Tomotcha

"A Japanese green tea-of-the-month subscription club that ships curated teas directly from Japan, run as a side project with a friend and a part-time employee in Japan."
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tomotcha.com
Maker: Xixi
$2,000/mo gross, slightly under $500/mo net (explicitly stated by creator)

Marketing Channels

Secondary

Hacker News

Shared the project in the HN yearly projects thread.

Growth Levers

  • Improve margins by optimizing shipping logistics and negotiating better rates for Japan-to-customer routes
  • Build content marketing around Japanese tea culture, brewing guides, and tea farm stories
  • Target tea enthusiast communities and subreddits for organic discovery
  • Offer gift subscriptions, especially around holidays, to drive new subscriber acquisition
  • Add one-time purchase options for favorite past teas to increase revenue per customer
  • Partner with Japanese culture and food bloggers for authentic cross-promotion

First Customer Strategy

No specific first-customer acquisition details provided. The business operates with a small team including a part-time employee in Japan, suggesting a focus on authentic sourcing and quality.

Pricing Insight

Gross revenue of $2,000/mo with net of under $500/mo implies roughly 75% cost of goods sold and operations, typical for physical product subscription businesses with international sourcing and shipping.

Key Takeaways

  • • Physical product subscription businesses can work as side projects but margins are tight ($2K gross / <$500 net)
  • • Having a team member in the sourcing country (Japan) provides authenticity and quality control advantages
  • • Subscription-of-the-month clubs in niche categories (Japanese green tea) serve passionate, loyal audiences
  • • The 75% cost structure highlights the importance of operational efficiency in physical product businesses
  • • Running a physical product side project requires a reliable small team even at modest scale

Sentiment Analysis

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