Advice on building a membership business with Mandy Bowman of Official Black Wall Street
Mogul Millennial, Inc.
Media platform and funding discovery tool created for Black founders ??? | Founded by an #HBCU grad
Hey friend, let me tell you a little secret - the membership-based business model is where it’s at.
Recent studies have found that 71% of adults across over 10 countries have subscribed or have become a member to some type of company. Overtime, we’ve seen more membership/subscription-based companies pop up because many businesses in this space have seen major success.
Despite this, membership businesses aren’t easy and they come with their own set of challenges. One of which is figuring out how to acquire and retain your members.
According to the Harvard Business Review, “acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one.” Simply put, it’ll cost you way more money to convince someone new to pay you, versus having repeat customers and keeping them engaged.
Unfortunately though, keeping customers engaged in membership-based businesses can be difficult.
One company that has figured out how to do this well is Official Black Wall Street, founded by Mandy Bowman.
If you’re unfamiliar, Official Black Wall Street (OBWS) is the largest app and digital platform connecting consumers to different Black-owned businesses. Since launching OBWS in 2015, Black entrepreneurs from all over the world have joined as members while getting access to resources to help them grow. Recently, we connected with Mandy to learn why she decided to have a membership-based business and her lessons learned thus far from it.