How do I do market research for subscription based websites?

Daniel P Henry's picture
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Daniel P Henry
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Daniel P Henry wrote:

Looking to create a subscription based website that gives users access to exclusive content such as video game tutorials and such.

 

How would I go about the Financial Analysis portion of my buisness plan?

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Resource Reference 

Use this template and to monitor forecasted and actual cash flow.

5 Answers

John Follett's picture
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John Follett
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John Follett wrote:

Daniel,

If you're serious about starting a SaaS business, you should read David Skok's blog.

Here's a great post that discusses SaaS metrics. It will also help you determine if your business is financially viable:

http://www.forentrepreneurs.com/saas-metrics-2/

I hope it helps!

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Lauren Sytsma's picture
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Lauren Sytsma
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Lauren Sytsma wrote:

Hi Daniel, that's a great question. You may want to start with the Cash Flow Forecast Template (posted above) to monitor and compare forecasted and actual cash flow.

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Dan Liska's picture
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Dan Liska
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Dan Liska wrote:

Hi Daniel,

You may want to consider doing a break-even analysis on the development of all the content you'll need to drive attraction, I've linked to an example product development budget as well as break even analysis.

Example: https://www.demandmetric.com/content/break-even-analysis
https://www.demandmetric.com/content/product-development-budget

Further, I'd recommend looking at taking a more formal approach to your product/service development, specifically market segmentation, pricing strategy, feature/benefits identification, positioning & messaging.

Example: https://www.demandmetric.com/content/product-development-strategy-method...

I hope this helps!

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Geoff Fitzgerald's picture
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Geoff Fitzgerald
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Geoff Fitzgerald wrote:

Hi Ken - here a few, critical KPIs you might want to consider, from an article by Kissmetrics http://blog.kissmetrics.com/5-metrics-for-saas/ The interesting part of this article is the product development side, i.e. if you "churn" rate is high then there's something fundamentally wrong with the product/service. I would also add to this that for a new concept to take off it has to be more than a good product/service but absolutely compelling to its users, that way word of mouth and viral marketing will work in your favor. Try to get some product development testing or research done with your target audience before investing too much. I would also argue that getting your product/service right, first time will be a lot more cost and time effective than if you are forced to re-work and re-work your service - so good market research should pay-off. Good luck.

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Anonymous
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Anonymous wrote:

Just subscribed to this post. Will it send me an e-mail now?

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