Ninja Noodle Box - Monthly Subscription Progress

[exclusives88]

I thought of this idea last week. I am a huge instant noodle fan (especially in my college and high school days). Where I live, there are several local Asian supermarkets that sell ramen noodles. However, they only carry a small portion of the ramen that are available in other countries. I was thinking to myself that maybe there is a demand where you can buy a variety box where it includes variety of ramen from around the world. Thinking further, I thought of an idea to make it into a monthly subscription.

Over the weekend, I put a draft landing page together using WIX (Still in draft form). After putting a couple pages together, I ran into some issue.

http://michaelchsu.wix.com/template-1

1. My plan was to create a subscribe page where consumers can choose different options (spicy/nonspicy, different flavors). WIX does not support PHP. I am going to switch to a new hosting (probably godaddy)

2. Fiverr sucks most of the time. I hired a logo designer and asked for a Ninja. I mentioned this several time and they did not deliver. Now I need to find another designer.

3. I went through a couple of people through elance and odesk for help on issue #1. They always stood me up when asking to Skype. I definitely will not hire them. This has happened multiple times.

Plans:

1. Hire a web developer to put together a landing page that will have the functionality of choosing the options of different flavors...etc Completed

2. Buy Domain Name - Completed

3. Test the market using facebook ads and adwords. I will set a $400 budget for this. The subscribe page will go through steps of choosing the right flavor. At the end of the steps, they will put in their name, e-mail and submit. After they submitted, there will be a pop up that let them know that it is out of order or not available at this time. If they complete this process, I know that they are potential subscribers. Do you think I should also put a field in for credit card information? Since I don't have the products, I don't know if I should take this information.

Let me know your thoughts on the idea. On the site, I put it as $20 per box but I think the price is too high. I'm thinking $18 is a good middle ground.

 

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[MattCour]

Interesting concept. Do you think people who buy Ramen noodles want to spend $20 every month on them? What about a more expensive one month option, then tier the pricing so the monthly is a much better value.. Just my 2cents

 

[exclusives88]

Interesting concept. Do you think people who buy Ramen noodles want to spend $20 every month on them? What about a more expensive one month option, then tier the pricing so the monthly is a much better value.. Just my 2cents

That is what I am trying to figure out when testing the market. I don't think the price can be more than $20 because you can buy cheap ramen in grocery stores.

The value is that I am providing a variety of flavor in each package, providing them with something they never had tried before ( a lot of my friends bring back noodles when they go back to Asia because it is unavailable here. The quality is much better), and also providing them with a unique recipe each month.

It cost around $1 - $1.25 for each ramen so around $12 - $15. The value added will be $5 so max, I'd like to charge $20.

 

[MattCour]

Run the tests and get it up and running quickly. I hope you crush it with this bro!

 

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[MayaMagpie]

I wonder if 12 packs per month isn't a bit much, even for a hardcore fan... That's ramen every third day. Maybe you could do tiers, like Matt said, with several options, from 1 a month up to 12 or something.
Hope it works out for you though!

 

[PopEmersen]

you might want to try wordpress with the woocommerce plugin, or shopify, or squarespace, or www.subbly.co which is specifically for subscriptions

 

[exclusives88]

@MayaMagpie @MattCour . Thanks. Here are my Options

Spicy, Non Spicy
Chicken, Beef, Pork, Seafood, Vegetable, Surprise Me
4 Pack, 6 Pack, 12 Pack
1 Month, 3 Month, 6 Month, 12 Month

I will do an analyses on how much I should charge for each tier.

@PopEmersen Thank you for the suggestion. I will look into this. Hopefully it will do it. I always see wordpress as a blog..

 

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[rocksolid]

Have you thought about other costs mainly shipping. Will you be able to ship and still turn a profit. Also packaging. You need a box and a sticker or something with your company info on it so that is more costs to consider.

 

[themaxx]

Noah Kagan started a Beef Jerky monthly subscription box in 24 hours:
http://www.appsumo.com/sumo-jerky/

Lots of ideas for you there.

 

[exclusives88]

@rocksolid

Noah Kagan started a Beef Jerky monthly subscription box in 24 hours:
http://www.appsumo.com/sumo-jerky/

Lots of ideas for you there.

Thanks! This gave me the confidence that I can do this.

