How to start subscription business?

Subscription business: The hottest trend in the e-commerce industry

8/9/2016

Image converting your passion into start-up idea that provides you the recurring passive income on regular the basis; the subscription-based business is one such online business idea which is right now the growing market trend in the e-commerce industry. This easy and flexible business is a low-risk model with a potential of great recurring income.

We all have creative ideas which if implemented rightly can become an opportunity that have a potential to earn you millions. The subscription business model offers you to enjoy your passion that lets you earn handsomely from it. You can convert any idea of yours which exists under the sky into a subscription based business opportunity. The subscription based business has the following benefits:
"Predictable revenue
“Recurring income
“Simple & flexible
Wait! Before going ahead please learn & understand the few basic steps involved in launching the subscription-based business:

(1) Start with an idea for which you are passionate about your subscription business

You know that working without passion leaves you in between and your start-up will end soon. Your passion will sail you through the long & steep journey of entrepreneurship. Your idea must have that amount of energy which can keep you zealous for the next 4-5 years down the line. Your subscription based business will become challenging with time and it’s only your passion which will keep you alive.

(2) Make a good website for your subscription business

A good website authenticates your online presence. If your website has the relevant updated information about your business then it is effective in attracting more visitors to you which can be further converted into clients. If your website is informative and filled with new articles, you are more likely to get more new subscribers for your service. I am using Weebly, it is actually the easiest way to design the website and it is recommended to those entrepreneurs who actually want to focus on their business without getting into the details of HTML and java coding, used for designing the websites.

(3) Study your competitors in this field

It is always a good idea to study the websites, the subscription services, & marketing strategies of your competitors in your area of expertise. The fine study of your competitors gives you an idea of the modes-operandi which saves your time and money.

(4) Determine how to add value to your service every month

The subscription business becomes challenging with time. The customer will start demanding more quality and updated information on the regular basis as they are paying for the service. Therefore, it is very important to add value to your service every month otherwise the customer will get bored and most likely to cancel the subscription in few months.

If you failed in keeping your customers happy consistently, the business will head in the negative direction that too with the acceleration

(5) The efficient e-mail marketing tool can add value to your website that helps in maintaining a quality CRM program

As your business grows you need to be efficient and effective enough to respond to your subscribers on the regular basis. After some point of time it becomes difficult to e-mail to the subscribers manually, therefore you need an automatic system which takes care of this process and maintains a regular communication with your subscribers. The Aweber and Getresponse are the two leading e-newsletter creation tools which are very easy to use and add value to your website. Your membership site is based on the regular communication with your subscribers and if this communication is affected in some way or other, your subscription business is going to suffer. Therefore, it is important to keep communicating with your subscribers with these effective auto-responder tools.

(6) Set the right price for your service or the product and maintain a profit margin

Setting the right price for your subscription-based business is one of the crucial aspects in determining the sales and the future success. On one hand, the under pricing may not compensate you rightly while on the other hand over pricing may not attract many clients and can put your subscription business in a standstill. Therefore, you should invest time in discovering the right pricing of your subscription service which will enable you to boost your sales.

(7) Research your potential customer

Next step is to determine the perfect customer for your subscription business. The certain age group or the income group might be interested in your product or services. In my case, people who care about the environment and are interested in solar energy are buying my e-products & services. I have joined solar energy groups in different social media platforms to increase my visitors & customers. The e-commerce business has space for every age group, income group or for people of specific interest. You need not cater everybody rather focus on a particular group, determine their need, design a subscription service for them; you will get your potential customer.

(8) Launch your subscription business

After dong all this, it is the time to launch your subscription business. Here, you need to give some introductory offer to your visitors like a free trial for 15 days or the money back guarantee in case the client cancels the order in the specific time-period. These easy exit strategies will let the client try your services and this is the time for you to provide best of services to him so that he stays with you & becomes a source of recurring income, obviously in exchange for your quality services.

(9) Market your subscription business

After doing all the research, you launch your quality product but its value is zero unless a customer buys & avail it. To make your subscription sell, you need to market your business through various methods and the channels like launching videos, designing a good marketing page, introducing coupons and the vouchers, options for affiliates. I myself created a video & the marketing page of the product “solar feasibility spread-sheet” which I designed specifically for the residential owners who are interested in having a solar system at their roof-top. These marketing strategies are working & benefiting in two ways, one letting my visitors know about the features, benefits and the use of the product and the second is generating a sale for me. So the right marketing strategies are the win-win situation for the both parties (the seller & the buyer). Besides this, I am sharing this on the social platforms to increase the visitors and drive the sales of the product. A good quality product with right marketing strategies can generate a good amount of profit for you

Conclusion

In any kind of subscription business, the customer satisfaction & the quality services is the benchmark of your subscription business. The customers are afraid of the contracts; they need to provide their credit card details in order to avail the subscription based services and the amount gets automatically debited every month, quarter or every year until the customer himself cancels it. But easy exit strategies like mentioned above eases the apprehension in the minds of the customers and make the subscription-based business as one of the most flexible, easy & growing business in the e-commerce industry. If you have any idea in your mind which can be converted into this business opportunity then try it out, who might know that this could be turned out as the most profitable venture of your life.