#66 The Least Boring Weekend Newsletter

February 26, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes

Good Morning readers! ☕

Have a crAzy weekend! 🤪

The Marvel superstar Scarlett Johanson has officially shared the first look at her skincare line, The Outset, after launching it in June of last year.👁 

Scarlett Johansson's new skincare line has sparked a debate about celebrity beauty brands' oversaturation. Fans congregated on Twitter🐦 to discuss Scarlett's initiative after the launch of The Outset this week, with many feeling a little tired by the advent of yet another celeb-founded cosmetics line. ( Are you tired 😪?) 

Almund's newsletter will let you in on all kinds of tips for D2C brands and much much more. 

Alright, so let's get right to it! 

This newsletter is going to dive into :

👾Meta launches Metaverse Culture Series

🌏 Global Metaverse Market to Reach US$758.6 Billion by the Year 2026

👌 Financing Solutions 101 For Your DTC Business 

📜 Top reads for this week

👩🏻‍💼 Plenty of jobs awaiting you!

So, scroll down already to THE VERY END & read up on what's yet to come your way!

_____________________________

D2C x CRYPTO

Black History Month is coming to an end, and various corporations have created a plethora of content based on the triumphs and achievements of Black people all around the world.

To kick off this new series, Meta enlisted the help of eight different creators through Horizon Workrooms to investigate how the metaverse may help boost Black culture and innovation, resulting in "Black Future," a manifestation of their entire debate. 🗣

Gabe Gault, a budding muralist, collaborated with Meta on an original art installation named "I Am A Man" 👱 for the company's newly-launched Metaverse Culture Series, emphasizing the significance of the annual acknowledgment.

He explained that his work as a traditional artist is just as important as the virtual reality projects he'll be working on, such as the Glass City 🌇 River in Toledo, Ohio, which will be the largest in the United States once completed.

Although Meta has already created gaming experiences with Horizon Worlds, this is the company's first foray into art and culture for its metaverse.

According to a news release, the Metaverse Culture Series will provide "a more accessible entry point into the future of technology for historically excluded people, ensuring the culture and different viewpoints are woven into the metaverse's fabric."📜 

“You can go to a museum, you can see artifacts, you can see writings of old history, but it’s one thing to see those visually, and I think it’s another to kind of be in a 3D environment created around that,” Gault said. “There’s just a way to now create that kind of world and experience (in) a fun, interactive and educational way.”( History in 3D, wow 😍 ) 

——————————————————-

Financing Solutions 101 For Your DTC Business 

They say money isn’t everything, but it sure helps when running a business!

Financing as a direct-to-consumer brand is tricky and a whole lot different than reeling in investors to fund any other kind of business. The biggest reason is the lack of middlemen. With any other kind of business, the middlemen cater to the product handling and distribution processes. However, DTC brands need to set up distribution channels to get their products to their customers. Thus, financing, even during the early stages, is a must. 

Here are some ways DTC brands can effectively finance their inventory. 

#1 Bootstrapping

Bootstrapping refers to financing your own business, using money from your savings, or borrowing money from friends and family. For many brands, it’s the quickest way to get things going when setting up a new business. A survey showed that 74% of brands preferred bootstrapping their DTC business.

The only downside of this financing solution is that it limits the amount of capital that you can raise for your business. After a while, you would need external financing to expand your operations. 

#2 Angel Investors

They are investors who finance capital for budding startups or businesses, usually in exchange for a percentage of ownership of the company in the form of equity. 

#3 Venture Capital

Venture capital is the first choice for most new businesses who wish to scale up right from the start. Institutions invest in promising new entrepreneurs to cover costs for scaling their business, fast-tracking processes, and cover marketing and additional costs. 

#4 Crowdfunding

It is a way to raise money for a new project or a business idea by putting forth a pitch in front of several people who wish to and can contribute small amounts of money to kickstart your business venture. It’s an easy way to get your DTC business going that also doubles as a great marketing tool.

#6 Revenue Based Funding 

With venture capitalism dying down (since no one wishes to dilute their brand’s equity in the rudimentary stages of scaling it up), many are turning to revenue-based funding or RBF. This financing solution runs on a profit-sharing investment structure where the invested sum is repaid over time through the incoming revenue cash flow. For instance, if an investor invests a certain sum on marketing, with each sale the business makes, a small percentage is given back to the investor to repay the loan. 

