Hey! It’s Doone, your hype girl in business. This one is for all the founders and future founders that are struggling through that start-of-the-week slump: grab a cup of coffee, take a few deep breaths, and catch a moment for yourself. You’ve got this.

Let’s get straight into it 👇

No VC? No problem: skyrocket from $3K to $12M ARR 🚀 

Picture this. You’re a small brand running your own online store. You’ve got all these cute [read: problem solving!!] products you want to sell, and business is going steady.. but you just. need. some extra cash to bring it to the next level.

Girl, I feel you. Financing options can be daunting (to say the least). Financing is SUCH a personal thing, and whichever option works best for you depends entirely on you and your business. However…

In last week’s episode, Briana is talking to us about a little big thing called ✨working capital✨ and it’s one of those things that I just want to shout about for a hot sec. It’s an example of a financing option that will drop you cash advances based on your sales and future revenue projections on platforms such as Shopify, PayPal, and ClearCo (to name a few).

It’s a pretty great way to inject some cash into your business if, like Briana, you’re wanting to keep that 100% ownership of the business. As your business is screened prior to the loan many founders hail it as the more secure way to lend money without having to go through the big dogs (I’m of course talking about banks). But, yes you did read that right, there is a screening process. Here’s where we come in. Check out below for exactly how to make your biz an attractive lender, and pass the screening without worry 👇

• Where are you at?📍 Check if you’re in the right location based on the loan you’re targeting (Spotify Capital is only available to those in the US, Canada, or the UK - but PayPal doesn’t have the same rules)

• Crawl before you walk 👶 Very early-stage start-ups might need some proven traction before they’ll be considered for a loan

• Are we the only ones? 💕 Providers will keep tabs on your lender history and reputation and could deny you based on that

• A proven track record 💸 Briana was making between $3-5K in monthly revenue when she was accepted for working capital

• Sign up now ✍️ The earlier you get on the system, the better (PayPal requires you to have a business account 3 months prior to loaning)

Listen to Briana on the podcast →

• YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki steps down.

• Olaplex lawsuit officially filed, let’s see where this goes…

• VC funding for black entrepreneurs fell 45% in 2022.

• Parade’s next step in world domination.

• Stay in the know - Shopify made a bunch of serious changes.

• Welcome to Glossier’s homecoming.

• US trade has it in for us, lol.

• Find Alibaba’s 2023 digital trends right here.

• Natural Cycles raises $7M after hitting profitability late last year.

• Fenty was the Super Bowl 2023 winner.

Aussie founders! Startup Victoria is hosting a Health & Wellbeing Pitch Night in Melbourne on the 28th of Feb. They‘re excited to shine a spotlight on the founders who are making the world a better place by improving our health and well-being in innovative ways (in this ✨ fab✨ way to showcase your startup). Applications are now open - apply here!

This week's GRANTS 💸

US-based founders, you’re in luck this week as we have a bunch of grants and accelerators live right now ready for you to apply to (& psst… You can access the full doc for free at the bottom of today's newsletter!) but be quick - time’s tickin’

• 🇺🇸 Feb 24th: Invest in Progress Grant ($10,000)

• 🇺🇸 Feb 24th: Growth Accelerator Fund Competition ($50-$200,000)

• 🇺🇸 Feb 28th: Barclays Small Business Big Wins Contest ($60,000)

• 🇺🇸 Feb 28th: FedEx Small Business Grant Contest ($30,000)

This week's lineup...

AUS 🌞 

• Gretta van Riel’s Hey Influencers is looking for a part-time Junior Twitch Partnerships Manager. Find out more here.

New Jersey 🇺🇸

• Functional skin solutions brand Hero Cosmetics is hiring for a Sr. R&D Chemist to join the team. Apply directly here.

Sofia 🇧🇬

• Leader in gynae health Daye is looking for a Front-End Engineer to work from their Sofia office. More info here.

Upping the stakes! Click the Pink Button 🚨

Upping that kitty to $100 this week bc we’re no closer to a winner!

Remember the rules?

Reply to this email with a guess of how many times the Pink Button below will be clicked.

Whoever guesses the correct number of clicks wins the amount of money in the prize pool.

If no one guesses the correct number, the prize pool doubles and the game continues. We had some great guesses last week - but no winner!

CURRENT PRIZE POOL: $100 + Featuring You

Some important pieces of data to know before you guess:

• As of sending, Female Startup Club's newsletter has 6,606 subscribers

• Each person can only click The Pink Button once

• You don’t have to click The Pink Button

• You can forward this email and have your friends click The Pink Button

• Everyone could collectively guess an intentionally wrong answer in order to double the prize pool for next week

Good-luck!

📣 Callout: Wanna be featured on our IG next week? We’re looking for small business owners to share a series of learnings or tips! Just hit reply to this email with some dot point ideas 🙂