From Failed Design Subscription to a Framer Template Pivot

From Failed Design Subscription to a Framer Template PivotFrom Failed Design Subscription to a Framer Template Pivot

The network for creativity

Join 1.25M professional creatives like you

Connect with clients, get discovered, and run your business 100% commission-free

Creatives on Contra have earned over $150M and we are just getting started

Back to feedPost

Kazi Mohammed Erfan

max

• 1d

I almost quit Pentaclay in the first few months.

Nov 2023 I launched a design subscription. Around $2,500 a month, unlimited requests. Nobody signed up. Not one person.

So I cut the price. A 2 week trial for about $500 to $1,100. People finally said yes. 3 clients by the end of 2023, one of them took the trial 2-3 times in a row.

And it got worse. Less money, way more work. Every message was "one more small change". I worked all day and still wasn't making enough. By December I was burned out.

So I tried something different. I made one Framer template. Took me almost 2 months to build.

First month it made $134. Small money, but no calls, no revisions, and it sold while I slept.

If you run a startup, what was the moment you almost quit?

Product Design Templates Design Framer Commerce

Timothy Exodus

pro

• 1d

This is such an honest post. The arc from unlimited requests at $2,500 with zero signups to trial pricing and burnout is painfully real. And $134 while you slept beating all of it says everything. What made you pick a Framer template as the pivot, had you already been building in Framer for clients?

Alimi Abdulrahman Akin

• 11h

That trial pricing brought clients in, but the revision load tells the other half of the story. Thanks for sharing the numbers. Did you keep the subscription alongside the templates?

Rafee Alam

pro

• 10h

Smart move to trade calls for something that sells while you sleep. Is it still selling?

Razvan Vezeteu

pro

• Oct 16

Most early-stage brands play it safe and disappear after a while. For Drylendar, I did the opposite. 3 weeks from brief to full identity: logo, illustration system, app visuals, collectible cards and even merch. AI makes things cheaper. Personality makes brands memorable.

Brand Design Mascot Design Illustration

Sagar Nawaz

• Oct 18

This is exactly what branding should be! 🔥 3 weeks for full identity, merch, cards - you really built personality, not just a logo. Love the Drylendar vibe. AI makes it cheap, but this makes it memorable - so true!