Vanessa Quigley Co-Founder Chatbooks Interview

You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.

Photo: Courtney McOmber

Vanessa Quigley co-founder of Chatbooks

In an interview with Forbes, you revealed that an intense episode of mom guilt drove you to start Chatbooks. Can you take us back to that moment? What inspired you to launch your business and pursue this path? 

I have seven children, and for the first seven years of motherhood, I was very good at scrapbooking our family's story. But things changed as more babies came and as digital photography became the norm. Years later, I found my youngest, who was five at the time, in bed bawling his eyes out. He had been looking at a little photo album his preschool teacher made for him and was moved to tears when he told me, "Mama, I never want to grow up!" It was adorable and a gut punch all at the same time. I wanted him to be able to hold onto more of his memories and knew that I needed to create an easier way to do that for us and families everywhere!

You’re a mom of seven and the co-founder of Chatbooks along with your husband. How has being a mother changed your priorities and your focus in terms of your career? Do you think motherhood has made you a better business person? 

My career has actually made me a better mother. I'm happiest when I'm stretching myself, learning, and growing, and I've never felt more stretched before in my life than I have been while building our business. I was a stay-at-home mom for years before becoming an entrepreneur, and motherhood prepared me not only to have my product insight but also taught me the importance of team culture. We refer to our family as "Team Quigley" and I work very hard at helping my children know what it means to be a Quigley and what is expected of them and how important it is that we are all aligned on our goals to work together. And it's the same for our Chatbooks team.

Since launching Chatbooks in 2014, you’ve raised over $20 million in funding from investors. No doubt you’ve learned a lot along the way—What are three crucial elements everyone should include in a pitch deck when raising money and why?

1. How big is this opportunity? How do we know it’s a big opportunity? How can we show that we’re off to a good start capturing that big opportunity? What is our plan to continue and accelerate the momentum we have?

2. Why now? Why is right now the best time to chase this opportunity? Why was five years ago too early? What market change or technological breakthrough makes today the right time?

3. Why you? Why are we going to win versus the next team? What is the founder-market fit story? What secret have we discovered and do we believe in more than anyone else?

What advice can you share for entrepreneurs on partnering with the right investors? What do investors need to bring to the table other than just money?

It is a partnership. At least, that is how we view it. Investors need to bring expertise in some aspect of company building that complements your own team’s current abilities. Also, make sure you are on the same page as far as a timeline. Some investors are in it for the long haul, and some are looking for more of a quick return. Make sure you’re both trying to win the same game before you bring on a new partner. 

Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy and why?

It depends on your business, but for us, product and marketing have been the biggest areas of investment. When we raised our Series A it was on the strength of our performance and we just needed more fuel to put on the fire. We had a product that worked, and it was great to be able to get more financing to spend on marketing. Your business is going to grow and you will need money to hire a team to support it and to, most importantly, hire the right people—and that is expensive. 

What was your first big expense as a business owner and how should small business owners prepare for that now?

Our first large expense was on the creation of our viral “Real Mom” video. To make the video we spent more than we ever had on anything. However, we got back the investment in three days. Today, the video has more than 100 million views. 

What are your top three largest expenses every month?

1. Advertising 2. Printing/shipping 3. Personnel costs 

Do you pay yourself, and if so, how did you know what to pay yourself?

In the early days, we did not pay ourselves; it was actually a couple of years of no paychecks. And then we went to the bare minimum, enough to sustain life and pay the bills. As the business has grown and we’ve become more profitable, we have gotten a small raise here and there. The real value now is in our ownership of the company. 

Photo: Courtney McOmber

Would you recommend other small business owners pay themselves? 

If you don’t have to, then no, bootstrap as much as you can. If you can hire and build the business without paying yourself, then don’t pay yourself. The more ownership you can retain the better. For us, we went a couple of years without paying ourselves and by the time we landed on a product that was working, we had to raise money because we had a business team, seven kids, and a mortgage. 

Did you hire an accountant? Who helped you with the financial decisions and setup? Are there any tools or programs you recommend for bookkeeping?

In the beginning, we hired an accountant, and then years later, we got someone in-house at Chatbooks. My husband was an accounting major and has an MBA, so finance stuff was the easy part. Making something people want and figuring out how to sell it is the hard part. Do that and everything else will work out. We recommend starting with Quickbooks and Excel, and then when it gets complicated hire an accountant.

How did you know you were ready to hire and what advice can you share on preparing for this stage of your business? 

We were trying to build software and we didn’t know how to code so we needed help with the front-end and the back-end. Luckily, we found our first backend developer on Craigslist and he was really, really good and he is still with us today. That is why we couldn’t pay ourselves because we had to hire for the skills we lacked. Be honest with yourself about your skillset and the help you are going to need. Consider possibly taking on a partner. We took on a partner who was a tech wizard and that is what we needed more than anything. 

Do you think women should talk about money and business more?

Yes, yes, yes. Women tend to shy away from talking about money. No topic should be off the table. Whenever I interview an entrepreneur on my podcast, “The MomForce Podcast,” I ask them about funding and money matters. I think we should all be more comfortable talking about that.

Do you have a financial mentor, and do you think all business owners need one?

Yes, everyone needs one unless you have a background in that. That could be an adviser, investor, or partner. There are some things that you can do early on in your business that will have real, lasting repercussions. I also suggest hiring a lawyer to help protect your business from the get-go. 

What money mistakes have you made and learned from along the way?

We gave some equity to advisors early on. That, in some cases, was really helpful because we could give equity instead of payment, but we had varied success with that. Some people did a ton to help us and were really engaged with us and some, not so much. If I could do it again I would be more careful choosing advisors and working more closely with them. I wish we had set regular meetings with them and gotten more out of the relationships. 

What is your best piece of financial advice for new entrepreneurs?

Don’t run out of money. No, but seriously, figure out what is most important in growing your business, and don’t get ahead of yourself. We didn’t have a glamorous office space in the beginning, just a corner with a bunch of desks in a shared space. Today, we have a beautiful office with sweeping views of Utah Lake. When you are going to hire, get the best people. The best is not always the most expensive. If you realize it is not a good fit, don’t be afraid to cut them and start again. A lot of mistakes are made in hiring. Don’t be afraid to say this isn’t working and try again. 

Anything else to add?

“The Lean Startup” is the bible. And creating an MVP, a minimally viable product, to test your concept before going all-in is a must. Start small, do a test, see if there is interest. Like doing a pre-sale or Kickstarter, just get really creative to test the concept before you spend. When we started showing Chatbooks to people and they said, “Shut up and take my money!,” we knew we were onto something good and ready to invest.

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When COVID Hit, She Had to Close Her Restaurant—Now Her Products Are Flying Off the Shelves at Whole Foods

You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.

Photo: Courtesy of Ayeshah Abuelhiga

Ayeshah Abuelhiga was first inspired to open her own restaurant while working at local eateries in Washington, D.C. as an undergraduate at George Washington University. “It’s where I learned the value of a hard-earned dollar, where I learned Spanish, and where I saw people like me who didn’t necessarily have rich parents with white-collar jobs who paid their tuition,” explains Abuelhiga. “I saw the opportunity for restaurants to modernize, and ultimately, I knew that one day I wanted to own a restaurant." And after 14 years of climbing the corporate ladder, she did finally open the doors to her own restaurant, Mason Dixie, an authentic Southern comfort food hotspot, in D.C.

Although she had the make the difficult decision to close her restaurant after six years of serving the D.C. community due to COVID-19, she’s stumbled upon an even more impactful way to modernize the food industry. Like so many small business owners in 2020, she pivoted, identifying an opportunity to bring the wholesome biscuits that people would line up around the block for in D.C. into frozen food aisles across the county. Today, Mason Dixie has evolved into a clean frozen food company that makes biscuits and breakfast sandwiches that are available at over 6,000 stores, including Whole Foods, Target, Safeway, Costco, and more. And Abuelhiga is just getting started.

Below, the founder tells Create & Cultivate how she’s scaled her company sustainably, why she’s opted to raise funds from private investors (rather than through venture capital), and what major mistakes she’s made and learned from along the way.

You started Mason Dixie, in part, because you believe everyone should have access to affordable, wholesome food. Take us back to the beginning—What was the lightbulb moment for Mason Dixie and what inspired you to launch your business and pursue this path? 

I grew up poor. I was raised in low-income housing in Baltimore up until I was 11, but my parents did their best to instill the values of home-cooked, wholesome meals. We shopped at farmer’s markets and bought produce that was bruised, but we ate very balanced meals. I notice now looking back that the kids I still remember that I grew up with in Section 8 that ate out of vending machines are still in the system today, and those who had better access to food, are in better places. You truly are what you eat and I have always believed we deserve better. 

In that same vein, my immigrant parents owned a soul-food carry-out restaurant and convenience store when I was little and I got my taste for American cuisine from it. It was also a deciding cuisine when my Middle Eastern dad and Korean mother would disagree about whose cuisine would win out for dinner that night. I craved soul food even as I was coming of age in college, but I could never find homestyle, scratch-made comfort food, only fast food equivalents.  

Fast forward to college. I was the first member of my family to attend college and since my parents didn’t make a lot of money, I had to work to pay for school, so I worked in restaurants throughout my years at George Washington University. It’s where I learned the value of a hard-earned dollar, where I learned Spanish, and where I saw people like me who didn’t necessarily have rich parents with white-collar jobs who paid their tuition. I saw the opportunity for restaurants to modernize, and ultimately, I knew that one day I wanted to own a restaurant. 

So after working for 14 years in male-dominated industries, like tech and auto, and quickly climbing the corporate ladder, I realized I was an upper-level manager who was unfulfilled and had another 20  years to go before I could go after the only female C-level role that I didn’t even want. I was disenchanted and uninspired. So, I decided it was time to start my dream of owning a  restaurant. So in 2014, I founded Mason Dixie. I saw a huge opportunity in the lack of comfort food options available in the growing, better-for-you food space, and an even bigger opportunity making biscuits the focal point since there were no real, scratch-made biscuits on the market. I also saw an opportunity to make scratch-made comfort food affordable and accessible to the masses versus just doing better-for-you food in the fine dining realm by looking at the fast-casual scale and ultimately, grocery, as an even better avenue to do just that. 

You recently raised $6.3 million in Series A funding from investors—no doubt you’ve learned a lot along the way. What are three crucial elements everyone should include in a pitch deck when raising money and why?

1. Know the problem you are solving and how big the addressable market really is. Frequently I see founders who do not research the market space enough and show a $20M market opportunity. No investor gets excited about the opportunity to take up to 10% of a $20M market. If you make a seed oil and that segment is small, how big is the oil market in general? Sell the sizzle. It’s the opportunity size that gets early-stage investors going. But be realistic. Be able to defend the market size with real data. 

2. Know your sales performance and gross margins inside and out; it is ultimately how investors judge your worth. I cannot tell you how many founders I talk to that don’t even know what goes into a gross margin calculation, or where their strongest sales are coming from. This is important stuff you should be able to spat out on command. 

3. Know how you are going to use the funds. Don’t just say I need $1M. What is that $1M built from? Half to overhead/salaries, some to equipment, a third to working capital? Show in your projections how you get to that number. You will always be surprised after analyzing cash flow projections how much more you really need than you thought.  

You decided to forgo venture capital and instead opted to raise funds from private investors, many of whom are women. What advice can you share for entrepreneurs, particularly WOC, on partnering with the right investors, and what do investors need to bring to the table other than just money?

I say this until my face turns blue and people still look at me like I have three heads but choosing investors is like choosing a husband. They are almost identical on legal paper. They own your assets, you share financial responsibilities with them, and ultimately your relationship will be what allows you to succeed or fail. They are not a bank or a cash lender; they are meant to be business partners. 

You have to know the type of personalities you vibe with, what their values are, do you have the same humor even. It’s like dating. You have to ask yourself, “Could I be with these people forever? Are they my people? Do they really believe in me and what I am trying to achieve?” These are some of the top questions I ask of my investors when getting to know them and I highly recommend founders do the same when they go out to raise. This is why for WOC especially, it’s important to find your people. The check is secondary to shared values and work style. 

You launched Mason Dixie in 2014, and now the brand is available at over 6,000 stores, including Whole Foods, Target, Safeway, Costco, and more. What has been the biggest challenge in scaling your business and what lessons have you learned along the way? What advice can you share on how to scale a business sustainably?

The hardest part about scaling a fast-paced growth business is predicting growth. There are times when you get it dead wrong and over-project, and there are times you go gangbusters and hit it out of the park. Both scenarios are challenging to plan for. 

I think the way we have navigated our business growth best was by learning the hard way at first and then optimizing each year. At first, we sprinted and made some mistakes. We were lucky in that the sprint just qualified us for the next race, but we weren’t ready. We just happened to be the fastest runner in that first race. I would have preferred looking back to have trained and prepared for the second race. 

So with each misstep, we corrected, learned, and analyzed our weak points and then went in more cautiously. We chose better retailers, improved our product mix, then accelerated. I would always make sure to be cautious. If I could do it again, I would win strategically big and focus on making those wins bigger before going wider. It helps mobilize the team better, focuses your assets, and then allows you to move stronger into new markets. 

There are a lot of small business owners reading this interview who would love to have their products sold at major retailers like you. How can these founders follow in your footsteps? What advice can you share for getting a foot in the door with a big-name retailer?

Fair warning: the market has changed a LOT since we first got started. Anyone who started before a couple of years ago were the pioneers. You did a lot and asked for forgiveness later and people were more willing to grow/make mistakes with you. 

Now, the world has changed. There is a lot more competition—a lot more products out there—and retailers are getting smarter. Before you go pitch to a big retailer, you have to really know if you are ready. Do you have the marketing and trade budget to support the account? Can you keep up with the volume? Can you afford slotting fees? Do you have a sales support team to monitor and manage the account? 

Remember, these players have dealt with far more billion-dollar companies than they have thousand-dollar companies, so the rules are set for much bigger fish than you. 

Get educated, get funded, then jump into those waters with caution. Surround yourself with skilled and experienced advisors who have worked in the category/product type you are developing. Ask other companies in those retailers about their experience—both their successes and their follies. Get informed before you pitch. 

Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy on and why?

Being a founder/CEO means you need to know everything about your business—point-blank.  There isn’t one area that is more important than the other. It’s a living system and all parts of the system need to be financially healthy in order for the business to thrive. Now, this doesn’t mean you need to be the expert. Hire a great accountant or CFO early. Allow them to train your eye to see the dark spots and opportunities clearly. Focus on understanding your business over how to be a financial whiz. 

What was your first big expense as a business owner and how should small business owners prepare for that now?

People. People people people. They should always be your first biggest expense. Who is helping you to create your projections? Who is going to manage your first order, or even make it? Remember, you cannot do this on your own and the value of the people you surround yourself with will be invaluable in the long run. 

What are your top three largest expenses every month?

1. COGs – All of your cost of goods should and will be your largest expense. 

2. Trade expenses/marketing – In frozen, we invest a lot into trade since it’s not as easy for us to market and get trial by handing out free sample packs at a metro station or triathlon. Investing back into trade helps us grow and should be one of your largest expenses as you scale.  

3. People – Your people should be the best of the best and they deserve to be financially treated as such so they are spending 100% of their time worrying about their business and not if they will get paid. Remember – this industry is tough and financially risky. This is always on the minds of your people so make sure you can pay them on time, and in full. 

Photo: Courtesy of Mason Dixie

Do you pay yourself, and if so, how did you know what to pay yourself?

I didn’t pay myself for four years so that others might eat. I lived off of savings and credit cards for as long as I could to ensure I could snag the best people, finance the next purchase order, or invest in the next piece of equipment or manufacturer. I only started to pay myself once I knew I 

couldn’t cut checks big enough anymore to fuel the business and took in our first investment,  but even then I was conservative and only took what I need to pay rent and eat. As an owner, don’t forget you own the company and that is way more valuable than a salary. 

At first, conserve as much cash as you can otherwise you will burn through equity instead. Taking a big salary is a cash burn that will cost you more equity when you need to raise more money before the company has earned the valuation it deserves. So be frugal about what you need in the beginning until the business can afford to pay you. 

Would you recommend other small business owners pay themselves?

It just depends on that owner’s personal situation. If I started a business as a single mom with three kids and little savings to live off of, I probably would pay myself the bare minimum I needed to feed my family. But as a single woman with nothing to lose, I lived as bare as I could on what I had. In fact, I worked side hustles until the business could afford to pay for me. It really depends on your financial needs and situation—just be frugal is the biggest advice I can give. 

How did you know you were ready to hire and what advice can you share on preparing for this stage of your business? 

You are always ready to hire. No one is good at everything. I would have a hard look at your skills and experience, rate those against the different business functions your business needs,  and then hire for anything you didn’t rate yourself strongly for. When I took in a business partner, my COO, Ross, I knew I was terrible at operations and needed help. Similarly, when I  saw sales ramping up, even though I knew I was good at sales, I only had so much time so rather than spread myself too thin, I invested in the hires knowing that yes, I could still do it, but what was the opportunity cost?  

Did you hire an accountant? Who helped you with the financial decisions and setup? 

Yes. This should be one of your first hires. I rarely have ever met a founder who is an accountant/financially trained. These people are, you need them. Again, they will educate you about how to look at your business and ultimately help you finance it. They are a critical function. 

What apps or software are you using for finances? What’s worked and what hasn’t?

Every business can start with Quickbooks or any off-the-shelf software. In fact, there is a huge market opportunity for you software engineers out there to design scalable accounting software for product companies—hint hint! It’s been fine because of its ease of use and cloud-based 

access, but terrible for really using it as a business intelligence and decision support tool. At the end of the day, it’s accounting software, so decision support is still happening in Excel for us. I  don’t think there are better solutions until you advance a bit more, but I am always looking. 

Do you think women should talk about money and business more? Why? 

Yes, we are the biggest consumers in the world! We are business!! More decisions need to be made by the women who LITERALLY hold the purse strings. It can only happen with us talking out loud about it and informing the powers that be how we view money, business, services, etc.  The more we show up, the louder we are, the more we will be seen, the more will change. 

What money mistakes have you made and learned from along the way?

The funniest mistake was when I thought I was going to be Willy Wonka and open a biscuit factory in just a few months! It was actually one of the best mistakes I ever made. When we sold into Whole Foods our growth was so fast that we were getting requests for products everywhere. Naively, my business partner Ross Perkins and I decided to go after more accounts, particularly in the South because if these biscuits couldn’t sell down there, then we should just call this a good swag item and not further invest. Well, we got both Publix and  Kroger to buy our biscuits and were going to go from 100 stores to 1,000 stores in just under nine months. With no idea how to do this, Ross and I leased a drive-thru restaurant with a huge parking lot in the middle of nowhere so we could make pallets of biscuits and store them in a portable trailer freezer on the lot. 

We kept doing this for months and transporting the pallets, but the demand kept growing locally,  so we couldn’t even keep the inventory we had reserved for the new accounts. I thought we needed to build a bakery! A frozen dough bakery! In the middle of DC! I spent a ton of money on fully engineered plans for this biscuit factory that was also going to have our restaurant attached for the full Ghirardelli experience until we were about to pull the trigger on this huge spiral freezer. Turns out the freezer requires either ammonia or freon—which in DC—are banned in the quantities we needed to fuel this machine. So, we were dead in the water, and we had to pivot to find a way to make biscuits within four months. 

