Hi! Iβm Doone, your hype girl in business. This is your weekly source of inspiration & information on all things in the e-commerce and CPG space, read by like-minded Entrepreneurs - that happen to be women - like you. If you find value in this content please like & share above, or forward it to someone in your network. I love it when you do that!
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Industry News You Should Prob Read π
Asos offers staff flexible work and paid leave during menopause. Mindbody acquires ClassPass in all-stock deal and secures $500 million investment. The dream of empowering girls is happening. Female Beauty Founders Talk Navigating a Male-dominated VC World. Lego to tackle toy gender gap. How fearless women lead. 100 women of impact in 2021. Tala, fintech founded by Shivani Siroya, raises $145M to expand globally and into crypto.
π Insights From This Weekβs Episodes on the Female Startup Club Podcast
Directly from the women building the worldβs most exciting businesses in the e-commerce and CPG space.
1. THE key to successful growth π
EP223: Britta Cox shares her secrets to building AQUIS & selling millions of units each year since 1990.
What has 31 years in the game taught Britta?
What it all comes back to is relationships and relationship building. Whether itβs with your manufacturer. Your customer. A retailer. Really when you break it down, itβs problem-solving, relentlessly going after what you want, and relationships. Thatβs it. What should we keep in mind in doing this?
Be genuine π
You know the old βtreat others how youβd like to be treated.β It works the same in business. The common thread is authenticity.
βThe passion, love, and authenticity of your product is a story of relationships based on authenticity.β
Be willing to reciprocate π
Sometimes, your relationships wonβt turn a profit or bring immediate benefits. Thatβs ok. Tit-for-tat is not how this is going to work. Donβt let that stop you from being there for others. Show up for your people! Youβll see. π±
2. Keeping the β½ rolling
EP224: Contour Cubeβ’βs Sarah Forrai sold 20k worth of product during her launch after her TikTok video went viral amassing more than 6M views.
Sarahβs product just so happened to be a dream for TikTok. It looks great, sounds great, itβs very fun, very upbeat. The first video, simply explaining the product, quickly amassed 20,000 views and already generated sales.
Butβ¦ They didnβt quite plan for this. It is rare for a biz to plan for such scale in the early days, especially the scale weβre talking about following a viral moment. Or several at that. How do you hold on to this kind of momentum?
Sarah looked to the place that created it in the first place: TikTok π€³
Even though they didnβt have the product in their hands, she got in front of the camera and continued to create TikTokβs. Explaining the product. How you use it. The recipes. Packaging. And they just kept popping off. A byproduct of all this traction was followers to their IG account and people signing up to their mailing list. You can imagine the size of this mailing list as momentum just kept continued to build. One video even hit over 6 million views! π
All this pent up demand meant that when they *finally* got their hands on the product, they made $20K in the space of two weeks. Wow.
As a woman who made it through TikTok, whatβs her advice now-a-days?
Direct marketing really doesnβt work on the platform: be yourself, be real, and get in front of the camera
We are in the age of video only, get yourself on TikTok!
Consider Spark Ads to increase engagement & drive traffic
FSC Mini-Series from the Founder β€οΈ
In this new mini-series within the FSC podcast, Iβm taking you on the journey while I develop my non-alc wine brand and build it in public. I will be sharing whatβs happening in real-time, as well as things Iβm learning along the way.
π This week: the concept of starting at the end π
Female founders should speak up when it comes to money goals π€
Thereβs this weird thing that prevents women from saying that one of their goals is to sell their business for life-changing money. A taboo in the back of our heads that says we shouldnβt talk about money. Itβs total bullshit and so old fashioned.
π’ We should shout it from the rooftops. Female founders are at a point where we should be talking about our money goals loud and clear. Going after it. Now is the time.
Starting where you finish: figure out your end goal π€
Many founders donβt start with an end goal in mind. If you set a clear goal of hey I want to sell this business for X amount, you can reverse engineer that plan, and get started on your journey. We had a great ep on this with the Founder of Sacred Serve. On having that north star. β
Understand what the roadmap looks like for where you are, the market that youβre following. Then start to look at building your financial roadmap to getting there. Maybe you iterate along the way, but just having a general idea sets you on a path toward the success of your goals.
Something to keep in mind this week: ask yourself, and spend some time understanding what your goals are. Whatβs the true end goal of your business?
Biz Wins & Failz π’
Here are a few crackers straight from Hype Club.
Weβve got an ongoing Biz Wins & Fails chat going in HC. This is where we can learn what we can hopefully avoid in our own journeys, and what keeps us feeling like we are not in this alone. A lot of us are seeing a lot of highlights, but tbh there are also so many downs and things that go wrong.
Larissa Hildebrandtβs (Founder of @henrie) fail fell on familiar ears this week.
βOur factories in China are going through power shortages so half the days they should be open they're closed down with blackouts. Anyone else going through this?β
Gina was able to chip in with similar issues and a word of encouragement:
βI can 1000% relate and sorry to hear youβre also going through this. Weβve experienced very similar issues. I hope you get your stuff soon!!! I keep telling myself itβll be worth it in the end!β
A little reminder of the support that can be found in shared difficulties β₯οΈ
*Our pricing is currently $59 per month, cancel anytime. Come join us in Hype Club if you want to build your network and meet other female founders going through the journey.
Whatβs on this week? π
Letβs see what we have in store for you this weekβ¦
TUES: Olivia Koennecke from Maison Essentiele - consciously constructed luxury essentials π€
THURS: Ashley Selman from Heywell - function-forward sparkling waters π§
SAT: Doone's back - with a solo episode π·
Click here to tune in! π§
What to Read, What to Listen to π€
π You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero: the #1 NY Times Bestseller on how to stop doubting your greatness and start living an awesome life.
π§ Radiolab with WNYC Studios, hosted by Jad Abumrad: a radio show and podcast weaving stories and science into sound and music-rich documentaries.
Job Alert Time! πΌ
Check out these cool job listings on our radar:
LA/REMOTE π
Blavity is a media and tech company for βforward-thinking Black Millenialsβ that is looking for a bunch of people to strengthen their team.
SYDNEY π
ΓlysΓ©e Collective, the full-service comms agency specializing in luxury lifestyle, is looking for a PR Senior Account Manager. Apply here.
THE US πΊπΈ
Jeniβs Splendid Ice Creams, the delicious ice cream brand, is looking for Ambassadors and Human Resource Managers. Apply here.
MANILA π΅π
Not Pot, a new cannabis approach company, has a bunch of cool openings such as Account, Finance & QA Manager. Check it out.
PS:
Did you catch the news that Female Startup Club is now part of the HubSpot Podcast Network? Pretty big deal for me tbh, Iβm stoked! Catch us alongside some other badass folks like Jenna Kutcher from Goal Digger and Sam Parr & Shaan Puri from My First Millionβ¦ 2022 is shaping up to be a cracker!