ToothbrushSubscriptions.com - 1.5 years in.

[dochustle]

Hi Fastlaners!

As I promised, I'm back with an update on the progress of ToothbrushSubscriptions.com. I launched this startup right here on the Fastlane Fourm as OneLessThought.com on October 23rd of 2012 and have been through quite a journey since then.

Just last night we launched our new homepage video. Some companies, not just Dollar Shave Club, have seen success with these types of videos. One of the obstacles with a business like this is getting the idea to spread and educating people on what our service does. A video (if it connects) is a great way to do that. Companies like PooPourri and HelloFlo have been successful with this marketing route.

The video itself was quite the process and took us about 6 months from start to finish. We iterated the hell out of it and came up with the final version you see live on the site now. Its funny, reviewing the thread I started on this forum to launch the site, Fastlaners' like JackEdwards and Likwid24 were some of the first to comment and they both recommended we do a video. Took a while (as things do I've come to learn) but it's live!

This next month or two is going to be really exciting as we are doing some fun growth strategies to help get the video out there.

A few things Iv'e learned over the past 1.5 years:

1. Patience - I'd love to be able to grow 10x every month but without going through the customer development process, really getting to know your customer and having some core, fundamental building blocks in place, you'll have a hard time succeeding. Just recently are we really starting to achieve these things. My finger has always been on the 'growth' button, but there have been many times where I've had to step back and get some basics right before moving forward.

2. Team is everything - without the people who are on board with TBS, we wouldn't be shit right now. From the development team, our amazing designer and everyone else, we wouldn't be anywhere near where we are today. Yes, you have to start somewhere, that's the only way to start testing and learning if what you have is actually something people want. I started with a Wordpress site and an absolutely brutal design. It started the learning process for me. But I think it's very hard to do something really great, in this space anyway, doing it yourself.

3. Seth Godin nailed it - you have to stand out from the crowd. You can preach features and benefits all day long but if there isn't an emotional connection, you'll have a hard time selling. One of those 'take a step back and get things right' phases I went through (and still am iterating constantly) was the entire experience a customer has from the time they learn about about us (hopefully through word of mouth), to placing an order and receiving each subsequent package in the mail.

In the early days it was all about how old toothbrushes are gross and why you need to change them frequently. Yes, that is still a part of it, but we do a lot of fun things now that you would never expect from a toothbrush. Every package comes with some oral hygiene education and tips on how you can build a successful, healthy smile. Our customer is a "busy professional" and we've had education cards like "The Coffee Drinkers Guide to Oral Health", for example.

We are also launching a very cool feature in June that will really engage our subscribers. These are just some of things we are doing, but it's these extras that are really making people love what we do

Honestly, this whole process has been an amazing experience and the biggest take away is it's all about learning. Hands on learning that you're not going to get 'working for a pay check.' I've had to sacrifice some things along the way, but that's part of the game.

Unfortunately since a few competitors have popped up we haven't been revealing subscriber numbers publicly for a little while now. But if you stay tuned we'll be revealing some 'hints' on the site in the near future.

The Fastlane got me off the ground, believe that!

Dave

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[JEdwards]

Good for you. Get going.

 

[SeanKelly]

Hi Fastlaners!

As I promised, I'm back with an update on the progress of ToothbrushSubscriptions.com. I launched this startup right here on the Fastlane Fourm as OneLessThought.com on October 23rd of 2012 and have been through quite a journey since then.

Just last night we launched our new homepage video. Some companies, not just Dollar Shave Club, have seen success with these types of videos. One of the obstacles with a business like this is getting the idea to spread and educating people on what our service does. A video (if it connects) is a great way to do that. Companies like PooPourri and HelloFlo have been successful with this marketing route.

The video itself was quite the process and took us about 6 months from start to finish. We iterated the hell out of it and came up with the final version you see live on the site now. Its funny, reviewing the thread I started on this forum to launch the site, Fastlaners' like JackEdwards and Likwid24 were some of the first to comment and they both recommended we do a video. Took a while (as things do I've come to learn) but it's live!