I say it was the best mistake I ever made because I ended up being fluent in frozen biscuit production—I knew exactly the equipment I needed, the process, the cost of things—so when I went on the hunt for the facility that would ultimately make our biscuits, I knew everything I  needed to know to make the search easy. Because I failed at building a factory, I succeeded in finding the best co-manufacturer out there for our biscuits, and that is what ultimately allowed us to scale and has brought us to where we are today. 

What is your best piece of financial advice for new entrepreneurs?

Learn about venture capital and investing before you start. It’s way more complicated,  personal, and nuanced than anyone tells you. I did my best to read and research but only as I  was hearing no’s during our initial raises. I even did a killer pitch where every investor in the room asked for follow-up discussions. But sometimes it’s not just about your business track record. Sometimes it’s about the color of the money on the table or how much more money is needed and it’s hard to stomach when you think everything else is A+ and you still can’t close the deal. 

Anything else to add?

Whenever the going gets tough, ask yourself, what have you ever failed at that you tried your absolute hardest at?  

I can’t think of a single time when I put my all into something where I didn’t succeed, so I know if  I keep trying, anything can happen. I realized if I didn’t stop trying and if I continued to persevere and stop putting a period at the end of the task, I would ultimately succeed. It’s been the driving statement that through every bad turning point in the path to getting Mason Dixie where it is today, and it is 100% effective.

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These Founders Are Bringing Fair Labor Practices, Artisanal Jobs, and Economic Development to Tunisia

You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.

Photo: Courtesy of Fouta Harissa

When Alia Mahmoud and Lamia Hatira met, they felt an immediate kinship. “We each have a Tunisian father and an American mother and our lives were sort of mirror images,” says Mahmoud. “Lamia was born and raised in Tunis and spent time in Seattle growing up, while I grew up in New York City and spent summers in Mahdia, Tunisia,” she elaborates. Although both women live abroad today—Mahmoud in Miami and Hatira in São Paulo—their families still live in Tunisia, and the textile brand Mahmoud and Hatira founded, Fouta Harissa, is their way of investing in their “tiny but mighty Mediterranean country,” Mahmoud tells Create & Cultivate. But they’re not just investing capital, they’re investing in fair labor practices for the country’s artisanal community.

By working with Tunisian artisans to craft high-quality, hand-loomed textiles, the brand is dedicated to preserving artisanal weaving in Tunisia while also contributing to the country’s economic development. “Unfortunately, Tunisian artisans are generally undervalued and underpaid as the custodians of our cultural heritage,” explains Mahmoud. “We want to change that by bringing the world a modern take on handmade artisanal products that also support fair labor practices, use sustainably sourced materials, and contribute to economic development in Tunisia,” she notes. Not only that but each of the artisans they work with is employed in a full-time position at the brand’s partner workshop and paid an above-market rate that exceeds the living wage.

Ahead, Create & Cultivate asks the co-founders all about how they self-funded the socially-driven brand, why they recommend hiring an accountant ASAP, and what money mistake has taught them the biggest lesson.

How did you fund Fouta Harissa? What were the challenges and what would you change? Would you recommend your route to other entrepreneurs? 

Lamia Hatira: We started with a small friends-and-family investment of $20,000 which helped us start our entities in both Brazil and the U.S.A. We are definitely still working on a small budget. It’s challenging because you don’t have the resources to do everything you want to do right off the bat, but it’s also kind of wonderful because you learn what really matters for your business and how to make the most of what you have. 

Each experience is definitely unique, but if you have an opportunity to get seed investment from friends and family at the initial stages, embrace it. Just make sure you’re on the same page with your investors about how active a role they will play and get in writing in your operating agreement.

The most important thing is to do what you’re comfortable with. We knew we weren’t ready to take out a huge loan or ask for a larger amount at the beginning because we didn’t want to owe anyone money or give away too much equity before we knew more about the intricacies of our business.

Three years later, we are now ready to take on more investment because of everything we’ve learned and because we know what works and doesn't work for Fouta Harissa at this stage. 

What was your first big expense as business owners and how should small business owners prepare for that now?

Alia: Legal fees to register our business and write an operating agreement, as well as placing our first major product orders with our manufacturer were definitely our first big expenses. I would advise taking the time to build a business plan in order to price out these early costs to the best of your ability, from there figure out where that money is coming from. A great way to generate some early cash flow is to do a friends-and-family sale before your product launches officially. This can help you raise some money and generate buzz.

Lamia: Beyond your most basic costs, make sure to include the other expenses that will ensure that your first customers get the experience you want them to have when they receive their product. This not only includes the product itself and its shipping, but the packaging, the marketing, the communications—they add up. 

What are your top three biggest business expenses every month?

Alia: Beyond paying for production, our biggest monthly expenses include the shipping costs to send our Foutas to customers, digital ads on Facebook and Instagram, and investing in regular digital marketing and PR.

Do you pay yourselves, and if so, how did you know what to pay yourselves?

Lamia: Not yet! We’re working on it.

Would you recommend other small business owners pay themselves? 

Alia: Absolutely. When it’s your business, you’ll work harder than you’ve ever worked on anything else before. Your time is valuable. Your effort is valuable. Build it in from the beginning. One thing we didn’t take into consideration, that we wish we had, is the employee taxes a business incurs in order to draw a salary. Even as founders! So until you’re making enough profit to distribute in those early years, build a small salary into your costs plus taxes.

How did you know you were ready to hire and what advice can you share on preparing for this stage of your business? 

Lamia: You don’t have to go from being a founding team to hiring a staff of full-time employees. We work with a lot of brilliant people, mostly as independent contractors. At this early stage in our business, it gives us the flexibility we need to try new things, learn, and try again. We’re so grateful to the talented people who believe in Fouta Harissa enough to devote their time to growing this business with us. 

I think you know when you’re ready when you realize you don’t know how to do everything, and that’s okay! We’re still in the process of learning exactly what our strengths are as co-founders and when and where it makes the most sense to invest in a new skill versus finding an expert who can help. We look forward to the day when we can have full-time staff on the team. 

Did you hire an accountant, and if so, would you recommend hiring an accountant to other small business owners? 

Alia: 100%. We recommend hiring an accountant as one of the first things you do. They can even advise you when you’re registering your business. We asked around and got recommendations from other female business owners until we found ours.

What are some of the tools or programs you use to stay on top of your business finances? 

Alia: Quickbooks has been a lifesaver. It’s a worthwhile investment and makes your accountant’s life a lot easier come tax time. We also use Square for offline payments and inventory tracking. And of course, Excel—a classic—where all the planning and projections happen.

Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy on and why?

Lamia: I’d say focus your energy on product quality and your people. Your product has to be the best possible thing you can put out into the world. At the end of the day, if you don’t have a great product, you don’t have a business. Just as importantly, invest in relationships. They are everything, especially at the beginning. You might not always be able to pay everyone you want to but be creative. Find ways to uplift them, involve them in decisions, consult them, and barter with them.

Do you think women should talk about money and business more? 

Alia: Definitely. We’re always worried about speaking up because we think everyone else has it all figured out. When you’re a small startup, you think there’s no way others have made the same mistakes that you have. But if we can talk about it more openly, with no shame or pretense, then we can really support each other to make the best and most savvy money decisions. 

The reality is, without good finances, there is no good business, and some of us can really use all the help we can get. 

Do you have a financial mentor, and do you think business owners should have one?

Lamia: We have two. One on the more day-to-day financial management who helps us build spreadsheets, come up with pricing strategies, and analyze reports; and another one who advises more on visionary planning and fundraising. Both are women and both are total badasses.

Business owners definitely need a financial mentor, or more. Find as many quality mentors who care about you as possible, and cultivate those relationships.

What is the biggest money mistake you’ve made and learned from along the way?

Alia: Underestimating the cost of digital marketing. As an e-commerce brand, we definitely did not anticipate the challenge of competing with companies putting in $10,000+ into social media advertising every month. When you’re just starting out with limited budgets for digital ads, it can be hard to compete. This became even more acute during the pandemic because everyone became an e-commerce brand and doubled down on digital. My advice would be, plan for a bigger budget for ads early on or find creative ways to not rely on them like collaborations, partnerships with brick and mortar stores, and investments into your most loyal customer base to encourage repeat buys.

What is your best piece of financial advice for new entrepreneurs?

Alia: Whatever price you’ve determined for your product, double it. Seriously, there are so many costs you don’t even know exist, beyond your COGS, when you launch a new product. All of those should be built into your MSRP. And do as solid a financial plan as you can. 

Anything else to add?

Lamia: If finance is your thing, use it to your full advantage and help others out. If financial matters don’t come naturally to you, make sure you learn the basics of your business finances to always know what’s going on, and surround yourself with people who know what they’re doing and who you can learn from.

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Eunice Byun Started Material as a Side Hustle While Working 9-to-5 at Revlon—Here’s How She Did It

You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.

Photo: Kirsten Francis

Eunice Byun launched her cookware company Material as a side hustle while she was working full-time as an exec at Revlon. But she knew she had to quit her day job when she kept waking up with new ideas for Material and couldn’t shake that feeling of “I’ll pinch myself later on if I don’t just do this now,” she tells Create & Cultivate. “It did help not having to worry about how I would financially make it by ironing out a lot of the vision for the business on nights and weekends, while still getting paid for my full-time job,” she adds about the decision of launching a business while working from 9-to-5.

Although the slow-and-steady approach was right for her, the entrepreneur admits it’s not for everyone. “If you’re the type of person who needs to jump in feet first and throw everything you’ve got at the business, then my approach might have been too cautious,” she says. “For me, I needed some assurance that what my co-founder and I were dreaming up was compelling enough that we could secure funding so that we could build the product and our brand right from the start.” And it’s safe to say that strategy has more than paid off. In fact, she had a number of investors who were interested in working with her before she even had a product (no big deal!).

Ahead, Byun explains what it took to launch a business while working full-time, how she secured funding before producing a single product, and why it’s important for founders to be compensated, regardless of the actual dollar amount printed on the paycheck. 

Your résumé is so impressive. You started your career in finance as an analyst at Goldman Sachs and later served as vice president of global digital marketing at Revlon. Can you tell us about your professional background and what you were doing professionally before launching Material? 

I’ve been fortunate enough to have had a pretty diverse career to date. After graduating from Northwestern University, I went into finance at Goldman Sachs. It’s a great place to start your career because you learn a lot of transferable skills—presenting information, time management, people management—at an early age. Ultimately, I knew that I couldn’t see myself in finance long-term and wanted to move into something more consumer-focused. 

From there, I spent the next chapter of my professional life in the consumer and start-up worlds, soaking up as much operational knowledge as possible. I learned about forecasting, merchandising, managing a P&L, operations, PR, and communications. Although I didn’t know it at the time, I was accumulating bits and pieces of know-how that would serve me well with my own company, Material.

Right before launching Material, I was in the beauty industry, deep in digital storytelling, community building, and influencer-focused marketing, much of which has informed our current marketing strategies. 

What was the “lightbulb moment” for Material? What inspired you to start your business and pursue this path? Did you always envision yourself becoming an entrepreneur?

I was that kid growing up who never knew how to answer the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” As I got older, I eventually realized it came down to surrounding myself with talented, driven people (who I could learn from), and building something that people cared about. That rubric served me pretty well as I navigated through a few different industries. 

But it wasn’t until I had my daughter that I realized there had to be something more. I wanted a place where I didn’t have to leave parts of myself at home, especially as a new mom. When my co-founder and I started piecing together the concept of Material, we envisioned the idea of our company but also the type of place and people we wanted to spend our time in and with. We felt there was a need for our company to exist (e.g. to bring more beautiful, high-performing designs to the home cook), but we also knew we wanted to build a company with values that matter and motivate us and our team. 

You had a number of investors that were interested in working with you before you even had a product. What were some of the challenges you faced in raising funding pre-product and what would you change? Would you recommend your route to other entrepreneurs? 

Product is central to our business, as we aren’t a one-product-shop where we focus solely on a singular item. In our case, we launched with a collection of seven items, so raising a pre-seed round was necessary in order to deliver the quality of products we envisioned. However, we made sure not to take too much money from the beginning as we didn’t want to automatically put us on the hamster wheel of raising more and more capital as quickly as possible. We also were specific on having a diverse set of initial investors, which proved to be one of our best decisions. With a mix of venture, angel investors, and houseware industry experts, we’ve received different opinions and guidance which has allowed us to chart a growth plan for Material that feels more dimensional and sustainable.

What was your first big expense as a business owner and how should small business owners prepare for that now?

Public relations and communications. We invested right from the start in a top-notch, start-up-focused PR partner. The way we saw it was we only had one company launch moment, where we could come out and tell the world who we were and what we are about, so we wanted to make that moment count. What we’ve found is that many of those press hits quickly got our name out and generated buzz, but longer-term populated our branded search results and filled the pages with articles. These still pay off for us years later. 

What are your top three largest expenses every month?

Payroll, fulfillment, and platform-related costs (e.g. processing fees and hosting). We used to spend a lot more on top-of-the-funnel marketing but have found that our lower-cost acquisition tactics are more effective and produce more loyal, long-term customers.

Do you pay yourself, and if so, how did you know what to pay yourself? 

Yes. One of our early investors advised us from the start to pay ourselves what we needed to focus on the company, and not how we’d make ends meet. That being said, my co-founder and I believe in hiring the best talent we can so we allocate our funds to the team (meaning we make less than other team members).

Would you recommend other small business owners pay themselves? 

Yes. It’s important to feel compensated for the work being put into the company, regardless of how much that dollar amount actually is. 

Photo: Kirsten Francis

How did you know you were ready to hire and what advice can you share on preparing for this stage of your business? 

An angel investor of ours broke this down for me once. He said there are two buckets of hires: superchargers and doers. You need both and you’ll eventually hire for both. 

Superchargers are those that you bring in slightly earlier than needed—and might overpay for at the time—but they are meant to exponentially grow your business. They might have done it before elsewhere or they have some experience that will immediately add value. 

Then there are the doers, where you hire them when you’re essentially past the breaking point. They help make processes move more efficiently or allow you to go faster, but you can afford to drop some balls here and there and not have it affect the business in a significant way. This ensures you aren’t building up a team too quickly and spending too much before it’s needed. 

What are some of the tools you use to stay on top of your business financials? What do you recommend for small business owners on a budget?

Excel. My co-founder and I look at spreadsheets daily as things are shifting quite regularly. We also have an outsourced CFO who we can tap into with more specific questions or analyses, as we’re not quite at the place where we need that skillset full-time.  

Do you have a financial mentor? Do you think all business owners need one?

I have different people whose opinions I seek out on various financial matters. I like speaking with other operators and founders about budgets because while investors may have a POV, I want people who are sitting with spreadsheets and making hard decisions on where you can spend your money and where you can’t. For fundraising matters, I like speaking to a number of people—not just one—because there’s more than just one path forward on how you finance your company. 

What money mistakes have you made and learned from along the way?

Inventory can help and hurt you. Too much, and you’re stuck. Too little, and you can’t grow fast enough. We recently invested in an inventory management system to help us work through these growing pains, as we try to be as capital efficient as possible and not have too much tied up and sitting in a warehouse.

Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy and why?

Know your pathway to profitability. There used to be an overabundance of focus on top-line growth, no matter the costs. Nowadays, the focus has shifted towards profitability which is important because it means you have greater control over your financial future if you don’t always have to rely on bringing in funding. 

Do you think women should talk about money and business more?

Yes! The number of times I’ve walked into a meeting where a potential investor focuses marketing questions to me and financial questions to my male co-founder have been absurd. The fact that my gender leads one to believe that I may not know much about my company’s financials is an antiquated perspective. ANY business owner should be well-versed in how their company will grow and what it’ll take to do so.

You’re a mom and a co-founder/CEO! How has being a mother changed your priorities and your focus in terms of your career? Do you think motherhood has made you a better business person? 

It deepens my reasons for why I do what I do. Having my daughters see that they too can write their own narrative and build something of substantial value is important to me. 

What is your best piece of financial advice for new entrepreneurs?

Get comfortable with it and don’t let someone else take the reins because they “know more about finances than you.” Your financial statements are simply a different way of telling your company’s growth story.

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This Former Scuba Diving Instructor Is Reducing Single-Use Plastic Waste, One Beeswax Wrap at a Time

You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.

Photo: Pink Palm Media; Courtesy of Evan Guiton

Before Evan Guiton started Bee Kind, she was on a very different career path. “I was working as a scuba diving instructor on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and all I wanted was to spend as much time as possible hanging out with humpback whales,” she tells Create & Cultivate. But she couldn’t ignore the devastating effects of plastic pollution on the ocean. “As someone who was spending significant time underneath the water, I had a front-row seat to the suffering and destruction ocean plastic pollution was causing,” she explains. “Every single dive I went on I would encounter a fish or marine animal who was having some sort of interaction with a piece of plastic.”

After a while, it became hard for her to reconcile enjoying the ocean without being a part of the solution, which is how the idea to launch a business that reduces single-use plastic, came about. “I wanted to educate people about the seriousness of the problem and empower my community to become more sustainable in their everyday lives,” says Guiton. “By creating trendy, accessible, and affordable products that could replace everyday plastics, I knew I could bring zero-waste into the mainstream,” she explains of the concept behind Bee Kind. “Shortly after this revelation, I quit my job as a dive instructor and flew home to Canada to begin working on my first beeswax wrap prototype.”

Here, Guiton explains why she decided to bootstrap her business, shares the money mistakes she’s made along the way, and offers her best advice for entrepreneurs.

How did you fund Bee Kind? What were the challenges and what would you change? Would you recommend your route to other entrepreneurs? 

I bootstrapped Bee Kind from the ground up, which means I never took any funding or investment. In the beginning, I spent a few thousand of my own dollars fleshing out a website, a logo, production supplies, and raw materials. I was lucky enough that I was able to make a profit almost instantly through local craft markets which encouraged slow but steady momentum forwards without digging much further into my own wallet.

While I am grateful I did it this way (as now I am happy to say I still own 100% of the business), it was a financial balancing act for many years. Without funding, I had to completely rely on company profits to slowly grow, in addition to being hyper-specific when it came to forecasting the purchase of raw materials. When you make these bulk purchases, your money is tied up in these raw materials for approximately four months before you begin to turn it around in sales of finished products. Knowing this, I had to be incredibly accurate when forecasting our growth.

What was your first big expense as a business owner and how should small business owners prepare for that now?

The first time I purchased our custom printed fabric I was horrified to learn about MOQs and the amount of customized product I would have to commit to upfront. I had very limited dollars to play with at the beginning, so I had to make compromises in what we could afford while still ensuring we created a really special product. 

I recommend that business owners do A LOT of digging into any big purchases they are about to make. Is there a better deal out there? Are you absolutely sure that you need to spend money on this? Is there a better (or just different) way to achieve the same result? The more you can think outside the box in growing your business, the more you can help your bottom line. There are a million ways to achieve the same result, so don’t feel like you are cornered into throwing money at a problem. 

Photo: Courtesy of Bee Kind

What are your top three largest expenses every month?

