5 Key strategies from businesswomen of 2022 to boost startups
Businesswomen or Female founders of the year 2022 share their key strategies that really moved the needle for their companies. All of them think that sometimes, it involves an unexpected pivot and the other times, it is embracing a bit different state of mind. Five women from this year’s female founders reveal the thing that helped their startups scale to take another level has been discussed here.
Business growth often comes from unexpected places. These five honorees from the Female founders of 2022 talked about the 5 key strategies that really helped to boost their startups scale. These are:
1. Keep experimenting.
Shilla Kim-Parker, of retail marketplace Thrilling says: “We have a culture of fast experimentation, and we constantly question the status quo. So many of our growth spurts came from an idea someone on our team came up with, testing in a small way and seeing immediate traction, and then deciding to scale. Questioning the status quo is also critical — even in a startup, you have to maintain constant vigilance that no assumption or idea becomes too sacred to challenge.”
2. Make a statement.
Miyoko Schinner, of vegan cheese brand Miyoko’s Creamery says: “Because we were doing something that was unique, we got a lot of publicity out the door. We were called ‘the Tesla of the natural foods industry.’ Also, we started out with premium products — premium cheese wheels that were expensive. That made a statement. That got people’s attention. We didn’t dumb it down.”
3. Always try to be pitching.
Kayla Castañeda, of beverage company Agua Bonita says: “Pitch competitions helped us take off. We were broke and bootstrapping, so I entered into a bunch, and I won every single one. It gave us a half million dollars in nondilutive cash. But it also gave me three minutes to tell an audience, every single time, about our brand and our story. You get only 10 seconds on the shelf but having those three minutes helped us make a lot of brand evangelists.”
4. Perfecting the pivot.
Katharine Lau, of self-storage company Stuf says: “The No. 1 thing that really helped the company take off was revisiting our pricing model. In the early days, I was scared to make big changes, but now I want to try everything. And if we fail, we learn and move on. I would much rather pivot quickly than let things drag on.”
5. Learn to say no.
Jerrica Kirkley, of transgender health service Plume says: “Prioritization and delegation — those are things that are much easier said than done, and they take a lot of practice. But that’s really what it comes down to. I think there are a lot of us — especially those who have a big idea and really want to carry it to fruition — who want to do everything for everybody. It can be important to say no so you can ultimately further the mission.”
