I Built An $8.6K/Month Media Agency For Latinos

Danny Miró-Chinea

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Published: September 1st, 2024

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Danny Miró-Chinea

Founder, Comprende

$8.6K

revenue/mo

Founders

Employees

Comprende

comprende.carrd.co

from Brunswick, ME, USA

started October 2023

$8,600

revenue/mo

Founders

Employees

Discover what tools recommends to grow your business!

platform

Carrd

G Suite

web hosting tool-icon

GoDaddy

financing

BlueVine

social media tool-icon

Instagram

Twitter

YouTube

Tiktok

accounting tool-icon

Quickbooks

productivity tool-icon

Google Suite tool-icon

Notion

payments

Bill.com

Venmo

Zelle

freelance

Fiverr

Discover what books Danny recommends to grow your business!

Want more updates on Comprende? Check out these stories:

Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?🔗

Hi Starter Story crew! My name is Danny Miró-Chinea and I’m the founder of Comprende. We are a Media and Consulting agency focused on the U.S. Latino demographic and are working towards building a marketplace for Latino-owned businesses.

We currently run a weekly newsletter and social media focused on elevating positive stories around the business, culture, and social impact of U.S. Latinos. Through Comprende, we curate and make original content such as features on Latino Founders and their businesses, provide insights into Latino artists, musicians, filmmakers and authors, and the people and organizations that are working for the common good for our community.

While my goal for starting with content was to build an audience and readership, so that I had an interested group of customers once I built the marketplace–it unexpectedly opened a revenue source. Latino-founded startups and national nonprofits focused on the U.S. Latino market started reaching out to me to ask if I did paid collaborations and if I could help them.

Immediately I knew I was onto something and as any entrepreneur would, I said “Of course I do and I’d be happy to help!” What started as a side project, with the eventual goal of building something bigger (the marketplace, which is still in the works), has now become a sustainable business that I’m now running full-time.

As of August 2024 at the time of writing this, we are on track to make six figures and currently at a 8.6K MRR, with the goal of passing the coveted $10K by the end of the year. I currently plan on continuing to scale the agency side of a business to an additional client or two and reinvest the money into growing the audience and building the marketplace.

How did you come up with your business idea?🔗

In 2020, I noticed there was a trend to encourage buying from and supporting Black-owned businesses. The effort was a great way to spread awareness and drive new customers of products and services from African American business owners. However, as a Puerto Rican living in the United States, I realized I didn’t really see this kind of effort within or for my Latino community.

When it came to discovering Latino-owned businesses, there were only two options 1) word of mouth 2) listicle type articles during Hispanic Heritage Month with titles like “10 Latino-owned businesses to support this month.” While word of mouth is great, it’s not efficient. And don’t get me started on the Hispanic Heritage Month articles–our heritage and impact should be celebrated year round!

As I started diving deeper, I noticed the problem was even bigger. It wasn’t just that there wasn’t an effort to promote our businesses, but more widely there was and is a lack of representation of Latinos throughout the media. Outside of Hispanic Heritage Month, the negative representation of Latinos in the U.S. is the standard reporting you see with a few positive stories here and there.

What ultimately solidified my decision to venture into this space wasn’t even my own experience or frustration, but rather the hard data I found after conducting more research. Here are a few facts that came from the 2023 LDC Fast Facts Report, which impacted me the most:

The total economic output (GDP) of US Latinos in 2021 was $3.2 Trillion.
If US Latinos were a standalone country, it would have the 5th largest GDP in the world.
Between 2010-2020, Latinos accounted for 73% growth in US Labor Force participation.
As we approach the largest aging population the US has seen, 25% of Young Americans are Latinos.
Latinos are 1.7% more likely to be entrepreneurs and account for 50% of net new small businesses.

Leveraging my own experience as a Latino who had spent 3 years in the startup world, I knew I had to do something about it. I had always had little entrepreneurial projects growing up and I had even tried out a few ideas before, but I never truly committed. In part, because I would get distracted by shiny object syndrome and on the hand, because I wasn’t fully passionate about the idea.

