okay so hi yall, i just kinda want to bounce some ideas for a business off you. I want to make a subscription box, name tbd, so i want to make it a comfort box, each box would included, tea, candles, stones/crystal, books, seed packets (flower or veggie), stickers, and a small notebook. i have found a supplier for boxes and have a used book store near me for boxes, a supplier for notebooks, and have a gem/crystal shop in my town, seeds, candles, and stickers are all easy to find online and in stores, i can even make my own stickers, so idk. I want to make money and feel like this would just be a good side job because i have a retail store i can put business cards in, and have a instagram account which has been growing and has a following of people who enjoy the list i included. do you think i should just and start a business i have already had some practice with legal zoom, and social media advertisements.
You could market it as a self-care subscription. I could see the mental health market offering this already but do some research and see.
Have you calculated the production cost and thought about a retail price? It's not a bad idea and I am sure there is a market for it as long as the price is right.
so what i have decided is because it cost around 12 dollars per box to make each box this includes (the box, 5 tea bags, a notebook, 8oz of bath salt, seeds, 1-5 stickers, a candle, stones, a book, a 4oz bar of soap, a handmade bracelet, and a letter/note) so around 1 dollar per item meaning i should cut down so shipping costs don't grow to large. im thinking of pricing a one month order at 20$, a 6 month order 19$ (114 dollars upfront), and 12 months 17$ with a pair of socks in each box (204$), i might remove the bath soap, and the seeds to cut costs more, and and narrow my niche. any thoughts?
If it costs $12, then you aren't marking it up enough. I'd aim for maybe $25 at least. Or... work on seeing if you can get the cost down to maybe $8 or so, then the $20 price would make at least a little bit more sense. The thing you have to figure in here is the value of your time in ordering the supplies, assembling the boxes, shipping them out. It needs to be worthwhile for you to make sense.
I'm not sure if this is useful, but how about you have 3 or 4 different types of boxes instead of having all the items in a single type of box? You could have the tea bags, letter, bracelet, 1 to 2 general books/novels/fiction books as common items and then have the rest of the stuff be variable depending on the type of 'comfort box' Like, say a 'green thumb box' for the garden friendly people? Which includes the common stuff along with Seed Packets, a flower ornament or something, books on gardening/farming and a earthy scented candle? a 'Mystic box' or something which will have the candle, stones, necklaces, maybe tarot cards or something with books on mysticism and crystal healing? a 'Art/Writers box' with Notebooks, a pen/pencil, softer scented candles, books on writing or something? I realize that the level of customisation would mean that you would need to sought out the required books and candles instead of making them random, but this was the idea I got when I read your posts.
Aw, I love this idea! Sounds great! Butterfly8's idea of advertising it as a sort of self-care box seems like a good move as well. Unfortunately I don't really know anything about business but you certainly have my personal "blessings" and wishes of luck for the project!
this is a great idea, maybe i can market it as if, with a one month subscription you get the green thumb box, 6 months the artist, and the year plan the mystic box, each including what the box before included. and then im thinking of pricing it 25 dollars for the green thumb, 23 (each month) for the 6 month, and 21(each month) for the year plan. yeah im going to talk to some of the possible suppliers and see if they will lower the price if i buy it in bulk, and its a good idea to up the price but i just want to market it as a cheaper option, but ill do some more research and figure how i can lower the price. yeah definitely! thank you!!
I love this concept! I have seen people who do this on Instagram that do VERY well with it. Customers like having customization options. Fabulous idea though OP. I really think you have a good concept here.
Did you manage to earn something from it or not? I myself plan to do something similar and would like to know if it makes sense to invest your time in it! Thank you.
Well, actually the approaches are interesting. I try to do something similar myself, but this is very conceptual.
Great idea! Although you may need a bigger markup to make it sustainable. Is there anyway to customize the box - for eg. I live in an apartment, and there is nowhere to plant more than I already have. Seeds would be useless to me, and stickers would hold no appeal - but I’d use an extra candle before the day was out. This can be a lot of extra work, so it’s Just a thought. But, it might open up your potential market. it is also very important to check the market. Size of market? Who else is doing something similar? What are their costs vs price? Is there customer loyalty, or can you steal a share of the market easily? What distinguishes you from the competition? Etc. Etc. You can have the best idea - but if the market is already saturated, it’s not likely to succeed. I used to review business plans for small business loans from our local government and the ones that generally succeeded were the ones that did full market research and had viable 5 year business plan. It can be a lot of work in the beginning, but it’s worth it in the long run. And it will be invaluable if your business expands, especially if to the point you look for investors.