This next month or two is going to be really exciting as we are doing some fun growth strategies to help get the video out there.

A few things Iv'e learned over the past 1.5 years:

1. Patience - I'd love to be able to grow 10x every month but without going through the customer development process, really getting to know your customer and having some core, fundamental building blocks in place, you'll have a hard time succeeding. Just recently are we really starting to achieve these things. My finger has always been on the 'growth' button, but there have been many times where I've had to step back and get some basics right before moving forward.

2. Team is everything - without the people who are on board with TBS, we wouldn't be shit right now. From the development team, our amazing designer and everyone else, we wouldn't be anywhere near where we are today. Yes, you have to start somewhere, that's the only way to start testing and learning if what you have is actually something people want. I started with a Wordpress site and an absolutely brutal design. It started the learning process for me. But I think it's very hard to do something really great, in this space anyway, doing it yourself.

3. Seth Godin nailed it - you have to stand out from the crowd. You can preach features and benefits all day long but if there isn't an emotional connection, you'll have a hard time selling. One of those 'take a step back and get things right' phases I went through (and still am iterating constantly) was the entire experience a customer has from the time they learn about about us (hopefully through word of mouth), to placing an order and receiving each subsequent package in the mail.

In the early days it was all about how old toothbrushes are gross and why you need to change them frequently. Yes, that is still a part of it, but we do a lot of fun things now that you would never expect from a toothbrush. Every package comes with some oral hygiene education and tips on how you can build a successful, healthy smile. Our customer is a "busy professional" and we've had education cards like "The Coffee Drinkers Guide to Oral Health", for example.

We are also launching a very cool feature in June that will really engage our subscribers. These are just some of things we are doing, but it's these extras that are really making people love what we do

Honestly, this whole process has been an amazing experience and the biggest take away is it's all about learning. Hands on learning that you're not going to get 'working for a pay check.' I've had to sacrifice some things along the way, but that's part of the game.

Unfortunately since a few competitors have popped up we haven't been revealing subscriber numbers publicly for a little while now. But if you stay tuned we'll be revealing some 'hints' on the site in the near future.

The Fastlane got me off the ground, believe that!

Dave

I think people should be able to "check off" multiple toothbrushes at once instead of having to go back and forth from their shopping cart. Right now it seems geared toward an individual rather than an entire family or couple and you're probably missing out on potential revenue. Also, once they select the toothbrushes they want the floss should be an up-sell once they're checking out. Come up with something catchy to write and then they simply check off another box to add floss for $3. (check out how bark box does this with their toy "pupgrade"). Good luck!

 

[dochustle]

I think people should be able to "check off" multiple toothbrushes at once instead of having to go back and forth from their shopping cart. Right now it seems geared toward an individual rather than an entire family or couple and you're probably missing out on potential revenue. Also, once they select the toothbrushes they want the floss should be an up-sell once they're checking out. Come up with something catchy to write and then they simply check off another box to add floss for $3. (check out how bark box does this with their toy "pupgrade"). Good luck!

Sean,

You're dead on with this. This is coming within 1-2 weeks on our next design roll-out: really simplifying the checkout process and making it easier, and most important, very simple.

Basically giving 80% of the customers what they want and making it super easy for that 80%.

Dave

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Tiago]

That's so awesome! And I love it that it's so passive. People want convenience, and you're providing it to them. Good job.

 

[csalvato]

Are you profitable? Taking a salary yet? Or losing money? I am just curious since you didn't mention profitability, though it sounds like if you aren't profitable, you soon will be.

 

[dochustle]

Are you profitable? Taking a salary yet? Or losing money? I am just curious since you didn't mention profitability, though it sounds like if you aren't profitable, you soon will be.