My goal of starting a business had always been to make a profit, while also having a positive impact and for the first time in my entrepreneurial journey I had found it. I could build a business that brought in revenue while uplifting my community and helping other Latino-founders thrive.

Give us a step-by-step process for how you built the first version of your product.🔗

The idea from the beginning was to build an online marketplace for Latino-owned businesses.

However, having previously started (and not finished) projects, I knew myself and realized I didn’t want to let costs or the desire for perfection stop me.

I also had spent 3 years working at a venture backed startup, where I joined as the 2nd hire, and I knew if I could, I didn’t want to go the venture route. I wanted to build a sustainable lifestyle business that I could start a side-hustle and eventually (hopefully) make my full-time gig.

So, I started thinking about what would be the Minimum Viable Product or MVP that I could launch as quickly as possible to start validating my idea. Having heard of the success of businesses like Morning Brew, The Hustle, and The Milk Road, which were built off the backs of newsletters–it immediately clicked, I’ll start with a newsletter.

I also had read or heard something once that was something along the lines of “If you do something 10 times, by the 11th time it becomes a habit.” Committing to writing 10 newsletters, once a week? I could do that–and so I challenged myself to commit to this goal.

Plus, I knew a newsletter as the MVP would not only allow me to prove the idea, but also be an asset that I could eventually monetize to reinvest into building the marketplace and I’d have an I’d already have an audience I could eventually promote it to. The newsletter started and is still currently free to readers.

To build the first version of Comprende (which at the time was first called Minority Majority), all I started with was the following:

Carrd for the landing page - $19/Year for the Pro Plan
Photopea for the logo - Free open source version of Photoshop
Beehiiv for the newsletter - Free Plan
Notion for organization and building processes - Free Plan

I gave myself one weekend to build the first iteration of the landing page and set up the newsletter. So with 48 hours and $19 dollars I was “in business.” Thankfully I had some prior experience in putting together landing pages and using newsletter/email marketing builders so the process was fairly simple. The hardest part was figuring out the structure of the newsletter, building out a research process, and of course, drafting the first issue.

First edition website:

The large brainstorm document that started it all!

How did you “launch” the business?🔗

Launching Comprende wasn't your typical newsletter start–it was more so a ‘soft launch.’ I actually held off on really promoting it until I'd put out 10 editions. I just shared it with a handful of friends and colleagues at first. I did write about it on X (Twitter) to keep myself accountable and connect with other people building in public, but I didn't really know many folks on there.

I mentioned earlier about challenging myself to write 10 newsletters, and I really wanted to stick to that. Why? Well, I've had some issues following through on business ideas before. I think it's important to be real about this –I've had other times where I put myself out there, said I was going to do something, and then... didn't.

So, I was a bit worried about what people would think if I 'failed again'. I share this, because I imagine it’s something others reading might have gone through or are currently feeling–keep going, set a schedule, and follow through, for you.

After that 10th newsletter, it actually became a habit. I started really enjoying the process, and other people began sharing it and finding it on their own. I had some validation and a library of content. Come January 2024, I decided to give Comprende a real push through a formal launch.

I, like many of you, noticed and experienced the rise of short form video on platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. So, I made a plan to start creating short form content to reach a wider audience and drive them towards becoming newsletter subscribers. I was scared at first, but I’m so glad I did–which I’ll get to why later.

My first video:

embed:instagram

Looking back, I'm happy with how I launched. I needed that personal challenge to prove to myself I could do it. If you're thinking about starting a side-hustle or lifestyle business, my advice? Figure out what works for you and go at your own pace. There's no one-size-fits-all approach.

How did you land your first customers?🔗

Making my first dollar took time. At first, after I officially launched, my goal was simply to grow my audience, both on social media and the newsletter. Given that my newsletter is free, at the time, I also thought I wouldn’t really be able to monetize through sponsors or a digital product until I had a wider reach. But boy was I wrong.

