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More than half of all entrepreneurs report their mental health has declined since starting their company. Unsurprisingly, the stats are worse if you’re a woman. 

Founder stress just isn’t regular work stress. You work longer hours, every decision you make feels bigger and people’s livelihoods depend on you. Psychologist Nina Kaiser, Ph.D., a Tory Burch Fellow and founder of Practice San Francisco, put it plainly: “Being in a state of stress as a leader costs not only our own emotional functioning, but also our relationships and business bottom line.” 

As part of our webinar series, Kaiser delved into the practical tools and mindset shifts you need to manage stress effectively—for both you and your team. “Invest time in mental health and wellbeing,” she emphasized. “They’re critical to the longevity and success of your business.” 

THE SCIENCE OF STRESS

Stress is a real, biological reaction to external and internal events. When you’re stressed, the brain activates the fight-or-flight response. Your hormones surge. Your heart starts pumping. Your body is directing blood to your muscles and away from the brain. “Our higher-level thinking goes offline,” Kaiser said, adding that, as a result, problem-solving and decision-making suffer. You’re much more likely to act impulsively, too. 

And those are only the short-term impacts. Chronic stress raises the risk of everything from heart disease to inflammation, and is a precursor to clinically significant anxiety and depression. Then, there’s burnout. “The energy leaders bring to the table trickles down to the entire team,” she noted. 

Continuing to push through will more likely impair you over time.

THE ACTION PLAN

 “Stress is part and parcel of life. I hate to break it to you, but we are not going to eliminate it,” said Kaiser. “The key is learning how to manage it.” Here are her seven strategies for doing so. 

1. Work with your body.

Get moving: When fight-or-flight kicks in, energy builds up in your muscles and nervous system. Give it a place to go and move your body. “Walk around the block or do jumping jacks in place,” Kaiser recommended. 

Slow your breath: Breathe slowly and deeply. Kaiser likes this breathwork exercise: seven counts in, 11 counts out to return to a state of emotional equilibrium. Make sure to breathe into your belly, not your chest. Even doing this for less than a minute can make a difference. 

Anchor yourself: Focus your attention on where your body touches a surface—for example, your back against a chair or your feet on the floor. “It’s a way to step out of the swirl of emotion and ground yourself into the present moment,” explained Kaiser, noting that her favorite contact point is a beverage in her hands. “I always have one with me during meetings. I zoom out from the immediate stress and feel the weight and temperature of the glass.”

2. Set yourself up for success. 

Your mother was right. Drink lots of water, eat a nutrient-dense diet and sleep well. This sounds basic, but decades of research show these lifestyle factors are directly linked to mental health. 

If getting a good night’s rest is easier said than done, Kaiser offers a few strategies that can help: 

3. Organize your workload. 

 Begin each day and week by identifying your top priorities. Limit distractions, like turning off notifications, and use the Eisenhower matrix, time blocks and time boxes to optimize your hours. 

“I encourage you to know yourself,” Kaiser added. Translation: Determine when you do your best work—e.g., are you a morning person or a night owl?—and schedule your most important tasks during those peak periods. 

Don’t forget to delegate tasks or leverage AI where you can. “When you’re not sweating the small stuff,” said Kaiser, “you have the bandwidth to show up for the stuff that matters most.”

4. Master the Beautiful No. 

 Hold your boundaries with what Kaiser calls the Beautiful No. “Whenever we say yes to something,” she explained, “we are inherently saying no to something else.” Did you agree to do a presentation for free? That means saying no to a night of sleep. Be more strategic with your yeses.

5. Zoom out—and reframe your thinking. 

 Don’t lose sight of the big picture—regularly revisit your values and ask yourself what’s most essential to you in this moment and your life as a whole. “You are not just your business,” Kaiser stressed. “You’re also a friend, a partner, a parent and a human with interests and passions outside of the office. When you allow room for all of those things, you can show up more effectively at work.”

This may require a mindset shift. Instead of thinking “this is my business and my responsibility, so I have to do it alone,” for example, consider rephrasing to “running a business is a marathon, so how can I best set myself up for long-term success?”

6. Make room for the good. 

 Keep a running list of micro self-care practices. Even quick actions, like drinking your coffee in the sun or eating a bite of dark chocolate, can shape the tone of your day. 

Amplify your successes as well. Keep a “wins” folder that includes things like great client feedback or press mentions, and carve out time for the following daily reflections: What went well today? What was your role? How did it feel?

7. Find your community. 

 According to a landmark Harvard study, connection is the number one driver of health, happiness and longevity. So, seek out mentorships, learning opportunities and founder meetups. As Kaiser said, “You don’t have to do this alone.” 

EVERYDAY STRESSORS VS. MAJOR CRISES.

 Not all problems are the same—your response shouldn’t be, either. For sudden stressors, the most powerful thing you can do is pause. For example, take that deep breath or zero in on a physical contact point, as in, notice where your legs meet your chair. 

If you receive an upsetting email, remember, you are not obligated to reply right away. Sit on it for a few hours and let the immediate fight-or-flight response lift. 

For those facing a major life disruption, e.g., a bad health diagnosis or caregiving responsibilities, Kaiser recommended being honest and transparent with your inner circle and—most importantly—having compassion for yourself. 

“There are times when our capacity changes because of factors outside of our control,” she said. “Maybe it’s 30 percent of our usual 100 percent—but it’s still our 100 percent in that moment, right? Continuing to push through will more likely impair you over time.”

HOW TO SUPPORT YOUR TEAM’S MENTAL HEALTH.

For starters, practice what you preach. “Take your PTO and do the work to manage your own stress as a leader,” said Kaiser. 

Then, build the infrastructure. Open meetings with breathwork or by recognizing wins. Block off, say, Monday mornings so the team can prioritize for the week. Instill a culture of pausing before taking action and create opportunities for conversation and connection, whether one-on-one check-ins or off-site activities. Kaiser, for instance, has taken her team out to paddleboard yoga and sound baths. “Don’t just talk about wellness,” she said. “Give people the opportunities to practice it.”

It’s safe to say that entrepreneurs are faced with a new set of hurdles when it comes to the personal finance realm. And the truth is, having your finances in order is one of the most important aspects of managing and building your own business. Diane Harris, an award-winning personal finance journalist and financial wellness speaker and advocate, shared with us her insights in the interview below. She is the former editor-in-chief of Time Inc.’s Money Magazine – the first woman to hold the top job – and a founding editor of its website, Money.com. Currently, Harris is writing a book on financial wellness along with a bi-monthly column for the PBS website NextAvenue.org and launching a related coaching and consulting business.

What initially drew you to the personal finance world?

To be honest, I fell into personal finance rather than actively choosing it. I am a journalist first and foremost, and when I got out of graduate school, the jobs were in business journalism (I originally intended to cover politics and social issues). But, over the years I’ve grown to love covering personal finance because it’s all about helping people have more choices about how they’re able to live their lives and empowering them to pursue their dreams. So, in my own way, I’m covering social issues after all.

