9 Subscription Business Ideas For Your Startup
What is a subscription revenue? By ‘subscription money,’ we mean the revenue generated from recurring payments your subscribers make.
You’re spot on to think this is a great way to earn an income and decrease the work you must do to acquire customers repeatedly.
However, how can you know which subscription service is worthwhile?
Start by looking for subscription-based business ideas. We understand that the well of creativity can run dry from time to time, and we’re here to help.
Continue reading this article and learn about ideas for your new subscription business.
Table of Contents
Show Me the Money
When building your subscription business, you must consider what people need, such as essential products or services, and what they want, like luxury items or experiences.
Many people will go without something they ‘need ‘ instead of what they want. Understanding this distinction can help you cater to both types of customers.
Subscription Business Types
The ideas below may fall into one category or another, so please be open-minded as we review the information.
1. Healthy Snacks
I’m sure you’ve got bored eating your traditional healthy snacks before.
Almonds… Almonds… Almonds.
Oh, and hey, look! Whoops, no. Almonds again.
Boring.
Other people just like you are trying to stay healthy, but their boring snack choices keep knocking them off the rails and over to the local Starbucks they go to. One lemon cake slice, please. And an old-fashioned glazed doughnut.
Save clients from themselves by delivering healthy snacks via subscription boxes. Delish!
2. Fashion fun
OMG. You look so fabulous.
Everyone wants to hear that when meeting friends for a fancy lunch. Unfortunately, they haven’t been able to find any cute new outfits that fit with their style.
Thousands of people are challenged with putting together their own outfits. Going out of the house and trolling through wracks and clothing isn’t everyone’s idea of fun.
If you don’t want to deal with an overload of other mall shoppers, you can bet your flats others feel the same way. Fashion subscription boxes are a lot of fun, and who wouldn’t enjoy getting the perfect look straight to their door?
3. Spice up your life
Do you ever feel like you keep eating chicken? Chicken with the same spices? You love chicken, but why does it have to be boring?
Getting a monthly spice box can help even the most stubborn, set-in-their-spice-ways cooks try something fun and new. You never know—you might find your new favorite in your monthly spice box. Yum!
4. Equipment Rental
When starting out, businesses often don’t have the budget to buy the necessary equipment. This is where you come in and rent the equipment they need.
Whether they need forklifts, delivery trucks, CNC machines, or any other equipment to run their business, you can get paid month after month while they use it.
In this type of subscription business, depending on the equipment you’re renting, you might have to send people out to maintain it. You always want to keep your things in good repair, and you could make a pretty penny off large equipment rentals.
5. Childcare and educational activity boxes
Parents just want to have fun. While kids can be fun, sometimes parents need a little help.
Start a subscription service where they can pay a monthly rate and get many credits toward babysitting to redeem whenever they want with reputable and prescreened childcare experts.
Also, consider a subscription business for homeschooling and continuous education of minors. Educational activity boxes for children focusing on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) provide learning through play.
6. Meal kits
You’ve probably seen more than a couple of meal kits. There is a good reason for it: people love having their meals put together, so they don’t spend a lot of time figuring out what they want to eat, where to get ingredients, and other annoying parts of meal planning.
You don’t have to follow the same meal kit subscription plan as everyone else. You can put a unique spin on your meal kit to give yourself an advantage over the competition.
7. For the love of wine
Are you stuck in a rut drinking the type and brand of wine most weeks? Many people are busy, and busy professionals need a wine subscription service. After a hard day’s work, enjoy opening a bottle of wine you’ve never drunk before.
This could be your subscription business – especially if you love wine.
You can deliver curated picks of wines by the bottle monthly or go more niche and deliver by the glass, allowing subscribers to sample different wines before committing to full bottles.
8. Pet toys
To complement the above idea, pet toys can be fun in a subscription box. And let’s face it—our pets tear their toys up a lot.
Help a pet owner out and bring their pet toys to their door.
An example of a successful pet subscription business is BarkBox. This business sends pet owners a box of toys, treats, and other canine products tailored to their dog’s size and preferences. It’s Christmas every month for you and your favorite dog!
9. Natural pet food
Locate natural pet food producers and offer a subscription business for healthy natural pet food. Corn-free pet foods are favored today, so consider all-natural pet food brands.
Natural food is often more expensive, so a subscription business for natural pet food works as it spreads the cost over many payments.
Summing Up
Now that you have so many great ideas pick one and get started. Ensure you have essential business components like subscription billing, a website, dropshipping, and a marketing strategy.
Once you have these things together, it’s time to start making money. Congrats, and have fun with your new business.
These subscription business ideas are just a few that may help you keep the cash flowing.