With so many options to choose from, it is only fair to say that most budding entrepreneurs would be beyond confused when looking for financing options to grow their business. And it isn’t going to get any easier. 

With the world falling more in love with DTC brands, the growth in the consumer pool has been bigger than ever. Hence, there is a hurdle in the cash flow to the growing brands of the DTC industry. To ensure you don’t get stuck while trying to grow your business operations, avoid relying on financing solutions that require assessments to get the funds moving forward. Instead, look for options that suit your business strategy and goals the best and can help you grow your business sustainability. 

We know it’s easier said than done. So we’ve come up with a few things to keep in mind when you’re trying to look for investments to grow your DTC business.

🏷️Proof Of Product Sales

The DTC industry is cutthroat. If you’re not able to show the growing number of sales, you might not even have a chance at getting invested. It is ideal to fine-tune your product to meet your customers’ needs and demands to increase sales before approaching an investor. 

🤔Understand The Finance Blueprint

Diving head-first into bagging an investment would only leave you confused. Take time to understand financial management to be clear about how much money your business needs, the reason and the goals, and the ideal investment solution to make the most of the money you raise. 

📝 Hit The Mark With Strategy

Investors hate confused entrepreneurs. If you aren’t clear about your business processes and strategy, how can you expect them to trust you with their money? Best looking for investments, find the right business strategy, and be clear about the metrics every step of the way. 

📈Keep Scalability In Mind 

Anyone looking to invest money into your current business would love to learn more about how you wish to make it a multi-million dollar business venture. Reel them in with your plan to scale your business multiple folds. 

💲Get Profit-Ready First

If you’re not profitable yet, it’ll be a smarter move to stabilize your business and try to generate revenue enough to show profitability. Investors wouldn’t love the idea of investing in a company that doesn’t show any scope to scale up its profits soon.

Learning more about financial solutions is the first step to scaling up your direct-to-consumer business. Get your brand investment-ready, stabilize your current cash flow to smoothen out any hiccups in the investment process, and strategize ahead of time to get ready to accelerate your processes, helping you scale up, right when you get your inventory funded!

——————————————————-

WHAT’S COOKING, HUH?

Metaverse is the latest term to get the IT industry's attention (Probably the first line of every Metaverse article)😂, and it has the potential to provide enormous development prospects for marketers by allowing them to provide advanced immersive and interactive digital experiences to their clients. 

 The growth of NFTs 🎟 and online events are opening up a world of possibilities for the metaverse and related technologies.

The transition to the Metaverse is on the verge of happening( It's almost there). Several aspects of this open-source platform have progressed to the point where they can be smoothly combined to investigate the idea of building a parallel virtual reality.

The growth of NFTs and online events are opening up a world of possibilities for the metaverse and related technologies. ☝💪 

The conversation about metaverse has re-emerged, and with the likes of Meta, Google, and Microsoft joining the bandwagon, the dialogue has grown stronger and is heading towards actualization in terms of rising interest in funding 💰 

The sector is integrating to gain strategic advantages, and some companies are rebranding to sharpen their market focus. 🎯 

The promise of the metaverse is built on the disruption of existing technologies and the integration of multiple platforms for value creation in a virtual universe of possible applications spanning work, entertainment, finance, trade and exchange of services, virtual travel, and digital engagements in an immersive self-sustaining ecosystem powered by digital currencies and enabling edge computing.💵💱 

Despite the COVID-19 controversy, the worldwide Metaverse market, which was anticipated to be worth US$107.1 billion in 2020, is expected to expand to US$758.6 billion by 2026( Woah), with a CAGR of 37.1 percent throughout the analysis period. ( Are you all Meta-ready? 🤣) 

——————————————————-

TOP READS FOR THIS WEEK

🍃 Wayfair's revenue falls 11.4% in Q4 as its losses widen

🐦 Allbirds plans entry into wholesale to raise brand awareness

🎨 Cereal Club Reveals Art for NFT Collection, Acquires Cereal.com

💭 Kimberly-Clark Acquires Majority Interest in Thinx

👞 Nike moves away from Foot Locker in shift to DTC

——————————————————-

In need of a  job? We’ve got plenty awaiting you!

——————————————————-

CHOOSE SUCCESS below and have a great week! ‘Get that D2C business runnin’.