{"id":3200,"date":"2022-05-05T17:39:49","date_gmt":"2022-05-05T17:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.subbly.co\/blog\/?p=3200"},"modified":"2022-05-31T17:57:31","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T17:57:31","slug":"how-long-does-it-take-to-start-a-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.subbly.co\/blog\/how-long-does-it-take-to-start-a-business\/","title":{"rendered":"How long does it take to start a business?"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Preparing for your subscription box launch<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Recently, we asked our Subscription-first Entrepreneurs Facebook group<\/a> to share how long it took them to officially launch their subscription businesses. The results definitely skewed towards the speedier side of things, but then again \u2014 no two businesses are the same!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Whether you\u2019re a serial entrepreneur or a first-timer preparing for your very first subscription box launch, you need to be realistic and do your research. The good thing is, while you\u2019re in the business planning stage, you\u2019ll have plenty of time to do the due diligence and come up with a timeline that makes sense.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Timelines for starting a subscription business<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The time it takes to start a business varies wildly with the type of business you\u2019re starting. Often, the more moving parts to your business, the longer it\u2019s going to take to get started.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This idea of moving parts could influence what business model you decide to go with. A retail business, such as a clothes shop, for example, entails spending time on two things: finding and maintaining a retail space, and creating ongoing marketing campaigns that entice users to take advantage of your evolving offers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Shifting that business to an ecommerce model cuts out a lot of the costs of physical space, but still requires a lot of marketing spend to keep people coming back with each new season.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

On the furthest end of the scale, you can make your business even more efficient with a subscription model, in which you invest money on getting customers to commit for the long-run through a perfect experience catering for their needs at the intervals they want.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Jonny Sadler, one of our Subbly Experts, sums up the benefits pretty well in another thread<\/a>: Subscriptions allow you to launch and focus on your customer relationship better, and as your customer LTV (long term value) increases, you can be more competitive in your marketing to acquire customers.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

There\u2019s definitely a lot to be said about when to integrate a subscription model into your business, whether you\u2019re just getting started or you\u2019ve already gone through the process of a subscription box launch. But we can break it down even further into 3 different models \u2014 a retail business, an online business, and a subscription-first business.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Note: none of these timelines include the time it takes to create your business plan.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Retail business – > 1 year<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

There\u2019s a lot of moving parts to running a retail business, especially when it comes to finding (and paying for) physical space, making it quite a long and expensive process in many cases.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Ecommerce business – 6-12 months<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

A traditional ecommerce business also has a lot of moving parts, but can be much more affordable as you don\u2019t need to spend as much time worrying about a physical location. That being said, as you\u2019re constantly fighting for new revenue at the beginning with no guarantee of any commitment to the next sale, \u00a0 finding any kind of stability might not come early.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Subscription business – 3 months<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

While many of the steps will be similar, and you might spend more time at the beginning searching for the niche of customers most likely to buy your products \u2014 or finding the products your ideal market would most likely to buy, once you\u2019ve delighted your customers in the beginning, they\u2019re more likely to stay on for the long term, allowing you to build out your offering with the security of stable, recurring income.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Examples of steps to take before your subscription box launch<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n