As the former editor-in-chief of time INC.’s money magazine, what is your advice when it comes to effective leadership?

As a leader, you have to start with a vision – about the mission of the organization and how to get there. Then, you must be able to clearly articulate that vision to your staff, make your expectations of their role in achieving it clear and reasonable, and work to create the conditions that make it possible for them to do what you’ve asked – to do their very best work.

Of course, you also have to be able to clearly articulate that vision to the public and the colleagues within your organization who are your partners in achieving it. Being able to see things from other people’s perspective is a key part of all of this – identify what they see and what they need from you to be able to buy into your vision and be energized to work with you to achieve it.

Financial wellness is…

The ability to cover your current expenses without strain, to absorb a financial shock if you’re hit with one, to be on track for your longer-term goals, and still have enough financial freedom now to enjoy your life, whatever that means to you.

People often talk about the first three, but don’t include the last one, which is also critical—to enjoy life without stress, you need a degree of financial flexibility that allows you to do what you value and makes you happy.

What are three tactics for financial wellness that our entrepreneurs can implement today?

  1. Build a rainy-day fund, because even if it’s sunny today, you know there will be clouds at some point – something will happen in your business or personal life that knocks you off your stride and costs money to fix. If you have some cash socked away for the inevitable emergency, you won’t have to borrow or deplete other savings or take any other drastic measures to get through it. I wrote “The Best Way to Stress Less About Money” to provide advice on saving for emergencies, and making it easy on yourself.
  2. Don’t drain your retirement savings to fund your business. Yes, I know everyone does it. But, you will really put yourself in a vulnerable position when you’re older and no longer able to save. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’ll just sell the business and that will be your retirement fund – it’s not that easy. If you can’t raise enough money from liquid savings, friends and family, and other investors, at least cap the amount you take from your 401(k) or other retirement account at 25% of the total. If that’s not enough, maybe you should wait until you’ve saved more to launch your business.
  3. Have a Plan B. I’m a big believer in a back-up plan, in thinking about the what-ifs before they happen, and having some idea of what you might do. What will you do if it takes twice as long as you estimate to generate revenue? What if a big client backs out? What if your partner wants to throw in the towel? Hopefully, you never have to activate your Plan B. But either way, it’s a great stress reliever as well as practically helpful to have some idea of how you’d proceed if things don’t go as you’ve planned.

Top personal finance tools and resources that you would recommend?

I’m a little old school here. One of the first, and still the best, money management apps is Mint. It updates and characterizes your spending in real time so you get a good picture, you can pay bills with it, get your credit score – lots of good stuff.

For saving, I’m a fan of Acorns, which automatically rounds up your transactions and sends the change into an investment account—so if you spend $2.50, the app will round it up to $3 and send the 50 cents to your investment account. It’s an easy way to build savings.

And for investing, I like Personal Capital, which combines a so-called robo-advisor with human advisors. You have to pay to invest with the company, but they have some great free tools on the site – like one that recommends the right investment mix and another that analyzes your 401(k). Good stuff!

What do you enjoy most about your role as a financial wellness advocate?

I love being able to help relieve people’s stress about money! Money is the No. 1 cause of stress in the country and in the workplace, across all demographic groups – men, women, old, young, low earners and high earners. I love being able to show people (especially women) that this stuff isn’t rocket science and boil down what seem like complicated concepts into easy-to-understand, practical steps.

How would you describe your approach to spending and saving money?

On saving, I automate everything to make it easy to save and do the right thing with my money. So, I have contributions to my retirement and emergency savings accounts automatically deducted from my checking account every time I get paid. Easy peasy, done!

On spending, for most discretionary purchases – the stuff I don’t need but really want – I give myself a cooling off period of a few days before I buy. If I still really want it then, and I have the cash, I go for it (more than half the time, I don’t want it anymore). And, I budget for the occasional splurge – treating myself from time to time, makes it easier to be disciplined about NOT spending the rest of the time.

What is your best advice for the first-time investor?

Make it easy on yourself. You can get an entire, well-diversified, low-cost, professionally managed portfolio with one mutual fund. This is a so-called target date fund that puts together an optimal mix of stocks and bonds for you based on your age and the year you think you’ll retire (Vanguard is my favorite fund company for this). It’s a no-fuss no-muss way to invest, with great returns over the long run.

You are currently working on a new book aimed at taking the stress out of managing money. Can you share with us the premise of the book?

In this book I can tell you three things to do with your money, and if you do all three and keep doing them, you’ll be okay financially for the rest of your life. Will they solve every single problem you have? No. But, they will get you a lot of the way there.

In fact, I can give you a three-step plan for nearly all common financial challenges and goals people have – from getting out of debt to saving for college and retirement, to teaching your kids to be smart about money to putting an end to money fights with your spouse, to getting a raise at work or landing a promotion.

When there are more than three steps, people feel overwhelmed, especially given how busy and demanding their lives already are, so they end up doing nothing. That’s why I boil it all down to three, based on tons of research about what’s most effective when it comes to your money and my own many years of experience.

What is the biggest challenge you see entrepreneurs facing when it comes to personal finance?

I think entrepreneurs are so passionate about their business and pouring everything they have into it that they often neglect to take care of themselves, financially at least. They may drain their savings, not pay themselves an adequate salary, get into debt, or fail to invest for long-term goals like retirement – and, in the long run, that can hurt the business as well as their own financial future. Don’t get me wrong, I love that entrepreneurial passion – it’s critical to success. And, as an entrepreneur myself, I get it. But you really do have to take care of yourself first – like how parents are advised to put their own oxygen mask on first before their child’s if the plane has an emergency.

Advice on overcoming these challenges…

I hate to sound like a broken record, but the basics of what you need to do are simple:

Make sure you have an adequate emergency fund before you launch. If you don’t, delay the launch until you build it up. Believe me, you will need it.

Don’t drain all your retirement savings to fund your business, you will need that too. Limit how much you tap your 401(k).

Maybe you want to talk to a financial advisor before you launch to set yourself up for success—a one-time counseling session with a fee-only planner. I have found Garrett Planning Network to provide reasonably-priced options.

What trends in personal finance should our entrepreneurs keep an eye on?

I think fintech is, and will continue, transforming the way we manage our money. That’s something to watch on a personal basis. There are so many tools and services that can help you manage your money better and they are constantly evolving.

It’s also something to watch from the vantage point of an entrepreneur. There are many possibilities for great businesses in this space. People are totally stressed out about money and hungry for help. Entrepreneurs who can help fill that need will be in high demand.

The one thing you wish every woman knew about personal finance…

Mistakes aren’t fatal.

You will make a mistake here and there when it comes to managing money – everyone does, and you will be okay. The fear of making a mistake often holds women back from investing and taking the lead in making financial decisions, because we feel we don’t know enough to make a sound decision. Men don’t let that stop them! Women know more than we think we do and men know less than think they do. Trust yourself – and if you do make a mistake, know you can bounce back from it.

What does #embraceambition mean to you?