We are still in "startup" mode for sure - I take what I need to live, but I certainly don't live too lavishly. We are a self-funded company and will be for the foreseeable future.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[1step]

I really like the still image for the video of the guy with his eyes wide open, it is interesting and makes me want to click the video and watch.

But overall I personally am not a fan of the video. It starts too slow and there are too many pauses during the voiceover. It takes too long and is overall just uninteresting to me. The reasons I like dollar shave club and poopouri over yours is they are faster paced, the images and scenes change quicker and the voiceover is more entertaining/interesting. I know you said 6 months to do it, what has the rest of the feedback been?

Tagging our resident video expert @DennisDuty to see his thoughts on the video

 

[Trivium iz rC]

Congrats on your success. I know you said you started with wordpress. Did you end up hiring developers for your subscription site? Or did you license a specific subscription software.

 

[chrisbiz4444]

As I promised, I'm back with an update on the progress of ToothbrushSubscriptions.com. I launched this startup right here on the Fastlane Fourm as OneLessThought.com on October 23rd of 2012 and have been through quite a journey since then.

idea

Hi Fastlaners!

As I promised, I'm back with an update on the progress of ToothbrushSubscriptions.com. I launched this startup right here on the Fastlane Fourm as OneLessThought.com on October 23rd of 2012 and have been through quite a journey since then.

Just last night we launched our new homepage video. Some companies, not just Dollar Shave Club, have seen success with these types of videos. One of the obstacles with a business like this is getting the idea to spread and educating people on what our service does. A video (if it connects) is a great way to do that. Companies like PooPourri and HelloFlo have been successful with this marketing route.

The video itself was quite the process and took us about 6 months from start to finish. We iterated the hell out of it and came up with the final version you see live on the site now. Its funny, reviewing the thread I started on this forum to launch the site, Fastlaners' like JackEdwards and Likwid24 were some of the first to comment and they both recommended we do a video. Took a while (as things do I've come to learn) but it's live!

This next month or two is going to be really exciting as we are doing some fun growth strategies to help get the video out there.

A few things Iv'e learned over the past 1.5 years:

1. Patience - I'd love to be able to grow 10x every month but without going through the customer development process, really getting to know your customer and having some core, fundamental building blocks in place, you'll have a hard time succeeding. Just recently are we really starting to achieve these things. My finger has always been on the 'growth' button, but there have been many times where I've had to step back and get some basics right before moving forward.

2. Team is everything - without the people who are on board with TBS, we wouldn't be shit right now. From the development team, our amazing designer and everyone else, we wouldn't be anywhere near where we are today. Yes, you have to start somewhere, that's the only way to start testing and learning if what you have is actually something people want. I started with a Wordpress site and an absolutely brutal design. It started the learning process for me. But I think it's very hard to do something really great, in this space anyway, doing it yourself.

3. Seth Godin nailed it - you have to stand out from the crowd. You can preach features and benefits all day long but if there isn't an emotional connection, you'll have a hard time selling. One of those 'take a step back and get things right' phases I went through (and still am iterating constantly) was the entire experience a customer has from the time they learn about about us (hopefully through word of mouth), to placing an order and receiving each subsequent package in the mail.

In the early days it was all about how old toothbrushes are gross and why you need to change them frequently. Yes, that is still a part of it, but we do a lot of fun things now that you would never expect from a toothbrush. Every package comes with some oral hygiene education and tips on how you can build a successful, healthy smile. Our customer is a "busy professional" and we've had education cards like "The Coffee Drinkers Guide to Oral Health", for example.

We are also launching a very cool feature in June that will really engage our subscribers. These are just some of things we are doing, but it's these extras that are really making people love what we do

Honestly, this whole process has been an amazing experience and the biggest take away is it's all about learning. Hands on learning that you're not going to get 'working for a pay check.' I've had to sacrifice some things along the way, but that's part of the game.

Unfortunately since a few competitors have popped up we haven't been revealing subscriber numbers publicly for a little while now. But if you stay tuned we'll be revealing some 'hints' on the site in the near future.