Payroll, raw materials, and our photographer on retainer /social media content creators.

Do you pay yourself, and if so, how did you know what to pay yourself?

I’m four years into the business, and to this day I prefer to pay myself just enough to cover my bills and necessities. Putting as much money as I can back into the business so it can grow is my best investment. In all honesty, there came a point in time where all I wanted was a new production warehouse, and that meant infinitely more to me than having extra personal pocket money. The decision was that simple.

Would you recommend that other small business owners pay themselves? Why or why not?

I think business owners need to cover their bills and be comfortable so that they can mentally and creatively show up for their business every day. However, when they choose to start properly paying themselves completely depends on their personal situation. I think they also need to realize that putting money back into the company, in the beginning, could create much higher returns later on, and that might be worth it to them in the long run. 

How did you know you were ready to hire and what advice can you share on preparing for this stage of your business? 

For many small businesses, the founder is the accountant, the maker, the marketing specialist, the delivery person, and everything in between. While this was a stressful way to go about running a business, it was the only option financially for me for the first couple of years. I hired someone to help me make the beeswax wraps when I physically could not keep up anymore. Once I realized that hiring help was in fact not a financial burden, and instead, a fast track to growing the business, I was much more relaxed in adding more people to the team.

I knew that I had a lot on my plate as a business owner and that I absolutely did not want to add “becoming a manager to a team of people” to my to-do list. From the beginning, I clearly defined my employees’ roles as independent, self-starting, and with “choose their own schedules.” To this day, I have never written out a staff schedule and my team is there on any given day because they want to be, not because they have to. I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Photo: Courtesy of Bee Kind

Did you hire an accountant? Who helped you with the financial decisions and setup? 

If I had one piece of advice to small business owners it would be this: hire a bookkeeper from the beginning. You don’t need anything fancy, but where it comes to your books, you want a professional keeping them straight. When you get bigger, you can look at getting a CPA, but at the start, a budget bookkeeper is all you need. For too long, I thought I could do it myself on Quickbooks online, and it was a giant learning experience.

What tools or programs are you using to manage your business finances? What’s worked and what hasn’t?

Quickbooks online and a great filing cabinet system are what I swear by. What hasn’t worked? Going at it alone without an accountant.

Do you think women should talk about money and business more? Why or why not? 

Absolutely! As someone in charge of hiring new employees, I have often been in a position where I didn’t know what I should be offering in terms of compensation simply because no one likes to talk about what they get paid. If wages were talked about more casually, I think everyone would also become more ambitious in achieving salary milestones.

What money mistakes have you made and learned from along the way?

Every opportunity that involved us providing free (or almost free) product in exchange for “exposure” has been a hefty disappointment. In my humble opinion, the majority of companies that promise you exposure so that they can make money off you or your product should be approached with a great deal of caution. Put your time and efforts into organic engagement and creating genuine connections with your followers.

What is your best piece of financial advice for new entrepreneurs?

If you have a good idea and a blossoming business, you will get approached ALL the time for investment opportunities. If you’re thriving, people will want a piece. While this is incredibly flattering and exciting (especially at the beginning), the people you want on your team are not the ones asking for a piece of the pie during their first conversation with you.

Also, save money for a rainy day. Opportunities will come that you want to take advantage of which you need money for RIGHT NOW. Keeping a nest egg is an incredibly wise decision as it allows you to make big moves.

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How Samara Walker Launched Auda.B While Working Full-Time as a Senior Financial Analyst at Amazon

You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.

Photo: Courtesy of Samara Walker

"Balancing a full-time job and a start-up is extremely demanding and requires a different level of patience, organization, and ability to challenge yourself," Samara Walker, the founder and CEO of the luxury vegan nail lacquer brand Àuda.B, tells Create & Cultivate. “Time is of the essence because every minute counts when you have to delegate between your 9-5 and your startup,” she explains. But Walker was more than up to the task of managing her minutes and balancing her full-time role as a senior financial analyst at Amazon with building her beauty start-up. And for good reason.

Walker launched Àuda.B because women of color aren’t often represented within luxury beauty. “Oftentimes, luxury beauty brands omit the celebration for women of color,” she explains. “I was truly inspired to launch Àuda.B to create a brand that reflected women of color from A-Z. Through product curation, branding, and marketing, I knew that I wanted to build an inclusive brand that kept women of color top of mind,” she adds. And major retailers have taken notice. Earlier this year, Àuda.B launched on Nordstrom, becoming the first Black-owned polish brand to be sold by the retailer.

Ahead, Walker shares when she knew it was time to quit her job at Amazon and go all-in on Àuda.B, what the biggest challenges in scaling her business have been so far, and how she’s pushing the beauty industry forward and making a difference.

You started Àuda.B while you were working full-time as a senior financial analyst at Amazon. Would you recommend starting a business while working a full-time job? 

As I reflect back, I would recommend starting a business while working full time because this allows you to put your passion and work ethic into perspective. Having a stable income allowed me to invest in my business by relying on my paycheck and helped me bootstrap my company to the next phase. Working a full-time job while starting a business put my life into perspective and really encouraged me to go after my dreams!

How did you know when it was time to quit your job at Amazon and go all-in on Àuda.B? What was your strategy for making the transition and what, if anything, do you wish you’d done differently? 

The day I signed my partnership agreement with Nordstrom, I knew I had to prepare myself to leave Amazon. As a small start-up, I had to manage and develop the supply chain strategy for the business and onboard new systems to become compliant with the retailer, which is no small undertaking. The demand for Àuda.B became overwhelming (in the best way!) between the influx in orders and the partnership with Nordstrom. I was tasked with the decision of pouring my energy into Àuda.B or Amazon, and the decision was not difficult at all. I had worked tirelessly for this day to come, and I was prepared to put all of my efforts into it! 

As a founder, I positioned myself from the very beginning to save aggressively because I knew that bootstrapping would allow me to have total control while building my company until we eventually secured an investor. I made strategic moves such as setting up direct deposit from my Amazon paycheck to the Àuda.B business account each pay period to build our business account for expenses and to budget for part-time contractor payments.

It's important to build out a real plan between personal and business expenses in order to set realistic expectations of what your savings should reflect to allow you to step away from your full-time job. Founders need financial security in order to operate from a healthy mindset—shelter and food shouldn't be optional. I wish I had the ability to establish this plan earlier on in my career, but I am thankful that I finally had the courage to fully step out and embrace the abundance of Àuda.B.

Photo: Courtesy of Àuda.B

Earlier this year, Àuda.B launched on Nordstrom, becoming the first Black-owned polish brand to be sold by the retailer. What has been the biggest challenge in scaling your business and what lessons have you learned along the way? What advice can you share on how to scale a business sustainably? 

The biggest challenge in scaling has been producing enough inventory to keep on-hand, as well as implementing systems to scale with limited cash. I've since learned how to prepare your business for the next phase and have strategies and plans in place to anticipate the arrival of growth. My advice would be to plan your business for the next phase before the growth actually impacts your company. Research potential partnerships to help scale, whether that's a 3PL or EDI system to manage your growth and scale effectively. 

How did you fund your business? What were the challenges and what would you change? Would you recommend your route to other entrepreneurs? 

I bootstrapped my business by funding through my full-time salary and personal savings. Some of the challenges I faced were not having enough cash on hand or the ability to order new inventory to keep up with customer demand. Managing expectations is important. Having a well-balanced inventory is essential to keep up with customers’ needs and demands. 

At first, we didn't have the ability to expand our color selection or significantly increase inventory without the guarantee of customer’s purchasing. I would change the way I handled inventory by ordering more to create a surplus for an unexpected increase in sales. I would highly recommend bootstrapping your business until funding is secured via an investor if that's the route you decide to take. Bootstrapping gives you the grace of building at your own pace and learning all aspects of your business from the ground up.

What was your first big expense as a business owner and how should small business owners prepare for that now? 

Our first big expense was hiring a lawyer in order to apply for our trademark. Small business owners should create a list and prepare for start-up costs that can be accomplished over time but are necessary for the business’s growth. Putting aside a few dollars that are dedicated solely to start-up costs will help prepare business owners for anticipated expenses. 

What are your top three largest expenses every month?

1. Part-time contractors

2. Monthly business systems: EDI and catalog systems for retailers

3. Influencer agency

Do you pay yourself, and if so, how did you know what to pay yourself?

I don't pay myself as of yet. 

Would you recommend other small business owners pay themselves? 

Depending on revenue and personal finances business owners should pay themselves. It's important that founders sustain themselves while building a business.

How did you know you were ready to hire and what advice can you share on preparing for this stage of your business? 

I knew that we were ready to hire when I couldn't meet due dates for deliverables and there was an increase in revenue which allowed us to dedicate additional income to part-time contractors. I didn't have the bandwidth to complete deliverables on time, which is a clear sign that additional help is necessary in order to scale.

What apps or software are you using for finances? Are there any tools or programs you recommend for bookkeeping? 

I personally use QuickBooks to manage our finances, which I would highly recommend. It also has a feature that allows you to manage and pay contract workers, so that way all of the information is synced and saved in one place.

Photo: Courtesy of Àuda.B

What are some of the tools you use to stay on top of your business financials? What do you recommend for small business owners on a budget? 

I set time aside both weekly and monthly to review our expenses and revenue. The weekly meetings are used to review expenses and log receipts. Monthly meetings are focused on reviewing P&L statements and detailing expenses for the month. I recommend that small business owners review their expenses and create a quarterly budget in order to efficiently manage cash flow. 

Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy on and why? 

Decreasing expenses upfront and being “lean”. It’s important to focus on increasing revenue without having to increase expenses.

Do you think women should talk about money and business more? 

Absolutely, I believe women should talk about money and business more. Only 2.4% of venture capital funding goes to women, according to CrunchBase. There is clearly a gap within the industry due to the lack of support and knowledge for women business owners. It’s vital that we share information with one another to encourage women despite the many hurdles we may face.

What money mistakes have you made and learned from along the way? 

Paying for expensive tradeshows without building a strategy and being under the impression that sales would cover expenses. Tradeshows are very expensive, and it’s not just the booth rent. There are a lot of hidden costs on the logistics side for both the business and the tradeshow. I've learned that market research and case studies can come in handy when evaluating new business opportunities. 

What is your best piece of financial advice for new entrepreneurs? 

Build personal savings before starting your business, if possible. Create a budget from the beginning and start using personal funds to save for the desired budgets if your revenue doesn’t cover expenses. Keep all logistics in-house until your business has scaled!

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This Mom Founded a Kid’s Clothing Company to Spend More Time With Her Family

You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.

Photo: Courtesy of Fiona Sahakian

In 2010, Fiona Sahakian was a hairdresser and new mom working long hours and daydreaming of spending more time with her growing family when a client introduced her to Etsy. “I was so intrigued by working from home and using my creativity to generate income through a platform,” Sahakian tells Create & Cultivate. Less than a year later, she launched the first iteration of Posh Peanut, a line of handmade accessories that eventually evolved into the beloved children’s clothing brand that it is today.

Fast forward to 2021 and Posh Peanut is a favorite among celebrity moms by the likes of Chrissy Teigen, Gabrielle Union, and Eva Longoria, to name just a few. If you’re not an A-lister you can still add the brand’s coveted pieces to cart—but you’ll have to act fast. Last year, Posh Peanut launched at Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue, and the brand’s weekly collection drops have been known to sell out within five minutes (!). But the business wasn’t an overnight success. “I funded my business one sale at a time,” the founder explains. “I spent $500 from my own account for my first ‘big’ inventory purchase. Every sale and every dollar went back into inventory.”

Ahead, Sahakian talks about what it takes to slowly but surely build a successful brand and why hiring an accountant ASAP will save you money in the long run.

Take us back to the beginning—What was the “lightbulb moment” for Posh Peanut? What inspired you to launch your business and pursue this path?

I really wanted to stay home with my growing family. I was a hairdresser working crazy hours over the weekends. When I had my son in 2010, a customer turned me onto Etsy and I was so intrigued by working from home and using my creativity to generate income through a platform. Posh Peanut has evolved over the years from handmade accessories to the softest essentials you can imagine. Although I now work more than ever, it has given me the opportunity to also work on my own terms and around my kids’ schedules. 

Today, Posh Peanut is beloved by celebrities including Chrissy Teigen, Gabrielle Union, Mindy Kaling, Eva Longoria, and more. How did you create buzz around your business in the beginning?

In the beginning, we had no marketing budget but we used social media outlets to rally up fans and our community. Our community built the buzz surrounding our coveted designs with lots of hashtags and resharing. 

Last year, Posh Peanut launched on Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue. Congratulations! What has been the biggest challenge in scaling your business and what lessons have you learned along the way? What advice can you share on how to scale a business sustainably?

Our biggest challenge has been keeping up with demand and diversifying our supply chain. Our collections are known to sell out in 5 minutes and our production lead time is 8-12 months out on the calendar. We have had exponential growth in the past two years. Finding new supply chains to meet our growth and finance the business has been our biggest hurdle. We are 100% bootstrapped, and in order to scale to our projected numbers, we need capital.

We have been lucky to have great relationships with our suppliers and banks, and have learned that it is better to grow slow and sustain that growth rather than raising a bunch of capital. We don’t put ourselves in a corner or bite off more than we can chew. I suggest negotiating with your suppliers, banks, and find funding yourself if you do not want investors. There are many great lending programs in the e-comm space. 

How did you fund Posh Peanut? What were the challenges and what would you change? Would you recommend that route to other entrepreneurs? 

Don't run, walk. I funded my business one sale at a time. I spent $500 from my own account for my first “big” inventory purchase. Every sale and every dollar went back into inventory. I didn't pay myself out until many years later. I was lucky enough to have a supportive husband. I also kept my job as a hairstylist until I was able to save enough to focus 100% on Posh Peanut. I didn’t take any loans out or seek investors. 

This path of course is a slow growth, but I wanted to be self-funded. I think many entrepreneurs seek out funding very early on without getting their feet wet. As we scaled, it did become more difficult and with larger inventory purchases we needed more capital. I don’t think I would change the way we funded the business. Although it took us a bit longer to scale, I think it taught us a great lesson of not over-investing in products, growing too quickly, and then figuring out how to sell them. Slowly growing taught us to invest in the correct places. 

Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy and why?

Payroll. I think you can add tons of people to your team who don't add value, making your financials top-heavy every month. 

What was your first big expense as a business owner and how should small business owners prepare for that now? 

Inventory. Inventory was our biggest investment but also the only way to sell. Negotiate. Negotiate. Negotiate. If you are a product-based company, your inventory will always be the biggest expense. Ask vendors for terms, don't bite off more than you can chew. You can always buy more and replenish when you see demand.

What are your top three largest expenses every month?

Payroll. Inventory. Paid media.

Do you pay yourself, and if so, how did you know what to pay yourself? 

I started paying myself four years ago. I didn't pay myself in the beginning as I used all the money to fund the business. However, every time I hit a goal of X I would take a little bit of the revenue and spend it on myself on something I really wanted. I believe in setting goals and rewarding yourself with a gift, trip, or whatever that thing is that really motivates you to get to that next step.

Would you recommend other small business owners pay themselves? 

If you can, yes! I was lucky because my husband had a good job and paid for the necessities and I was able to save all of Posh Peanut’s earnings to pay for the business expenses. I was able to put every dollar made back in the business. I don't see a wrong or right answer. It's how your personal financials pencil out while sustaining the growth of the business.

Did you hire an accountant? Who helped you with the financial decisions and setup? Are there any tools or programs you recommend for bookkeeping?

We did hire an accountant early on. He helped set up our corporations and made sure our finances were aligned. I did not do any accounting or financials in-house. We did hire a controller a few years ago as the company was scaling quickly. I think hiring an accountant or financial advisor is very important as soon as you see traction in your business. You'll save more money outsourcing finances than trying to do it all yourself. I know how to make the money but I would never have been able to scale without the guidance of professionals.

What apps or software are you using for finances? What’s worked and what hasn’t?

We currently use Avalara for all of our e-comm state taxes and our controller does all the other finances through our ERP system. 

How did you know you were ready to hire and what advice can you share on preparing for this stage of your business? 

Jack of all trades, master of none. When you get to the point of, “Oh, shit,” you need to hire someone ASAP. You have to spend money to make money. Unless you have a degree in finance or lived in this space, don’t try to carry everything on your shoulders. Having a great accountant, CPA, etc. will save you a lot of money in the long run. 

Do you think women should talk about money and business more? Why? 

Yes! Yes! Yes! Why not? Women need to start sharing their experiences more and talk about capital. In a male-dominated space, it is incredibly nice to find other women you can relate to. Hopping on a call to get advice from another woman that understands the struggles is refreshing. You don't feel alone. Women are often more reserved or don't want to ask questions. I wish more women would find confidence and open up with what they are doing in their space.

You’re a mom of two and a founder! How has being a mother changed your priorities and your focus in terms of your career? Do you think motherhood has made you a better business person?

I always say I have three babies, my two kids, and my business. I love what I do. I love my kids to death but I also love working, building teams, and creating community. My career has made me a better mother. My schedule is always run, run, run, but my kids understand why I am doing it, and in the end, it's for them. When I am not working, I am 100% with my family. My career has taught me to slow down and do everything 100% with intention. Especially with my kids.

Do you have a financial mentor, and do you think business owners need one?

Yes, we have consultants for finance. I think when you become seasoned in your industry it's great to have different eyes and mentors in all aspects of your business.

What is your best piece of financial advice for new entrepreneurs?

Know your numbers.

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How to Keep Calm About Money When You Start a Business

Photo: Christina Jones Photography

Funding your business is like re-enacting the first scenes of a Bond film. It’s fast-paced, dramatic, and highly unpredictable. But in the end, you know you’re at the beginning of the story, and M(s)r. Bond (that’s you) is very likely to prevail. S/he overcomes the first of the saga’s challenges by acting nimbly and exhausting even the most obscure options. You’ve got this. 

Here’s how to suit up, fight on, and tackle any financial challenge (whether it be personal or entrepreneurial) with that calm, cool, and collected charm that only Bond can balance. Because after all, aren’t we all aiming to fight financial obstacles with precision and grace in a beautiful British sports car? 

#1 Be prepared. Be very prepared. 

Ask any of your more tech-centric friends who their favorite Bond character is and they’ll likely say, “Q, of course.” That’s because Q prepares Bond for any high-speed chase or “sticky” situation. Here’s how to prepare yourself (and your wallet) to be financially ready to take the leap (or free-fall) into entrepreneurship. (Let’s be honest, these are all great for personal money management too). 

1. Build up your credit score if it’s less than 700. You’ll want a good score to open your business account, which can open up some credit lines when you’re strapped for cash. Believe us, this isn't a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.

2. Secure a little nest egg. While we know some bada$$ founders who had very little sitting in the bank, having an emergency fund to fall back on personally can seriously help with your stress levels. 

3. Know your next 3 steps. Before even publishing your website, know what you need to 1. Start your business, 2. Get your first client and/or 3. Build a community of loyal, paying customers. Stress reduction is all about knowing where you’re headed and how you’ll get there. Think of these as your GPS coordinates to locate that beautiful Aston Martin. You need them to slide into that leather seat and zoom through the road ahead. 

#2 List out your priorities (and everything else).