Allow yourself to dream big – about the possibilities for your life, who you can be, and what you can achieve. It’s my wish for all women.

1. It is not about the money, but it is always about the money!

Make sure you understand financial statements, including the elements of the capital structure. Do not outsource this basic understanding to your accountant or CFO. You will be better able to identify trends, problems and issues in your business. Financial statements provide a view of the actual dynamics of your business and can be helpful in determining: how to price your product, how much you should spend on marketing, whether you are spending enough on research and development, and if you have enough cash to pay your employees and suppliers.

At some point you are likely to be raising money and you need to understand the implications to you and the company of the key financing terms. Finance is not complicated but it does have its own terminology and you want to be conversant in that language—because the people that you want to raise money from certainly are.

2. Failure = feedback

If someone turns you down for funding — which will happen 80% of the time—convert the conversation into a chance to get constructive feedback. When you get the feedback, don’t argue with them point by point in a defensive manner. Listen, and you will learn something for your next pitch. And, always ask if you can come back in 6 months with an update and after you’ve addressed their concerns. A “no” doesn’t mean “never” so you want potential funders to take a second meeting.

3. Build relationships

Start talking with potential funders when you don’t need the money and send them summary updates on milestones you’ve achieved. Venture Capitalists (VCs) like to get to know an entrepreneur before they invest and like to see milestones being reached. You will also get to know the VC during the process. You never just want money from a VC, you want their mind and contacts as well. It is a good idea to develop a relationship with the potential funder before you take their money.

4. Realize you aren’t good at everything

Figure out early on what you are not good at or not that interested in doing and make sure you have a senior person on your team that excels at that very thing. Even the most talented and brilliant people cannot do everything well. It’s important that the complementary person be senior enough to signal that a diversity of talents can be successful at your company. Your company and employees will benefit by having a mix of skills and talents.

5. Come out from under the rock

Build your professional network beyond your immediate job. Juggling the demands of work and family leaves little space for what can seem like non-core activities—such as becoming involved in a civic organization or taking time to meet with people in other industries. Most people have several careers during their life and a person that may not seem relevant to your current job could be the person that is the most important in your next position. Follow up and have breakfast or lunch with that person you met recently at dinner or a conference who has a job that is interesting but has nothing to do with yours. Or join a non-profit board about whose mission you are passionate—you’ll be doing something good for your community as well as for yourself.

6. Surround yourself with great friends

Have a great group of friends who can see you through the craziness of being an entrepreneur. They will help you celebrate the heights and get you through the depths with humor and love.

Leasing commercial office space is one of the largest expenses incurred by new and expanding businesses, so it is important to do your due diligence. Here are some tips to consider:

LEASE AGREEMENT

Lease term and rent are your first negotiation points. It is generally recommended that small businesses negotiate one to two-year leases, with the option to renew. You will also want to factor in rent increases over the term and renewal options so you are not charged with an unexpected rent increase without warning.

Consider working with a broker to help you negotiate with the landlord. It is also important to consult a knowledgeable real estate lawyer; they can often recommend the right choice for you and protect your interests as you negotiate your lease through the broker. 

EXPENSES

In addition to your monthly lease payment, find out what expenses you may incur beyond rent.

Commercial real estate landlords often incorporate extra expenses into the lease such as maintenance fees, upkeep for shared facilities (Common Area Maintenance or “CAM”), etc. Other expenses to consider are utilities. These charges are usually the responsibility of the tenant, so make sure to find out how these are measured. Are they individually metered or apportioned by square footage? Ask to see these “hidden fees” and policies as well as examples of costs that are typically incurred by tenants.

MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR

While residential leasing often places the burden of maintenance and upkeep on the shoulders of the landlord, commercial leases are different. Commercial leases vary regarding maintenance and repair – some stipulate that the tenant is responsible for all property upkeep and repairs while others specify that the tenant is responsible only for systems like air conditioning, plumbing, etc. 

READ THE LEASE

Be sure to read over your lease in detail and hire an attorney who specializes in commercial real estate to walk you through the clauses and fine print. 

PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS

To protect your investment and long-term business interests, it is worth investigating and negotiating some potential add-on clauses to your lease. These might include:

WHAT IF YOU DEFAULT?

Should you default on your lease payments, there are steps you can take during the lease negotiation process to protect yourself. Find out what the lease agreement states. Will you be locked out immediately? Will the landlord initiate eviction proceedings? Can you negotiate more time? Could you pay only the current month’s rent instead of the remaining amount owed on the lease? It’s important to consider these questions before leasing a space.

Silicon Valley as the mythical Wild West: It’s a popular metaphor, chosen mostly for the tech world’s gambling nature and disregard for conventional business law.

Let me introduce you to a commonly heard term out here in the West: bootstrapping.

In case you’re not familiar with the term, bootstrapping means accomplishing something in a self-sustaining way. And Silicon Valley has adopted it as a term for building your company and product without the aid of VC funding.

There are pros and cons to bootstrapping.

THE PROS:

More control, for longer. It gives you time to concentrate on building, tweaking and focusing on your product rather than fundraising – and getting on the right side of the 75% failure rate of VC-backed startups. Bootstrapping can also give you much more leverage if and when the time finally comes to join forces with a VC firm.

THE CONS:

You’re not playing with house money. Success falls on you and your ability to build a product that people want to use and – yes–maybe even a little luck.

No pressure! Even though the cons sounds a little scary, most of the time they’re outweighed by the pros.

Should you choose to take the bootstrapping route, consider these five tips I’ve gleaned after eight years of bootstrapping:

BE YOUR MOST VALUABLE ASSET.

Without funding, you likely don’t have the resources to hire sales, marketing, and product teams. That’s a blessing in disguise – something that will take you away from your comfort zone and force you to learn other roles you need to succeed. The idea of sales might make you shudder, but you’re not going anywhere without it.

THINK BIG.

Your original idea is probably not enough. VCs and acquirers want something that scales to bigger and better market opportunities – something with potential to grow very large and for a very long time. Don’t be afraid to think big even when you are bootstrapping. Big markets will help you grow faster and will tell a compelling story.

CHOOSE YOUR FOUNDING TEAM CAREFULLY.

When it’s time to add a little help, find people that aren’t so dialed-in to a specific function that they can’t (or won’t) take on additional roles. That team will likely start small but needs to handle the tasks of a much-larger group. Make sure they know how to roll up their sleeves!

FOCUS ON REVENUE.

“But some of the biggest companies in the world didn’t have any revenue!” True. But you’re bootstrapping. And revenue gives you money your fledgling outfit needs to grow. Otherwise you’re just maxing out more credit cards.

GET CREATIVE.

There are lots of creative ways to maximize your dollar. It’s a content-driven world, and you can create as much of it as you want for next to nothing. And you should be taking advantage of that, since “next to nothing” also describes your marketing budget. So stand out!

