This is part of uOpen’s 'Industry Insights' interview series - a valuable collection of informative and intelligent insights into how some of the UK's best-known and most-loved subscription box businesses came to be and got to where they are - all shared by the very people who made it happen...

Covering customer acquisition to fulfilment, this blog series offers a behind the scenes look at how the many moving parts of these complex, yet successful operations come together each month to satisfy the ever-growing demand of subscription box customers in the UK.

How did the idea for your subscription box come about?

We wanted people to have an easier transition to veganism. There can be a lot of label checking at first, and we wanted to do some of that work for our customers, providing them a fantastic box full of goodies, where the checking has already been done and they can just tuck in and enjoy!

What attracted you to the subscription box model?

Karris (co-founder) was a burgeoning beauty blogger at the time, so used to receive makeup subscription boxes to review. We knew all about the model, but no one was doing a vegan one at that time. We just loved the idea of helping people with their transition to veganism!

How did you validate your idea and test the market?

We created the initial branding and concept, then chose a launch date 3 months in advance. We were very quickly able to ascertain how much interest there was as we started our countdown, "12 weeks to go" etc. Excitement was building and we knew people were going to sign up when launch night came.

How did you acquire your first customers?

We created all our social channels and got to work promoting the concept. Straight away people loved it, and #TVK1 sold out of boxes on launch night.

Did you raise any seed or investor funding to help you grow?

No, we just burned the candle at both ends for 2 years. Still in employment, but working every single other waking hour on TheVeganKind.

How long have you been running now and what are your most successful achievements and milestones so far?

We have been running for 4 and a half years. Our biggest milestone was when we outsourced the packing of the subscription boxes to a fulfilment company. We had moved operations out of our home, to a 1,000 square foot unit, then into a 3,000 square foot unit; and when we outgrew that within 3 months, we knew we could no longer handle the packing in-house.

We launched TheVeganKind Supermarket at the same time, and that is an operation we still handle ourselves in-house. We are just about to move to a 9,000 square foot unit.

With the rise of new boxes launching all the time, what do you see as your USP that sets you apart from your competitors?

We have donated a considerable amount of money to animal related charities over the years. As the market leader in our field, we want to make sure we are always giving back. We donate 10p from each box sold.

We also give our customers a free recipe card every month, and a free ringbinder in month 6 so they can build up their own recipe collection. We get the recipes from well-known vegan bloggers.

How does your business continue to find new and exciting products to keep your customers engaged and excited every month?

The products tend to find us. We are absolutely inundated with samples each week. We test the ones that pass our first line of quality control, and then curate the very best boxes we can for our customers. We are never short of exciting, new vegan goodies to showcase!

Have there been any particularly pivotal moments so far that have required you to make changes to how you operate?

Yes, moving the packing of the boxes to a fulfilment company was a big move for us. With over 5,000 Lifestyle Boxes needing packed each month, in a very short space of time, we were having to recruit up to 15 part-time staff but just for one week of the month. We would struggle to keep the same staff as the work wasn't regular, so it was a strain on us for that week each month. The 10 staff we have now, are all either full-time or part-time, and things are a lot more stable as the supermarket side of the business is a regular and daily process.

How large is your team? What type of roles do they have?

We have a team of 10. We have a tech guru, buyer, customer services, accounts, marketing,  and warehouse operators.

Across all operational areas of your business, what do you manage in-house and what do you outsource to external suppliers to support you with - and why is this?

We deal with all TVK Supermarket orders ourselves at our warehouse. This is a goods in/goods out, pick and pack facility. Our subscription boxes are packed by an external company. The sheer level of manpower required to decant 5,000 x 8 products out of their cardboard, plus carefully pack, label, seal each box, is monumental. Not to mention the 5,000 TVK boxes come flatpack and need to be built up first!

What types of challenges do you face with fulfilment, delivery and customer service?

Our boxes don't fit through the letterbox, so if a customer isn't in, they may have to go to their local depot to collect. It hasn't ever proved an issue though, customers are just so excited to see what is in that month’s box! That's about the only issue I can think of! We get so much positive commentary about our customer service, and it is something we try really hard to get perfect every time. That's the dream!

How do you see the subscription box industry is evolving and what do you believe are going to be your biggest challenges over the next 12 months?

Subscriptions are 100% here to stay. If people know they want something, they don't want to have to go and repurchase it each time. They just want it to arrive at their door, as expected. Our biggest challenge over the next 12 months will be coping with growth! We are growing so quickly and want to ensure our service remains top notch. That will always be a huge priority of ours. We plan to open up phone lines too, as we know our customers want to speak to us, where at present they can only email, live chat or message through our social channels.

What do you enjoy most about running your subscription box business?

Knowing that veganism is rising so steeply. Yes, it's great to have the autonomy of self-employment and all that, but really for us we are just so proud and humbled at the part we are playing in removing animals as a food source for so many people. Humans thrive on a plant-based diet. We have flat teeth because we are herbivores, just like a gorilla, or a horse, or a rhino. The most powerful mammals in the world are all herbivores, and we are included in that. Anyway, I digress - we just love playing our part in helping someone go vegan.

What excites you about uOpen, and how do you see the marketplace featuring in your business' future?

uOpen is a fantastic concept. A ready-made new sales channel for us, bringing customers our way that we otherwise may never have had access to. We hope to work really closely together for the rest of 2018 and see how big a success we can make of it! It's clearly going to be a big hit though!