October Monthly Roundup
Founder-led branding, Hybrid work solutions, Going back to the basics of Profit making, Redefining 'growth', and more...
🎃October’s finally peeking in! I’m off preparing for my wedding this month, my 30th birthday and my mum’s 60th birthday. Loads of milestones coming up - it is indeed a hectic time but also one of gratitude 😌 Immense gratitude for family members and friends who’ve shown up to help my family through all the phases of planning a big Indian wedding in Malaysia.
Before I jet off to my homeland to fully immerse myself into the wedding preparations, here’s our monthly roundup featuring latest trends to watch, spotlight on interesting women-built businesses, book of the month, and valuable resources for early-stage founders. As always, please let me know if you have any feedback or suggestions on topics to cover in future monthly newsletters.
Also, if you think this newsletter could be helpful to another founder in your network, please share this publication with them! We love a growing community, and thank you for your support thus far 🙏🏼
🚀 Business Trends to Watch
Hybrid Solutions People Seek are Changing
The future of work has changed since the pandemic. Over 2022-23, some large companies slowly established rules about being in the office for at least x days a week. But with increasing demand among employees to move back to a home-office model and dwindling productivity levels, the focus is slowly shifting to not just where people work, but how they collaborate:Is there is a way to get comfortable about increasing and tracking productivity in a work-from-home setting?
How can in-person working be made more interesting and helpful?
A hybrid working model is imminent, but what is the right balance?
👉🏽 Think about how your new or existing business can leverage this trend - e.g. by creating solutions that benefit the companies, employees, or other players affected by a hybrid working environment. And if you run a team, start thinking about what you need to do to master the balance between in-person and remote work - every workplace is different based on the culture you’ve built, our suggestion would be to start with employee interviews and surveys to understand what would work best.
Founder Brand > Product Brand
Instagram and Tik Tok are full of influencers selling products, and customers are increasingly overwhelmed by the variety of products available to solve their daily needs and wants. In some industries, it’s become almost impossible to differentiate yourself with just a product-led strategy. Brands that are on the rise today are those providing an additional type of value - that of authenticity and connection. Stories are elements that remain distinct - as a founder, you need to rise above your role as a manager/CEO and tell stories whether it is of yourself or your customers, giving you brand a touch that resonated with your audience👉🏽 Go back to the roots of why you built your business, and why is it important for you. If you’re comfortable stepping into the spotlight, consider going out there on your social media and tell your story. And if you’re not, tell the stories of people you’ve impacted or would liek to impact through your solutions
It’s Time to Go Back to the Basics of Business Building = Profits!
Growth at all costs is not attractive anymore - investors and customers are increasingly seeing through the difference between raising funding vs actually making profits. Sustainable growth, capital efficiency, and financial discipline have become three must-haves in a start up to showcase long-term value, instead of preparing for endless funding rounds.👉🏽 If you have not yet figured out your business model, it’s time to go back to the drawing board and focus on finding ways to be financially viable. Test your business model early. The one rule that remains to this date is Value = Willingness to Pay. So, remember to test both with your early customers, before you start investing more money to grow the business
🌍 Spotlight on Interesting Women-built Businesses
Check out Shivika Sinha, the award-winning founder and CEO of Veneka, a company that curates personalized capsule wardrobes. She bootstrapped the company from the start, and focused on finding the “fastest method to test and validate ideas”
“I used no-code tools to hack variations of Veneka until I found a version that generated buzz and excitement. As a result, I was able to launch and grow quickly”
We love her take on using low-cost alternatives to test your idea as much as you can before you invest more in a full-scale launch. Funding is one of the paths to get to your goals, when you need it. It should not be a goal in itself!
📚 Book of the Month: "Small Giants" by Bo Burlingham
Our favourite takeaways
There is an alternative to Growth at all costs, which is to focus on Excellence, Customer Relationships, and Employee Satisfaction as differentiating factors
Small businesses that choose to be GREAT instead of BIG can make a difference in their communities and industries, because they better understand the intricacies of local needs
It takes a lot of strength to say no to opportunities for growth, especially when personal pride is tied to the perceived size of the company - it is important to look beyond that and consider your long term goals for the business and its impact
Getting to the ‘next level’ does not always mean more sales / revenue, it could also be better customer retention, better product quality, …
It ultimately depends on what you want as an entrepreneur. Control is much harder to retain in a privately owned business as it grows, and it is likely to get further from your own aspirations but rather to meet externally set growth targets
🔗 Our monthly pick of resources
Airtable: Its spreadsheets-meets-database platform is highly customizable for almost any operational need. From organizing product launches to managing customer feedback, Airtable keeps your processes efficient and scalable.
Brex: Offers corporate cards and financial management tools tailored to start ups, providing real-time expense tracking, bill payments, and cash flow management to keep your operations running smoothly.
That’s it for October! Hope you found this content useful, and have a fantastic October filled with new ideas, growth, and good health.
Until next time,
Nareen Sidhu
Team Inspirele
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