Customer acquisition gets people into your store. If you strategically stock your store, your customer is more likely to walk out with a purchase they love. Making decisions about what products to carry is called assortment planning. Assortment planning is the science behind the art of curating and presenting products in a retail store. The goal is to ensure the right mix of products is available to meet customers’ needs, drive sales and profits, and optimize the use of physical retail space, explained retail strategist and Retail Huddle founder Ami Rabheru. She joined our webinar series to share best practices for for small business assortment planning for brick and mortar.

Assortment planning requires the store owner to take a big-picture view of marketing that accounts for trends in the market, which in this sense includes both your industry and your total available market, or the maximum number of people that could potentially buy from you. Understanding the retail cycle gives context to the choices you might make about when to buy products and how your inventory should move through the store. The four P’s of marketing helps you make even stronger decisions about what to buy, where to place it in the brick and mortar store and how to stand apart from competitors.

THE 4 P’S OF RETAIL MARKETING

Even the best products need help standing out in a crowded marketplace. To help get you there, Rabheru laid out the four P’s of marketing: Product, Price, Promotion, and Place. 

Product

Balance is key. You want to have enough options so your customers feel like they can choose what’s best for them, but not so many options that they become overwhelmed and turn into browsers instead of buyers. “When you simplify, you can amplify,” Rabheru said. Always keep customer centricity in mind. What does your customer love? What buying patterns or trends do they lean into? What can the movements of the wider retail industry tell you about your customers’ evolving needs or desires?

When choosing specific products, consider breadth versus depth. The breadth of your product assortment refers to the variety of the category mix that offers different types of products. The depth is represented in variations or options available within each product category. This includes different sizes, colors, styles, brands, and models. For example: In a store that carries a ladies’ wear product mix, the breadth of that mix might include outerwear, skirts and tops, while the depth of that mix would be describe one peacoat and one denim jacket, in one color each (outerwear), three lengths of skirts in two colors each (skirts) and one button-down and one crewneck in one color each, all with a full range of sizes. Whether you choose to focus on growth via breadth or depth is subjective, and should be determined by what’s important to you and your customer. 

Seasonal mixes are tactics that help curate an impactful offering tied to a trend or seasonal product segments. This is where you’ll capitalize on events, awareness days, and holidays in the retail calendar. 

A great product assortment strategy not only captivates your customers [but it also]enables you to stand out in a crowded marketplace.

Rabheru also shared the importance of the 80-20 rule, which indicates that 80% of a store’s sales tend to come from 20% of its assortment. Track which items bring in the most revenue, and make sure they are always in stock. 

Rabheru recommends using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to plan and track your product mix throughout seasons and through changes in breadth and depth. Enterprise resource planning software can manage this for you, but is likely better utilized for tracking financials and sales data. 

Price

Your customers will want variety in price as well as product, and the price architecture of your brand will depend on how you categorize your place in the market. Rabheru demonstrated this architecture in terms of good, better, and best. Envision a triangle. For a store that falls into the value to mid-range category, the majority of their products (the base of the triangle) might correlate to prices that specify them as good, then scaling smaller upwards with better, best, and maybe a small percentage of luxury offerings at the top. A mid-range brand may carry products in the good and best range, but it’s primarily focused on better priced items. Luxury brands will focus on just that, luxury, but may include items in the better range as an entry pricepoint for customers. 

What constitutes good, better, best, and luxury prices, as well as what percentage each will make up in your product mix, will differ between businesses and industries. This is where customer profiles and personas come into play to determine what these categories will mean.

Promotion

Promotion refers to how you differentiate your products when communicating to potential customers. That can be through external communications as well as store placement and signage. In terms of promotion in store, here are a few questions to think about: How does the branding or packaging impact a product’s shelf appeal? Is it aligned with your target market or where you’re aiming to position your brand, and how can you communicate that to the customer?

Place

When it comes to the physical layout of your brick and mortar store, visuals are your friend. Either digitally or on the sales floor, map out your products and imagine yourself in your customer’s shoes. What do you immediately feel when you enter your store? What’s the ambiance? Rabheru said “customers buy with emotion,” and if you expect to attract potential customers, engage them with your offerings, convert them to buyers, and repeat that cycle, you’ll need a better understanding of how they feel. 

Another perk of laying out your product assortment and arrangement visually is really seeing how things look together. Experiencing how your customer will experience the product mix will help identify redundancies, gaps, and opportunities. “Eye level is buy level,”Rabheru emphasized, so consider putting your sales drivers, like your hero, or most popular, products and impulse buys. Create logical navigation to optimize space and cross-selling opportunities.

Your store shouldn’t look bare or overcrowded–both discourage purchases. When you, as a customer, walk into a store you like, “Look at their choice,” advised Rabheru. “It’s just enough choice that the customer feels they have a choice.”

It’s important to note that best practices for in-store placement won’t necessarily translate to your website. Rabheru said your bestsellers in-store are hardly ever your bestsellers online, so you need a different strategy for each distribution channel. 

Assortment planning best practices are helpful, but you’ll learn what works for you along the way. When done successfully, Rabheru says a product planning can impact the long term trajectory of a brand. “A great product assortment strategy not only captivates your customers,” she said. “It enables you to stand out in a crowded marketplace, but it also aligns with your overall trading strategy.” 

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The Sponsor will post Small Business Saturday Sweepstakes to Instagram (www.instagram.com/toryburchfoundation) on November 29, 2025. To enter, Entrants (“Entrants”) must:
1) Follow @toryburchfoundation on Instagram; and.
2) Like the Tory Burch Foundation Small Business Saturday Sweepstakes Instagram post; and

3) Tag two handles on the TBF Small Business Saturday Sweepstakes post

One entry per person. Although it is free to enter, standard message and data charges may be incurred if an Entrant uses a mobile device to submit an Entry.

5. Winner Selection and Notification
Winners will be selected randomly from all eligible Entries properly submitted in this Sweeps. On or about December 4, 2025, the Sponsor will randomly select three (3) Entries as potential winners. The potential winners must comply with these Official Rules in order to be eligible to claim the Prize and be named a Winner (“Winner”).

Odds of winning depend upon the number of eligible entries received. Sponsor cannot accurately predict the number of entrants who will participate in the Sweepstakes.

