Here is this week’s biweekly edition of The Pursuit newsletter, which brings the latest news and commentary about small business and entrepreneurs straight to your inbox on Wednesday mornings. Click here to get on the newsletter list!
Happy New Year! I hope you all had a lovely holiday with family and friends. May 2022 bring good health and happiness.
Still deciding on your New Year’s resolutions? It’s easy to put pen to paper and half-heartedly commit to reading more books or taking more breaks—it’s challenging to follow through. That’s why it’s important to set manageable goals.
To get you started, here are five examples of realistic New Year’s resolutions for small business owners. For instance, digital presence became more important than ever before during the pandemic, so why not expand your business’ digital footprint? It may seem like a daunting goal, but by starting small and focusing on one aspect at a time—say, a social media platform—it’ll be much easier to accomplish.
If you’re searching for something you can tackle right away, join a small business organization. It’s a great way to network across industries and can also lead to new business opportunities.
Story Spotlight
Baby food startup Yumi has landed $67 million in Series B funding to expand its product offerings. The company, which has raised $79 million in funding to date, counts the founders of Warby Parker, Harry’s and Uber, as well as celebrities like Gabrielle Union and Snoop Dogg among its previous investors.
Key quote: “Many investors were skeptical. They questioned just how deeply parents would care about the specific amounts of iron or folate in their children’s meals.” — Angela Sutherland, cofounder and CEO, Yumi
Must-Reads Across Forbes
A new year means tax season is almost upon us. A good accountant will help small business owners and entrepreneurs file their tax returns, but a great one will also provide advice on things like securing small business financing, improving cash flow and boosting revenues or cutting costs. Here’s how CPAs can help small businesses going into 2022.
Nate Blecharczyk, Airbnb’s technical cofounder, created the $100 billion home-share phenom’s software and marketplace blueprints. Now he’s using his engineering mindset and an army of data scientists to solve the company’s most challenging problems.
The funding challenges that small businesses have faced during the pandemic made it clear that Main Street needs new paths to capital. Forbes contributor Rohit Arora expects that in 2022, with fintech partnerships on the rise, banks and community-based lenders will work to help a broader range of small businesses.
If your small business isn’t on social media, now is a good time to start. TikTok overtook Google as the most-visited website in 2021. The social media behemoth is a good place to interact with customers and it should be a part of your marketing and recruitment strategy in 2022. Here’s more small business tech news you should know.
Retool CEO David Hsu took an unusual approach to his low code software startup’s Series C funding round, raising just $20 million from fellow founders like Stripe’s John and Patrick Collison and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman in a bid to limit dilution for Retool employees. The new funding doubles the San Francisco-based company’s valuation at $1.85 billion, not including the new capital.