I officially started making videos on January 18, 2024. A little short of a month later, by February 14th, 2024, I made a video on the founder of a Latina-owned financial technology startup. She happened to see it, subscribed to Comprende’s newsletter, and then DM’d me on instagram the next day asking if A) I spoke Spanish and B) If I was open to paid collaborations. After a brief exchange, we set up a time to have a virtual call.

Prior to the meeting I built a deck outlining my background, various opportunities and ways to collaborate, and how I could help them with content and strategy based off of research I did on the company and its current social media efforts.

After a great conversation and pitch, we closed the call with them asking me to send over pricing. Basing it off of productized service offerings I had seen, I proposed a few monthly retainer plans with a sliding scale of deliverables. After some back and forth on language, they selected a plan, and I was off to the races with my first paying client!

While this was an unexpected monetization channel, I quickly realized I could scale the revenue by landing additional clients or expanding my scope. Since my first client came inbound after seeing my content, I thought to myself, well, if I keep making content it might lead to other possible clients reaching out. The hypothesis was right and shortly thereafter, I landed a second client.

Don’t be afraid to start small! As your idea gets traction, build up from there, that might just be where the best opportunities start to show up.

How have you grown your business?🔗

While I post across social media platforms, Instagram and LinkedIn have been my most effective growth channels. Here is how I’ve structured my growth and social media strategy: The newsletter is my base content piece. I then leverage AI, primarily platforms like ChatGPT and Claude, to use my newsletter and based off of it to provide me with repurposed content such as video scripts or text posts.

I use this as the first draft, make tweaks, and then either record and edit a video from it or publish a post to LinkedIn. Beyond this, I’ll record spontaneous ideas for content I have, research and make trending videos or formats, and repost relevant videos with my own twist, while giving credit.

Now that I’m working full-time on the business, I plan to double down on posting short-form videos consistently every week. I also want to explore PR, SEO, and paid marketing as the business continues to grow.

I highly recommend starting with social media because it’s free and can lead to some incredible opportunities and new revenue sources. Recording yourself and putting yourself out there on video can be intimidating, but it’s worth it. Watch some tutorials, find a style that you like and works for you, and start putting stuff out there–overtime it will get better and you will improve.

We all make excuses to put off actually launching a project. I know, because I was that person. If you’ve been on the fence of truly putting your idea into existence, consider this your ‘permission’ to trust yourself and go for it.

Give us a breakdown of your revenue & financials.🔗

Our current monthly revenue as of August 2024 is $8.6K. Below is the breakdown of how revenue has increased overtime:

April 2024: $1,200
May 2024: $1,200
June 2024: $2,115
July 2024: $5,783
August 2024: $8,600

Besides my time, the primary expenses come out to roughly $400/Month as broken down below:

Carrd for the landing page - $19/Year for the Pro Plan
ChatGPT Plus Subscription - $20/Month
Video Editor - $160/Month
Video Talent - $200/Month
Bill.com for invoicing - $0.49 per monthly pay period
Quickbooks - $15/Month

Since my expenses are very low, I was profitable from the first day of signing my first client. That’s the beauty of starting a service based business, which I think is a great route for first time founders. As I previously mentioned, my retainer agreements with clients are based on a set number of deliverables per month, with the option of Add-On services.

The majority of my revenue comes from two clients, one client has increased my scope over time after seeing the quality of my work and getting results, and my second client picked my highest package offering from the start. Currently my retainer plans vary per client, but include a mix of content strategy, short-form videos, newsletters, and client management.

What does the future look like?🔗

August 9, 2024 was my last day at my full-time job and now I’m running Comprende full time. Now that I’m working on the business full-time and have the security of some long term agreements, my goal is to secure an additional 1-2 clients to get my monthly revenue between $10-15K within the next 6 months.

Using this cash flow, I want to invest in growing my newsletter base and social media presence so that I can begin monetizing more passively through sponsorships and digital products.

To continue growing our audience and agency clients, I will double down on consistently posting across social media platforms. Currently all my clients have come in via inbound messages based on my content, so I’m hoping a more robust content strategy and schedule will lead to follower growth and new inbound.

However, given that I have a target of reaching $10-15K for client work though, I might also plan on doing outbound sales efforts.

