Why you should run a subscription business

Subscription models have become undeniably popular, you probably have a couple of them yourself. There are plenty of reasons why this model has been so successful and we’ll cover the most important ones.

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Before getting into the details, I want you to understand the power of the subscription model. 

After working with 100s of fitness entrepreneurs and business owners, we’ve seen that the switch from a ‘’Pay as you go’’ model to a subscription service often caused the biggest jumps in revenue and profit.

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But what exactly are they and how can you use them for your business?

What are subscriptions?

First of all, subscriptions are a type of agreement in which a business (you) delivers a service to someone for a recurring fee, this can be weekly, monthly or even yearly. This is beneficial to both you and your clients because they get easy access to something they want and you retain customers automatically instead of having to convince them to purchase your services every time.

It’s similar to making a contract with them, but they can cancel at any time. That may sound like a disadvantage, but it’s not since that freedom is what convinces many people to try them in the first place.

What do you need to do to be successful with your subscriptions?

There are 3 main pillars:

1. Subscriptions. We already discussed what they are, you deliver valuable services in exchange for a recurring payment.
2. Community. A group of people where you can get direct feedback from and love your services, a community helps you increase your customer retention.‍
3. Increased loyalty. A community is based on a strong connection with you, not only are they going to stay for a long time with you, but they will also help bring more people in.

What are the benefits of a subscription model?

There are plenty of reasons why subscriptions are so good, but here are some of them:

1. Subscriptions skyrocket customer retention and revenue

We all know that working out is highly dependent on motivation. Some weeks and days you feel like it, and some you don’t. If you’re only charging clients on Pay as you Go model, they’ll only book and pay when they feel like it. This means that you’re missing out on massive revenue potential. 

Instead, if you were to offer subscriptions and you get them to commit to a long term plan at the moment they are most hyped and motivated, they’ll be paying you even when they don’t feel motivated to work out. And actually…you’re doing your clients a favour, if they are paying, they are more likely to work out, which is healthier for them.

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2. Subscriptions are convenient for your clients

Once people find something they want and would like to keep using, it’s so much easier to just go through the process of getting it once. Then they no longer need to keep thinking about it, it requires little to no effort from their end and that makes it extremely appealing. Imagine needing to manually transfer money to Netflix each month to pay for your subscription, you’d be far more likely to skip or stop a monthly payment because it’s more time consuming to pay than not paying. Instead with automated payments, cancelling is more time consuming than letting the subscription run. This makes a massive difference.

3. Your clients can discover new services/products from you

They may have started with a simple Yoga membership that gives them access to your on-demand library. But then, they will realize you also have a Pilates membership and offer live sessions which they want to try. Your subscriptions are a gateway to everything else you do.

4. Predictable income

With subscriptions renewing on a specific basis and you knowing the number of subscribers you have, it’s easy to know how much money you count on every month to keep investing in your business.

5. Subscriptions allow you to build better relationships with your clients

We mentioned the importance of building a community with your clients and since your subscribers will continuously access your services, it’s a great opportunity to build a stronger relationship with them. As long as you provide a good service and listen to their feedback, they will become loyal clients that will build a community.

Subscriptions sound great, don’t they?
They truly are and you don’t need to be a giant company like Netflix to offer them, you can start right now with your own services and with the help of a platform like Fitune you can be up and running within an hour!

Considering starting your own subscription service?
Create a free account here and get a 14 days free trial which should give you enough time to get your first paying customers!
And don’t worry if you still have questions or don’t know how to start, we would love to help you.