I understand what you are stating, because I too, felt the resentment when everything shifted from one time purchase to subscription.

Then, I started a conscious business as a solopreneur coach. After offering one time purchases of my services for 4 years, it became clear that business model was not sustainable - I couldn’t make a living that way.

As an entrepreneur, to make one time offers work, you have to be obsessively seeking new clients, new clients, new clients every day. Which means more of your time and revenue is spent marketing than serving your customers. And, a one time purchase has to be a much higher price point to cover all expenses not only now, but for months to come. This reality priced most people out of being able to afford my services.

Now that my online community is only $7/month, most people across the world can afford it, and since I don’t have a minimum time commitment, they can stay as long as they like and leave when it’s not helpful anymore. Now, my time is freed up to host live community calls, engage in dialogue with members and provide valuable content, instead of incessantly marketing. As they say, it’s better to spend time deepening a relationship with and retaining an existing client, than always looking for a new one.

There’s a lot to be said to having reliable income you can count on, as an entrepreneur, instead of each month worrying about if you can make ends meet. It’s the same reason that some people prefer to work for an employer, the regular paycheck.

It’s not just huge corporations that choose this model, most small owners do it, because it makes more business sense and reduces stress. I can absolutely state that I am providing more ‘value’ to my clients than the monthly price.

That’s true with all subscriptions I have: on iTunes for only $10/month, I can listen to any song I wish, that has ever been made. For only $8/month, I can automate my client scheduling, which would cost way more of my time than if I did that function manually. Paying $30/month to be able to communicate and nurture a relationship with my email audience of 4000 is priceless.

Most businesses rely on recurring revenue to serve their clients, to hire staff and pay their vendors. If you don’t know how much you will have coming in, it’s hard to justify creating new jobs or expanding your offerings. It’s just a business reality right now. Fewer people savings or disposable income for big purchases. But, we can make things more accessible to more people through micro payments.

Consumers are not victims, we have choices. Most subscriptions provide deep value, if you use them fully. Aggressively deactivate those you don’t use, and be more discriminating about what you choose to pay for. No different than any other budget decisions we had to make in the past.

By the way, I join you in frustration with Microsoft Office 365. It’s glitchy and often non-functional. One example of a subscription that is not living up to it’s promise or price. That doesn’t mean others aren’t…