When Funders Said NO, She Grew To $10M+ in 5 Years with Whitney Headen, founder 19th & Park Inc.
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🍵 Here's Your Weekly Tea
This weekend, I was on a long car ride with my friend who is a DEI champion. We talked about why the entrepreneurial ecosystem continues to fail at creating equitable outcomes. Whether that be an obsession with VC when less than 1% of ANY founders will ever raise or perpetuating business practices that harm the collective. But let's be real - how can we create equity by using the same models that have proven to be inequitable and expect a different outcome? This was amplified after seeing how a community "for founders" is under fire for acting like a cult and harming women. It's not surprising. Why? They studied and leveraged cult-like tactics to grow for growth's sake. They’re not the only ones and they have and will continue to be rewarded for it because they aren't incentivized to change. Startups are actually encouraged to be reckless until they implode. The business of entrepreneurship needs a reckoning. Everybody needs to ask themselves - am I really committed to building for the good of the collective OR am I doing this for power? If we are honest, the actions of many fall into the latter. Intentions are NOT enough. Actions are everything.
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💸 HERE'S YOUR TRACTION BRIEFING
Founder: Whitney Headen | Company: 19th & Park Inc. | Location: New York, NY
Receipts: With no funding from banks and other sources, Whitney and her partners were able to bootstrap and scale to 8 figures and in only 5 years.
Here's your traction playbook...
How To Nail Business Development
Create Visibility Then Build Relationships: In their early days, 19th & Park wanted to create visibility for their business. They knew they had a killer offering, but how would they communicate that to potential clients? The first three years were all about getting people to know them and how awesome and unique their services were. In the process, they built strong relationships and built an impressive portfolio. 5 years in, that early ground work still pays off.
How To Sustain Your Business When You Have No Funding
Be Conservative With Your Funds/Bootstrap: "Being very conservative with funds was one of our main early reasons for our success." - Whitney Headen. Whitney and her partners were forced to bootstrap mainly because they couldn't get funding - even with $2.5 million in revenue. As a result they had to watch how they spent money, understand the ins and outs of accounting, and change their mindset around money and success in general. They are now self-sustaining and don't need funding anymore!
How To Diversify Your Services
Don't Do Too Much: "There was a point when we were over diversifying. We were trying to do too much and being everything for everybody. We realized very quickly that we weren’t making any money doing that and we weren’t providing a niche service." - Whitney Headen. Diversification is an unpredictable and sometimes high-stakes game. For 19th & Park, they relied on their collective skillset to decide whether or not to diversify. They also listened to what their clients wanted to decide whether it made sense to bring in a new service. Don't over-diversify, you might run yourself thin and ruin your reputation in the process.
Support Whitney in Scaling Impact: Tell a friend to tell a friend! Also, if there’s a creative who’s underappreciated and needs an opportunity, send them over to 19th and Park - they're always looking to grow awesome talent.
TRACTION TOOLS: How to get it done...
Startup Marketing for Founders: Join us for a LIVE #TractionClass
September 14th @ 1PM EST | RSVP NowFourth Floor X UBS Fellowship Program: Calling all BIPOC Founders! This is a great opportunity to grow and scale your company. Join The Fourth Floor X UBS Fellowship program and connect with a community of BIPOC founders and board candidates.
Ultimate Guide To Business Development: Find out here how the right business development strategy will grow your company.
How The Right Relationships Build Businesses: Here's how Alix Peabody used the relationships she had to help her build a multimillion dollar business.
How To Be Conservative With Your Funds: Learn here how fellow Queen Jennifer Eden self-funded and learnt how to manage her finances when scaling Tampon Tribe
To Diversify or Not To Diversify: Learn whether or not you need to diversify your business services here.
JOIN THE COMMUNITY: Join our community membership waitlist here.