The Fastlane got me off the ground, believe that!

Dave

I really think this is a great idea.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[mememan]

Like Dollar Shave Club, this business makes no sense to me. Yeah, I know DSC makes money hand over fist, but come on, just use Amazon or Sam's Club to buy what you need and be done with it Then again, these sorts of businesses just show how stupid the average consumer is. For example, is the $3 for floss every month for ONE floss?

Love the video though

 

[chrisbiz4444]

Like Dollar Shave Club, this business makes no sense to me. Yeah, I know DSC makes money hand over fist, but come on, just use Amazon or Sam's Club to buy what you need and be done with it Then again, these sorts of businesses just show how stupid the average consumer is. For example, is the $3 for floss every month for ONE floss?

Love the video though

It takes the hassle of shopping out of the equation. Time is highly valuable to me and I do not want to waste it doing minuscule things like purchasing tooth brushes lol. I am sure many people have the same mindset. I feel like this is a great idea. So again. Great work. With strong marketing I believe this thing will take off.

 

[mememan]

It takes the hassle of shopping out of the equation. Time is highly valuable to me and I do not want to waste it doing minuscule things like purchasing tooth brushes lol. I am sure many people have the same mindset. I feel like this is a great idea. So again. Great work. With strong marketing I believe this thing will take off.

But there is NO hassle for shopping at Amazon. If you have PRIME, then boom, you have your toothbrushes in 2 days or less. And who goes shopping for 1 item? You have to buy food, just pick up the things at Wal-mart or better yet, Aldi's. I don't think I've ever spent more than 30 mins in Alidi's buying a whole week's groceries.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[oddball]

Like Dollar Shave Club, this business makes no sense to me. Yeah, I know DSC makes money hand over fist, but come on, just use Amazon or Sam's Club to buy what you need and be done with it Then again, these sorts of businesses just show how stupid the average consumer is. For example, is the $3 for floss every month for ONE floss?

Love the video though

The issue I see here is why would I use these services? I can use Amazon and do the same thing but with all these products instead of having 1 for my toothbrush, 1 for my razor, etc. Not just with prime either, Amazon has subscribe and save.

 

[jon.a]

I get a "free" brush every 3 months with my teeth cleaning. Good enough for me.

 

[mememan]

The issue I see here is why would I use these services? I can use Amazon and do the same thing but with all these products instead of having 1 for my toothbrush, 1 for my razor, etc. Not just with prime either, Amazon has subscribe and save.

And why on earth would I want yet another login and subscription running that I then have to later cancel? Hell, I see 14 toothbrushes I can get for $12 right now via Amazon Prime.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[DeletedUser2]

And why on earth would I want yet another login and subscription running that I then have to later cancel? Hell, I see 14 toothbrushes I can get for $12 right now via Amazon Prime.

your not the target market apparently.

I would be.



less things to add to the cart. less to remember to order.
dude. I love this model.

Z

 

[CigarMan]

And why on earth would I want yet another login and subscription running that I then have to later cancel? Hell, I see 14 toothbrushes I can get for $12 right now via Amazon Prime.

A year ago would never subscribe to something like this, I thought it was stupid. I received a subscription as gift and I actually liked it. I enjoy getting my package in the mail, every month I get a different design and for me it is one less thing I need to worry about.

It may make no sense to you but that does not mean there is not plenty of money to be made. Amazon is doing you are right but what percentage of the market do they have?

 

[mememan]

LOL. You all can't be serious. We're talking about toothbrushes and people are getting a sense of brand loyalty, feeling like they're getting a gift in the mail, etc. This goes up there with light-weight cat litter in wastes of human talent and ingenuity. Then again, I'm masochistic bread, don't listen to me

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[CigarMan]

LOL. You all can't be serious. We're talking about toothbrushes and people are getting a sense of brand loyalty, feeling like they're getting a gift in the mail, etc. This goes up there with light-weight cat litter in wastes of human talent and ingenuity. Then again, I'm masochistic bread, don't listen to me

I don't understand why this is so hard to grasp.