6. Prize. Each Winner will randomly receive one (1) of the following three (3) prizes (“Prizes”):  

Basket 1: (Approximate Retail Value = $1,080.49)

Drama Bomb Mascara from UOMA Beauty, valued at $19.50

Unisex Socks + $100 Gift Card from PerfectDD, valued at $14.00 and $100.00

Advent Calendar from Bixby Chocolate, valued at $60.00

The Unconscious Blueprint™ Assessment from Judy Tsuei Coaching LLC, valued at $497.00

Cooling Compression Sleeve for Knee from Grace & Able, valued at $19.99

Dog Bandana from The Paws, valued at $15.00

Creator Pack – Echo Tangerine from MAIKA, valued at $95.00

Uwila Warrior Giftcard from Uwila Warrior, valued at $25.00

Mosqitter Mini from Mosqitter, valued at $199.00

Aya & Pete World Explorer Mexico Morocco Book Bundle from Aya & Pete, valued at $36.00

Basket 2: (Approximate Retail Value = $635.76)

The Symphony Scarf from WEST X EAST, valued at $125.00

Deodorant Original Plastic Stick 1.9oz from Freedom Deodorant, valued at $15.99

Spirit-Free Cocktail Packs: Grapefruit Fizz & Variety Pack from Blind Tiger, Inc., both valued at $14.99 each

Cape Town Hat from Line in the Sand, valued at $80.00

Digby the Yipped Eyed Yak Toy and Book Gift Set from Inklings Baby, valued at $24.99

Cooling Compression Sleeve For Wrist & Thumb Pain from Grace & Able, valued at $19.99

munchrooms tasting kit from munchrooms, valued at $35.80

The Juggernaut one-year subscription from The Juggernaut, valued at $99.00

Myya Seat Belt Cushion from Myya, valued at $35.00

Jasmine Dream Reversible Gold Earrings from Sara Patino Jewelry, valued at $140.00

Jellyfish Coco Coir Air Planter from LIKHA, valued at $45.00

Basket 3: (Approximate Retail Value = $546.94)

Gift Voucher for one pair of overalls from SWOOP, valued at $189.00

Bonny Fiber Bites from Bonny, valued at $35.00

Rangoli Mandala Bundle – Puzzle and Coloring + Sticker Book from Kulture Khazana, valued at $36.99

Jumpstart Your Voice Transition from Undead Voice, valued at $49.00

Faux Joe Tea Bags – Signature Roast, Salted Maple Blondie, Cinnamon Roll, Dirty Chai from Sip Herbals, valued at $64

Milk & Cookies for Two from Brutus Broth, valued at $19.99

Advent Alphabet Calendar from The Letter Nest, valued at $45.00

#ShopSpousely Gift Card from Spouse-ly, valued at $25.00

Party Animal Neon Dopp Kit from Dance Happy Designs, valued at $44.95

Coquito Candle from Bonita Fierce Candles, valued at $34.00

“The Duet” – Whet and Play from Personal Fav, valued at $36.00

TOTAL APPROXIMATE RETAIL VALUE OF ALL ITEMS = $2,258.19

Prizes are nontransferable, except at Sponsor’s sole discretion and is subject to availability and eligibility. No substitution of Prizes or transfer/assignment of Prizes or request for the cash equivalent by Winner is permitted. Prize is awarded “as is” with no warranty or guarantee, either express or implied by Sponsor.  Any and all Prizes related expenses, and/or any and all federal, state, and/or local taxes shall be the sole responsibility of the Prize Winners. Limit one (1) prize per person. Prizes will be awarded in January 2026.

7. Winner Notification
The Sponsor will attempt to notify each potential winner through Instagram direct message on or about December 4, 2025. If any potential winner does not respond and register for the event on the official registration platform within forty-eight (48) hours, the Sponsor may select from the remaining submissions an alternate potential winner in his or her place. The potential winner will be required to complete, electronically sign and submit a declaration of compliance (“Declaration of Compliance”), where legal, within one (1) week of the date of notice or attempted notice is sent, in order to claim the Prize. In the event (a) a potential winner cannot be reached for whatever reason after a reasonable effort has been exerted based on the information provided by potential winner in its entry form or the winner notification is returned as undeliverable; (b) a potential winner declines or cannot accept, receive or use the Prize for any reason; (c) a potential winner is found to be ineligible to enter the Sweepstakes or receive the Prize; (d) a potential winner cannot or does not comply with the Official Rules; or (e) a potential winner fails to submit or fulfill the obligations of the Declaration of Compliance, then the potential winner shall be disqualified from the Sweepstakes and Sponsor will award the Prize to an alternate winner from among all remaining eligible entries. Only one (1) alternate winner will be selected, after which the Prize will remain un-awarded. The Prize will be fulfilled in January 2026.

8. No Tampering; Right to Cancel or Modify
Neither Sponsor nor Instagram nor their respective parent companies, owners, subsidiaries, affiliates, divisions, partners, representatives, agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers, directors or members shall have any obligation or responsibility, including any responsibility to award any prize to Entrants, with regard to: (a) entries that contain inaccurate information or do not comply with or violate the Official Rules; (b) entries, prize claims or notifications that are lost, late, incomplete, illegible, unintelligible, damaged or otherwise not received by the intended recipient, in whole or in part, due to computer, human or technical error of any kind, including but not limited to, inactive email accounts or an Entrant’s failure to monitor its email account; (c) Entrants who have committed fraud or deception in entering or participating in the Sweepstakes or claiming the prize; (d) telephone, electronic, hardware, software, network, Internet or computer malfunctions, failures or difficulties; (e) any inability of the winner to accept the Prize for any reason; (f) if the Prizes cannot be awarded due to delays or interruptions due to Acts of God, natural disasters, terrorism, weather or any other similar event beyond Sponsor’s reasonable control; or (g) any damages, injuries or losses of any kind caused by any prize or resulting from awarding, acceptance, possession, use, misuse, loss or misdirection of the Prizes or resulting from participating in this promotion or any promotion or Prize-related activities. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual it finds to be (a) tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Sweepstakes, or with any website promoting the Sweepstakes; (b) acting in violation of the Official Rules; or (c) entering or attempting to enter the Sweepstakes multiple times through the use of multiple email addresses or the use of any robotic or automated devices to submit entries. If Sponsor determines, in its sole discretion, that technical difficulties or unforeseen events compromise the integrity or viability of the Sweepstakes, Sponsor reserves the right to void the entries at issue, and/or terminate the relevant portion of the Sweepstakes promotion, including the entire Sweepstakes promotion, and/or modify the Sweepstakes and/or award the Prizes in a random drawing from all eligible entries received as of the termination date. All interpretations of these Official Rules by Sponsor and decisions of Sponsor are final and binding. Sponsor reserves the right to update or modify these Official Rules, if necessary, for clarification purposes, without materially affecting the terms and conditions of the Sweepstakes.

9. Release and Limitations of Liability; Disclaimer of Warranty
By participating in the Sweepstakes, Entrants and Winners grant Sponsor (and any and all of Sponsor’s subsidiaries and affiliates, successors and assignees and licensees), where permitted by law, without further notice, the worldwide irrevocable right and license to use Entrants’ and Winners’ names, Instagram handles, hashtag, comments, contents of the Entries, and other biographical information or likeness and prize information in any and all media worldwide and to copy, edit, modify, cut, rearrange, add to, delete from, copy, reproduce, translate, adapt, publish, distribute, exploit, and use the content of and elements embodied in the Entry, in commerce and in any and all media worldwide, without limitation or compensation to you in perpetuity. Submission of an Entry further constitutes Entrant’s consent to irrevocably assign and transfer to the Sponsor and its affiliates any and all rights, title, and interest in and to the Entry and the concepts embodied therein. Such rights, title and interest shall include, but are not limited to, all intellectual property, sales and licensing rights.

