Creative Strategies to Fundraise Without Sacrificing Ownership

Amanda McClements made a major pivot in her career, from journalism to retail store owner. She also honed her own taste in home goods to bring customers unique and handcrafted gifts. Amanda shares how she built a community of other small business owners that she could go to for advice, and hosts advices to foster connection between makers and customers.  Here's some of her tips for other small retailers.

Discover how True Classic built a billion-dollar apparel brand through content marketing, Facebook ads, and comedy-driven creative that converts.Watch on Shopify Masters's YouTube channel here. For more on True Classic and show notes, click here. 

Founders Michelle Jimenez-Meggiato and Andrea Meggiato unveil their launch plans for Breakfast Cups, their first expansion outside of their hero product Pizza Cupcakes. To set up for this launch, they've rebranded their food company to Incredifulls, found a nationwide retailer to stock the new product, and set up a new brand ambassador program. Michelle and Andrea share the thinking behind their new product and what it took to get to this point in the business. 

Steven Farag turned a college side hustle into a sports merchandising powerhouse. Discover how Campus Ink’s print-on-demand model, student-led marketing, and strategic partnerships—including one with Mark Cuban—are transforming the way college athletes profit from their personal brands.For more about Campus Ink and the NIL Store: https://www.shopify.com/blog/campus-ink-nil-merchandiseTo see more video interviews, subscribe to the Shopify Masters Youtube channel.  

Diaspora Co. founder Sana Javeri Kadri disrupted the 500-year-old spice industry by paying farmers fairly and establishing community-driven growth to build a multimillion-dollar ethical business.For more on Diaspora Co. and show notes click here. 

Ecommerce expert and agency founder Andrew Faris shares how he uses "P&L design" to increase margins and run online businesses efficiently. He's now applying some of these strategies to launch his own upcoming consumer brand. Andrew shares his tips for iterating and testing creative, spending more efficiently on ad creative, and saving on variable costs like manufacturing and shipping.For more about Andrew Faris: https://www.shopify.com/blog/andrew-faris-pnl 

Original Duckhead grew by targeting retailers first, creating risk-free partnerships, and using customer data to boost online sales.For more on Original Duckhead and show notes click here. 

Jessy Klein-Fofana was a beauty brand founder before starting her PR agency, LaRue. Her clients include Health-Ade Kombucha, Ban.do, Unbound Merino, Mustard Made, and more. Here's some of the strategies she uses with to build brand awareness and create media moments.

Sisters Niki and Ritika Shamdasani launched Sani to fill a gap in the South Asian fashion market—one that forced 82% of South Asian Americans to travel abroad for wedding attire. Discover how they secured funding and grew Sani into a thriving business.For more on Sani and show notes click here. 

Divy Ojha became passionate about creating a solution for food waste as a university student, and began building relationships to start a grocery delivery business. He discusses approaching potential partners and maintaining good relationships, plus the big change he made to make Odd Bunch's value proposition better for both customers and suppliers.For more about Odd Bunch and show notes: https://www.shopify.com/blog/odd-bunch-relationshipsSubscribe to the Shopify Masters YouTube channel for video interviews.