People are creatures of habit. I know people who will on wear a specific brand of socks, underwear, toothbrush, toothpaste, toilet paper... and they will buy it from same online retailer ever time.

So to answer you question, I am serious... what is wrong with branding your product and website?

Consider this, while you are LOLing people are getting rich with this business model.

 

[mememan]

I don't understand why this is so hard to grasp.

People are creatures of habit. I know people who will on wear a specific brand of socks, underwear, toothbrush, toothpaste, toilet paper... and they will buy it from same online retailer ever time.

So to answer you question, I am serious... what is wrong with branding your product and website?

Consider this, while you are LOLing people are getting rich with this business model.

Not hard to grasp. Just shows the utter pathetic nature of the average consumer. Sure, if I find something that works I will continue to use it, but I'll be damned if I'm going to sign up for a subscription service to anything like this or DSC. Hey, I think we go through a bottle of shampoo a month, how about we pay 500% more for it via a subscription? Can I get loaves of bread every week? Etc.

And there's nothing wrong with branding your site/product. You kinda have to for something like this anyway since we're talking about a commodity product. It's just a little sad on the consumer end when they get such warm fuzzies off of stuff like this.

 

[oddball]

I think the concept is good, subscription services for products like this, I just think Amazon does it better. Instead of different companies for each subscriptions, you can just go through Amazon. Amazon is the most convenient online service, between prime and subscriptions, its a one stop shop.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[mememan]

I think the concept is good, subscription services for products like this, I just think Amazon does it better. Instead of different companies for each subscriptions, you can just go through Amazon. Amazon is the most convenient online service, between prime and subscriptions, its a one stop shop.

This. Aside from DSC being able to attract hipsters with its cute commercials, I really don't see a subscription model working out there for every single product type. Maybe more high-end stuff, but not stuff like this.

On Amazon, I can setup subscriptions and cancel them in seconds. I can't be the only one who refuses to buy something at a site when I'm probably just going to order one thing off of there in forever. If we're talking real ease of use and a semi-guarantee of quality, I'd almost always get the product on Amazon.

Not saying Amazon is great, I think they're pretty underhanded with their 3rd party sellers and support for them sucks, but I'd rather pay store or below store prices on this sort of stuff from them.

 

[dochustle]

I really like the still image for the video of the guy with his eyes wide open, it is interesting and makes me want to click the video and watch.

But overall I personally am not a fan of the video. It starts too slow and there are too many pauses during the voiceover. It takes too long and is overall just uninteresting to me. The reasons I like dollar shave club and poopouri over yours is they are faster paced, the images and scenes change quicker and the voiceover is more entertaining/interesting. I know you said 6 months to do it, what has the rest of the feedback been?

Tagging our resident video expert @DennisDuty to see his thoughts on the video

I like the image too. I'm going to test a few different versions of it to see which gets the most clicks (assuming those who watch the video are more likely to purchase)

Thanks for the feedback. I've had similar feedback from some experienced eCommerce friends who recommend being absolutely ruthless and trimming it down to 30 seconds. You're right about DSC and PooPourri moving very quickly through scene changes and basically there is no time between voiceovers. We use Wistia for video and you can measure engagement really well with with their statistics tools (% of people who finish the video, where they stop, where they re-watch etc)

I'ld love to hear Dennis' thoughts too!

Congrats on your success. I know you said you started with wordpress. Did you end up hiring developers for your subscription site? Or did you license a specific subscription software.

We did start with Wordpress. Now we operate on a fairly new eCommerce platform. We were one of their early adopters and now have some really cool subscription functionality built in. If anyone wants an introduction, feel free to PM me.

Like Dollar Shave Club, this business makes no sense to me. Yeah, I know DSC makes money hand over fist, but come on, just use Amazon or Sam's Club to buy what you need and be done with it Then again, these sorts of businesses just show how stupid the average consumer is. For example, is the $3 for floss every month for ONE floss?