Lists are our best friends. BEST FRIENDS. We have lists for to do’s, to don’t’s, how to do’s, etc., etc. Listing out your priorities might be less of your on-camera Bond persona, and more like your very real, Money Penny (equal bada$$) reality. That’s ok. Your lists will help reassure you at the end of a very long day that you did some good, you defeated some evil, and you know what’s left to accomplish.

Here’s how to get your financial priorities set: 

1. Find the right team. As much as you may think your Bond alter-ego can go it alone, you can’t. He doesn’t. Why would you try? Determine what your weaknesses are early and hire someone better suited to manage that aspect of the business. Even better, find a co-founder. They invest, they’re likely to take as little-to-no income as you, and they work just as hard. (Plus, you then have someone to talk to about all the obstacles that arise). 

2. Negotiate everything. Set a projected cost for all of your assumed expenses. Then mark down where you think you can save 10, 20, 50%. If you’re working with contractors, remember they need your logo just as much as you need their work. 

3. Build SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-based) goals and milestones. List out your necessary milestones for the next year and then set reasonable goals to help you hit those targets. This will help you decide what you should spend money on now and where you can press pause if needed.

4. Always ask yourself, “What will investors think?” If you’re going to rely on outside investment to help you hit your goals, make sure you’re developing a financial plan that’s aligned with your market, your audience size, and your investment goal. Try and learn how investors think (which is different than business owners!) to craft your messaging and pitch. You can be debonair as all hell, but if your gadgets don’t help you defeat the bag guy, you’ll be left vulnerable. 

#3 Be kind to yourself. 

After a long, grueling defeat of the villain, what does Bond do? He takes a vacation. And as you’re building up your Bond-like entrepreneurial persona, you should try to too (have you decided on your code name yet?). Taking time away from your business no matter what stage it’s in is always going to be hard. There will always be emails to answer, ideas to craft, missions to crush. And yet, you will never be your full Bond-self if you don’t take the time to recover. 

Here’s how we prioritize kindness and self-care even after the most trying days: 

1. Find something to pay attention to after a long day, that isn’t a screen. Nature, anyone?

2. List your fears and come back to the list often to assess and reframe. At the end of the day, you’re not fighting some evil foreign power who wants the world to end. Try reframing each fear into an opportunity. For instance: “I’m afraid we’ll fail.” Turns into, “If we fail, I’ll only be disappointed if I haven’t given this f&cker my all. If I have, I’ll know I’ve done something great.” 

3. Ask for help. We never do this enough and often by the time we have it’s too late and we’re already drowning in stress. Don’t wait. Find your support network of entrepreneurs, advocates, advisors, colleagues who can help you navigate even the darkest or most uncertain situations. 

4. Build your Bond Backbone with a daily mantra. Here are some thought starters: “I am strong. I am capable. I am right for this. I am wise. I manifest my abundance.”

And there you have it. Taking that entrepreneurial leap can be scary, but when you have the right mindset, a good plan of action, and enough certainty that at the end of your story, you’ll be stronger, more resilient, and ready for anything, you’ll find a feeling of empowerment that far outweighs any obstacle or villain that might stand in your way. Now go out there, embrace your inner secret agent, and become the titan of industry you were born to be.  

“H

aving an emergency fund to fall back on personally can seriously help with your stress levels.”

—Maia Monell, Co-Founder and CMO, Nav.it

About the Author: Co-founder and CMO Maia Monell has experience in growth marketing and brand strategy for developing software firms as well as in global women’s development. Prior to Nav.it, Maia worked with sports technology brand Bridge Athletic and holds an M.S. in Marketing Strategy & Innovation from Cass Business School. Maia's background in developing programs for professional female athlete campaigns and Brand Ambassadors gives her the unique experience to develop Nav.it’s authentic voice and brand promise.

About Nav.it: Nav.it is a banking app that helps you build healthy financial habits.  Pay down debt, automate savings, track spending, and learn how to more optimistically navigate your financial future with Nav.it's financial roadmap. Nav.it changes behaviors around money by providing personalized tools that build confidence in your money moves. Financial wellness starts here!

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This story was originally published on September 10, 2020, and has since been updated.

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This Founder Has Raised Over $4 Million in Venture Capital From the Backers of Warby Parker, Casper, Peloton, and More

You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.

Photo: Courtesy of Nicole Gibbons

In 2018, Nicole Gibbons launched a brand like no other: direct-to-consumer paint company Clare. After navigating the outdated paint industry on behalf of her clients for years, the longtime designer made it her mission to disrupt the space. “Frankly, shopping for paint has always been a huge hassle,” Gibbons tells Create & Cultivate. “There are thousands of overwhelming colors, too many product lines, the store environments are completely uninspiring, and there’s a lack of design guidance throughout the process.” So she set out to take the guesswork out of decorating by founding DTC paint brand Clare, which carries a curated selection of 56 designer-approved swatches.

But it’s not just about reinventing the fan deck. “At Clare, developing paint formulas that are healthier for our customers and the environment has been a priority since day one,” the founder explains. Clare’s paints are zero VOC, meaning they’re free of toxic carbon-based solvents that pollute the air and pose health risks, and Greenguard Gold-certified, meeting rigorous emissions standards, which is significant when you consider air indoors can be up to ten times more polluted than the air outdoors, according to the EPA. “People care now more than ever about the products they consume and the impact those products have on their health, their home, and the environment,” notes Gibbons.

Ahead, the founder shares how she’s raised over $4 million in venture capital funding for her clean and conscious DTC paint brand (including funding from the backers of DTC darlings by the likes of Warby Parker, Casper, Peleton, and more) and offers her best fundraising advice for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to replicate her success.

Can you tell us a bit about your background and what you were doing professionally before launching Clare?

Prior to launching Clare, I was an interior designer, running my own design firm and also doing a lot of work in the media as a design expert, including appearing for three seasons on a DIY home makeover show on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Before that, I spent 10 years working as a PR executive for a large retailer while dabbling in interior design on the side. I’ve always been passionate about the home space and about helping people create beautiful spaces. 

What was the “lightbulb moment” for Clare? What inspired you to start your business and pursue this path?

Frankly, shopping for paint has always been a huge hassle. There are thousands of overwhelming colors, too many product lines, the store environments are completely uninspiring, and there’s a lack of design guidance throughout the process. After realizing that the paint shopping experience was broken and outdated and that no legacy paint brands were focused on delivering a seamless shopping experience for their customers, I had the lightbulb moment for Clare. We’ve reimagined an entirely new paint shopping experience that’s easier, faster, more inspiring, and more convenient. Our mission is to help people everywhere create a home they love and to become the go-to paint brand for a new generation of consumers who are passionate about their homes.

Clare’s paints are zero VOC and Greenguard Gold-certified. Can you tell us why was it important to you to create non-toxic paints?

At traditional paint brands, this is generally an afterthought, but at Clare, developing paint formulas that are healthier for our customers and the environment has been a priority since day one. People care now more than ever about the products they consume and the impact those products have on their health, their home, and the environment. The cost associated with achieving our Greenguard Gold certification for indoor air quality, which is a top tier, EPA-endorsed green certification, was not inexpensive for us as a small startup. However, we felt this was an important step to take in order to give our customers confidence in our products. 

You’ve raised over $4 million in funding for Clare to date, no doubt you’ve learned a lot along the way. What are three crucial elements everyone should include in a pitch deck when raising money and why?

First, tell a great brand story. Investors see hundreds of deals, if not more, so it’s important to present your brand in a way that grabs their attention and tells a compelling story. You want investors to immediately have a clear sense of your brand, your mission, what sets your company apart, and why they should get excited about both you as a founder and your company. 

Second, tell a great numbers story. Your business model, or how you’ll make money, should be clear, as should the basic unit economics of your business and your growth projections. And these numbers need to be super compelling. A favorite line from one of our biggest investors is: There’s nothing like bad numbers to f*ck up a great story! 

Lastly, do all of the above with conciseness, clarity, and a laser focus on the most important takeaways that you want the investors to remember. 

Your investors include First Round Capital (an investor in Warby Parker), Imaginary (Net-a-Porter founder Natalie Massenet's fund), and Bullish (a Casper, Peloton, and Harry's razors backer). What advice can you share for entrepreneurs on partnering with the right investors?

At the beginning of your journey, the power dynamics feel very much in favor of the investors. They have the money you need and, especially when you’re a first-time founder, you tend to believe they also have the secret sauce that’s going to help your business get to the next level, especially if they’re a bluechip fund with a lot of cachet. In reality, that is typically not the case. Most investors aren’t super hands-on, will never know as much about your business or category as you do, and often they don’t add a ton of value beyond the check. Founders often feel pressure to take whatever money you can get, but the investors YOU choose and the energy and influence they bring to the table can make or break your success. So the best advice I can offer is to be picky about the investors you choose and bet on yourself over betting on any individual investor being the key to your success.

Startups led by Black women receive less than 1% of venture capital funding. Why do you think there is still so much inequality in the venture capital world, and what advice can you share for BIPOC entrepreneurs who are currently seeking funding?

The venture capital world is incredibly homogenous. I’ve met a ton of venture capitalists and, overwhelmingly, they’re white men who are already rich and often born into privilege as well. So when it comes to deal sourcing, they’re focused on their own insular network of people who come from similar backgrounds which naturally leads to an extreme lack of diversity. 

VCs are also taught to “pattern match,” which is to look for patterns in founders that mirror previous founders who have been successful, but there’s an inherent bias in this approach when all of their founders come from similar backgrounds. Data proves that diverse teams lead to higher returns yet it’s still difficult for VCs to get out of their insular bubbles and actually invest in diverse founders and teams. In order to create more equality in terms of who gets funded, funds need to diversify their own teams, especially at the partner level since partners are who ultimately make the investment decisions. This will lead to a more diverse pool of deals to source from, and in turn, more BIPOC entrepreneurs seeing their ventures get funded. 

For entrepreneurs of color seeking funding, I’d say to first focus on funds that have a track record of funding diverse founders. This might mean funds that have a specific diversity focus, or simply who have a more balanced representation of founders in their portfolios. Next, don’t be intimidated by any data that shows the odds may be stacked against you. Instead, let your passion and confidence in what you’re building guide your process. Finally, be relentless and don’t get discouraged by the “no’s.” Raising venture capital is an incredibly difficult and draining process for any founder and even those who are very successful at raising capital face a lot of rejection. Trust that the right investors will be aligned with your vision.  

What was your first big expense as a business owner and how should small business owners prepare for that now?

My first big expense was building out our website. I was lucky enough to find a team who really believed in me and the business and agreed to help start the high-level conceptual and creative direction work for the site without pay before I raised capital. Once I closed our financing, I was able to pay them properly. We started working on that before I actually put any physical product into production.

Photo: Courtesy of Clare

What are your top three largest expenses every month?

We don’t replenish inventory monthly, but during the months we do, that by far is our biggest expense. Payroll and marketing are our next biggest expenses. 

Do you pay yourself, and if so, how did you know what to pay yourself? 

Most people assume that being a CEO of a highly publicized company means you’re rich or you have a hefty salary, but most startup founders, especially at the early stage are grossly underpaid because everyone is incentivized to put as much value as possible into the business. I’m lucky that because we had an influx of capital from venture investors I was able to pay myself a modest salary, but the salary I’m paid is around a 60-70% decrease from what I was making before Clare and a huge short-term sacrifice. I basically pay myself enough to cover my monthly expenses and not much more. The hope when you’re building a company is that the upside will be significant so any initial sacrifice or temporary discomfort are both necessary but also well worth it in the long run.

Would you recommend other small business owners pay themselves? 

Absolutely. To the extent that you can pay yourself a liveable salary, you should absolutely do so. Running a business is incredibly stressful, and it will be difficult to stay focused on the business if you’re also highly stressed about your personal finances and don’t have enough money to cover your basic necessities. The only exception is that if you’re lucky enough to have someone else taking care of you financially (i.e., family support, a spouse, etc.) then, depending on your situation, you might be better served not taking a salary and investing everything you have into growing your business. It all boils down to your goals, your plans for growth, and what you need to get you to your next milestone. 

How did you know you were ready to hire and what advice can you share on preparing for this stage of your business? 

With Clare, as a venture-backed company, the goal is to build a venture-scale business, so I knew there was no way I could do this on my own. I hired people as soon as I possibly could to help fill expertise gaps and also increase my bandwidth. When I started out, key hires included a digital marketer and head of supply chain since those were areas that needed a lot of attention and where I lacked the skills and expertise.  

What are some of the tools you use to stay on top of your business financials? What do you recommend for small business owners on a budget?

We have an outsourced CFO and an accounting firm who manage all of the day-to-day finances but keep a close eye on everything. In terms of tools, we use Quickbooks to manage our accounting. Google Sheets and Excel are tools of choice for building out reports to look at trends and gain deeper insights into how we’re doing. 

Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy and why?

This really depends on your goals. If your goals are growth then investing in marketing is probably going to be the most important area to focus on. If you have a highly technical product with a big innovation roadmap, you might invest in hiring engineers. If you have a capital-intensive supply chain, investing in building efficiency there might make the most sense. 

Do you think women should talk about money and business more? Why? 

Absolutely. Having collaborative discussions around business, finance, and sharing best practices with peers is often the best way to learn and grow.

Do you have a financial mentor? If so, how did you find one and do you think all business owners need one?

I’m lucky now that I do have people around me who I can go to for guidance, but I haven’t always. This is unfortunate because I feel like I could have prevented a lot of costly mistakes in both my business and personal finances if I had someone guiding me. I’ve had to figure a lot out of my own over the years, so if you have access to a mentor, lean on them to help you navigate all the things you don’t know. 

What is your best piece of financial advice for new entrepreneurs?

Ruthlessly prioritize what’s most important to your business and what’s in the best interest of your brand mission. When you’re running a young company, everything feels like a priority and so many opportunities come up that seem worthwhile, but when bandwidth is slim, you have to prioritize like a boss. Focus both your dollars and your human capital on the initiatives and opportunities that will propel your business forward and deliver the most value.

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The Fashion Industry Accounts for 4% of the Globe’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions—So These Founders Are Doing Things Differently

You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.

Photo: Courtesy of Londre Bodywear

It’s no secret that fashion has a sustainability problem. But while the industry currently accounts for 4% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, consumers are advocating for change and spending their dollars accordingly, investing in brands that are committed to reducing their impact on the environment. Londre is the latest sustainable fashion brand to catch our attention at Create & Cultivate, and we’re not the only ones. The Canadian fashion brand recently received a $208K investment on “Dragons’ Den” (a.k.a the “Shark Tank” of Canada) and we’re eager to share the story behind the brand before you see it all over your Instagram feed (because trust us, you will).

Based in Vancouver, Ainsley Rose and Hannah Todd launched Londre in reaction to the startling amount of plastic pollution in the world's oceans. To date, the brand has recycled 100,000 plastic bottles off of the streets and beaches of Taiwan into their sustainable swimwear offering. But sustainability isn’t just about the planet for Rose and Todd, it’s also about the people. “Our products represent 360-degree sustainability, and this is something we heavily invest in,” Rose tells Create & Cultivate. “We believe that you can’t take care of the planet without taking care of its people, so ensuring our internal and external teams are treated fairly is critical,” Todd adds.

Here, the co-founders share how they bootstrapped the brand with an initial investment of just $15,000 and turned it into a business that generates seven-figure revenue.

Talk us through your bootstrapping process. How did you self-fund Londre, and would you recommend that route to other entrepreneurs today? 

AINSLEY ROSE: We took an initial $15,000 CAD investment from a close friend to help with our first round of samples. Since then, we’ve completely bootstrapped our business and have been self-sustaining. As a sustainable mission-driven brand our finances have to be looked at strategically to ensure that we can make choices that enact positive change and benefit both the planet and our business. 

HANNAH TODD: Since inception, Londre has seen a 300% year-over-year growth, and a big reason why is that we’ve been scrappy. This has helped us develop clarity in our business because sometimes having too much cash allows you to put a bandaid on a problem instead of fixing the issue from the start. This has also allowed us to grow organically, putting community first and ensuring market need. Not being beholden to a VC or large stake investor also has allowed us to work without an additional layer of pressure, and better tune into our intuition about what is best for our business. 

Can you share three crucial elements everyone should include in a pitch deck when raising money?

HT: Because we were pitching to someone we have a strong personal relationship with, our pitch was super simple. We didn’t even have a sample made yet. Ultimately, they chose to invest in us because they had faith in the values and ethics we hold as people, and less so in the product offering itself. Being empathetic, speaking from the heart, and having a good understanding of market trends helped us in our pitch. 

AR: The person who invested in us originally is still a trusted advisor and has been able to provide incredibly helpful insights over the years. 

What are some of the most common mistakes people make when raising money?

AR: I think the most common thing we see is valuing skills over the relationship. In choosing an investor, or business partner for that matter, ensuring that you feel comfortable communicating honestly and have a strong foundation of trust is key. 

HT: We also see people asking for too much too soon. If you are creative enough, you can likely get by with less than you think, and having too many controlling voices involved can complicate things.  

How much do you pay yourselves, and how did you know what to pay yourselves?

AR: Londre started out as a side hustle for Hannah and me that eventually became our main gig and source of income. I was working as a photographer, which allowed me to set my own schedule and develop a great network. I eventually stopped taking on new clients once Londre had reached a point where I felt comfortable taking a meaningful salary.

HT: I was working as a yoga instructor so also was able to make my own schedule. We chose how much to pay ourselves based on our lifestyle. To decide on our salaries we budgeted how much we needed each to live comfortable, satisfying, and sustainable lives in Vancouver and worked backward from there! We also allocated a bonus structure to celebrate when sales goals are hit. 

How did you decide what to pay employees? 

HT: Currently, we work with a team of contractors who are all small business owners in their own right. We find that this gives both parties more flexibility and freedom. We collaboratively decide on compensation and offer performance-based incentives. We believe that you can’t take care of the planet without taking care of its people, so ensuring our internal and external teams are treated fairly is critical. 

AR: We look to third-party certifications like Oeko Tex 100 for our fabric and work with Vancouver-based companies with an A+ Better Business rating to ensure that our ethical and sustainable mandate is met. Although working this way is more expensive than using a more traditional fashion model, ensuring value alignment in our brand has made our business thrive, generating seven-figure revenue and feels deeply rewarding. 

Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy?

AR: Our products represent 360-degree sustainability, and this is something we heavily invest in. We notice more brands are using more recycled materials and it’s something we love to see! However, if sustainability isn’t looked at from a holistic lens, it may easily be greenwashing. 

HT: For example, even if a product is made from recycled materials but isn’t functional and high quality, packaged using sustainable materials, and without a plan for the end of its life cycle, it ultimately will end up in a landfill contributing to further waste. We’ve focussed most of our financial energy on product development and quality control. Ensuring that our products are high quality and long-lasting is our first concern, not only from a customer satisfaction standpoint but also from a sustainability perspective. We just launched our first loungewear collection, The Essentials, and a lot of research went into finding fabrics and components that stay true to our 360-degree approach. 

What was your first big expense as a business owner?

HT: Our first round of samples. What we thought was going to be a $5000, two-month project turned into a $16,000 venture, nine months later. The first suit we created, the Minimalist in Matte Black, is still our biggest seller, so ultimately the hundreds of revisions were worth it. 