 

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[exclusives88]

Have you thought about other costs mainly shipping. Will you be able to ship and still turn a profit. Also packaging. You need a box and a sticker or something with your company info on it so that is more costs to consider.

I have. Shipping and Box will cost a lot. I'm looking into the shipping cost and I would need to import thousands of packages at one time for it to be worth it. I can do this if I get enough subscribers.

Another thought is to stick with local grocery stores (shin ramen, mama, sapparo...etc). However, the value of trying something new is gone - at least for the people who eat those brands regularly.

 

[rocksolid]

You can look into dollar stores. They often carry off name foods and you might be able to pick up so foreign noodles there and for a good price.

 

[exclusives88]

Should I take credit card information during the testing phase? If I promise a delivery date of let's say Mid October, can I charge the card via securenet or paypal. Similar to sumo jerky, only fulfill 20-40 subscribers

 

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[exclusives88]

Alright Fastlaners. I'm still pulling through with this but I am on hold until I meet with my web developer who is in another state. As a result, this will be on hold.

However, I was very motivated by "sumo jerky" that @themaxx posted. I needed something that was simple where I didn't have to import. I just moved to NJ/NYC area where there are so many amazing bakeries. A lot of them are creating healthy desserts. I was in a good area to bring these amazing desserts to everyone in the US. Sumo Jerky made a very simple website and still did very well.

I did the same and am promoting it on facebook right now to see how it does.

www.love-carte.com

I setted up a facebook page, twitter (lovecartebox) and pinterest (lovecartebox). I'll give you an update.

I am offering 1 month box for $25, and a 3 month box for $22. Shipping to the other side of the US will be 5-6$. For the boxes, I am thinking of using the bakery boxes for now until I find the best pricing for my own box. I estimate it will cost $1.50 for a box.

$22 - $6 (shipping) - $1.50 (box) - $.80 (paypal fee) - $12 of desserts = $1.70 profit... Very slim profits. I may consider only buying $10 worth of desserts and finding a cheaper alternative on the box.

Will keep you all updated. Any opinions on the site?

 

[MoneyTrees]

Any opinions on the site?

Solid start, here are a couple feedback points:

• Your page title [title that shows in a browser's tab] says "template-1" when it should say "Love-Carte...etc."
• Having a picture example of what you send out (I know you're just validating currently) would probably help conversion.
• On the "subscribe" page it is hard for me to read '1 month membership' white text on the light blue background
• Consider adding a picture of you on the "what is" page so you put a face to the business. In my opinion, people are more likely to buy from people than a three page website with no personal information.

I hope everything goes really well for you. Definitely looking forward to updates!

 

[exclusives88]

Thanks @MoneyTrees

I've noticed your first comment and have been trying to fix it. I will have to call WIX tomorrow.

Going to NYC on Saturday to get some pictures of the product and myself.

 

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[exclusives88]

To Admin - is it possible to change this title to Love Carte instead of Ninja Noodle Box?

I'll make a separate thread on ninja noodles after I have more updates and a website made (and hopefully sales)

 

[MayaMagpie]

Site looks nice so far.
A few points:
The "learn more" link under the subscribe button doesn't work.
And you may want to specify how much exactly people get in their box. A box could be anything...
Have you thought about packaging (other than the plain box)? Shipping food can be tricky after all. Is it next day delivery?

 

[exclusives88]

Will fix this tonight. Thanks for the feedback. Might have to send you guys some cupcakes one day!

Each box will on average include 4 - 6 cupcakes and 2 cookies. It really varies depending on what other goods I include, cinnamon buns, cakes, brownies, cakepops.

@MayaMagpie 2 day delivery. Do you recommend any specific boxes for cupcakes/cakes? I would think the other goods are simple to package

 

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[rocksolid]

Maybe go to Uline . com for boxes and just have stickers with your info made up. I think the profit is still too low, maybe there is another way to get some of it back. Maybe you can make a deal with the bakeries they they provide the food for free and you will put their website on your website so your customers can buy more products. Also what do you think about the freshness factor. will everything stay fresh for a few days while shipping?

 

[MayaMagpie]

Cookies, cakepops etc should be fine for this, maybe with bubble wrap or something... I'd be careful with cupcakes that have elaborate frosting, because they'll need to be cooled - And I assume that insulated boxes will be too much trouble and too expensive.
I'm not sure if I have seen a subscription service for such perishable goods before. I once used grazebox, but all of their things last for weeks, if not months.