Start A Coffee Subscription Box - Business Ideas

Updated: September 15th, 2022
Start A Coffee Subscription Box

Please note that the data provided in this article are estimates and may vary depending on various factors, and should not be considered as perfect or definitive.

Coffee Subscription Box is a business that delivers high-quality coffee to your door. Coffee subscription boxes are popular with those who like to try new flavors or types of coffee. A subscription box will include a variety of coffees from different places and at different times.

You can also use this subscription box idea to market your business by offering discounts or other incentives to people who sign up for your coffee club.

The Coffee Subscription Box business idea is easy to start and it is very profitable because it is affordable. Consumers spend over $74 billion on coffee and the coffee industry generates over $68 billion in income per year.

Starting a Coffee Subscription Box requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.

If you're interested in how to sell coffee subscription box, or selling coffee subscription box online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.

Want to learn more? You can check out our full guide on how to Start a Coffee Subscription Box ➜

Key Stats

revenue (monthly)
$34K
starting costs
$24.4K
gross margin
40%
time to build
300 days
growth
Email marketing
business model
E-Commerce
time investment
Side project

Startup Costs

Min Startup Costs Max Startup Costs

Office Space Expenses

$0

$7,000

Employee & Freelancer Expenses

$151

$352

Website Costs

$223

$7,215

Business Formation Fees

$5,600

$20,400

Inventory Expenses

$350

$9,000

Training & Education Expenses

$0

$1,000

Software Expenses

$162

$3,094

Advertising & Marketing Costs

$0

$50

Food Business Expenses

$100

$500

Total Startup Costs

$6,586

$48,611

Successful Businesses

Business URL Rank

Trade Coffee

drinktrade.com

48,697

Peet’s Coffee

peets.com

72,375

Bean Box®

beanbox.com

155,848

Driftaway Coffee

driftaway.coffee

164,586

Amora Coffee

amoracoffee.com

176,147

Crema.co

crema.co

246,615

Angelino's Coffee

angelinos.com

249,210

Craft Coffee

craftcoffee.com

336,701

Red Bay Coffee

redbaycoffee.com

368,460

Sightglass Coffee

sightglasscoffee.com

375,661

Nebraska Game and Parks

outdoornebraska.gov

419,837

Pros & Cons

Pros Description

Flexibility

You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own.

Ability to start your business from home

It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning!

Scalable

With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers.

High customer retention rates

Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer.

Quick build time

The average time it takes to build your product is quick - typically around 10 months. This will allow you to bring your product to market faster.

Easy to encourage "impulse buy"

In the Coffee Subscription Box, you have a much higher chance of encouraging your customers to buy on impulse - you can easily alter the price, placement, packaging, and promotional value to influence the decision of your buyer.

Cons Description

Crowded Space

Competition is high when it comes to your Coffee Subscription Box, so it's important that you spend a good amount of time analyzing the market and understanding where the demand lies.

Finding The Right Supplier

Most businesses in this space go the supplier/manufacturer route, which isn't a bad thing! However, finding the right supplier can take a lot of time, energy and trial/error. If done properly, this process can save you months (if not years) of time and energy. More on this below in the "finding a supplier" section.

Motivation of employees

If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees.

Niche Market

A niche business is not necessarily a bad thing, in fact, it can be the key to your success. However, it can be more challenging and time consuming to find the perfect niche market and target audience.

High overhead expenses

With Starting a Coffee Subscription Box, there are overhead expenses that come with selling a physical product. You will want to make sure you strategically budget for these overhead costs. We discuss this more in the startup costs section below.

You may need to charge sales tax

If you are selling your products in various states, you may be required to charge sales tax. Although this may not impact your financials specifically, it can be a headache to create a process and procedure for this. To learn more about sales tax, check out this article

Marketing Ideas

  • 1

    Affiliate Program

    Affiliate marketing is a great way to bring in a new revenue stream, especially when you don't sell products or services.

    Simply put, an affiliate program is an agreement where a business pays another business or influencer ("the affiliate") a commission for sending traffic and/or sales their way.

    The affiliate typically gets a unique link where clicks and conversions can be tracked.

    Learn more about affiliate program ➜

  • 2

    Word of mouth

    Word of mouth is when a consumers reflects their interest in a company’s product or service in their daily dialogues.

    Therefore, word of mouth advertising is essentially a free advertising triggered by the customers experience.

    According to Nielsen, 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family.

    Therefore, in today’s hyper-connected world, a single recommendation through a word of mouth can have a huge impact to your business.

    Learn more about word of mouth ➜

  • 3

    Social Media Advertising

    Social media advertising is the use of social media platforms to connect with your audience with the objective to build your brand, increase sales, and drive website traffic.

    According to Oberlo, approximately 48% of the global population use social media, and the number is ever-growing.

    Therefore, social media allows brands access to cost-effective advertising by enabling them to interact with a large audience.

    Learn more about social media advertising ➜