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Behind the Build Update
The team is hard at work building the nationwide compliance layer for home baking operations with the goal of initial user testing kicking of in Q4. We are LOVING our chats with future sellers and future coaches across the US, and are continuing to formalize our Partnership Program with the feedback that we are getting.
Coaches: Expect outreach in the next week for a more formal update!
This Week’s Lesson
Let’s normalize the question: “How many subs do you have?” for people other than YouTubers. Subscription offers are the best way for operators to build HIGHLY forecastable revenue. This also means more predictable demand planning, on your terms. It’s also a great way for you to introduce new product(s) to your customers as well.
There are a few things to think about when launching a Subscription Offer:
1) Frequency: How frequent can you provide this product?
I would start with a monthly offer. You can always create a more frequent offer in the future.
2) Delivery: How are you going to get this offer to your customer? (Delivery or Pickup) How many subscribers can you take on before you hit workload limitations.
For home bakeries, I would choose a set pickup location and have customers come to you. Maybe this is your driveway, maybe this is the park down the street, maybe this is an actual monthly Farmers Market, but keep it consistent!
Delivery may sound like a nice offer, but it creates it’s own challenges for operators… how much do you charge for delivery? How far away are they? What’s the optimal route for me to take? How far am I willing to go? How about next day shipping? What packaging do I need? What if they aren’t home? If you have some support from a spouse, neighbor, driver, etc. then this becomes a lot more manageable for local routes.
For home based operators in general, you need to be selfish with your time! Sustainable growth is the only growth worth pursuing at this stage.
3) Automation: You need to reduce decision fatigue as much as possible for the customer, so automating the billing in alignment to the frequency of the offer is crucial!!! (This is the only reason why offering delivery is truly something worth considering, if you can swing it)
4) The Offer: Your offer needs to be too good to refuse! As operators, we should be willing to “pay” for the convenience of highly forecastable revenue.
Here are a few ways to think about different types of offers:
The Subscribe & Save Offer
Sourdough Loaf — $11
● Every week — $10
○ Every 2 weeks — $11
○ Monthly — $12
Pickup: Saturdays, 9–11 AM
The Big Box Offer
Monthly Family Bakery Box - $40/month
Sourdough loaf + 12 sourdough dinner rolls + 6 cookies + strawberry jam
Normally $45 • Save $5 when you subscribe
Weekly Family Bakery Box - $37/week
Sourdough loaf + 12 sourdough dinner rolls + 6 cookies + strawberry jam
Normally $45 • Save $8 when you subscribe
The Mystery Box
Monthly Sourdough Loaf + Mystery Item (Maybe a branded spoon, or a t-shirt, or a jar of jam, etc.) - $15/month
(Talk to a few of your customers you trust… ask them what they would be willing to pay for…)