Mark Andrews Creative — Product Case Study

01 · Users & goals

A one-sentence brief with no plan

Mark Andrews Creative came with one sentence: “a platform to sell my courses, books and products with an e-learning system like Coursera and Udemy.” There was no documentation and no plan.

I turned that sentence into the product. I wrote all the requirements, specs, feature definitions and business logic, and the developers built from my specs.

Who it's for

Churches: Run kids' services with VBSify and teach Bible stories with Bible Story Images.
Schools and homeschools: Teach with structured Bible Lab courses and lessons.
Families: Study together at home, with workbooks bought as single purchases.

Goals set before building

Time to launch: Live in about 12 weeks.
One platform: Every sale (subscriptions, courses and physical goods) on one platform.
Revenue engine: Recurring subscription revenue as the main engine.

02 · Key decisions

Three ways to buy on one platform

Three commerce models on one platform

Problem: The goals were one platform for every sale and recurring subscription revenue as the main engine, for a catalogue of library resources, courses and physical goods.
Decision: My call was three commerce models on one platform: a subscription library (Bible Story Images, VBSify and Bible Lab, monthly or yearly, with bundles); courses that come with the subscription and are also sold separately; and physical goods (workbooks and Kingdom Gear) as single purchases.
Trade-off: A more complex checkout, with one cart handling subscriptions, courses and physical goods; complex access rules that track whether a course is unlocked by the subscription or by a purchase; and physical shipping alongside instant digital delivery.
Said no to: Separate stores for subscriptions, courses and physical goods.
Worth it because: Each product is bought the way that suits it, and the subscription stays the recurring revenue engine, all from one account and one checkout.

Subscription rules: monthly download limits and seats

Problem: The content library had to stay sustainable while keeping members subscribed long term.
Decision: Each subscription tier has monthly download limits on courses and modules, and downloads stay with the subscriber. On top of that, seat-based pricing: each subscription includes 5 users at a fixed price, teams can invite more, and extra users are billed per the tier's conditions.
Trade-off: Limits can feel restrictive to heavy users, and seat billing added complexity to invitations, entitlements and invoices.
Said no to: Unlimited downloads.
Worth it because: Predictable revenue for the business, a reason to stay subscribed every month, and pricing that grows with each team.

Subscription tiers table showing price, cycle and seats — Tiers with 5 seats included and per-seat pricing for extra users

03 · Execution

Writing the full spec from a one-sentence brief

Starting on 25 September 2025, I specified the whole platform, and a team of one backend developer, two frontend developers and one product designer built it from my specs. It went live in 12 weeks.

What I specified

Commerce: Orders, products (physical, virtual and bundles), collections and customers.
Subscriptions: Tiers, members and invoices.
Learning: Bible Stories and Courses, built from modules and lessons.
Promotions: Discounts and coupons.
Reports: 20+ reports across sales, refunds, shipping, abandoned carts, stock, gift cards, membership, tiers, download counts and learning (by course, module and lesson).

LMS enrollment summary report — One of 20+ reports · enrollment summary

Settings: Roles and permissions, checkout fields, policies, payments and integrations.

What was in the launch and what came later

We launched with the core commerce, subscription and learning features and the core reports. Some reports, gift cards and add-ons followed after launch.

01 Subscription library

Bible Story Images, VBSify and Bible Lab: monthly or yearly, with bundles.

02 Courses

Come with the subscription, and are also sold separately.

03 Physical goods

Workbooks and Kingdom Gear, as single purchases.

Commerce model · one account and one checkout

04 · Outcomes

Live in 12 weeks, now at $1M+ a year

Live in 12 weeks from a one-sentence brief.
Mark Andrews Creative runs its whole business on the platform, and that business now makes over $1M a year.
20K+ subscribers.
7.48% visitor-to-purchase conversion today, measured in analytics.

After launch: what we changed

Feedback: Customers wanted a specific book, course or module without a whole subscription.
Change: Individual books, courses and modules can now be bought on their own, alongside the subscription.
Why it mattered: It wins buyers the subscription would have lost, without weakening it.

05 · What I'd do differently

Write one rulebook in week one

I defined the commerce and subscription logic from a one-sentence brief. I'd put it into one written, signed-off rulebook in week one, so every edge case (seats, download limits, course access) had a single reference.