Subscription Box Checklist
Starting a subscription box business can be incredibly difficult but often figuring out what steps to take first can be the most daunting part. Should I star...
Starting a subscription box business can be incredibly difficult but often figuring out what steps to take first can be the most daunting part. Should I start with a prelaunch campaign? When do I figure out how to source product? How do I pick what day to start shipping? The following checklist is meant to help you get started but is by no means an exhaustive list of things to do!
Prelaunch
Start immediately with social accounts
Start posting content regularly
Setup a prelaunch email campaign
Buy a website domain name from Namecheap
Setup Mailchimp account
Setup Google Analytics
Build a prelaunch page (using launchrock) with Mailchimp integration to start collecting emails
Get beta product
Source product for 20 test/review boxes (Amazon, Etsy, find wholesaler later)
Find a box/sticker supplier from here: http://subscriptionschool.com/services-resources/
Make sample boxes
High quality product photos are important
Create Cratejoy Marketplace Listing
Setup Marketplace listing with pictures
Design Website
Design product website with clear, concise value propositions
Subscribe Flow Images and text (Do you need product variants or a survey?)
FAQs
TOS and Privacy Policy
Test your checkout flow
Don’t forget to the business setup
Setup an LLC with LegalZoom or maybe Stripe Atlas
Learn sales tax rules/Apply for Sales Tax Certificate (This will depend on your state)
Open business bank account
Setup/update Stripe account
Setup quickbooks
Launch!
What to do on launch day
With a prelaunch you have been collecting emails for hopefully 4-6 weeks so start with a Mailchimp blast out to all of your leads
Find 5 influencers to launch with
Highly engaged 5000+ instagram followers should do it for the cost of a box
Preferably 1 bigger influencer, may cost $100, release to 20-30k followers and blog post
Lots of calls to action over social media ahead of launch day
Post-Launch
Get ready for your first ship day
Design and Update the Cratejoy subscriber-facing emails with your branding
Use Pirateship for buying postage
Purchase and setup Dymo label printer
Buy shipping boxes/product for 50-100 subs, depending on how big your launch estimation is
Ship day
Breathe
Over-communicate on social media/email!