Love the video though

Thanks for the video love . Floss is $3, you choose the shipping frequency (every 1, 2 or 3 months)

Not hard to grasp. Just shows the utter pathetic nature of the average consumer. Sure, if I find something that works I will continue to use it, but I'll be damned if I'm going to sign up for a subscription service to anything like this or DSC. Hey, I think we go through a bottle of shampoo a month, how about we pay 500% more for it via a subscription? Can I get loaves of bread every week? Etc.

And there's nothing wrong with branding your site/product. You kinda have to for something like this anyway since we're talking about a commodity product. It's just a little sad on the consumer end when they get such warm fuzzies off of stuff like this.

One of the benefits of a lot of these subscription services is the price. Usually you don't pay any more than you would in store, and you get it shipped to your door for free.

I think the concept is good, subscription services for products like this, I just think Amazon does it better. Instead of different companies for each subscriptions, you can just go through Amazon. Amazon is the most convenient online service, between prime and subscriptions, its a one stop shop.

This is a common argument people have, and it's valid - why not go to Amazon? For starters, every eCommerce company "competes" with Amazon. They are becoming the biggest store in the world. They are the 'everything' store.

I think it would be unwise to compete head on with Amazon in the selling of third party brands, unless you're really niche.

You have to beat them at something they won't do. For us, it's the customer experience. We have to provide more than just a toothbrush and really deliver massive value to our customers through the experience they receive a getting a package in the mail every month. Some companies compete on proprietary products (Warby Parker & Bonobos), some on innovative pricing models (Zulily) and others on a proprietary experience (BirchBox, JustFab and ToothbrushSubscriptions.com)

Andy Dunn wrote a great article called E-Commerce is a Bear. I'd recommend anyone interested in e-commerce/retail read it.

We address this question dead on in our FAQ and honestly we are still not even close to where I'd like to be for the customer experience. But it's coming. It's our main focus. We are obsessive about providing the best customer experience possible.

 

[oddball]

I like the image too. I'm going to test a few different versions of it to see which gets the most clicks (assuming those who watch the video are more likely to purchase)

Thanks for the feedback. I've had similar feedback from some experienced eCommerce friends who recommend being absolutely ruthless and trimming it down to 30 seconds. You're right about DSC and PooPourri moving very quickly through scene changes and basically there is no time between voiceovers. We use Wistia for video and you can measure engagement really well with with their statistics tools (% of people who finish the video, where they stop, where they re-watch etc)

I'ld love to hear Dennis' thoughts too!



We did start with Wordpress. Now we operate on a fairly new eCommerce platform. We were one of their early adopters and now have some really cool subscription functionality built in. If anyone wants an introduction, feel free to PM me.



Thanks for the video love . Floss is $3, you choose the shipping frequency (every 1, 2 or 3 months)



One of the benefits of a lot of these subscription services is the price. Usually you don't pay any more than you would in store, and you get it shipped to your door for free.



This is a common argument people have, and it's valid - why not go to Amazon? For starters, every eCommerce company "competes" with Amazon. They are becoming the biggest store in the world. They are the 'everything' store.

I think it would be stupid to compete head on with Amazon in the selling of third party brands, unless you're really niche. and assuming you want to build a 100+ million dollar business.

You have to beat them at something they won't do. For us, it's the customer experience. We have to provide more than just a toothbrush and really deliver massive value to our customers through the experience they receive a getting a package in the mail every month. Some companies compete on proprietary products (Warby Parker & Bonobos), some on innovative pricing models (Zulily) and others on a proprietary experience (BirchBox, JustFab and ToothbrushSubscriptions.com)

Andy Dunn wrote a great article called E-Commerce is a Bear. I'd recommend anyone interested in e-commerce/retail read it.

