Business plan : establishing a subscription box service

The objective of this study was to gather information that would help the author plan its future online business through an investigation of the electronic commerce market and one of the most popular new electronic commerce trends, a subscription box business. The author is thinking about becoming an entrepreneur and wants to clarify some concepts before embarking on the challenge of setting up her startup company. The purpose of this thesis is to create an initial plan for the author’s future online business concept by following Cratejoy’s eight steps to set up a successful subscription service. A deep research about the critical factors involved in the creation of a successful subscription box business will be conducted. This thesis is represented from a perspective of a starting online entrepreneur. The theoretical part studies the environmental analysis of the current state of the electronic commerce market in Europe and the Finland. As well as the currents e-commerce trends that will influence future online business Moreover, the framework will examine the fundamental concepts of a successful subscription box business and how these ideas appear in the creation process of this business model. The framework is based on the most recent data about electronic commerce and its trends. Types of business models are also research in the pursuit of the one that is more efficient when creating a subscription business plan. A questionnaire was also conducted to gather information about the interest of Finish residents in a subscription box service. The majority of the respondents was interested in the service, but there were not enough participants to draw any conclusions. Considerable more work is needed to be done to finish drawing the business plan. Nevertheless, the results of this thesis have convinced the author to continue pursuing an entrepreneurial path in the near future