What are your top three largest expenses every month?

AR: Production costs (ethical manufacturing and sustainable materials); shipping and compostable and recyclable packaging; and digital ads (we actually only started running them in the last year). 

How much do you spend on office space?

HT: $0. We are fully remote.

How much do you spend on employee salaries?

AR: Contractors and our salaries: ~$25,000 a month 

How much are you saving, and when did you start being able to save some of your income?

HT: We as co-founders save about $1,000 a month each. We’ve only started paying ourselves enough to save within the past year. 

Did you hire an accountant? Who helped you with the financial decisions and setup of the business?

AR: Yes! We have an accountant who supports our year-end and we use QuickBooks for day-to-day accounting. 

HT: Ainsley’s fiance is a CPA and he’s stepped in to help us with inventory forecasting and budgeting when we need support with more complex financial modeling

What are some of the tools you use to stay on top of your business financials? 

AR: We use QuickBooks for our accounting. We also have a detailed model which helps us plan our inventory, forecasting, and budgeting. Additionally, we have a recurring calendar event monthly to go over inventory and budgeting. 

What do you wish you’d done anything differently in your financial journey as business owners?

HT: We overspent on in-person events. The most successful event we held was actually the least expensive, as connection trumps extravagant details every time. 

Do you think women should talk about money and business more?  

AR: Absolutely! There is so much stigma around gaining wealth, particularly for women. We’ve both taken courses by Lacy Phillips to break down any blocks and baggage we may hold around money and learn how to move into abundance. 

HT: We feel privileged to have a community of entrepreneurial womxn who we can talk candidly about finances and this has helped us immeasurably. 

Do you have a financial mentor, and do you think all business owners need one? 

HT: Our investor, who still has a small stake in Londre Bodywear, is our financial mentor. This relationship works for us because we can communicate openly with them and have been able to lean on their entrepreneurial experience. We check in every two months so we can ask general questions. 

AR: We don’t think you necessarily need a mentor because your intuition is best, but having a mentor who you can trust to gather advice from and see if it fits has been helpful for us. 

What is your best piece of financial advice for new entrepreneurs?

HT: Get super clear on your values. There are tons of shiny things to be distracted by but when you have a foundation of nonnegotiable sustainability (or whatever your chief value is) it allows for further clarity. 

AR: Also, don’t be afraid to negotiate and see what transactions you can do as trade instead of monetarily. Get creative with your trades! We asked for tons of help and in exchange would not only offer store credit, but also services that lined up with our skills. For example, Hannah was a yoga instructor and would offer a private yoga session in exchange for someone helping us build a financial model.  

What have been some of the hardest money lessons you've learned along the way? 

AR: We originally wanted to start our business in Bali. Our fabric and samples were stolen, and I was left waiting at the airport at 1 A.M. for the sample maker, who never showed up, and had nothing to show for a two-week-long trip. We ended up restarting in Vancouver (where we live), and now are able to have eyes on production. Keeping things close to home so you can directly oversee everything gives you more control over how your money is used.

HT: Wait until you have clear market approvable before creating a huge run of your product. We’ve always valued organic growth and doing small runs and which has contributed to increased demand and zero wasted product.  

What is your #1 money tip for small business owners?

HT: Be scrappy, don’t be afraid to ask hard questions, and negotiate in a kind and empathetic way. 

AR: Keep your values at the forefront of all of your financial decisions.

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When She Was 12, She Started a Cookie Company—Now She’s the Founder of Two Major Organic Food & Bev Businesses

You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.

Photo: Courtesy of Nicole Bernard Dawes

It’s safe to say Nicole Bernard Dawes knows a thing or two about the food industry. Raised among the aisles of her mother's natural food store in Chatham, Massachusetts, and on the factory floor of her father’s company, Cape Cod Potato Chips, she was surrounded by CPGs and P&Ls from a young age. And it didn’t take long for her parents’ passion for food and entrepreneurial drive to make an impression on her. When she was twelve, she started a cookie company with her best friend, and although the business was short-lived, lasting just one summer, her appetite for entrepreneurship was not.

In 2003, after a search for organic crackers left Dawes empty-handed, she teamed up with her father to launch Late July, a snack food company to fill the gap in the market for delicious, organic options. Known for its range of delectable crackers, popcorns, and tortilla chips, the brand has quickly grown into a multi-million dollar business with stockists ranging from CVS and Bevmo to Whole Foods. Now, Dawes is applying her business acumen and skill for bringing superior-tasting organic options to market to the beverage industry with Nixie, a certified organic, non-GMO sparkling water brand.

Ahead, the serial entrepreneur tells Create & Cultivate all about how she’s built two successful food and beverage companies, what really it takes to see a business through tough times, and why every entrepreneur should prioritize investing in their team.

How did you make your first dollar and what did that job teach you that still applies today?

When I was twelve my best friend and I started a cookie company. By some miracle, we actually convinced two delis in our small town to sell our homemade chocolate chip cookies all summer long. Twice a week from June to September, we baked our cookies, wrapped them individually, labeled them, and walked to each location dropping them off. We had a blast! In addition to the importance of pricing your product correctly and crafting a good sales pitch, I experienced the joy that comes from loving your job.

Take us back to the beginning—what was the lightbulb moment for Nixie and what inspired you to pursue this path?

With Late July, I was pregnant with my oldest son and couldn’t find an organic saltine anywhere in New York City. I realized that I had discovered an opening into the multi-billion dollar snack market. For Nixie, similarly, I desperately wanted a delicious, refreshing, and certified organic sparkling water to satisfy my family’s significant daily sparkling water habit. I was shocked that none existed that checked all those boxes.

One of the things that drives me the most with both Late July and Nixie, is proving that certified organic products can sell as well as their conventional counterparts. I also love being a business owner because we’re able to make an impact in areas that are important to me personally and also for our planet—for example, I have a goal of helping to eliminate single-use plastic beverage containers and Nixie is committed to never using them.

Entrepreneurship is all about taking calculated risks. What’s the most pivotal financial risk you’ve taken, and how did it change your path? 

Deciding to launch Late July’s tortilla chips during the recession of 2009, the same year my father died and our bank used his death to put our multimillion-dollar loan in default, was the biggest risk I’ve taken as an entrepreneur. We essentially pivoted our whole company with a very expensive product launch during the most uncertain time in our company’s history. Those tortilla chips went on to become the number one tortilla chip in natural foods, and changed the whole trajectory for Late July, making us an overnight success, seven years in the making. When we made this pivot our sales were at $8M, afterwards, we quickly grew to $100M.

Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy and why?

Definitely their team. Hiring the right people is expensive and time-consuming, but your team is everything.

What was your first big expense as a business owner and how should small business owners prepare for that now? 

For both Late July and Nixie our first big expense was our initial production run which is very often the case for consumer product companies. Most factories have pretty significant minimum order quantities, which in addition to the cost of producing the finished goods, also means significant upfront costs for raw materials, packaging, and corrugated all before you have any customers. You have to spend the money without any guarantee that you’ll ever make it back. First production runs are expensive and terrifying for a million reasons, but also exciting.

What are your top three largest expenses every month?

Outside of the cost of goods, freight, and promotional expenses, our three biggest monthly spends are on payroll, trade marketing, and sales support (brokers, merchandisers, etc.).

In the beginning, how much did you pay yourself and how did you know what to pay yourself? 

I didn’t take a salary for a long time at Late July and when I did it was $60,000 per year. It wasn’t until a board member in my eighth year suggested it was time to stop underpaying myself based on the company’s success that I finally increased it to a market rate. For that, I used comps for my industry as compiled by our payroll provider. I’m not currently taking a salary at Nixie.

Photo: Courtesy of Nixie

Would you recommend other small business owners pay themselves? 

It really depends on the source of your funding and the amount of your ownership. If you are the primary source of funds and own a significant majority of stock, then it doesn’t really make sense to pay yourself until the company is ready. If you are giving up ownership to bring in investors, then you should absolutely budget for your own salary at a market rate.

How did you know you were ready to hire and what advice can you share on preparing for this stage of your business? 

I hired a part-time accounting person almost right away at Late July and budgeted for a full team for Nixie. So much depends on your funding and how fast you intend to grow. One piece of advice I’d suggest—especially if this is your first venture—is to be hyper-aware of what areas are your strengths and which are your weaknesses so you know what roles to hire first and what qualities to look for in any given role.

Did you hire an accountant? Who helped you with the financial decisions and setup? 

I did have an accountant from the beginning of both companies. He helped me choose the right type of company formation (i.e., LLC vs corporation). For Nixie, we also used an outside accounting person to help our VP of finance with day-to-day accounting in lieu of bringing that function in-house.

What apps or software are you using for finances? 

I highly recommend the following financial and software programs that we use at Nixie: Xero for accounting, Bill.com for bill pay, Gusto for HR, Unleashed for purchase orders, Crisp for sales forecasting, and Expensify for expense reports. We also use Office 365 and Microsoft Teams. I love our current software setup. It’s not expensive and allows for easy reporting from anywhere.

Do you think women should talk about money and business more? Why? 

Absolutely! If you stop for a minute and realize that until the Equal Credit Opportunity Act passed in 1974, married women were denied credit cards and loans in their own name. It wasn’t much easier for single women. It takes generations of change to normalize new behavior, and encouraging open communication on the topic of money and business among women is a vital part of that. I have a network of fellow women CEOs who I frequently and openly talk to about issues affecting our businesses. I also love when business magazines, podcasts, and websites utilize women CEOs to answer everyday business questions.

Do you have a financial mentor? Do you think business owners need one? 

Not specifically, but I was raised in a family business and grew up around P&Ls, income statements, and balance sheets. When I started that cookie company at twelve, my father taught me how to calculate our cost of goods and properly price our products. I don’t think having a specific financial mentor was essential for me because of my background and the fact that I was an economics major so I had a high degree of comfort and familiarity with finance, but if finance and accounting are outside of your comfort zone, then yes.

What is your best piece of financial advice for new entrepreneurs?

Deeply understand your cost of goods, P&L, and balance sheet. Never let anyone else tell you the financial state of your company. If there’s something you don’t understand, learn it.

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How This Stylist Turned Designer Launched a Business During COVID—and Attracted A.O.C and J.Lo’s Attention in the Process

You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.

Photo: Courtesy of Karen Perez

Karen Perez never saw herself designing masks. But when the fashion stylist of 15 years was tasked with finding chic, high-end face coverings for her clients during the pandemic and couldn’t find any, she decided to make her own. “I wanted to create a mask that was feminine and chic by highlighting our cheekbones,” Perez tells Create & Cultivate. “A mask that empowered us to still look and feel amazing when we needed to go outdoors.” And the demand for her products has been staggering from the start.

Leading up to the launch of her business, Second Wind, she announced a pre-sale on Instagram, anticipating 100 orders—not 10,000. The overnight success was overwhelming but also posed a major problem: finding the funds to fulfill thousands of orders. “Right after our launch, I decided to create a GoFundMe to raise capital,” Perez explains. “Within a matter of a week, I raised more than $4,000 which made me realize how many people wanted to support my business, my dream.” Including A.O.C. and J.Lo who are just a few of the high-profile women who’ve been spotted wearing her designs.

Ahead, Perez shares her best advice for scaling a business quickly and sustainably, raising capital through crowdfunding, and building a dedicated team.

What has been the biggest challenge in scaling so rapidly, and what advice can you share for fellow small business owners on how to scale quickly and sustainably?

The biggest challenge was finding the right manufacturers in the U.S. so that I can oversee the work. My advice for those thinking of launching a business or fellow small business owners is to always have a targeted budget to work with and set up contracts with your vendors. 

Would you recommend raising capital through crowdfunding to other entrepreneurs today?

The GoFundMe was very helpful and I recommend others to look into this or other crowdfunding platforms. I know some of us are scared to ask for money, let alone apply for loans, but you’d be surprised how many people out there want to see small businesses thrive. 

Photo: Courtesy of Karen Perez

What was your first big expense as a business owner and how should small business owners prepare for that now?

My first biggest expense was supply—and still is. For big expenses, you have to save. It’s hard for me to give this advice because I gave every penny of my savings to launch the business. I don’t advise everyone to do that because I have a different story than others. While it might not be the best advice, if you feel like you have something special and you want to do it right, go all in.

What are your top three largest expenses every month?

1. Product, materials 

2. PR/marketing 

3. Payroll 

Do you pay yourself, and if so, how did you know what to pay yourself?

Technically I don’t pay myself (yet) because every dollar that I make, I put it back into the business. Second Wind still hasn’t even met its first year, and I have to recognize that I still have more expenses to make in order for this business to grow before I can see personal revenue. 

Would you recommend other small business owners pay themselves?

Absolutely! I think it’s important that you pay for the necessities that you need. You really need to learn how to manage your budgets and how to manage your business and personal expenses. Always stay realistic with yourself. 

How did you know you were ready to hire and what advice can you share on preparing for this stage of your business? 

I knew I had to hire right away—as soon as I saw the 10,000 orders! I physically can’t do all of this by myself. I realized I had to take into consideration what I am investing in when hiring staff. When hiring your team, don’t just look at someone who’s going to make your job easier. You need to invest in building a team that is going to be dedicated to building the business with you. 

Did you hire an accountant? Who helped you with the financial decisions and setup? Are there any tools or programs you recommend for bookkeeping?

I hired an accountant and bookkeeper that I work with on a monthly basis. My accountant is also like my financial advisor and has guided me with managing budgets and expenses. My go-to program is Quickbooks. 

Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy?

Your financial energy should definitely be put towards your product (materials, supply) and PR/marketing. This is the core of my business and it’s what helps us to continue to grow. 

"No matter how much money you are making, how much money you have to spend, if you stand by your product and business you will see financial gain."

—Karen Perez, Founder of Second Wind

Do you think women should talk about money and business more?

Yes! I think it’s so important. For a long time, women were never thought to be included in these conversations. I think it’s important for us to come together and be open and share advice. I have my go-to circle of friends that are also small business owners and they share advice with me all the time. 

Do you have a financial mentor? Do you think business owners need one?

I have several financial mentors—a mix of both men and women. I think it’s important for others to have one. Don’t be shy to network and ask around/meet with your local business owners. You’d be surprised as to how many small business owners in your area would be willing to chat with you and give you some advice. 

What money mistakes have you made and learned from along the way?

As a new small business owner, you are eager to get things done and sign off on contracts without reading them properly, and when there are problems, you realize you didn’t read the contract correctly. My advice is to READ everything carefully and protect yourself. 

What is your best piece of financial advice for new entrepreneurs?

The best advice is to love what you do. No matter how much money you are making, how much money you have to spend, if you stand by your product and business you will see financial gain.   

Your business has garnered the support of high-profile women by the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jennifer Lopez. No doubt, major retailers are asking to carry your products as a result. What’s next for you and your brand? Can we expect to see Second Wind products at Bloomingdale’s or Nordstrom in the future? 

We are excited to announce that we have a confirmed retailer commitment from Saks Fifth Avenue. Our products will be sold online until further notice. This is just the first step to growing into a global brand.

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"Confidence Gets Checks Signed"—Why This Founder Wants You to Have a 3-Year Plan for Your Business

You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.

Photo: Courtesy of Jen Batchelor

Jen Batchelor knows a thing or two about pitching to investors. Since launching Kin, a beverage company that’s reinventing booze-free imbibing with potent blends of adaptogens, nootropics, and botanicals, the founder has raised over $5 million in funding from venture capital firms, such as Refactor Capital, Canaan (which has also backed startups by the likes of Bird, Cuyana, Instacart, and The RealReal), and Fifty Years. But before she started fundraising, she went the self-funded route—for two crucial reasons.

“I really didn’t want to launch this business—or waste other people’s money trying—until I knew our approach to [producing an alternative to alcohol that preserves the positive effects of having a drink] was something that, one, was a sustainable solution and, two, was something the world actually wanted,” Batchelor tells Create & Cultivate. It’s an approach that involved a longer timeline—and a bit of bootstrapping—but it’s safe to say it paid off in the end. “We gave ourselves 12 months to develop a minimum viable product and beta-taste it to over 3,500 people. It ended up taking nine months to make up our minds and then two seconds for our first investors to say, ‘Yes.’”

Ahead, we chat with Batchelor about how she took her business from a self-funded startup to a venture-capital-backed company, including the money mistakes she’s made along the way and her best advice for founders on partnering with the right investors.

Take us back to the beginning. What was the lightbulb moment for Kin? What inspired you to launch your business and pursue this path?  

Well, as there usually are with honest assessments of the self, it took multiple lightbulbs to get me to wake up. In fact, it took about the tenth one to finally push me from fear to faith. Ultimately, I noticed that after college, my friends and I never really slowed down our alcohol consumption, we just bought more expensive booze—which we thought elevated or justified our drinking somehow. As wellness became a bigger part of our collective routines and we all got smarter about our careers and fertility goals, we realized even the most expensive champagne couldn’t save us from the precious time (and collagen) alcohol was robbing us of every week, no matter how much OJ was in it! When I started going through the scientific research and assessing all the things I was potentially compromising in my life even with just a few drinks a week, the most surprising of them all was my cognitive ability. My brain was my instrument and my time was a currency in the age of freelancing and entrepreneurship, so it finally got to the point where I had to admit that the costs of my social habits were too great a debt to bear while going after my dream goals.

You self-funded Kin for the first year, but you've since brought on investors such as Refactor Capital, Canaan, and Fifty Years. Why did you pursue a self-funded strategy initially, and why have you sought out investors over time? Would you recommend that route to new entrepreneurs today?

I really didn’t want to launch this business—or waste other people’s money trying—until I knew our approach to solving the problem itself was something that 1) was a sustainable solution (it worked and would continue to work in the future) and 2) was something the world actually wanted. We gave ourselves 12 months to develop a minimum viable product and beta-taste it to 3500+ people. It ended up taking nine months to make up our minds and then two seconds for our first investors to say, “Yes.” We knew they were the right folks because they were focused on the future of food and understood we were in this to truly disrupt the 10,000-year-old (read: dated) tradition of drinking ethanol for funsies. The same way they knew the meat industry was unstainable for the planet, they knew ethanol was unsustainable for the people. It was an instant match. 

What advice can you share for entrepreneurs on partnering with the right investors? What do investors need to bring to the table other than just money? 

This is an important question so I’ll try to do it more than lip service. You really need to know your business and what it needs to be successful in this immediate stage in order to pick great investors for a particular round of financing. It’s like putting a fantasy football team or a great outfit together. You wouldn’t pick your favorite bikini, pair it with your favorite gown and your favorite sneakers and call that date night chic. Start with the intention, know the audience you are trying to serve (a.k.a your best customer now, that may change down the line so spend time doing the research), and then go after investors that can help you reach that customer, help you land that next critical hire, help you troubleshoot potential challenges for the relevant season in your business journey, etc, etc. With all the capital available in the world right now, this is much easier to do than it sounds. Be choosy! The best investors will get the mission and be ready to pull up their sleeves to hustle right alongside you when you really need the support. Whenever possible, bring on a couple of investors that have been owner/operators in companies with growth trajectories and exits you’d like to follow or who have built cultures you admire. 