We address this question dead on in our FAQ and honestly we are still not even close to where I'd like to be for the customer experience. But it's coming. It's our main focus. We are obsessive about providing the best customer experience possible.

I realize 99% ecommerce competes with Amazon, I'm not trying to belittle your idea, was just stating my opinion from a user standpoint. My point was more that the one product subscription seems way too hard. Why not a complete bathroom subscription? Provide all things bathroom related, toothbrush, shampoo, shaving cream, hand soap, etc. I think subscription services are a great idea, but to me, it seems pointless to just do 1 product. I personally don't want an account for 1 product, but if I could get a bunch of what I need, that would be more enticing.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[jakejarmel]

Like Dollar Shave Club, this business makes no sense to me. Yeah, I know DSC makes money hand over fist, but come on, just use Amazon or Sam's Club to buy what you need and be done with it Then again, these sorts of businesses just show how stupid the average consumer is. For example, is the $3 for floss every month for ONE floss?

Love the video though

You're wrong here as far as DSC is concerned. The great thing about them and why I signed up is because they're significantly cheaper than any other place I looked. Yes, it's also convenient, but that's not why I signed on. BTW, I'm not a hipster and couldn't care less about their videos. I signed on because of the prices.

Now, as far as the toothbrushes are concerned, not interested. Simply because the prices are the same, if not more. It's really not more convenient than picking up a toothbrush when I'm at the market. Also, the market offers soft, med, and hard bristles.

 

[mememan]

I realize 99% ecommerce competes with Amazon, I'm not trying to belittle your idea, was just stating my opinion from a user standpoint. My point was more that the one product subscription seems way too hard. Why not a complete bathroom subscription? Provide all things bathroom related, toothbrush, shampoo, shaving cream, hand soap, etc. I think subscription services are a great idea, but to me, it seems pointless to just do 1 product. I personally don't want an account for 1 product, but if I could get a bunch of what I need, that would be more enticing.

I still wouldn't be interested in this, but this is a much better sales idea: complete bathroom subscription. Focusing on men would probably be better since I think women like to mix up their toiletries every now and then. Call it "Bathroom Butler," and have a complete sales package. Maybe start it as a gift/gag subscription that someone can buy someone else (think moms for college students).

 

[csalvato]

I posted something here, then had a change of heart

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Tiago]

I still wouldn't be interested in this, but this is a much better sales idea: complete bathroom subscription. Focusing on men would probably be better since I think women like to mix up their toiletries every now and then. Call it "Bathroom Butler," and have a complete sales package. Maybe start it as a gift/gag subscription that someone can buy someone else (think moms for college students).

I like this. Always have a premium package, because there's always a top 20% of people that will generate you 80% revenue.

 

[Joe Cassandra]

Subscription models are tough (many go out of business or suck). We tried a doggie month box [barkbox], $20 a month for toys and treats. Wasn't worth it to us, our pup likes THESE types of rawhides and we feel good getting him what he wants instead of random treats in a box.

My wife tried Birchbox [$10 a month for makeup]. The best part for her was watching their "reveal" clip where they talk about everything in the box. She loved that but when she got the box she'd pick through it, put it on her dresser than 2 weeks later we're trashing it, so we ditched it.

We have Dollar Shave Club as it's very cheap (we're on the $6 every 2 months and they send 4 razors every 2 months aka 2 razors a month). Those 2 razors are good and last a while. My wife used to pay $20-$30 every month or 2 for new razors. These are better. I don't know why we keep doing it besides saving money and they are a "cool" brand. Maybe that's the key, make it a mega "cool" brand.

I personally don't know anyone that buys their toiletries and such from Amazon, not sure why. It's not marketed as much for sure but maybe we don't want 1 place online to get everything a la the online Wal-Mart. Sometimes we like to mix it up.

I've thought of doing a toothbrush subscription service as well, but it wouldn't interest me nor would I use it. Maybe you can contact dentists and get them on some sort of plan where you brand them as well.

Good luck!