By participating in the Sweepstakes, Entrants and Winners further agree to (a) be bound by these Official Rules and by the interpretations of these Official Rules by Sponsor, and by the decisions of Sponsor, which are final in all matters relating to Sweepstakes; and (b) release and hold harmless Sponsor, Tory Burch LLC, and Instagram and their respective parent companies, owners, subsidiaries, affiliates, divisions, partners, representatives, agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers, directors and members, and all the prize provider entities: UOMA Beauty, WEST X EAST, SWOOP, freedom deodorant, PerfectDD, Bonny, Blind Tiger, Inc., Line in the Sand, Personal Fav, Bixby Chocolate, Kulture Khazana, Inklings Baby, Grace & Able, Judy Tsuei Coaching LLC, munchrooms, Undead Voice, The Juggernaut, Sip Herbals, Grace & Able, The Paws, MAIKA, Myya, Brutus Broth, Uwila Warrior, The Letter Nest, Mosqitter], Sara Patino Jewelry, Spouse-ly, Aya & Pete, Dance Happy, Bonita Fierce Candles, and LIKHA (collectively the “Released Parties”), from any and all claims, injury, damages, or liability, for loss, harm, damage, injury, cost or expense whatsoever, including without limitation, property damage, personal injury (including emotional distress), and/or death, which may occur in connection with, in preparation for, or as a result of participation in, the Sweepstakes, or possession, acceptance and/or use or misuse or redemption of the Prizes or participation in any Sweepstakes-related or Prize-related activity and for any claims  or causes of action based on publicity rights, defamation invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, trademark infringement or any other intellectual property related cause of action, and/or merchandise delivery. The Released Parties assume no responsibility for any injury or damage to Entrants or to any other person’s computer or device, regardless of how caused, relating to or resulting from entering or downloading materials in connection with this Sweepstakes. Entrants and Winners acknowledge that Sponsor has neither made nor is in any manner responsible or liable for any warranty, representations or guarantees, express or implied, in fact or in law, relative to the Prizes or any component thereof.


10. Disputes
Except where prohibited, all issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of entrant or Sponsor in connection with the Sweepstakes, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of New York, or any other jurisdiction), which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of New York. In addition, any dispute relating to the Sweepstakes (including these Official Rules) shall be brought in the appropriate state or federal court having jurisdiction over the subject matter located in New York, New York. Entrants hereby irrevocably consent to the personal jurisdiction of said courts and waive any claim of forum non conveniens or lack of personal jurisdiction that they may have. Any and all claims, judgment and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, but in no event attorneys’ fees, and under no circumstances will Entrant be permitted to obtain awards for, and Entrant hereby waives all rights to claim, indirect, punitive, incidental and consequential damages and any other damages, other than for actual out-of-pocket expenses, and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased.

11. Privacy
Information collected from Entrants is subject to Sponsor’s Privacy Policy, https://www.toryburchfoundation.org/privacy-policy/


12. Winner List
To request the names of the Winners, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Tory Burch Foundation, 11 West 19th St, New York, N.Y. 10011. Winner List requests will only be accepted after the promotion end date (listed above). All Winner List requests must be received by December 31, 2025.

What do Henry Ford, Sam Walton and Wendy Kopp all have in common? They all became mega-successful entrepreneurs. And before that, they were all called crazy.

I too was called crazy. For years, I was known as la chica loca for suggesting that high-impact entrepreneurs and high-growth businesses could be found in emerging markets outside Silicon Valley.

Today, that idea has morphed into Endeavor, a global network of over 1,200 entrepreneurs leading 850 companies that have collectively generated half a million jobs and $8 billion in annual revenues. If I had given into the naysayers, I would have killed not only my own crazy dream but also the dreams of a thousand other aspiring entrepreneurs taking on the status quo in their countries.

This is how I learned that the biggest barriers to success in the entrepreneurial age are not financial, educational, or cultural — they are psychological. You don’t need a Silicon Valley zip code, a string of VC backers, or a hoodie to be an entrepreneur! In fact, the largest demographic launching new businesses today are not young techies but women and baby boomers.

Since entrepreneurship is essentially about undertaking a bold new venture, being challenged and misunderstood is part of the process. You can’t rock the boat without being told you’re off your rocker!

Ok, so you’ve fended off the naysayers, overcome inner fear, embraced uncertainty and given yourself permission to go ahead with your crazy idea…Now what? Below are some of the counterintuitive rules I’ve gleaned over two decades of helping entrepreneurs around the world get their idea off the ground and into the stratosphere…

1. Close doors

If the first step to becoming an entrepreneur is about managing mindset, the second is about managing risk.

Our image of entrepreneurs as swashbuckling daredevils who go all in on day one is wrong. Sara Blakely, the creator of Spanx, kept selling fax machines until she got booked on Oprah; Phil Knight of Nike kept his accountant job while selling sneakers out of his Plymouth Valiant. In the year that it took to get Endeavor off the napkin, I wrote grant applications for other organizations on the side to earn extra money.

Contrary to popular belief, most entrepreneurs are risk-minimizers, not risk-maximizers. Even the biggest maverick of all, Virgin’s Richard Branson, prefers “contained disasters,” small bets with limited consequences if things backfire.

But at some point after your idea has taken off, the hedging has to stop. You can’t build a significant business with one foot out the door. Entrepreneurs often cling to their conventional work like a security blanket — out of fear rather than necessity — even after they can afford to pursue their venture full-time.

My advice: Once your idea has gained traction, cut the umbilical cord. Your idea can’t take flight if you don’t leave the nest — which brings me to rule #2…

2. Fire your mother-in-law

A few years ago, I asked our in-house research team at Endeavor to examine the best and worst performing entrepreneurs in our network to see if we could detect any patterns of success and failure. We learned that three-quarters of our entrepreneurs cofounded their businesses with a partner, and 70 percent of these partners were people close to them — a best friend, a sibling, a spouse, an in-law.

So what happens when family and business mix? Things usually start off swimmingly, but then trouble brews. Cash problems arise, and cuts need to be made. Or business booms, and one partner seeks to expand while the other prefers to stay small.

Endeavor entrepreneurs aren’t alone in this struggle. More than 80 percent of American businesses are family-owned, and the figure goes up to 90 percent outside the US: from the sons of IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad to the wives of Rupert Murdoch, from Beyoncé’s dad to Usher’s mom (“I never fired my mother,” Usher told Oprah. “I relieved her of her duties”).

To keep bedroom issues out of the boardroom, I suggest drawing up a “startup prenup,” delineating each partner’s role, responsibility and ownership. In case someone wants or needs to pull out, devise a contingency plan for an amicable exit — and skip a lifetime of awkward holiday gatherings.

3. Surround yourself with a circle of mentors

That’s not to say you don’t need a support system. If you want to go big, you can’t go at it alone.

The image of the individualist innovator is irresistibly romantic, deeply entrenched, and completely misleading. Entrepreneurs need help. Lots of it. And it shouldn’t all come from the same person. Save monogamy for your private life, and seek multiple professional partners.