Since launching Kin in 2018, you’ve raised over $5 million in funding from venture capital firms—no doubt you’ve learned a lot along the way. What are three crucial elements everyone should include in a pitch deck when raising money and why? 

Your pitch deck will evolve for every season of fundraising you enter. At the onset, it’s important to remember that everyone has an idea worth funding. The question is why are you and this idea a match? What is it that makes you uniquely suited to reach a certain audience?  I’ll tell you from experience, it’s not enough to just be “the first” to market. Though it can help with angel funding to be a first-mover, it won’t always get the bigger deals done. You must have a unique strength and competency and a strategy for growth. Secondly, you’ll need a three-year plan to woo the best investors—they need to see a path to profitability even if a lot of it is based on hypotheticals. Third, show any evidence of traction and do it well. Again, social proof around an MVP is going to drive the kind of confidence in you as THE person to lead this concept to success. Confidence gets checks signed. Know your shit.

Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy and why? 

If I had two dollars, I would spend it on people and customers every time. $1 on my team and $1 learning what makes my guest (customer) tick. 

Photo: Courtesy of Kin

What was your first big expense as a business owner and how should small business owners prepare for that now? 

People was the first big expense—and still is. Get smart about your org strategy and the incentives you’re going to need to get the right people in the right seats early. Think about things like benefits and stock options before you hire your founding team. Get that squared away and you won’t need to revisit this in year two when you should be focused on scaling. Katrina Lake from StitchFix has a great blueprint for this in terms of hiring your A-team early.

What are your top three largest expenses every month? 

People, shipping, and people.

Do you pay yourself, and if so, how did you know what to pay yourself?

Yes. I came into this with a co-founder so we just took the typical founder salary of one founder/CEO and divvied it up based on responsibilities. This didn’t happen till we raised some money, though—before then, the goal was to get to “ramen money”—and now I have a board so it’s evolved into a collaborative effort of incentive setting based on growth and OPEX management goals. 

Would you recommend other small business owners pay themselves? 

This is a highly individual question based on what gets you up in the morning and what you need to stay creative. If you’re bootstrapping to get your dream off the ground, stay as lean as possible for as long as possible. Stay hungry. Once you have investors though, you start to realize you work for them as much as you work for yourself, so get yourself paid and live in a way that supports your best sleep. No investor wants to see a founder they believe in stressed AF about how they’re going to pay their electricity bill while trying to change the world. 

Did you hire an accountant? Who helped you with the financial decisions and setup?  

Yes, I had an accounting service from day one and now have an accounting team supporting my head of finance. 

What apps or software are you using for finances? What’s worked for you? 

Brex is pretty sweet for managing expenses and empowering departments to do what they need to do.

What are some of the tools you use to stay on top of your business financials? What do you recommend for small business owners on a budget? 

We run a pretty classic system at Kin. Excel, QuickBooks, and Gusto get us where we need to be on budget management, AP, and people expenses. It also forces upon us a checks-and-balances system that keeps us on our A-game. That said, as a mostly e-comm-driven company that handles the production complexities of our own manufacturing, a stellar inventory management system is also non-negotiable. We just onboarded to Cin7 which is supposed to make this process more centralized and automated but I’ll have to keep you posted on that one as it is still new for us! 

How did you know you were ready to hire and what advice can you share on preparing for this stage of your business? 

We only hired after we raised money. At that point, the plan was set and we knew we had to get troops in the air and on the ground building and spreading the gospel of Kin as soon as possible. Luckily, the first wave of folks were friends, smart ones, many of whom are still with me today so it wasn’t a hard decision for me to bring them on board, having all the faith and confidence that we could get to where we needed to go collectively. The bigger leap of faith was on them—why should they follow me when they could be working anywhere in the world? Eternally grateful to each of them for leading with faith and jumping in with excitement. The world would be a much boozier, less blissful place without them. 

The key with hiring was securing the folks I wanted to work on Kin versus the ones I thought should be working on Kin. Such a subtle difference but the latter hiring decisions, I have found, to be subliminally based on fear. “I should bring on this expert from this big brand because that’s probably smart to do no matter how much they cost” versus “I’m dying to get this person on my team, maybe I can’t put a finger on why but I know their background, talent, core values, and gusto around the mission will yield more than their title suggests.” In short, do your diligence but follow your intuition in the end. Then lead them. 

Do you think women should talk about money and business more? 

Definitely. Guys talk about this stuff all the time, it’s like a sport. Because of that, they win at it, a lot. I think building your financial acumen is a great way to eliminate black box challenges and be truly fearless in steering your business. 

Do you have a financial mentor? Do you think business owners need one? 

I have a CEO coach and a management mentor. The latter is someone who has built (and scaled) a culture I admire. Both impact how I think about financial priorities, but I would say the most influential people in my sphere impacting Kin’s financial destiny on the regular is my head of finance and my lead investor. I rely on one to read between the line items of today—how are we trending day-to-day, week-to-week, what can we cut, where can we more efficient? And the other to help me think about structuring the business for the next level of growth. 

What money mistakes have you made and learned from along the way? 

Most all of my money mistakes have been people-based. This is why “hire slow, fire fast” is one of the most prolific adages of modern entrepreneurship. One dollar in the wrong pocket is not only painful for the bottom line but costly to team morale and productivity. It’s not just exposure in terms of salary, having the wrong person in the wrong seat affects the output of the entire business, especially during earlier stages. 

What is your best piece of financial advice for new entrepreneurs? 

I’m a big believer in raising a hair less than you think you need. Just because someone is willing to sign over a check for $10 million, if you only need $3, take $2.5 million. Trust me, it will make you a stronger, more creative leader and you’ll leave yourself less exposed to micromanaging or dilution of vision (not to mention, equity!). Otherwise, don’t waste money on consultants and expensive research firms unless the output is a direct input or prerequisite for the product you are building. Even then I would wait. You are the magic sauce, you don’t need to spend $100K for someone to tell you that you know your brand better than anyone. To whit, whatever freelancers you do end up hiring watch for the ye olde SCOPE CREEP! It can eat any small business alive, so please iron out your contracts in advance. 

Anything else to add? 

Don’t forget that money is purely an exchange of energy. You don’t want to fear it lest it dominate you just as you don’t want to squander it lest it rob you of opportunities. Get cozy with your relationship to money as a whole (what are your limiting beliefs around money? what are your traumas? insecurities? identify black box knowledge areas) so you can work with it in your business life in a fluid and empowering way. Protect your energy but don’t let money rule every decision. You got this.

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“Don’t Take the First Offer” and More Negotiating Advice to Close the Gender Pay Gap From Jennifer Justice

Photo: Pexels

Here’s a startling statistic: 20% of women never negotiate. To put that into context, a woman who doesn’t negotiate her starting salary upon graduating from college will lose between $650,000 and $1 million over the course of a 45-year career, according to Harvard Business Review. In order to close the gender pay gap, we need to narrow the gender negotiation gap. However, we know that’s easier said than done.

For tips on how to negotiate, we turned to none other than Jennifer Justice, a former music attorney who has orchestrated major deals for artists like Beyoncé and Rihanna. Justice (and yes, that’s her real name) has spent much of her career working to close the gender pay gap and even founded The Justice Dept., a management, strategy, and legal firm that works almost exclusively with women, in order to help more women succeed in business and get paid what they’re worth.

Ahead, Justice reveals how she’s navigated negotiations as a woman in a traditionally male-dominated industry and shares her top three tips for getting what you want once you’re at the negotiating table.

CREATE & CULTIVATE: You’ve worked with some of the hardest-working women in the music industry, including Beyoncé. What have you learned from negotiating deals for some of the most successful women in the business? 

JENNIFER JUSTICE: I have learned that women do much better having female advocates. We think differently, we assess risk differently, we go through different life changes, so we need our advocates to understand how we think. We aren’t brought up with business vernacular, and female advocates understand this. We need to embrace our changes and find the advocates who understand this about us.  

Can you tell us about the first major deal you negotiated for a female professional in the music industry? What went right and what went wrong? When did you first notice the glaring gender pay gap in the industry?

I was representing women and men in the industry. I did a deal with a major publishing company for an entry-level director executive who was male—he was offered off the bat $130k. He hadn’t signed anyone yet (ie. brought in any revenue) and they were paying him for potential.

I then did a deal for the senior director for the same department—female—and her first offer was $90k. I was outraged. Why was this okay? Not only with the company, but in general? I fought for her and fought for her and they raised it to $100k but said she didn’t have enough experience yet.

So moral of the story was: men get hired on potential and women for experience. This is still true to this day and there is a ton of research to back it up.  

“Try to do business with as many women as you can. Build each other up so we have our own table instead of asking for a seat at a table you don’t even really want to be at.”

— Jennifer Justice, CEO & Founder, The Justice Dept.

How have you navigated negotiations as a woman in a traditionally male-dominated industry? Have you found that men in the room treat you differently? How have you overcome that and earned the respect you have today? What advice can you share?

As a woman, I had to repeat myself all the time and be relentless to get what I wanted. Men definitely treated me differently, from flirting, to calling me “kiddo,” “sweetie,” and “honey,” to total sexual harassment, offering me the deal if I gave them what they wanted. 

But I didn’t let it stop me. I just kept going and getting the best deals I could. I was relentless and probably got my way mostly because not only was I right, they couldn’t get me to stop.I nagged them to death. After a while, I was experienced enough with enough years and reputation behind me that I didn’t have to use those tactics, but I shouldn’t have had to in the first place.

My advice: be relentless and call it out if you see the same misogynistic behavior. Try to do business with as many women as you can. Build each other up so we have our own table instead of asking for a seat at a table you don’t even really want to be at.

Negotiating—especially for money—takes confidence. Is this something that comes naturally to you or did you have to work on it? How did you develop that skill set? What advice can you share on cultivating confidence? 

It’s always easy negotiating for money for someone else. It’s not easy doing it for yourself—even for me. There is a saying, any lawyer that represents themselves has a fool for a client.  Same applies to you—try to have someone else negotiate. If you can’t or can’t afford it, you need to practice, you need to pretend you are negotiating for your kids—because that is who you represent, ultimately—not your job, but your family or whatever else you really love. Do it for them and it will make it so much easier!

How do you determine your worth so you can fight for what you deserve as well as for what your clients deserve in a negotiation? What tips can you share for others trying to determine their worth before walking into a negotiation?

My worth is my experience. What takes me 15 minutes could take others hours. I should get paid more for that and I do. I look at the market rates, my experience, my expertise, and I ask others how they charge. I do the same for my clients. Women do a lot of “free” work and give a lot of “free” advice. We need to charge for it—all of it—and really embrace that we are worth it. So you can have an hour of my time, after that, I deserve to get paid for my advice.  

“More money in women’s hands means more money in the economy—we control 80% of the purchasing power. Pay us and we will make the world a better place.  ”

— Jennifer Justice, CEO & Founder, The Justice Dept.

You’ve spent much of your career working to close the gender pay gap. What still needs to change in order for us to level the playing field?  

We all need to acknowledge that it exists, first of all.  Don’t say, “Oh, we have a lot of women at our company—over 50%.” Having women at the company isn’t the issue. It’s having women on the board (more than two), having women in the C-suite (more than two of them) in decision making and revenue-generating roles where their decisions are heard and implemented because they are running the companies. Then we all need to make it happen and keep it that way.

To me, there is an urgency. We should fight for it because we are 50% of the population. Equal pay is necessary on a human level, but also on a financial level. Companies do better when they have women on their boards, women in the exec decision-making roles, and more money in women’s hands means more money in the economy—we control 80% of the purchasing power. Pay us and we will make the world a better place.   

We can only imagine that you’ve negotiated hundreds of deals at this point, so we’d love to know: What are your top three negotiation tips? How do you enter a negotiation with confidence and secure the deal?

The first tip is to actually negotiate. Don’t take the first offer. Second, do your homework. Ask to see what the market is for what you are negotiating, ask people, be prepared.  Third, understand your goals and what you want. Know what you will give and what you absolutely must have so if you don’t get it, you can walk away.

This story was originally published on March 31, 2020, and has since been updated.

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This Entrepreneur Is Giving Girls the Tools to Build Long-Term Financial Wellness

You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.

Photo: Courtesy of Nicole Hartwig

Nicole Hartwig learned everything she knows about money from her late Aunt Lynn. “My aunt guided me through all of my financial firsts, often sitting me down with a pencil and paper, teaching me the most foundational financial principles like how to make a budget and how to set a savings goal,” Hartwig tells Create & Cultivate. “She coached me through saving up for my first car by allowing me to make ‘deposits’ into a Tupperware container she kept safe for me in her kitchen drawer.“

So when her aunt passed away in 2013 after a 25-year battle with cancer, Hartwig was inspired to help girls develop financial literacy skills as a way of honoring her late aunt and the values she lived by. “My aunt relentlessly pursued her career goals in finance, slowly working her way up with a steady determination and humble grace, all while battling breast and ovarian cancer for nearly half her life,” explains Hartwig. Thus, Capri, an app designed to teach high-school and college-aged girls financial literacy skills and cultivate confident money mindsets, was born.

Ahead, Create & Cultivate chats with Hartwig about everything from starting her business to bringing on her first hire, and everything in between.

How did you make your first dollar and what did that job teach you that still applies today?

My first job was at a local coffee shop in Metro Detroit when I was 14 or 15. They only hired team members 16 years and older, but I applied anyway. When they asked me the obligatory interview questions about past jobs, I told stories about how I’d taken care of friends during tough times or risen above challenges at school, and I got the job! That experience taught me something that I’ve carried with me ever since: you never know until you try.

Take us back to the beginning. What was the lightbulb moment for your business and what inspired you to pursue this path?

The idea for Capri came from my late Aunt Lynn, who passed away in 2013 after a 25-year battle with cancer. A true Capricorn (the inspiration for the name Capri), my aunt relentlessly pursued her career goals in finance, slowly working her way up with a steady determination and humble grace, all while battling breast and ovarian cancer for nearly half her life.

Entrepreneurship is all about taking calculated risks. What’s the most pivotal financial risk you’ve taken, and how did it change your path? 

The most pivotal risk I’ve taken was leaving my full-time job to pursue building Capri. Creating the space, both logistically in my schedule and energetically in my life, changed everything. There’s a lot of advice floating around about waiting to leave your day job until you’re really ready. The truth is that your path depends on a lot of factors: your financial situation, your drive, the opportunity you’re pursuing, your network, etc. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer for when to leave your day job to pursue the thing you’re passionate about. 

For me, creating the space was critical; it was essential to the growth of the company. As a sole founder in the early stages of a startup, there is no company without me. If I’m burned out, the company suffers. If I don’t have time to make that meeting, the work doesn’t get done. If I have no space to envision what’s next, the company has no path forward. The degree to which I make space for the creation of this company is directly correlated to our growth and success. Making space for the overall wellness of myself and the company was—and still is—one of the most important actions I’ve taken as a founder.

Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy and why?

The needs of your business change with every stage of development and each business is unique. Every founder has a unique set of circumstances within which they’re working, and their business is a direct reflection of that. 

Capri is a female-led, bootstrapped, early-stage tech startup. Within our unique set of circumstances, our most important spend was on product development, but we also chose to spend on our brand identity development at the same time. For us, this was vital. We were building brand awareness during a pandemic and we had to rely largely on our digital presence to make that happen. Many would have argued against that expenditure so early on, but for us, in our unique set of circumstances, it was what helped us establish ourselves in our launch market. 

As a business owner, you have to trust your gut, because there is no right answer out there. Everyone—founders, operators, investors—will have different advice for you. You have to follow your intuition about the next right step. 

What was your first big expense as a business owner and how should small business owners prepare for that now? 

Our first big expense was hiring a software development team to build our beta. We intentionally built a true minimum viable product, both for cost savings, and because we knew we’d make edits to the product design once we got the product in front of users. 

Aside from the design research and development that led up to our hiring decision, we also did a ton of due diligence and vetting of potential vendors. That took months and months of work. My best advice for founders preparing to build a technical product is to build in a huge cushion for the amount of time it will take!

What are your top three largest expenses every month?

Software development, graphic design, and legal expenses.

In the beginning, how much did you pay yourself and how did you know what to pay yourself? 

We’re 2 1/2 years in and I still haven’t paid myself a dollar. That’s not a badge of honor that I wear, it’s just the truth. All the capital we’ve raised has gone to product development and business expenses. We just aren’t at the stage of development where it would be appropriate to pay myself. Once we reach that stage, I’ll add in a modest salary for myself until we’re really rocking and rolling. 

Would you recommend other small business owners pay themselves? 

Of course, when it makes sense for the business. You don’t build a business to not make money, but you also don’t usually build a business just to pay yourself. You have to wait until it “pencils”—until the financials of the business support a salary. 

How did you know you were ready to hire and what advice can you share on preparing for this stage of your business? 

I made my first hire after I completed our first accelerator program. I knew I had hit a wall in my own capabilities and I needed someone to help me bring the initial design of the product to life. For every single team hire I’ve made, I’ve shopped from my first-degree network. I cannot recommend this enough. Working with colleagues and friends who were familiar with me, my character, and my working style, allowed me to forge team relationships quickly on an existing foundation of mutual trust. My best advice to other founders preparing for this stage of their business is to comb your network. Literally scroll through LinkedIn and see what your connections are up to. Reach out to people you know who are doing the scope of work that you need, and start that conversation. Expect it to take some time to gain their full trust, but know that you’ll have a headstart working with people you already know personally and/or professionally.

Did you hire an accountant? Who helped you with the financial decisions and setup? What do you recommend or advice do you have for that?

I made all of our financial decisions in the beginning, and I asked trusted people around me when I wasn’t sure how to move forward. For example, when I incorporated the company, I had to choose the total number of shares of the company. I went to business school, but I didn’t know a thing about this part. So I Googled, I made phone calls to anyone I knew who might know a thing or two about it, and I ultimately made a decision based on the information I had (and the very limited amount of money the company had in the bank). This is the beauty of starting a business—it’s truly messy! You cobble together the answer to every single question and decision, and there are a million of them, day after day. It wasn’t until we were a year or more into the business that I brought on a team member with great financial experience. Now we make those decisions together. We still learn as we go, together, and we ask questions when we don’t know the answer. 

What apps or software are you using for finances? What has worked and what hasn’t?

In the earliest stages of the business, I used Freshbooks to track what little expenses we had, and I used an Excel spreadsheet template for our financial projections. Now that we’ve raised capital, we use QuickBooks in place of Freshbooks as it’s more sophisticated for reporting purposes, but we still use the same (albeit much more customized) Excel spreadsheet to create our financial projections.

What are some of the tools you use to stay on top of your business financials? What do you recommend for small business owners on a budget?

I loved using Freshbooks in the early days of Capri! It was inexpensive, easy to use, and the interface is honestly delightful. For projections, Excel is great. Get a template from the internet or from someone working in finance or in whatever industry you’re in. If you can get someone to sit with you for a bit to explain the formulas, that’s ideal. You can then take that spreadsheet and make tweaks to it, which you’ll continue to do forever and ever. It’s actually great to familiarize yourself with making projections from the very beginning. A lot of your business success hinges on your ability to understand the relationship between various business expenses and practices.

Do you think women should talk about money and business more? Why? 

