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Welcome to The Founders Edit, the weekly newsletter where female founders get the latest trends, opportunities, and advice.
This week, we're highlighting a $1,000 business grant that rewards “awesomeness”, TikTok’s playbook for small businesses, and some inspiring female entrepreneur businesses.
Let's leap right into what’s brewing in the business world!
Inside This Edition:
Read Time: 5 minutes
💰 Funding Focus: $1,000 grants for “awesome” businesses.
📰 Industry Insights: Advice for early founders, TikTok business tips, and more.
🛍️ Lessons From Female Founders: Apply these unique qualities to your own business.
👭 Founder Networking 27th Feb - 5th Mar: Mark your calendars for these networking events
🛠️ From The Vendor List: Quickly test landing pages with this tool.
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Funding Focus: The Awesome Foundation Grant
The Awesome Foundation Grant provides $1,000 micro-grants on a no-strings-attached basis, supporting a wide range of initiatives from arts to technology.
🙋♀️ Application Tips for Success:
- Highlight Uniqueness and Fun: Emphasize how your project brings surprise, delight, or innovation to the community, showcasing its unique contribution to the concept of "awesome."
- Engage with Specifics: Target your application to the appropriate chapter based on location or topic, ensuring your project aligns with their interpretation of "awesome."
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Industry Insights: Latest weekly news
Stay up to date with the latest trends and news in the business world. Here are three stories that caught our eye this week and what you can learn from them:
3 Values For Beginner Entrepreneurs
Getting started as an entrepreneur can be a tough road, so this article shares 3 key values you can apply to the start of your business journey.
Key Insights:
- Passion as Your Compass: Starting your own business is hard, so picking something you are truly passionate about will help keep you motivated.
- Reframe “Failures” as “Lessons”: Every entrepreneur hits roadblocks, but by thinking of these blocks as “lessons”, you will find the persistence to keep going!
👩🏫 Rebecca's Take: One of the biggest differentiators that separates entrepreneurs from “want-a-preneurs” is persistence. Ideas are the easy and fun part - staying consistent to keep pushing forward, even when you aren’t immediately seeing the results you are hoping for, is what will eventually lead to success!
TikTok’s Playbook for Small Business Owners
TikTok published the first part of their “TikTok CreativeMade Simple” Playbook on how small business owners can get the most from the platform.
Key Insights:
- Ideation is Key: The journey to TikTok success begins with ideas – brainstorming content that authentically represents your brand and appeals to your target audience on TikTok.
- Utilize TikTok’s Creative Center: This invaluable resource offers trend data, creative insights, and personalized tools like the ‘Creative Assistant’ to kickstart your content ideation process effectively.
👩🏫 Rebecca's Take: I’m more of an Instagram girl myself, but I am starting to experiment with TikTok. It’s a powerful platform to help people discover your brand, especially millennials, so take some time to explore and see what other businesses are doing for inspiration. And no, you don’t have to make videos of you dancing and pointing if that’s not your thing!
Lack of Support For Women’s Health in UK Workplaces
The latest findings from Benenden Health reveal a sobering reality: the UK sees a loss of 150 million working days annually (!) due to insufficient workplace support for women's health. This report shows the huge impact of the gender health gap on both individual well-being and overall business productivity.
Key Insights:
- Workplace Culture and Communication: Discomfort talking about women’s health issues drops dramatically when the employee’s manager is female, highlighting the importance of women in leadership roles.
- The Cost of Silence: The gender health gap not only affects women's health but also translates into tangible losses for businesses, emphasizing the need for a supportive and understanding workplace environment.
👩🏫 Rebecca's Take: For UK female entrepreneurs and business owners, these insights are a call to action. Regardless of whether you are running your own company or working at someone else’s, it's crucial to cultivate a workplace culture that not only acknowledges but actively supports women's health. Let's lead the charge in closing the gender health gap, making our workplaces more inclusive and supportive for everyone!
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Lessons From Female Founded Brands
Featuring remarkable female entrepreneurs and their products, along with unique qualities that can inspire your own business approach.
This week, we're spotlighting three exceptional women-led brands we love:
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Little Moons: Little Moons started as a family passion in a London bakery, evolving into a beloved mochi ice cream brand known for its commitment to quality, innovation, and bringing joy through every bite.
Founder: Vivien Wong
What makes them stand out? Community Involvement. Little Moons shines in its commitment to community support, partnering with The Felix Project to tackle food waste and hunger, and collaborating with Women Supporting Women at The Prince’s Trust to empower young women. Think about causes that are important to you and how you can use your business to offer support!
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Halcyon: Halcyon, founded by Stephanie Wood, is a clean, plant-based, and cruelty-free skincare range inspired by her holistic lifestyle.
Founder: Stephanie Wood
What makes them stand out? Personal Health Journey: Stephanie suffered from psoriasis all of her life and started to research the skincare products she was using. When she found out many of the existing products contained chemicals that were making her skin worse, she founded her own brand using natural, plant-based ingredients.
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ADIAMELIAS: ADIAMELIAS creates high-quality, inclusive women's clothing that prioritizes comfort, style, and environmental responsibility.
Founder: Adiam Elias Gebreyesus
What makes them stand out? Sustainable Orders: ADIAMELIAS sets itself apart with its commitment to sustainability, offering garments made exclusively through a pre-order system to eliminate waste and overproduction. By focusing on sustainable fabrics, ethical production, and reducing environmental impact, ADIAMELIAS shows their commitment to conscious fashion practices.
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Do you know of an amazing female-founded brand that should be featured in a future newsletter (or want to see your own business featured)? Reply to this email and let us know! |
Founder Networking: Upcoming Events (27th February - 5th March)
Here are some of the best female entrepreneur networking events happening in the next week:
Tech Hub: What AI Means for Small Business
- Date and Time: Wednesday, 28th Feb 2024 09:00 - 12:30 GMT
- Location: 6 Pancras Square London N1C 4AG United Kingdom
- Price: Free
- Who it’s for: Learn about how AI is impacting small businesses at this free event at Google London, with speakers from Cisco, Google, Sage and Vodafone Business.
- Get more information and sign up here
Running Your Own Business Information Session
- Date and Time: Wednesday, 28th Feb 2024 14:00 - 16:00 GMT
- Location: Guildhall Aldermanbury - 71 Basinghall St, London EC2V 7HH
- Price: Free
- Who it’s for: Learn how to start your own business at this free event from London Careers Festival.
- Get more information and sign up here
Business Networking Event For Young Entrepreneurs
- Date and Time: Friday, 1st Mar 2024 19:00 - 21:30 GMT
- Location: Lucy Wong - 33-34 Rathbone Place London W1T 1JN
- Price: £17
- Who it’s for: A casual networking event for start-up founders, freelancers, and entrepreneurs.
- Get more information and sign up here
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From The Vendor List: Unbounce
Unbounce helps businesses create high performing landing pages to increase sales.
Why It's Useful:
- AI Customization: Unbounce leverages AI to expedite the creation of custom landing pages, enabling businesses to rapidly generate, optimize, and personalize content.
- Integrations: Support integrations with platforms like Salesforce, Marketo, and HubSpot, as well as tools like Google Analytics and Shopify.
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