How to launch a subscription-based service for your business in 2023

By Christian Wilkens 

The reason you are reading this blog now, is because you are interested in starting a subscription service, and lucky for you, that is exactly what we at Sharefox do. 

So let’s dive into it. We have created a short cheat sheet on how to start.

1. Choose your subscription idea

It does not matter if you start from scratch or already have a successful brand, adopting a subscription model is a great way to add a recurring revenue stream. Maybe you are in the outdoor equipment business or own a larger franchise of clothing, a good idea is where it all begins. 

2. Select your subscription products

Choose the products that you want to offer to your subscribers. Think of which items in your catalog that will create most revenue or are best suited for a subscription service. Think of how to deliver items or create a self service gateway. Think of taking great photos for your website. 

3. Price your subscription options

You may have different levels of subscription products and variants of service offers. Find the price that accommodates your needs. Remember that you can offer a lower price compared to traditional one time sales, making your offer much more attractive. 

4. Build your website and administration tools

Now it’s time to use those photos we mentioned before. Building your website is extremely important and it is important to do it correctly. Use great photos and descriptions, be clear on showing what you offer your customers. This is going to be your main platform for your sales and interaction with your customers. 

It is imperative that you distinguish between a webshop (Front end) for your customers to shop, and an admin system (back end), for you to handle booking orders and set up the store with products and prices. 

Building a website with the proper admin tools that collects data from users is even more beneficial, because it allows you to analyze customer behavior, like identifying top sellers in your product catalog, the need to add stock, customer bounce rate and so on. Try and use a system that gives all control to your customers, meaning that they do everything themselves, from booking, to checking terms and conditions to online payment and check out. 

You can easily build a website and get all the admin tools you need with Sharefox. 

5. Market your new subscription business

Now your idea has been conceptualized, you have top notch products to rent out, your pricing is spot on and you created a modern and intuitive website for your future signups. Now the fun part starts. It is time to market your brand. In our experience this is what most of our clients forget to do, mostly because it is a very daunting task and most don’t know where to begin.  

Here is a short list of things to consider when doing marketing for your brand. 

• In our experience it actually begins with your products. The photos and texts that you assign to each product needs to look professional and inviting, the message needs to be clear for the end user. 
• Build lists of your customers and start to send out newsletter with offers and news. 
• Be easy to find. Create an online presence. Build a Social media page.
• Be searchable on Google and optimize your SEO

This is just some small steps on how to get started with marketing. 

If you want to have a short chat about marketing, do not hesitate to reach out to us. We are more than happy to hear about your business and how we can help you. 

5 easy steps right? And yet not so easy after all.

As mentioned earlier, there is a lot to gain by shifting your concept to a subscription sales model, but it can be very difficult to do on your own.  

Sharefox is an all-in-one platform for your subscription business, it does not matter if you are starting from scratch or already have a solid brand with an existing and well functioning webshop. We can help you get to the next level and implement a turn key rental booking system that gives you full control and an easy overview of all your operations. It does not matter if you have an existing website. Use our API or integrate our system to your already built infrastructure. The sharefox software is extremely versatile and flexible. 

As mentioned before we break down the myths of doing big changes in your company. At a very low cost Sharefox will quickly implement the complete system for you. Our experts will walk you through how everything works and help you grow along the way with our Sharefox academy.  

See some of the core features of our system below.

Press the link for a full feature description

Booking system 

A customizable booking software for rental. No coding needed, just choose from ready-made templates and make it your own.  

• A customizable online rental shop
• Real-time product availability
• Booking and payment system
• Suitable to sell, rent or book products
• Digital contracts & terms and conditions

Administration

Take advantage of the complete admin system to run and grow your rental business based on real data insights.

• Dashboard
• Order archives
• Flexible pricing (hours, days, weeks)
• Calendars and schedules
• Activity reports

Inventory

Have full control over your inventory, offer correct information at all times and never miss a customer’s order.

• Track individual units
• Flexible inventory types
• Product utilization rates
• Availability calendar
• Service bookings

Integrations

Combine Sharefox with your favourite software to build your unique business model.

• Tracking
• User identification
• Self-service
• Marketing
• Accounting

More about our subscription model as per now in October 2022; 

Sharefox offers you a range of product subscription-related features meant to support the shop users and you as a manager in subscription business operations, from order placement to order fulfillment, recurring payments or order closing, such as:

• Subscription order placement (eg. browsing, adding to cart, cart elements)
• Subscription order fulfillment (eg. special subscription statuses)
• Subscription swap and subscription end processes
• Subscription recurring payments

If you want to know why you should launch a subscription please read our blog ‘’Why start a subscription service in 2022?”

What are you going to do now?

When you are ready… Here are 4 ways we can help you expand your rental business!

1. Do you want to grow your business today? Try Sharefox rental system for free – or book a demo and get a personal expert to analyze your company’s situation, come up with solutions on how you can streamline your methods and create a more profitable company.
2. To learn more about the Sharefox rental system, read about trends and news for free, visit our blog or visit our resources section in the main menu.
3. If you want to work with the circular economy and Saas and want to be part of the Sharefox team or find out why we are one of the fastest growing rental platforms in the rental industry, see our job postings here .
4. If you have a good friend or know someone who would have found this article interesting, then feel free to share it with them via email, Linkedin or Facebook .