project (read as "online course by online course"). Not very fast, but with total precision. The model was something like ~6 months for the new project in making. Supporting current students was paralleled with creating new content.
Every online course was a creative challenge. The goal every time was the same. To flash the current pastry market of knowledge with something that has never been seen.
Every time we jumped over our heads in all aspects from the concept to every last single detail. And I believe we did it because of my previous working experience plus the VIBE we created inside the team.
Now when writing these lines I understand why I am working at LIMA for so long (seven years). Why I am still in it?
I love the VIBE we created.
It is different, ambitious, unique, honest, bold and profitable.
LIMA is not a company, project or something like that. LIMA is a family.
I am proud to be an architect (father?) of this family.