Yes! Money is still a taboo topic to talk about, and the world of startups is still so male-dominated and so mysterious. When women are profiled for being successful in business, they’ve often already slogged through the toughest part: getting started. Rarely do you hear the real story behind the buzzy headlines; the I-drained-my-401(k)-to-start-the-business story, or the I-moved-in-with-my-parents-to-save-the-company story. Those are the stories women starting businesses need to hear. They need to hear that the messiness they’re experiencing is normal. That successful women didn’t always save up the perfect emergency fund before they launched their companies, or they didn’t get a check from the first VC they had a meeting with. They need to see themselves and their situation reflected in these stories. The truth is that founders who have ivy-league connections and family members in private equity have an easier go of it. If you don’t have those things, starting a business can feel like a hopeless pipe dream. Women without those privileges have made it happen by being scrappy, creative, and persistent. The more we talk about those experiences, the more we encourage women of all backgrounds to go for it.  

Do you have a financial mentor? Do you think business owners need one? 

I do! I have several. I have one advisor who manages an angel investing group who advises me from an investor’s perspective. I have another advisor who comes from private equity and the finance industry. I have an advisor who coaches startups. And of course, my most cherished mentor is my late Aunt Lynn. Even though she’s no longer with us, her foundational teachings from my teenage years will stick with me forever, and her loving energy is still with me every day. 

What is your best piece of financial/money advice for new entrepreneurs?

First, heal your money traumas (we all have them in some form). Reflect on the past experiences and beliefs that might be holding you back. Second, listen to your intuition. It won’t steer you wrong. 

Anything else to add?

Just don’t let fear stop you. Don’t let the odds that seem stacked against you stand in your way, whatever they are. Trust—trust, trust, trust—that if you have a vision for something you want to create, you are meant to bring it into the world. Follow what lights you up.

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This Founder Sold Her Engagement Ring and Drained Her 401k to Start Her Business—Now Rihanna Is an Investor

You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.

Photo: Courtesy of Denise Woodard

Denise Woodard isn’t averse to taking risks. After her daughter was diagnosed with severe food allergies, she took the plunge and left a steady paycheck and a nearly decade-long career at Coca-Cola Co. to fill the void for delicious, allergy-friendly snacks in the packaged food industry. With her desire to create safe snacks for her daughter, her experience in consumer packaged goods, and her wide network, there was just one thing standing in her way: capital. Despite Partake Foods gaining traction and securing local placement in Whole Food and Wegman stores, funds were tight early on. “In the beginning, I sold my engagement ring and drained my 401k,” Woodard tells Create & Cultivate. “The possibilities with Partake made those sacrifices worthwhile.”

Fast-forward to 2021 and those possibilities have certainly panned out. Partake Foods is now stocked in nearly 3,000 stores, including retailers such as Target, Whole Foods, and Sprouts, and Woodard recently made headlines as the first Black woman to raise $1 million for a food startup. In fact, more than half of the $7.5 million she’s raised for her startup is from Black investors—including Marcy Venture Partners (the VC fund Jay-Z co-founded), Grammy Award-winning artist H.E.R., and Rihanna—and that’s intentional. “As a Black and Asian woman, it’s important to me that I am bringing profit to Black investors that are going to take the returns and successes and reinvest them into other Black founders to keep that money circulating and growing,” explains Woodard.

Create & Cultivate recently caught up with the founder and CEO to talk about how she bootstrapped her business (and later raised VC funding), why she believes women should talk about money more, and the enduring legacy she wants to leave behind.

You left a nearly decade-long career at Coca-Cola Co. to launch Partake Foods after your daughter was diagnosed with severe food allergies. Take us back to the beginning—what was the lightbulb moment for Partake Foods and what inspired you to launch your business and pursue this path?

Well, actually, it was our sitter Martha (who now owns shares in Partake!) who said to me, “Vivi’s diet is so boring! You should really do something about that.” What she meant, knowing me and my experience in consumer packaged goods (CPG) food and beverage was “DO something about it.” So, I did. I wrecked my kitchen recipe testing the first cookies, but I knew I was on to something when Vivi genuinely loved them.

You recently raised $5 million in Series A funding from investors, including Rihanna, which makes Partake Foods her first investment beyond her personal ventures—no doubt you’ve learned a lot along the way. What are three crucial elements everyone should include in a pitch deck when raising money and why?

The pitch deck is absolutely important, and Partake’s deck has evolved substantially. It’s gotten shorter, if you can believe it, the more we’ve grown. And that’s what I think I would offer to those seeking pitch deck advice. How can you tell your story as impactfully and concisely as possible? Prioritize your why, your market opportunity, your growth projections, and your potential exits. Know your numbers and keep it tight. Can you ride in an elevator and pitch in the time it takes to get from the lobby to the board room? If not, tighten your story.  

More than half of the $7.5 million you’ve raised for your startup is from Black investors, including Marcy Venture Partners (the VC fund Jay-Z co-founded), and Grammy Award-winning artist H.E.R. What advice can you share for entrepreneurs on partnering with the right investors? What do investors need to bring to the table other than just money?

It’s been very important to me, as we’ve grown, to look at a few things when bringing on investors. First, I acknowledge the areas in which I want to lean on advisors. I am always learning, it’s in my DNA. I’m very curious and love studying the stories of businesses that succeed and fail. I also enjoy hearing from other people’s experiences, so having investors around me that bring a variety of expertise and disciplines to the table is critical.

Also, as a Black and Asian woman (my father is Black, my mother is Korean), it’s important to me that I am bringing profit to Black investors that are going to take the returns and successes and reinvest them into other Black founders to keep that money circulating and growing. Black business is not a charity. It’s a solid investment. It’s good business. Working with Black investors who see this and are willing to invest in Black and brown founders (especially Black and brown female founders) now, not just because it’s cool, is a legacy thing for me.

Startups led by Black women receive less than 1% of venture capital funding, and you recently made headlines as the first Black woman to raise $1 million for a packaged food startup. Why do you think there is still so much inequality in the venture capital world, and what advice can you share for WOC entrepreneurs who are currently seeking funding?

Project Diane and Digital Undivided do a lot of good work in this space, and I appreciate that they’re driving meaningful awareness around the details of this. Recently, they released their updated report that noted 93 Black women (of which I am one) and 90 Latinx women are the only ones on record to raise more than $1M publicly. That’s it. I think it’s important to contextualize and continue to reiterate that only 183 Black and brown women of record have achieved this. It’s not because of our ability, it’s because of an opportunity gap. And because of the oppressive systems that have kept us outside the leadership programs, the C-suites, the board rooms, the country clubs. It’s generations of being kept out and then “allowed in” when it’s convenient for white people in power. We are mentored much more than we are hired. 

Non-whites are no longer the minority—that language should be retired. And Black and brown female founders are showing significant business growth. Forbes reported late last year that “majority Black women-owned firms grew 67% from 2007 to 2012, compared to 27% for all women, and 50% from 2014 to 2019, representing the highest growth rate of any female demographic during that time frame.” 

We have buying power and can harness our communities to support each other. I am very grateful to be embraced and publicly supported by many in the Black community. Those who are white and in allyship with us can seek out and buy from us. And those allies in positions of power can invest in us. Again, not because it’s charity, but because it’s a solid investment.

Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy and why?

This is a subjective question, but to date, I do as much as I can with “sweat capital.” In the beginning, Partake was self-funded and self-distributed. I didn’t hire a full-time employee until 2020. All of our early dollars went to operations. But now, we have a larger and more balanced budget to ensure that we’re investing and reinvesting in areas that make the most sense for our growth. The safety and quality of our products are top priorities for us because customer enjoyment and trust are most important to us—for the short and long-term, it always comes down to enjoyment and trust. 

What was your first big expense as a business owner and how should small business owners prepare for that now? 

Buying ingredients in bulk took getting used to!

What are your top three largest expenses every month? 

They all tie back to operations. We are consistently buying for production, producing for current and forecasted orders, and shipping to distributors and retailers.

Do you pay yourself, and if so, how did you know what to pay yourself? 

I pay myself a modest salary, yes, but in the beginning, I sold my engagement ring and drained my 401k. The possibilities with Partake made those sacrifices worthwhile. It’s my, and my husband Jeremy’s, hope that we’ll eventually be able to repurchase an engagement ring one day!

Photo: Courtesy of Denise Woodard

Would you recommend other small business owners pay themselves?

This is really a personal decision, but my husband and I live and work in the NYC metro area, and our circumstances mandate a two-income household. 

How did you know you were ready to hire and what advice can you share on preparing for this stage of your business?

For the past few years, I have worked with trusted marketing and PR consultants, but gaining distribution in multiple regional stores (Whole Foods Market and Sprouts) and the possibilities of national distribution that came to fruition (Target, Trader Joes, Kroger), I knew full-time leadership and support was critical to getting everything done well. We now have a full-time team of six and the plan is to grow to 10 to 12 by the end of this year. 

Did you hire an accountant? Who helped you with the financial decisions and setup? 

Yes, we have a consulting accounting team. 

What apps or software are you using for finances? What’s worked and what hasn’t?

We use Quickbooks Online. 

Do you think women should talk about money and business more? Why? 

Yes, the more we share, the more we bring to light the disparity that women, especially Black and brown women, live with every day. Not talking about it keeps things status quo. We need to move away from the status quo.

Do you have a financial mentor? Do you think business owners need one?

I have many trusted investors who have decades of experience building CPG businesses like ours, and I do check in often with them on a variety of questions. I wholly recommend seeking out mentors who have done the doing in your industry! 

What money mistakes have you made and learned from along the way?

One of my most memorable to date was in buying booth space at a large industry trade show a few years ago. I felt pressured to be there because of the other brands that were attending. With the money I spent, especially when you factor in travel expenses, I could have covered more ground hopping on the phone, flying to see individual buyers, or even cold emailing on LinkedIn. It just reiterated to me that this is my journey, and it doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. 

With that, it’s important to note I wholly believe in real-life events. I’m always so grateful to get to connect with customers face-to-face, and I can’t wait for the world to open back up again so we can get back to offering samples of our products in grocery stores and at local consumer-facing conferences.

What have been some of the hardest money lessons you've learned along the way?

I have to spend money to make money. I know this intellectually, but my scrappiness and upbringing ingrained in me the need to make the absolute most with what I have. 

What is your best piece of financial advice for new entrepreneurs?

Know your numbers. Know your burn rate. Know how much it costs to acquire a customer (if that’s relevant to your business). Stick to your budget. Do everything you can to make the most of every dollar.

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This Entrepreneur Is Bringing Latin America’s Best-Kept Skincare Secrets to the Masses

You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.

Photo: Anita Calero Courtesy of Giovanna Campagna

Giovanna Campagna, a born-and-bred New Yorker, was visiting her mother’s native Colombia when she had an “aha” moment. “I thought to myself, here I am in the most biodiverse region in the world surrounded by the most incredible nature,” Campagna tells Create & Cultivate. “Moreover, everything I’ve learned about beauty is from the Latin women in my life and their rich beauty culture. How are there no brands speaking to this?” Given her extensive experience in fashion media and marketing, a growing desire to connect more deeply with her Colombian heritage, and a vast network of contacts to tap into, Campagna set out to fill this glaring gap in the market. The result is Joaquina Botánica, a clean skincare line that celebrates Latin America’s powerful botanicals as well as its deeply rooted beauty philosophies.

Campagna launched the brand with a single product—the Orquídea and Vitamin C Hydrating Glow Oil, a facial oil that boasts a potent blend of superfruits (including cacay, camu camu, and maracuja) and antioxidant-rich extracts from Colombian orchids—with plans to add two more products in 2021. Although Campagna started her career in fashion at Vogue and W Magazine and later co-founded a marketing agency to help Latin American fashion designers expand their reach to international markets, in many ways, her shift from fashion to beauty was generations in the making. “My great-great-grandmother founded one of the first apothecaries in Cali, Colombia in 1875,” says Campagna. “I actually named the brand after her as I am so inspired by her story. Celebrating vibrant, passionate women, and supporting female entrepreneurship is a core pillar of the brand, so Joaquina made the perfect namesake.“

Ahead, the beauty entrepreneur fills C&C in on how she took her idea from concept to company, including how self-funding her business has pushed her to be more creative and why she believes paying yourself is something to be proud of.

What inspired you to launch Joaquina Botánica and pursue this path?

When I had my aha moment, I was actually working in fashion. I started my career at Vogue and W Magazine and went on to co-found my first business in 2014, an agency dedicated to launching Latin American fashion brands in the international market. I grew up in New York but always had an inclination to get closer to my mother’s Colombian roots. Around that time, Colombia was experiencing a kind of renaissance and there were incredibly talented designers coming out of the region. However, the U.S. and Europe were still the hegemonic centers of the fashion world and it was a difficult world to break into. I realized that I could use the connections I had built at Condé Nast and in New York to help these brands succeed on the global stage and set out with my partner to do so. At the same time, I loved that my work enabled me to connect more deeply with my Colombian roots and celebrate them with the world. 

It was through that journey that my idea for doing something similar in beauty began to crystalize. I was spending more and more time in Colombia, while also becoming increasingly interested in clean beauty and wellness. My lightbulb moment came when I thought to myself: Here I am in the most biodiverse region in the world surrounded by the most incredible nature. Moreover, everything I have learned about beauty is from the Latin women in my life and their rich beauty culture. How are there no brands speaking to this? So I set out to create a line that would share the region’s incredible botanical beauty and its deep-rooted beauty philosophies. We launched with one product—the Orquídea + Vitamin C Hydrating Glow Oil—and are releasing two more this year. 

Although I did not start out in personal care, I have family history in the industry. My great-great-grandmother founded one of the first apothecaries in Cali, Colombia in 1875. Her husband passed away when they were very young, and she ran the business on her own until her son was old enough to take over. I actually named the brand after her as I am so inspired by her story. Celebrating vibrant, passionate women, and supporting female entrepreneurship is a core pillar of the brand, so Joaquina made the perfect namesake. 

You decided against venture capital and opted for the self-funded route instead. Talk us through your bootstrapping process. Why did you self-fund and would you recommend that route to other entrepreneurs? Is venture capital in the future for Joaquina Botánica?

I chose to self-fund because I established that I had enough resources to develop and produce our first products, achieve proof of concept, and meet my growth targets for the first few years. There are definitely pros and cons to bootstrapping and going out on your own, but I appreciate that I can maintain complete ownership and control of the company and grow purposefully in a way that is true to my vision. 

Deciding which route to take is extremely personal to your situation, goals, and the capital requirements of your business, so it is difficult to say what I would recommend. What helped me to decide was listening to the experiences of other entrepreneurs. The narratives of those who bootstrapped resonated with me more; they were scrappy, purposeful, and creative with their opportunities and capital allocation. They built profitable businesses that felt true to themselves and their core mission. Without a budget for hiring, they started out managing every aspect of their business, learned each area intimately, and were even more equipped to delegate when the time came. That being said, I have founder friends who do not find these stories appealing at all, and have opted to look for funding from the outset! 

Bootstrapping has definitely made me extremely purposeful with my spending, and I believe that a lot can be achieved by being resourceful. Having a more limited budget has pushed me to differentiate our brand and create something special in ways that more money can’t necessarily buy. I believe this has led to a more authentic product and voice than what could have been. 

I would not rule out fundraising in the future, but it would need to be with the correct strategic partner who would contribute more than just financial support to the business. 

What advice do you have for people who want to take the leap to start their own business but are worried about the financial risk?

If you can start developing your business while still in a paid role or freelancing, I think it is wise to do so. Mentally (and financially) it can be a relief to have a stream of income while you are only seeing money go out the proverbial door on start-up costs. You may also find that you have time on your hands while things are in gestation. At least in beauty, developing original products takes quite a long time (it took us roughly two and a half years), and I sometimes found myself with not much to do while waiting for things to come together.

I did leave my previous role to start the business, but I was pregnant and gave birth to my daughter during this time, so it worked out perfectly. I dedicated my free hours to my personal life, and by the time the business launched and I began working “full-time” again, she was about eight months old (highly recommend this timeline for any moms/soon-to-be moms out there!). Had that not been the case, I definitely would have had time for other projects for at least the first year of product development, and I think I would have appreciated it. Of course, some businesses may take up all of your time from the get-go, so it takes some analysis of your specific situation. 

What was your first big expense as a business owner and how should small business owners prepare for that now?

There were several large expenses at the beginning, from formulation costs to investing in a product developer (fairly predictable costs for a skincare brand). However, one of the first large expenses that I was not expecting was the legal fees for securing our trademark. I was not fully aware of this before, but once you narrow down potential brand names, you need to enlist a trademark lawyer to conduct extensive research on each to make sure that there are no conflicting trademarks or brands out there. I think about four of the brand names I wanted came back with conflicts after a search, and each round was a financial outlay. When I finally landed on a name that the lawyers deemed viable, I faced additional fees for the trademark application. That first application was actually denied, so I incurred those costs twice! 

If you feel that owning the trademark is important to the value of your business—as it definitely is for consumer products like beauty—I would recommend budgeting for this from the get-go. You can begin by speaking to trademark attorneys and finding one who can provide an estimate of fees that fits within your budget. 

What are your top three largest expenses every month?

Inventory, PR, and future product development. 

Do you pay yourself, and if so, how did you know what to pay yourself?

I do not pay myself yet but plan to begin by the end of our second year in business. 

Would you recommend other small business owners pay themselves?

It is hard to say, as it depends on so many factors. For VC-funded brands, it is common for the founder to receive a salary. If you have a service-based business, it also may be easier to pay yourself sooner as you are lighter on assets and do not have to reinvest in expenses like inventory. It also depends on your goals for the company. If your goal is to sell your business after a short time horizon, you may not prioritize a salary and be even more focused on growth to reach that payout. 

For me, it is important to factor in my salary to our financial goals, as I plan to run the business for the long term. I know that it will be incredibly rewarding to live from the work that I love, and it will only make it more viable for me to put all of my energy into the business. However, I am initially prioritizing our growth and reinvesting our revenue until we reach certain milestones. 

Photos: Anita Calero Courtesy of Giovanna Campagna

Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy and why?

Maintaining a healthy cash flow is crucial; more so than profitability when you are starting out. Focus less on breaking even at first and more on your ability to generate positive cash flows. 

Did you hire an accountant? Who helped you with the financial decisions and setup? Are there any tools or programs you recommend for bookkeeping?

I work with an accountant on my tax returns and currently manage the monthly bookkeeping myself. I recommend using Quickbooks for bookkeeping. 

I was actually pursuing an MBA at Columbia Business School at the time I committed to launching the business and used virtually every resource available to establish my financial model. I took several courses in entrepreneurship and conducted an independent study with a professor, during which I defined the business plan and launched into product development. 

I also did extensive research by speaking to more seasoned beauty entrepreneurs, founders, and friends with applicable experience to understand the costs and where they experienced the best return on their investments. 

What apps or software are you using for finances? What’s worked and what hasn’t?

Currently, I am just using Excel, which has worked well for me. 

What are some of the tools you use to stay on top of your business financials? What do you recommend for small business owners on a budget?

Our online store is on Shopify and they provide a great suite of analysis tools that help you track how sales are going as well as manage inventory. 

How did you know you were ready to hire and what advice can you share on preparing for this stage of your business? 

