As of 2016, it is estimated that there are now 11.3 million (11,313,900) women-owned businesses in the United States, employing nearly 9 million people (8,976,100) and generating over $1.6 trillion ($1,622,763,800,000) in revenues.
The future is truly female. It's exciting to see so many women taking lead in the business world and finding a way to leave their mark. Women are now the majority owners of 38% of the country's businesses. This is a 29% increase since 2007 and these companies are employing 8% of the nations private sector workforce. More and more women are taking the opportunity to launch a business and many are including a tech component to their brand. Whether it be an app or shoppable site or a business focused on engineering, we are seeing women making an impact in the tech based startup world.
Many women are also looking at the traditional business models and throwing them out the window, opting for modern tech based models or models that are still being developed. There is a significant shift in how people are doing business and in how consumers are consuming which in turn requires business leaders to find ways to keep up with the evolving market place.
There is a shift away from a pay-per-product model to a subscription model. From Netflix to Dollar Shave Club, people are looking for a simpler and hassle-free shopping experience. This model has been so successful because it offers flexibility. The subscription economy companies are basically allowing their customers the adaptability to either pay as they go, or pay per subscription with monthly, or more long-term contract.
One company that is looking to disrupt the tea industry is Sips by. Not only are they offering their customers flexibility through a subscription model, they are also engaging with them in a fun way by personalizing each order. Sips by™ is a startup based in Austin, Texas, founded by a small group of tea lovers who wanted discovering tea to be fun, personalized, and affordable. During this time of gift giving, this is a great start up brand to support and a unique gift idea!
The Sips by team hopes to inspire its customers to explore the big wide world of tea - and that they're ready to be introduced to new teas, brands, and friends along the way. I learned about the founders during Halfstack's time at Project Entrepreneur and made it a point to connect with the company's founder: Staci Brinkman to learn more about her journey into entrepreneurship. Keep reading for the full interview:
1. Can you please tell us a bit about yourself, your background and what led you to pursue launching your company?
I’m a first generation Texan, earned my MBA from SMU, and have a background in eCommerce. Starting in 2013, I was consulting for a number of start-ups, working hard for other people, helping turn their ideas into realities. Sips by is an opportunity to work on solving a problem that was personal for me – and the first business I’ve launched/owned
2. Can you tell us more about how the idea for sip by came about? Was there just a spark of inspiration or did you experience something that led you to pursue building on this idea? I started Sips by to make tea fun, accessible, and affordable. I’ve been a tea enthusiast for almost five years (now full-blown tea-obsessed), and I was spending A LOT of time researching brands, tea types, and teas available in the market (at the store and online). I also was spending more money than I would have liked on shipping each time I found a new brand I wanted to try, or a tea that a specific brand blended or brought to market. Also – being able to determine quality was a big pain point for me when all I could do is look online. Different brands source differently, and blend differently – it’s hard to tell (from a consumer perspective, online or at the grocery store) what you’re getting before you actually buy the full-size product at the store (talk about tea growing stale on your shelf because you ended up not liking it after buying 20 bags/sachets or 8 ounces of it!); or, you buy a 0.5 ounce sample online, spend $10-$15+ and hope you like it once it gets there. Our goal is to take the leg-work out of all the time, and wasted money that goes into a tea-curious person or tea lover discovering teas they’ll love!
3. Where do you get your creative inspiration and what does your creative “process” look like as you develop your products and flavors? I receive a lot of inspiration from my fraternal twin sister. She’s a graphic designer and Creative Director in Dallas, Texas. She’s brilliant and has a beautiful eye for branding. She’s been amazing to bounce ideas off of as it relates to brand and packaging. On products and flavors, I try to remove a personal bias and instead rely on objective data we collect from our account holders based on their tea profile preferences. Our team personally samples each product before we send it out to customers; and we aim to have a focus on organic, pure tea, and – when a placement is flavored - that it has natural ingredients blended with the tea (e.g. cinnamon, vanilla bean, cacao instead of artificial flavoring). It’s a collaborative process among our team. Important to mention: Melanie Mock recently joined us – she’s credentialed in tea, and jokingly our in-house tea snob. Her knowledge is amazing and it’s a fun balance to my more novice approach to teas and flavors we draw in to our product portfolio.
4. What are your goals for your brand in the next 2-5 years? How do you hope to be making an impact or what kind of growth are you looking forward to?
We’d love to scale our personalized tea discovery box, and partner with hundreds of tea brands who align with our own to continue to share the world of tea with our customers. We aim to sell full size products and tea ware next year. We also will consider a robust international offering that helps alleviate shipping costs abroad. Farther out, we have our eyes on additional complementary product lines that, similar to tea, are hard to navigate at the grocery store.
5. Are there people, mentors or figures that have made an impact in your life and career? If so, how?
Most definitely. I’ve loved having the opportunity to work for and along side strong women. The ones that stand out most to me are those I met in my MBA program.
6. What are your thoughts on being a woman in the competitive world of startups? What are the struggles women face in entrepreneurship and how do you think we can change the narrative when it comes to funding opportunities for women?
I don’t think of it, honestly. I’m focused on doing what needs to be done to grow my business. I’ve heard that women experience more difficulty than men in fundraising – and I’ve just started down that path with Sips by. I may have a different perspective on this in six months.
7. How is your brand remaining innovative when it comes to the product/sub boxes industry?
We’re the only personalized service that’s also brand agnostic. We wrote an algorithm that pairs our subscribers with teas they have a higher probability of loving, from brands around the world. The algorithm adjusts based on a subscribers ratings of the teas they try.
8. What kind of obstacles have you faced as a business owner over the years and how have you overcome?
It’s a marathon, not a race. I consciously make an effort to find balance in my day-to-day (haha, and I need to remind myself of this). I need to give myself time to clear my head and engage in self care. Doing this makes me more effective for my work (and happier).
9. What has been your greatest success or proudest moment to date?
Pushing the ball forward for Sips by, seeing it come together has been insanely rewarding.
10. What kind of advice would you give to someone looking to launch his or her own business? Anything they should really think about before they take the leap?
Believe in yourself, and give it a try.
11. Finally, where can we learn more about your brand online? How can our readers place an order for the sips by subscription boxes?
www.sipsby.com
Explore premium teas from different brands around the world, custom-tailored to your preferences. Receive (or gift!) 15+ cups monthly for $15.
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