How to start a subscription business with No-Code

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The subscription business market is booming and could grow to 1.5 trillion by 2025. Subscription businesses offer several benefits, like the reliability of recurring revenue you don’t get with one-off purchases. And thanks to the low entry barrier, attracting and retaining customers for future sales is easier.

Starting your new subscription business may feel slightly nerve-racking. However, once you join the no-code movement here at 100 School, not only will you learn no-code the easy way, but, I’m sure you’ll feel supported throughout the whole journey and beyond.

In this article, we discuss how to go about starting your subscription business using no-code.

In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear.— Olivia Rhye, Product Designer

What is a Subscription Business?

A subscription business delivers a product or service, and customers pay a recurring fee to keep receiving the offering.

Subscription business models thrive by focusing on customer retention and acquisition. Their lifetime value increases when a customer pays multiple payments for an extended time instead of making a one-time payment.

Subscription Business Examples

Product Service: Embarque

Embarque is a productized SEO content marketing agency delivering, on-demand, premium, subscription-based SEO services. They encourage customer loyalty by offering flexible content packages, the option to cancel anytime, and other incentives. Loyalty is the heart of a successful subscription business model, and fast-growing Embarque effectively leverages loyalty techniques.

Physical Product: Upscribe

Upscribe supports subscription-first merchants with a service that helps them acquire and keep subscription customers. Their growth tools assist Shopify merchants to quickly scale their businesses and take advantage of the booming e-commerce subscription industry, which is to reach a market size of $904.2 billion by 2026.

Digital Service: logology.co

Logology offers pre-made, customizable logo designs to start-up business owners. Entrepreneurship is another rising trend, and Logology’s digital service addresses a common concern that most new owners face with limited cash. They offer them a leg-up through access to customized professional branding to help build their credibility. This subscription business idea works since every business needs a logo. Entrepreneurs can subscribe to branding to keep upfront costs low and have the option to buy later.

Benefits of Starting a Subscription Business

Predictable recurring revenue - When customers subscribe to your product or service, you’ll receive a steady flow of recurring income. With subscriptions, you won’t need to worry about wildly fluctuating incomes each month that comes with one off payment models.

Easy entry points - Subscriptions offer multiple plans, which makes it easy for customers to join up regardless of their income.

Reduced churn and better customer retention - Customers don’t need to constantly reorder products or services, and are instead billed regularly at specific monthly intervals (usually). This makes it much easier to retain your customers.

Lower customer acquisition costs (CAC) - And the knock-on effect of higher customer retention is less money spent on acquiring new customers. On average, retaining customers is four to five times cheaper than attracting new ones. In addition, loyal customers are typically happy enough to tell someone about your brand; therefore, potentially, you save money on marketing efforts through the most effective type of advertising, word-of-mouth.

How To Start a Subscription Business

1. Identify your niche and find a market fit

One of the most important parts to creating a subscription business is finding out where you fit into the market. The best advice I can give is that you base your idea around a particular market you’re most knowledgeable of. To help you out, here’s a few questions you can ask yourself:

What is your niche - What is the specific market for your offerings? Try to be as specific as possible—for example, Vegan-Snacks instead of Snacks.

Who are your competitors - Over the past decade, subscription services have expanded exponentially. While there’s a ton of competition, that isn’t a bad thing, as it gives you a huge sample to analyze. Look at their products or services, and identify gaps in the market that you can fit into.

Who is your customer? You’re not going to be successful in the subscription business, unless you know who your target consumers are inside and out. Think about their needs, and their income levels. Also, consider what value they want to get out of your offerings. Don’t forget about your competitor’s customers either, as they can give you a good base to work from.

2. Choose the right subscription business model

To decide which subscription business model is most suitable for your idea, here are some of the more popular ones:

Subscription box. Each month you send your customers a box filled with goodies that you or your customers select.

Curation business model. A subscription box service where the customer receives a box with personalized “surprise” items whenever a new box is available. HelloFresh operates a curation business model.

SaaS (Software as a Service) subscription. Common examples of this type include Slack and Google Workspace, where your customers pay to access your software.

Access business model. Subscribers are given exclusive access to members-only discounts or perks.

Replenishment business model. With this model, you’ll replenish items for your customers regularly. Dollar Shave Club operates under this model; they keep their customers stocked up on shaving items.

3. Decide subscription pricing model

This is where a couple of factors from step one can help. When you’re deciding on your pricing model, your target customer should be front-and-center of your mind. Again, think about who they are, their income level, and what they’d consider convenient in a pricing model. Look at:

Which pricing model to use, e.g., Flat Rate or Tiered? Flat-rate (single fixed fee) is better for B2C companies, while Tired (pricing based on features) is popular among SaaS companies.

Which pricing strategy is best for attracting and retaining your ideal customers, cultivating brand recognition, etc.?

Which method should you use to calculate the price of your offering? Examples include Cost-Plus Pricing, where the selling price is determined by adding a fixed percentage, and Value-Based Pricing, based on your customer’s perceived value of the offering.

Pricing is an ongoing process that will need revisiting as your business grows, the market, and your customer’s preferences change. So, keep it simple at first. You can start with one package, then expand from there as you gain customer feedback.

4. Set up your online platform

Once you’ve figured all that out, you can now start building your online platform!

Building your website will save you a ton of money, and you can do so without writing a single line of code. At 100DaysOfNoCode, our online campus facilitates will teach you no-code and support you throughout your no-code journey.

We offer inclusive and affordable learning experiences that support anyone taking their first no-code steps. Join our 12k + community of no-coders, where you’ll find people from all walks of life bringing their app ideas to life.

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5. Market and launch your business

Ensure your business gets in front of the right eyes to gain traction. Here are a few ideas to consider when developing a sterling marketing strategy.

Develop a solid social media presence by posting high-quality content regularly.

Build an email list for communications about your brand.

Ensure your branding is consistent across all marketing channels

Advertise on Facebook Ads and Google Ads

6. Grow your subscriber base

There are several ways to scale your business. However, word of mouth is one of the most cost-effective and influential. People prefer to spend their money based on a recommendation, so you could implement a customer referral program to encourage this.

In addition, ensure you meet your customer’s expectations and deliver excellent customer service for more sign-ups. Make your processes straightforward, and strategically place your call-to-action buttons in prominent places on the pages. Towards the bottom or to the right of content tends to perform well.

Join the 100 School Community for Ongoing Support

Subscription businesses are the way forward and a win-win situation for both parties. Customers can receive the products or services they want without paying much upfront. And you’ll find it easier to retain customers and know approximately how much revenue you’ll make each month.

Here at 100 School, not only will you learn no-code in the easiest and funniest way possible. You’ll be able to form connections with students in the same boat as you, from beginners to experts.