A casual search of the general term “subscription” will return results that trend more toward “subscription box” instead of a subscription business model. These results might lead you to think that the best initial subscription service is a subscription box. You might even start to build a plan with the goal of creating a subscription box in mind.
For our discussions, subscription boxes represent a curated content delivery service. Obviously, the contents of the box are physical goods. On the other hand, these physical goods could simply be vouchers that provide you access to online digital services. They could also be a combination of physical goods and vouchers.
The service portion of this subscription is the effort required to track down goods that meet the standards that will satisfy your fans. Second, you need to match those goods with individual segments of your fanbase. Getting these two pieces right is still
The second half of the challenge involves the logistics of getting the boxes assembled and shipped. These involve skills that are beyond the reach of most subscription makers. We won’t say that it is beyond the scope of our conversation here at SubscriptionMaker.net. However, it does brush up against the boundaries.
Subscription Makers who produce physical goods will need to concern themselves with logistics. However, the keys to your success will still revolve more around you doing the work. You still need to build a fan base and keep them actively engaged, which involves a certain amount of curation. You must ship your work on time to build credibility, be that physical or digital.
At this point in our discussion, we should talk about your risk profile. For our discussions, a risk profile is a subjective back of the envelope calculation about how much risk it will take to attain a specific goal. A high-risk profile means that you are willing to do anything to attain the goal. A low-risk profile means that you are unwilling to take risks that can hurt you long-term.
In general, here at SubscriptionMaker.net, we will gravitate to solutions that support low-risk profiles. The big idea is that you can use the skills that you have acquired over your lifetime to produce the income and the lifestyle that you desire. Your situation may be unique because we use an expansive worldview of what it is to be a maker. However, the message remains the same.
Here, we should consider Steve Sammartino’s book called the “Great Fragmentation.” In his book, Mr. Sammartino talks about how everything is getting cheaper and simpler. As a subscription maker, you can think of these two things like a reduction of content.
This is the key to profitability in any business post-Globalism. You have to find ways to reduce content and provide just the right amount of value. Providing too much content even if it is valuable will result in a poor user experience. The user will feel overwhelmed or guilty for not being able to take advantage of all the great value that is available to them.
Subscription Boxes by definition make it difficult to reduce the material content. And the logistics make them more complex to deploy. Lastly, you must be willing to assume a fairly high-risk profile. If you choose to pursue a subscription box business, we wish you well and suggest you check back regularly to discuss how to build a healthy fanbase for your subscription service.
Zachary Alexander