Just as people are changing jobs more frequently in today’s economy, they should be changing mentors. You need mentors for every stage of your career who are at varying stages of their careers. To me, the right model is a 360-degree approach: a circle of advisers who can give you a rotating mixture of tough love, specialized advice, fresh insights and clear direction for when you need it the most.

You need mentors for every stage of your career.

If you are going to surround yourself with mentors, however, you can’t be afraid to reach out to them. A few years ago, Tory Burch invited me to a speed-networking event where I sat across from a young clothing designer, who couldn’t stop gushing about how much she admired Tory. Finally, I suggested that the person she should be telling all this to was Tory herself — who happened to be standing on the other side of the room. The young designer stammered, “What — Am I supposed to just go up to Tory Burch?”— “Yes,” I enthused, “that’s why you’re here!” At the end of the evening, I saw the same designer chatting with Tory and proudly handing her a business card.

You can’t play your cards right if keep them close to your chest.

4. Be flawsome

Once you’ve gotten yourself a circle of mentors, go one step further to make the circle complete: Become a mentor yourself…starting with your own employees.

Lead by example. For years I thought I had to adopt a hardline leadership style. Then, one day my husband read a speech I was to deliver before the company, and promptly tore it up: “Less super, more human,” he explained. In trying to sound authoritative, I ended up seeming unreal and unrelatable. No employee can get behind a leader who doesn’t come across as a genuine person. Forget trying to be awesome all the time, and settle with being “flawsome.”

Once you cop to some personal flaws, then adopt that attitude toward your company: You and your employees will inevitably make mistakes in the course of doing business; how you respond to those mistakes can end up influencing, and even defining, your brand. Danny Meyer, the celebrated New York restaurateur behind Union Square Café, Gramercy Tavern, and Shake Shack, sought to develop a reputation for impeccable service and hospitality among his staff. So, when he heard that a loyal diner at Gramercy Tavern had found a beetle in his salad, Danny felt stripped of his honor — but not of his humor. The next day, he sent the same customer, now lunching at Union Square Café, a complimentary salad adorned with a piece of paper that said ‘RINGO,” and accompanied by a server who explained, “Danny wanted to make sure you knew that Gramercy Tavern wasn’t the only one of his restaurants willing to garnish your salad with a Beatle.”

Vulnerability, once the Achilles’ heel of a fearless leader, has now become a sign of strength. Instead of bellowing from on high, today’s effective leaders encourage creativity to bubble up from below. Instead of being invincible, they allow themselves (and others) to be flawed. Instead of trying to be Super(wo)man all the time, they unleash their inner Clark Kent.

5. Eat the elephant one bite at a time

In Air Force survival school, cadets are taught to conquer moments of confusion with a memorable axiom: You eat an elephant one bite at a time. If you try to eat a 1,500-pound pachyderm in one sitting, you’ll ei­ther give up or get sick. The key to survival is to take it slow — Chew. Swallow. Repeat.

The same applies to entrepreneurs. We think of entrepreneurship as a big, scary thing, involving blind leaps of faith and sweeping acts of disruption. In fact, it’s about achieving daring dreams through prudent steps. It’s about destabilizing the world without destabilizing yourself. It’s about both embracing risk and mitigating risk.

The takeaway here is to persist when the path gets rough. Stay calm; narrow your options; get the right people on board (and get rid of the wrong); make targeted changes; accept failure.

Go slowly, but keep going.

Popular wisdom says you need money to make money. But would-be entrepreneurs who want to start a business with no money have more options than they think. In fact, startup funds may not be an entrepreneur’s main barrier to success. Twenty percent of small businesses fail within their first year because of cash flow problems, limited competitive research and low demand, explained innovation and product expert Dasanj Aberdeen during a small business webinar. “When you’re in business, you really want to understand exactly what space you’re playing in, and how that differentiates you from your other competitors out there,” she said. A fast, no- to low-cost way to understand both your place in the market and the demand for your offering is by developing a minimum viable product. 

WHAT IS A MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT?

A minimum viable product, or MVP, is a basic version of a product or service created to help a founder or business understand if it will work for a target market. You’ll want to demonstrate only the most important features of your product so you can test them with potential customers. “The goal here with an MVP is to really help you realize that you don’t have to start by spending a ton of money to be able to build a product, service or some kind of an offering,” she went on. “You can really start small.”

Aberdeen emphasized that making a profit isn’t the most important part at this step. “However, if a customer is incentivized enough, they may be willing to pay. So, depending on how much you spend, you may be able to make a small profit on your MVP.” Focus on getting customer feedback. Your MVP should be flexible enough for you to make minor tweaks and get it back into your customers’ hands.  

WHY ARE YOU MAKING THIS AND WHO ARE YOU MAKING IT FOR?

These two questions are ones founders should keep front and center as they develop new offerings. Aberdeen believes in answering these with the principles of design thinking, a user-focused approach to solving complex problems. 

Empathize

The first step is investigating who has a specific problem you can help them solve. “This is where you are observing [potential customers], you are engaging with them, you are really honing in on the emotional and psychological aspects of how they interact and how they go about their day to day,” Aberdeen explained. It’s critical to combine observation with direct questions, especially “what is it that the customer is trying to achieve? Because it may not be what you think it is,” she cautioned. It’s important that you focus on collecting data–don’t make assumptions.

Suggested tools: Typeform surveys, UserZoom

Define 

This phase is about distilling information gathered during the empathize phase. During this step, you may consider creating personas that sum up the habits and needs of your target customer. The majority of your competitive research should happen during this phase, so you can further clarify what your offering has that others don’t. 

Another helpful tool to use during the define phase is a problem statement, which can keep founders laser-focused on customers, their common sticking points and how an offering addresses them: 

Identify the customer’s situation (“when I”), their motivation (“I want”) and the expected outcome (“so I can”). 

Using a subset of runners as an example, Aberdeen shared the problem statement, “When I go running, I want to get energized with music so I can improve my pace.” 

She warned about the dangers of defining a target customer that’s too narrow or too broad, because it can mean either missing opportunities or creating a confusing product that tries to serve everyone. 

Suggested tools: MakeMyPersona, Smaply, EnjoyHQ

Ideate

Now it’s time to generate solutions that fit the people and problems previously identified. No idea is a bad idea in this step, Aberdeen said. “This is really creativity and creative problem solving. It’s really about being open, being free–you know, thinking grand and bold, ambitious. Just thinking of really big ideas, and putting them all down.” The one limit is that your ideas need to tie back to your data. 

Aberdeen also urged founders who label themselves as not creative to set that idea aside. “It’s really important that you’re not judging yourself.” Use this phase as a chance to brainstorm or create mind maps. 

Suggested tools: MindMeister, IdeaFlip, Stormboard

Prototype

Looking at the ideas from the ideate phase, it’s now time to whittle them down and figure out what minimum viable product you can actually build given your resources. Remember, the primary goal is to get your MVP into the hands of your customers so they can give you feedback. That’s why your prototype shouldn’t be too complex or too expensive to create. “You don’t want to have funding be a reason why you can’t go back because you spend everything on the first iteration of the product,” Aberdeen cautioned. 

