Unpacking The Subscription Economy (Series) — 4. The Private Club Model

A subscription offering which involves offering access to something of limited supply on a membership or subscription basis

This series of articles follows on from an article I published recently, titled “Unpacking The Subscription Economy”, where I mentioned that subscription businesses are more valuable and appealing to investors than traditional businesses, because they are more predictable to operate and they extend the lifetime value of a customer. This article looks at The Private Club Model.

The Private Club Model

The Private Club Model involves offering access to something of limited supply on a membership or subscription basis. This model is usually associated with private sports clubs (e.g. golf, tennis etc.) but can also be applied for business-to-business companies.

Consider the story of Joe Polish. Once a humble carpet cleaner, Polish now runs Genius Network®, where, for an investment of $25,000 per year, entrepreneurs, authors and innovators meet three times a year to share ideas. “It’s kind of like a wisdom network,” says Polish. “It’s where you find people who have incredible wisdom to share.”

Who This Model Works Best For

Consider The Private Club Model if you have:

• Something of limited supply — almost always a service or experience — that is in high demand among affluent consumers.
• A market of achievement-oriented “strivers” who are always attracted to the greener grass on the other side.

What The Insiders Say

• The secret to making a private club work is not offering a la carte access. You force customers to make a decision: if they want access to something truly rare, the only way they can have it is by entering into a long-term relationship.
• The greatest strength of The Private Club Model is also its biggest weakness. By definition, what you’re selling is in limited supply therefore you have a limit to how much you can grow without diluting your exclusivity.

Recurring Revenue is one of the “8 Key Drivers Of Company Value” from the Value Builder System™️, which I use to help small business owners increase the overall value of their businesses.

Being able to cash out the maximum when the time is right, is every business owners dream. It’s the dream of having a long and happy retirement, without financial worries, and being rewarded for all the hard work they put in over the years. But so many fail to get this right, because they never formally worked towards that goal, they thought it would just happen.

So if you’re a business owner who’s planning ahead and considering ways to exit your business on your terms, I hope the information I provide in the coming weeks will help you reach those goals. If you would like to chat to me about this in person, feel free to book a slot in my calendar and we can discuss it further.

FREE Assessment:

If you want to see how you score in each of the “8 Key Drivers” right now, take 15-minutes to complete this survey and you’ll get a comprehensive 25+ page report benchmarking your business against its peers, plus 49 tips on how to improve those 8 key areas.