[Smart Startup Era] This Company Founded by a Lawyer from a Major Law Firm Achieves 10x Revenue Growth in 3 Years 'Rocket Growth'

'Modern Guru' Manufacturing and Selling Granola and Oatmeal
Company CEO Former Lawyer at Law Firm Taepyungyang
Smart Platform Use and Quality Products Key to Growth

Lim Ji-young, CEO of Modern Guru, said, "I am grateful for each and every day these days." Modern Guru is a company that manufactures and sells handmade granola and organic oatmeal. Once a lawyer at the large law firm Taepyungyang, she ventured into the startup world four years ago. She has endured and achieved results in the market for over three years after giving up a stable professional title. CEO Lim said, "I have achieved both time and money goals," adding, "My income now is better than when I was a lawyer." As a mother of a 4-year-old child, she also mentioned that she can flexibly manage her time to accompany her child to and from kindergarten, which greatly improves her quality of life and satisfaction.

Im Ji-young, CEO holding granola (Photo by Kang Hyung-wook, Design Press)

Modern Guru, which opened its doors in 2019, is truly experiencing 'stormy growth.' Starting with sales of 200 million KRW in 2020, it is now aiming for 2 billion KRW this year. That is a tenfold growth in just three years. The turning point for this rapid growth was when content introducing the store appeared on the main pages of Naver and Kakao in 2020. Orders flooded in, and they worked without sleep for several days to produce the products. In just a few days, they achieved sales exceeding 100 million KRW. In a day or two, they earned more money than they had in the entire previous year.

Since then, sales have steadily increased. Consumers who tried the products once kept ordering again. What started as a neighborhood store has grown into a small and medium-sized enterprise in just four years. These days, they are joyfully overwhelmed handling the flood of orders for Chuseok holiday supplies. CEO Lim, who had no prior business experience before Modern Guru, attributes her success to smart platform utilization and good products.

Success on Smart Store... Other Platforms Reached Out First

CEO Lim Ji-young (Photo by Kang Hyung-wook, Design Press)

CEO Lim named Naver Smart Store as her most reliable partner. Among various distribution channels, sales generated through Smart Store account for 30%. Lim said, "I had no idea how to sell products when I first learned about Smart Store," adding, "For a business novice like me, it was a great tool to grow." The merits included no separate platform development costs and lower fees compared to other companies.

She focused especially on three things: delivery, feedback, and exposure. Orders received during the day are shipped the same day until the end of business hours as a principle. This is one of the reasons why most Modern Guru products receive ratings of 4.9 out of 5 stars. They pay special attention to feedback on any low-rated reviews. Additionally, they frequently search keywords like 'granola' and 'oatmeal' on Naver to check if their products appear in the top ranks of the Naver 'Shopping Tab.' If not, they run separate advertisements. This marketing strategy makes it easy for customers to find Modern Guru’s products.

As reviews accumulated on Smart Store, other platforms sometimes contacted them first for store entry inquiries. Currently, they have secured various distribution channels including Smart Store, Market Kurly, Oasis, Coupang, and KakaoTalk Gift. They also operate their own website, known as a 'brand mall.' Customers who use distribution platforms sometimes flow into the brand mall.

Modern Guru’s Genuine Commitment to Good Products

Granola, the flagship product of Modern Guru (Photo by Kang Hyung-wook, Design Press)

CEO Lim passed the bar exam while studying law at Yonsei University and joined Taepyungyang. During her time there, she stayed in London, UK, for overseas training, where she realized the importance of 'healthy and good eating habits.' This insight came while shopping and cooking at home. If she had only wanted more leisure time, she could have opened a small law office, but she chose to take on a challenge. Lim said, "When looking at life, freedom is possible only when you have both time and money," adding, "I thought about what I should do to achieve both, and that’s how I jumped into business."

She focused on securing raw materials to make good products. This was also the case with oatmeal, which they started selling this year. Lim said, "I thought it would be a healthy food suitable not only for babies but also for adults." They tasted oatmeal made by domestic farms and manufacturers to find the right supplier. That supplier is a farm in Jeongeup, which currently supplies the oats used as the raw material for Modern Guru’s oatmeal. Oatmeal sales have grown rapidly, accounting for 40% of total sales. When launching granola, CEO Lim even traveled to New York, London, and Tokyo to taste products, showing her genuine commitment to good products.

CEO Lim is planning new product lines such as salad dressings and pasta. Her goal is to continue pursuing and developing the company’s identity as a maker of 'healthy and good meals.' She said, "Since this is a field I am very interested in, ideas keep coming to me, and I enjoy developing products," adding, "I will continue to create products that busy modern people, like my former self as a lawyer, can eat simply and comfortably."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.