My goal for Comprende is to be a lifestyle business with the option to scale. I’m currently not just going full-time on the business, but I’m also embarking on a new journey as a “Digital Nomad.” Starting on September 15, 2024, I’ll be traveling throughout Latin America for the next year (and maybe beyond), starting with Medellin, Colombia.

This new adventure will allow me to fulfill a personal dream of traveling the world, while also providing valuable opportunities for content and connecting with Latino-owned businesses trying to reach the U.S. market.

Over the next 12 months, as I’m increasing agency and newsletter revenue, I’ll be focused on slowly building up the first iteration of the Latino-owned marketplace. Long term my goal is within 3 years to have the newsletter, social media, and marketplace be the primary revenue source of the business.

Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?🔗

While I had prior startup experience, nothing taught me the value of starting with a low-cost and simple MVP like doing it myself for Comprende. Iterating quickly and getting feedback early is key to see if your idea has legs. Through Comprende, by starting with just a newsletter and social media I was able to launch quickly, validate early, all for less than $19. The best part? It uncovered an unexpected revenue source that has now allowed me to go full-time on the business and reinvest into building my larger goal of a marketplace and wide audience.

So, don’t be afraid to start small! As your idea gets traction, build up from there, that might just be where the best opportunities start to show up.

One of my favorite podcast hosts, Guy Raz, always ends his show How I Built This by asking guests if their success was through luck or hard work. I’ve thought about that question a lot, and when it comes to Comprende, I’d say it’s been a mix of both.

Like many founders, I pretty much wear every hat in the business and at every angle I work tirelessly on the business. In addition, while balancing a full-time job, I woke up early and stayed up late, spent many hours teaching myself and implementing new things, sacrificed weekends, and took risks to ensure I followed through and accomplished my goals for the business.

Now that I’m able to run the business full-time and have some extra revenue, I’m starting to gradually delegate some responsibilities that take up alot of my time–like video editing, for example. If you have limited resources like me, it’s important to do this slowly over time while still unlocking time for yourself to focus on the higher value areas of the business.

Luck and being able to spot trends also has played a big role in my success in building this lifestyle business. The growing movement to support minority-owned businesses along with the boom in short-form video and newsletters, allowed me to capitalize on these trends. I’m also able to leverage being Puerto Rican and bilingual to connect with my target Latino demographic. My advice would be to think about what traits you have, trends you’ve noticed that interest you, and how to spot opportunities–this will help increase your ‘luck.’

Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?🔗

If you’re just starting out, my best piece of advice is to just take action. The majority of people trying to start a business never do because they think the idea is not ready, the website is not perfect, they wonder what people will think, they think they need to learn from more books, podcasts, or videos…you name it.

We all make excuses to put off actually launching a project. I know, because I was that person. If you’ve been on the fence of truly putting your idea into existence, consider this your ‘permission’ to trust yourself and go for it.

Secondly, be consistent. Try out the 10-week challenge I mentioned I gave myself. It might not be writing a newsletter, maybe it’s coding a certain number of lines? Posting 2 videos per week? Reaching out to possible prospects? Whatever business you’re in, determine what’s valuable to you, will allow you to see results, validate your concept, and ultimately, build a habit of consistency. It feels good to set targets and hit them, and if they are small like mine it makes it less daunting and more achievable.

When it comes to deciding on an idea to pursue, especially for a lifestyle business, my advice is that it should be a combination of: having data that proves there is a market, personal interest in the topic (even if it’s not your passion), and a strong gut feeling.

This is how I think about business and it has allowed me to stay genuinely interested and committed to the work. Building a sustainable foundation, also gives you the flexibility to grow and monetize at a pace that works for you.

Lastly, I want to give a shoutout to any Latino or minority founders out there! If that’s you, I’d encourage you to embrace your identity and culture, and think about what opportunities exist within your community. Doing this could unlock a similar situation for you to build a business that you care deeply about, you make a positive impact with, and truly feels like a mission for you. This is how I feel today and there’s no better drive.

As we say in Spanish: ¡Si se puede! (Yes, it can be done!)