The MVP can be something as simple as a sketch or a storyboard. If your solution is a digital product, you can share wireframes, which are a series of boxes and text to show the content, functionality and layout of a web page or app interface. You may even consider a simple landing page that explains how your product or offering will work, and collect visitors’ information so you can follow up with them. 

If you have the resources, your MVP can be more complex than a simple presentation or explanation (like a demo video, for example). “The benefits of having something that’s higher fidelity is that it’s a lot more engaging to the user, because it brings them closer to that final experience,” explained Aberdeen. Just remember, that hi-fi experience shouldn’t be too hard to tweak based on customer feedback. 

Suggested tools: Balsamiq, InVision, Boords

Test and validate

Get your product into the hands of those target customers and find out what they think. You may look into usability tests or anonymous surveys to learn how they’re experiencing your product and if it’s actually solving their problem. 

It’s essential to remember that creating an MVP is an iterative process, Aberdeen explained. Making changes and collecting information means revisiting certain steps. “It’s not linear, as it’s laid out here. You may get through ideating, prototyping and testing, and learn some new information, which makes you realize you need to go back to defining your problem.” As you continue on, you may find that you’ll have to make changes in your product, distribution model, pricing or even your target market.

Suggested tools: UserTesting, Google Optimize, Sprintbase, PingPong

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE MVP?

Once you and your customers are satisfied with the way your MVP helps them, you can begin honing in on your pricing, packaging and other nonessential product elements. In the early stage of a product launch, you’re not focusing on reaching every possible person in your target market. “It’s about getting folks who are really, really passionate about what you’re doing,” explained Aberdeen. To that end, it’s important to keep in touch with your early adopters; those are the people most likely to share your offering with their networks. They’re also a valuable feedback source.

After launching your product, you can also begin to think about adapting your offering for other target markets, by applying design thinking to some of the information you learned earlier. 

Ultimately, creating a product or a business is about keeping your customer in mind. Learning about your customer never ends. Set aside your passion for your big idea and focus on their problem. For Aberdeen, being a business owner is about “loving that problem and being able to provide a solution” to meet customers’ needs.

Determining when to add to your team is one of the most important decisions a founder makes. Hire Breakthrough founder Kimone Napier led a webinar designed to help our founder community know when to start looking for new employees, develop a hiring strategy and ask the right questions.

When to know it’s time to hire.

Growing your team is about preserving yourself as well as your company. “If you can’t take a break or vacation, that usually leads to burnout. And that’s really why, typically, a lot of businesses close within the first five years of business,” cautioned Napier. Her rule of thumb is to begin your candidate search before your business reaches a major period of growth. You want to begin hiring before you are truly desperate, so you can make the best decision for your company.

Signs of growth that need additional support can include being forced to turn down opportunities due to bandwidth. You may also notice that your customers’ experience is suffering or your sales are stagnant. Many entrepreneurs are good at teaching themselves new skills, but if Googling to learn something is taking up significant time, that’s another sign you should start thinking about a new hire. Lastly, if you’re ready to add a new revenue stream, you will need new help to stay on top of everything. 

Create your recruitment strategy.

“You need to hire in a way that’s going to help you to generate revenue, but you’ve got to give yourself time in order to do it,” explained Napier. She helps entrepreneurs and other leaders create their hiring strategies using five steps: clarify, attract, simplify, analyze, and engage. 

Napier advises founders to budget at least 42 days or 1,680 hours for their full search. Most businesses spend $7,000 to $10,000 on hiring a new team member, so budget for that, too.

Clarify

Founders and managers need to have a clear understanding of what they’re hiring someone to do and the company’s mission, values and culture. Track your or your team members’ time to account for how long projects take, so you can begin to understand how to craft the new role. Take the time to talk with your current employees to get help with the job’s title and any additional duties you may have missed. 

Job seekers are more discerning than ever about the jobs they take; having a clear mission can help your company stand out in a crowded marketplace or job board. Take stock of where you want your business to be in the next two, five or ten years. “They want to know where they can envision themselves in the future,” Napier said.  

Attract

Create a job description that contains the duties and values you clarified in the first step. Your description should also include the role your open role would be reporting to, timezone requirements if the position is remote and the pay. Even if your state doesn’t require you to list salary requirements, being transparent will keep you from spending time on a candidate who ultimately turns down an offer because the pay doesn’t align with their needs or years of experience.

Be as detailed as possible about the tools or platforms someone will need in this new job. Either a candidate will come with those skills, or they have a chance to show how their interest and initiative by researching them before they get to an interview.

A complete job description also needs to include benefits. While it’s often difficult for very small companies to offer the kind of health and retirement benefits major corporations do, founders can get creative about what they can give employees. Things like free lunch on Fridays or covering exercise plans can make a difference to applicants.

Simplify

There are so many places to advertise an open job that it can be easy to get overwhelmed. Napier recommends posting the role in three to four places to begin. Remember, posting and managing ads on various job boards require time and money; budget accordingly. Also, let your network know that you have an open role, including professional groups, former colleagues and alumni associations. “Candidates are all around you,” she said. “I want to stress that.” Ultimately, you have to create a customized approach that is manageable for you and allows you to reach candidates where they’re most likely to be. 

Next, identify the top skills or qualities you want in your new employee so you have an easier time going through the applications and deciding who to interview.

Once you’ve posted your job description, decide which questions to ask all your candidates. Not only does this simplify the interviewing process, it helps mitigate bias by measuring all applicants against the same criteria. If you have other team members, consider making them part of the interview panel and use a scorecard. These steps can also reduce bias. Napier favors situational questions because answers to them allow you to see how people approach problems. Ask, “When was a time you met a challenge?” or “what would you do in a certain situation?” Beware of asking illegal interview questions, like ones about military service, marital status, race, religion and citizenship. 

After an interview, many employers assign an assessment to get a clearer understanding of an employees’ skills. Recruitment experts suggest that if you decide to make a test part of the interviewing process, you give candidates a clear understanding of the time they should spend on it (typically just a few hours). Be sure to leave yourself time to review their work.

Analyze 

Review the information you’ve collected from candidates’ resumes, portfolios, interviews and assessment tests, if applicable. Measure that information against the criteria identified earlier. 

Engage

At this point, you should be ready to extend an offer to someone. Congratulations! Welcome them with an offer and an attorney-reviewed contractor or employment agreement. Check your state’s guidelines for the forms you need to collect from them and the correct way to notify state agencies of their employment. 

Smooth the transition.

Give your new employees set benchmarks for their first 30, 60 and 90 days in a role, and meet with them regularly to ensure they’re hitting them. “The biggest mistake that I see a lot of people make is that they will not have any of this, and the person starts to roll in it kind of like a deer in headlights,” warned Napier. Encourage their full participation in projects and idea sharing from the beginning. When employees feel like an important part of the team, they will do their best work and invest their efforts in your company for the long run.