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Ask HN: Has anyone here started a Subscription Box business?

3 pointsby nnsover 8 years ago
* What are the challenges involved? * Is it a profitable business model?

1 comment

shaknaover 8 years ago
I trialled one, but decided it wasn&#x27;t profitable for me considering my audience in this geography.<p>Challenges:<p>* Does your niche have a big enough audience?<p>Myself, the niche was hobby electronics. Lights, motors, switches and microcontrollers.<p>* Can you market effectively to your audience?<p>In my case, no. Facebook, Reddit, and radio didn&#x27;t reach enough people. Word of mouth was best, but then only in one or two cities.<p>* Can delivery be both cheap enough and reliable enough?<p>The most prestigious package delivery company regularly sent to the wrong end of the country.<p>* Make the box interesting each month, without giving away everything in it.<p>People like the surprise. But you don&#x27;t tend to be able to cost effectively put much in a box. I had three projects each time, I kept at least one secret.<p>* Suppliers need to be very reliable.<p>I got more orders than expected, but within what the supplier said they could deliver. They couldn&#x27;t by the deadline. I got credit, but it&#x27;ll cost you customers.<p>* Are you competing for an audience?<p>Subscribers tend to be intensely loyal. Not a space I would choose to compete in.<p>* Engage with customers.<p>You need a place to talk to customers, probably a mailing list as well, and most people expect some sort of cute newsletter in the box. That can be a lot of work.<p>* Where will you deliver?<p>It ended up cheaper to ship to China and the US, than to ship to my own backyard. More reliable too. Do your research.<p>* Can you afford it?<p>The time to curate the box, communicate and market with the audience, keep suppliers and delivery in line is immense.