Currently, I am still the only full-time employee. I do feel like I have a “team” because I work with several outside consultants and freelancers in product development, formulation, graphic design, etc. Once it becomes clear to me which area of the business needs more support in order to keep achieving our growth targets, I will begin the search for someone with that expertise. I am happy to have a “lean” operation while I learn more about our customer and market and the best way to connect with them.

Do you think women should talk about money and business more? Why? 

Definitely! I think being fully aware of your financial situation, both personally and professionally, is hugely empowering. Money can be tied up with a lot of emotions for some. When I was younger, I sometimes avoided looking closely at finances out of some kind of fear. But I have found that normalizing conversations about money, knowing your situation and your options, actually makes you feel very empowered. Numbers don’t lie, which can actually be very comforting in a world with a lot of grey areas! 

I have also come across some women who don't necessarily feel comfortable saying that they are going into business with making money as a primary goal. I have, personally, come to see business as an incredible way of exchanging energy with the world and creating value for our communities and others. Receiving financial compensation as part of that, which can, in turn, enable you to support yourself and your family, should be something we are proud of. 

Do you have a financial mentor? Do you think business owners need one?

I often ask fellow entrepreneurs for advice, but ultimately make most financial decisions independently. As I don’t have a partner, I often talk through them with my husband, who is a wonderful sounding board. 

What money mistakes have you made and learned from along the way?

A great piece of advice I received is to always get three quotes for a job before moving forward. Early on, I ended up paying way more than I needed to by going with the first vendor that I came across.

What is your best piece of financial advice for new entrepreneurs?

Arm yourself with knowledge. Talk to anyone and everyone who can give you insight into your industry. Make projections of your expenses to the best of your ability, and then add a 20% cushion to that figure.

Photo: Anita Calero Courtesy of Giovanna Campagna

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You May Not Have Heard of This Barrier-Breaking Brand, But Beyoncé and Oprah Have

You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.

Photo: Courtesy of Jacquelyn Rodgers

Jacquelyn Rodgers knows firsthand that representation matters. “Growing up, my mom painted angels, nativity scenes, and Santas brown, like our family,” explains Rodgers. “She was very intentional about making sure we had images that looked like us.” So naturally, when Rodgers had children of her own, she also wanted her son and daughter to see themselves reflected in a Santa who looked like them, but she soon discovered there was still a void in the market for diverse representations of the Christmas character, even all these years later. After a search for Black Santa-themed holiday wrapping paper left Rodgers empty-handed, she decided to do something about it. Given her past experience in consumer packaged goods and her knack for sales and marketing, she was confident she could address the gap in the market for diverse gift wrap.

And that's exactly what she's been focused on since launching Greentop Gifts in 2016. Today, the brand’s signature character, Clarence Claus, isn’t just on gift wrap, he’s also on pajama sets, “ugly” Christmas sweaters, and ornaments, all of which helped propel Greentop Gifts to recording its highest sales yet in 2020. And being featured in O Magazine as one of Oprah Winfrey’s “Favorite Things” certainly helped the brand’s rapid growth! Despite the pandemic, the business has continued to thrive thanks in part to Rodgers being the recent recipient of small business grants from the Visa and IFundWomen Black Women-Owned Business Grant Program and the Black-Owned Small Business Impact Fund from Beyoncé’s BeyGood and the NAACP. In fact, next month, the brand is set to expand its offerings beyond the holidays to include year-round celebrations, from baby showers and children’s birthdays to graduations, with the goal of making these special occasions more inclusive and diverse.

Scroll on to learn more about how the successful entrepreneur built her barrier-breaking brand, including why she believes having honest conversations about money can make all the difference in the financial success of a company.

Can you tell us a bit about your background and what you were doing professionally before launching Greentop Gifts? 

My background is in sales and marketing. Prior to working on Greentop Gifts full time, I worked for over a decade at two of the top 100 consumer packaged goods companies in the United States. I started the business while working full time and so many of the skills and day-to-day functions of my corporate career have been extremely helpful in starting my own business.

What was the “lightbulb moment” for Greentop Gifts? What inspired you to start your business and pursue this path?  

Growing up, my mom painted angels, nativity scenes, and Santas brown, like our family. She was very intentional about making sure we had images that looked like us. Once I had my son, I wanted him to see images that looked like him, and I quickly realized there was still a void in the market. After searching retail stores in multiple states and not seeing any products like my idea at the time, I knew there was a void in the market and a need for items like we created.

How did you fund Greentop Gifts? What were the challenges and what would you change? Would you recommend that route to other entrepreneurs? 

We self-funded the business in the beginning. We later had a small friends-and-family round to help us with buying inventory early on. In 2020, we won three small business grants that have helped us fund our marketing efforts even more. The challenges with self-funding, for us, was growing slowly. Every penny counts and we had to be very intentional with our spending. If you are able to self-fund or take out business loans for product-based businesses, I would recommend it. Everyone doesn’t need to bring on investors in the beginning. 

Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy and why?  

The most important area to focus your financial energy is understanding your basic cost of doing business and your margins. Before launching our business, we researched shipping, freight, sales and usage tax, shipping supplies, etc. Making a list of all your expenses and fees is always a great exercise to focus on before launching your business.

What was your first big expense as a business owner and how should small business owners prepare for that now? 

Our first really big expense was shipping. We are an e-commerce based business and seeing our first shipping bill from our fulfillment company was a shock. 

What are your top three largest expenses every month? 

Our top three expenses every month are marketing, shipping fees, and payroll.  

Do you pay yourself, and if so, how did you know what to pay yourself? 

I don't pay myself a formal salary.  

Photo: Courtesy of Jacquelyn Rodgers

Would you recommend other small business owners pay themselves? 

In the beginning, you should pay yourself enough to survive. Remember, starting a business is one thing, but turning a business into one that has consistent success is going to take sacrifice. Most of your money has to be reinvested in the business to really grow it. The next idea, the next employee, the next office, the next warehouse. You have to eat and pay the bills obviously, but beyond that, you've got to make sure that your business is surviving as well. 

How did you know you were ready to hire and what advice can you share on preparing for this stage of your business? 

I knew we were ready to hire when I couldn’t focus on innovating new products because I was focused on the operations side of the business. The business would not grow if I didn't make time to create new products. When you start your entrepreneurship journey, your business is your baby. I struggled to turn over some aspects of my business, but once I found the right people who were experts in their fields and could help us grow, it made it easier to hand off certain aspects of the business. 

Did you hire an accountant? Who helped you with the financial decisions and set up? 

We did hire an accountant. My husband has a background in finance and was able to manage those decisions in the beginning.  

What apps or software are you using for finances? What has worked and what hasn’t? 

When we first launched we used QuickBooks and recently switched to Bench Accounting. Both have been helpful as we grow and scale our business.

What are some of the tools you use to stay on top of your business financials? What do you recommend for small business owners on a budget?

For small business owners, get rid of bills that are burning money! We had a few subscriptions and services we were not utilizing and those were first to go. 

Do you think women should talk about money and business more? Why?  

Yes! Having conversations about business credit, raising capital, and making smart financial decisions early can make all the difference in the financial success of your company.

Do you have a financial mentor? Do you think business owners need one? 

I don’t currently have a financial mentor, but I have strong business relationships with our accountant and a local bank. My co-founder has an MBA in finance. His background and work experience have been extremely helpful as we grow our business.

What is your best piece of money advice for new entrepreneurs?  

Don't blow your money. It is going to be tempting to think you've made it in the beginning and go out and spend money. Avoid that urge. Think about your business. Plan for your business. You haven't made it just yet.

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Buzzy Wellness Brand Whimsy Official Has Thrived During COVID—This Pivot Was Key

You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.

Photo: Courtesy of Whimsy Official

When Jasmine Lee and Victoria McAbee first launched their business, it looked very different than it does today. In 2018, the college friends turned co-founders pooled their cash, tapped their friends and family, and took on a small amount of credit card debt to jump-start a mobile matcha bar. “Picture two 23-year-old girls hauling around a 7x14 foot concession trailer hitched to a black Ram truck,” Lee and McAbee told Create & Cultivate. “It’s so crazy to think that used to be our lives! It’s actually laughable now.”

After just one year, their mobile matcha bar was so successful they finally had the funds to trade in the trailer for the brick-and-mortar café they’d initially envisioned for their enterprise. Then, COVID hit. In the wake of the pandemic, Lee and McAbee, like so many small business owners, made the tough decision to permanently shut their doors and pivot to digital instead. Now, they’ve turned Whimsy Official into a thriving e-commerce brand, offering their signature Ceremonial Grade Matcha and Glow Getter Collagen Blend, as well as their recently launched Halcyon Botanic Serum, which marks the wellness brand’s first foray into skin-care.

Ahead, the co-founders tell Create & Cultivate all about how the burgeoning wellness brand has pivoted its strategy due to COVID, why going DTC has been key to its success, and the pitfalls of investing too much money in social media marketing too soon.

How did you fund Whimsy Official? What were the challenges and what would you change? Would you recommend that route to other entrepreneurs? 

We’ve been bootstrapping since day one and we’re still bootstrapping now! If we were to find the right investor, we may consider giving up equity, but having full control has always been important to us. As we strive to really position our company the way we want it to be seen and understood, it makes all the financial logistics and planning well worth it.

When we first launched our enterprise, our business looked much different than it does now. For context, we launched in 2018 as a mobile matcha bar called Whimsy. Picture this: Two 23-year-old girls hauling around a 7x14 foot concession trailer hitched to a black Ram truck. It’s so crazy to think that used to be our lives! It’s actually laughable now. That initial concept cost us around $20,000 to start up, and the capital was raised between our own two bank accounts, family and friends, and a small amount of credit card debt.

We would absolutely recommend bootstrapping as plan A. Not only does it teach hands-on financial management skills and resourcefulness, but it also ensures that you’re building something scalable. Going too deep at once (especially for first-time entrepreneurs) can be detrimental for a number of reasons (i.e. too much going on without proper systems and infrastructure to manage it, lots of debt without any plan for ROI, etc.).

Do you pay yourselves, and if so, how did you know how much to pay yourselves?

As of right now, we aren’t paying ourselves. We’re only five months into this business! Although we were fortunate to keep a large portion of our customer base from the mobile matcha bar, launching Whimsy Official has been equally as challenging as starting a brand new business. All of our profit is being pumped back into marketing. 

Would you recommend other small business owners pay themselves? 

It absolutely depends on the industry you’re in and what your overhead and sales look like. Also, it depends on how much money you have in your cash reservoir and whether or not you can budget a salary for yourself. For e-commerce brands, your overhead is typically a bit higher and your profit margin is lower as opposed to operating a service-based business where you keep the majority of your profit (if you play your cards right). So all things considered, it’s very contingent on the situation!

Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy and why?

Before launching, branding and product development and/or testing. Brand identity is so crucial in order to visually connect with your audience and ensure that your brand experience is unique and compelling. If your brand doesn’t look the part, it can be harder to secure press, certain retailers, and more. Equally as important as branding is having thoughtful, well-researched products (and third-party tested if needed). Bad products never win the race, but great products always stand the test of time.

After launching, I think that hiring a publicist is an excellent investment, especially if you’re looking for longevity of brand exposure. A lot of brands sink money into Facebook and Instagram ads right away, but that can do more harm than good. Ads can definitely make you a quick buck, but each sale isn’t guaranteed to be recurring, nor is it helping to develop your community. Again, playing for longevity is key! 

What was your first big expense as a business owner and how should small business owners prepare for that now?

Rent! We’ve had our own office space since late 2019, but we decided three months before launching Whimsy Official that we wanted to fulfill all of our own products. No labs, no shipping centers, no third-party manufacturers. It’s imperative to us that we maintain full quality control over sourcing, supply chain, fulfillment, and shipping. That way, we can say with certainty that our company is ethical and sustainable and that we know exactly what ingredients are being used in our products.

To be honest, there really is no way to prepare other than to define a clear plan and start saving money. Had we not had money in the bank, we wouldn’t have been able to move into a new office and buy the supplies we needed to build out our own production facility. Of course, loans and investments are both options, but from our experience, that’s what worked!

What are your top three largest expenses every month?

1. PR

2. Rent for our office and facility

3. Product samples/giftings (we send out crazy amounts of free products to retailers, editors/contributors, and influencers each month!) 

How did you know you were ready to hire and what advice can you share on preparing for this stage of your business? 

With our other business, we had several employees and we just weren’t ready for it! In most cases, over-preparation is valuable, but not when it comes to hiring. It’s best to scale and hire as you grow. Currently, we have no employees at Whimsy Official. It’s just us and our PR team who works as an independent contractor.

Photo: Courtesy of Whimsy Official

Did you hire an accountant? Who helped you with the financial decisions and set up? Are there any tools or programs you recommend for bookkeeping?

We have an annual accountant who helps us file our LLC taxes, as well as our personal taxes, but we do our own month-to-month accounting. We’re lucky to have a pretty manageable amount of expenses, so it doesn’t feel terribly overwhelming. We’re a big fan of spreadsheets! Or any Google document for that matter!

The best tool you can have for learning accounting is to watch YouTube videos on bookkeeping. Learning your way around a pro forma (and how to create one for yourself) is a valuable skill. It really makes you feel like you have all your numbers in check!

What apps or software are you using for finances? What’s worked and what hasn’t?

We originally began working with Quickbooks but decided that we much preferred creating our own pro forma via spreadsheets. It felt more flexible, plus it’s free!

What are some of the tools you use to stay on top of your business financials? What do you recommend for small business owners on a budget?

We like to practice planning for the future, but acting in the now. It’s okay to want to dream big and plan for new things, but sometimes, it’s not always the best thing financially. We encourage small business owners to focus on what you do have instead of what you don’t have. This means to really emphasize making your current offerings as best as they can be with the resources you have, then scaling as you grow. Timing is everything, and money should be treated with purpose! 

Do you think women should talk about money and business more? Why? 

Absolutely! Money is—plain and simply put—just a part of life. There’s so much stigma surrounding the topic of money, but money is just a currency that comes and goes. We believe in using our money and knowledge to help other women rather than using it as an elitism tactic to put them down.

Do you have a financial mentor? Do you think business owners need one?

We don’t! But if we could go back to 2018 when we opened the first edition of our business, we totally would have. 

What money mistakes have you made and learned from along the way?

Well, for starters, when we hired those several employees that I mentioned earlier… huge mistake! Enormous mistake! Granted, we had a plan for all of those hires, but unfortunately, it didn’t pan out as we had hoped. Had we been more seasoned business owners, we do believe that that mistake would have avoided altogether.

What have been some of the hardest money lessons you've learned along the way?

1. Money spends quicker than you’d expect, and you always need a budget mapped out before you spend a single cent.

2. You have two choices: to take the risk or to not take the risk. Always take the risk if it feels right in your gut.

What is your best piece of financial advice for new entrepreneurs?

While it's important to be logical with your money, it’s also important to remember that money is no good just sitting around. It’s meant to be circulated. If you have a great idea and the funds to get it started, take the plunge! If you don’t, you may have a lump of cash sitting in the bank, but the “what ifs” may not be worth it. Listen to your intuition and practice staying in tune with it.

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This Founder Launched Her Jewelry Line With Just $100—Now It’s a Michelle Obama Favorite

You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.

Photo: Courtesy of Chari Cuthbert

Last year, ByChari founder Chari Cuthbert made headlines everywhere. After former first lady Michelle Obama donned one of Cuthbert’s designs, a delicate gold chain spelling out “vote,” during her speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention, everyone from Vanity Fair to Forbes wanted to know more about the designer behind the necklace—and, of course, add it to cart. In just two days, Cuthbert sold a staggering 4,000 pieces, when, on a typical day, she would receive about 200 orders.

But don’t call her an overnight success. Cuthbert has been hustling for years to get to where she is today. In fact, she started ByChari with just $100 in her bank account and didn’t pay herself for the first four years (!) she was in business, instead, reinvesting every dollar she made back into the company. “I started relatively small and would buy enough materials to make exactly what I needed,” the founder tells Create & Cultivate. And it’s safe to say her slow and steady strategy has more than paid off.

Scroll on to learn more about how the successful founder built and scaled her sought-after jewelry brand, including why she urges prospective small business owners to follow her lead and “build a strong infrastructure and scale from there.”

How did you fund ByChari, and would you recommend that route to other entrepreneurs? What advice can you share?

I started ByChari with $100 in my account. I started relatively small and would buy enough materials to make exactly what I needed. For the next year, I would re-invest the profit from my sales back into the company. I wish I would have saved more to start, but then again, I started so small and really wasn’t focused on building a company but more on having a creative outlet. 

How much did you pay yourself in the beginning?

Honestly, very little. One of the first things I did was hire a good CPA to advise me. I paid myself enough to cover my personal expenses and kept as much money in the company as possible. 

Would you recommend other small business owners pay themselves?  

I didn’t pay myself for the first four years I was in business, but it was important for me to take care of myself. I think all business owners should be honest about the time they are investing and commensurate themselves accordingly. 

Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy and why?

I think it changes as the company grows. In the beginning, it was inventory, and as the company grew, it was growing a staff and investing in my team. Now we focus on inventory and marketing. 

What was your first big expense as a business owner and how should small business owners prepare for that now? 

My first big expense was digital marketing. I knew it would be a crucial step in growing the business, but it was nerve-wracking making that first payment. Once we had a strategy in place, I made sure that we had ample savings and felt 100% confident in the spend. 

What are your top three largest expenses every month?

Digital marketing, inventory, and employees.

How did you know you were ready to hire and what advice can you share on preparing for this stage of your business? 

When I was working 18-hour days and still not able to accomplish everything I needed to. I knew I would have to watch my overall expenses in order to bring on an employee, but it was so important for my mental and physical well-being to get help. 

Did you hire an accountant? Who helped you with the financial decisions and set up?

When I started the business in Hawaii, I did everything myself. Once I decided to move to L.A. and focus on growing the business, I hired a CPA who helped me with the transfer and California set up. I now work with a financial firm that oversees all of my expenses, budgeting, and spending. Best thing I ever did!

What apps or software are you using for finances? What worked/what didn’t?

I started with QuickBooks from the very beginning. 

What are some of the tools you use to stay on top of your business financials? What do you recommend for small business owners on a budget?

Honestly, QuickBooks. No matter how big or small your company, being organized financially is so important. You can get the essential version for under $30/month. 

Do you think women should talk about money and business more? Why? 

Yes, now more than ever. There are more women run-businesses. We all have the same or if not similar challenges. There is no shame in making mistakes or miscalculating, but not taking the opportunity to ask for help or advice is an even bigger miss. Women need to support each other in any way possible. 

Do you have a financial mentor? Do you think business owners need one? 

I don’t have a financial mentor, that’s where my firm has come in. They have become an extension of my work family, more than a team that just crunches numbers for me. However, having someone to speak with about money is important, even if it’s a parent or close, trusted relative. 

What money mistakes have you made and learned from along the way?

In the beginning, I definitely overspent on materials without having a proper plan.   

What have been some of the hardest money lessons you've learned along the way? 

Managing cash flow. It is so important to constantly be aware of what is coming and going out of your account. 

What is your best piece of financial advice for new entrepreneurs?

Start slow and steady. Build a strong infrastructure and scale from there.

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