Trends

Source: P&G and Unilever annual reports, 2019

The Trends SMB Database offers a snapshot of the financials, insights, and lessons learned by 200+ founders across a range of industries. We ask business owners and operators a number of questions, including:

Think about the biggest sports fan you know. Has that person ever bought a different brand of dish soap because it was on sale? Probably.

Now more than ever, it’s important to understand how PR works — and how you can use it to your advantage. So we put together a brief PR Strategy guide to show you the way.

Brick ‘n mortar retail had a bumpy 2019.

A number of notable retailers — including Gymboree, Payless Shoes, Forever 21, Sugarfina, and Destination Maternity — declared bankruptcy and, collectively, closed thousands of stores.

While the transition to ecommerce (“Amazon effect”) is often cited as the death knell for physical retail, in-store sales still account for ~90% of the multi-trillion dollar US retail sector.

Stainless steel blenders and tumblers are everywhere. People get them as free giveaways at conventions or as corporate gifts. But they’re not always easy to carry around, often having no lids or requiring a lid that won’t fit exactly right on another model of tumbler. 

We started exploring tiny things by sharing a single Signal: miniature cooking sets. We’ve now gone all-in on the tiny business, and found that it’s not just the miniature cooking set–it’s tiny 🏡, tiny 🎂, tiny 🌵, and just about tiny everything. We teased out over 50 tiny products and whether they’re on the 👍 or 👎.

In 2009, long before the “resale market” had picked up steam, thredUP incorporated. Now, 10 years later, they’ve raised over $300m in funding, including a new $175m round announced in August. They also introduced a new platform powering apparel resale for retailers and brands.

What You Need To Know: