Help! Business idea - Honest opinions needed

[Zet1]

I'll keep it short, my idea is to start a

Monthly book subscription box for children with activities related to the books and competitions - to encourage reading and creativity

Appreciate all feedback given.

[twirlypoo]

So how much would it be and what would you get? An age appropriate book and activities etc related to it?

In theory im interested, but ds has SO many books it would need to be competitive with just ordered what he wanted off amazon I think.

Ds is 3.5 so not sure if your target demographic either?

[TiggyD]

Google "Story Sacks". Widely used in nursery settings. (usually) A drawstring bag with book and variety of related things to expand the experience.

eg
Hungry Caterpillar book.
Cuddly caterpillar.
Hungry caterpillar lifecycle jigsaw.
Hungry caterpillar good/bad food card game.
Fruit number cards.

[WickedWax]

Too little info to say if it'll work as a business - sorry. It's a cute idea, though not sure I'd have signed up for it when DS was younger.

[SmallestInTheClass]

It sounds exciting, but perhaps more of a hobby than a business. I'm thinking about the challenges, but just because I think that's what you wanted from the tone of your post? Of course, done well, it could find a market. If I want a book with activities I'd let DD choose a CBeebies Magazine or similar in the supermarket so you'd need to compete with that if you're looking at younger kids. It sounds more like a school activity than one for home, but hard to tell what age you're going for from your post. It's very competitive out there for book stuff, look at how cheap you can get them from Red House and Book People, for example. You'd need to find a unique edge to compete with those considering you could buy 10 books for a tenner and spend another tenner on crafty stuff from tesco and probably have a really fun creative time. On the other hand, I don't think you'd need to pay out a lot for materials, so could start small and build it up. Sorry if I've misunderstood your pitch, maybe I've got the wrong end of the stick?? Good luck though and hope you find a niche for your idea!

[MrsLeighHalfpenny]

Our DDs used to bring them home from school. They read the books, but the toys were ignored. They didn't "add to the experience" of reading the book.
TBH, it was all a bit pointless.

[NickyEds]

Feels more like something I'd borrow from the library than buy. Ds is only 21 months and already has loads of books and too much "stuff" to have more delivered every month!

[atticusclaw2]

Definite gift idea rather than a monthly subscription. Why would you when you can just go to the library and do similar things for free.

Not sure its going to make your future I'm afraid.

[icanteven]

Subscription boxes are NOT a good way to make money unless you are going to invest heavily and professionally in your marketing campaign.

I offer marketing strategy to startups, and recently did one for a subscription box, so I got a lot of insight, and it is tough. The margins are TINY so you have to have thousands of monthly subs before you start making any money.

There are better ways of investing your start-up capital, IMO.