Jack Stratten

Consumer behaviour is pretty predictable - thank goodness - as this game's hard enough! 💡 I've found that a great tip when predicting consumer product demand is look back at the previous 12-14 months sales cycle. All things being equal I find it a good 80% guide to what's very likely to happen. 20% uncertainty I'd say is the competitive landscape, the economy (to an extent) and in this case - the BIG one - the British weather! 🌧 🌦 🌂 😳 🙈 Then factor in /- 10% if the retail price is comparable. Of course a price crash causes a run on stocks - the usual stuff. But as always don't sink too much cash into one single SKU - further diversify risk. And when demand kicks in up goes the price - the usual demand economics 📊 📈 There are various levers to pull as #GotToKeepOnMoving But at the end of the day, it is just all a game! Here's to a sunnier June 🌞 #eCommerce #SmallBusiness #Entrepreneur #FBA

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Ever wondered what Aggregators or Holding Cos are, or how they actually work? I recently chatted with Warwick Blunt from Cedar Brands for the inside scoop. 1. Scale Small Brands: Aggregators focus on acquiring smaller brands with potential. These are businesses that have shown some success but need guidance to scale further. 2. Omnichannel Growth: They apply their expertise in omnichannel e-commerce and physical retail to accelerate growth. 3. Shared Services: They tend to use a shared service model provides essential resources and support, from marketing and logistics to customer service and technology, helping brands grow efficiently. They aim to save costs through economies of scale. 4. Long-term Partnerships or Acquisitions: Sometimes they will partner with entrepreneurs who want to stay involved or offer full acquisitions for those ready to move on. This flexibility allows them to cater to different business needs. One of the many things a Fractional CFO can help founders with is getting ready for an exit, and acquisition planning. Shoot me a DM if you'd like to learn more?

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Sharing My Experience with International Email Campaigns Let’s be honest—writing emails for an international audience can be a bit of a minefield! 😅 It’s not just about getting the grammar right; it's about understanding who you’re talking to and what makes them tick. After living and working in 6 countries myself, here are a few things I’ve picked up along the way: 👉 Know Your Regions: Not all audiences are the same, even within the same country. What works in London might fall flat in Manchester! The trick is to understand those little regional quirks and tweak your content accordingly. 👉 Speak Their Language: And I don’t just mean English! People love to hear from you in their native tongue. For example, Catalonians appreciate emails in Catalan, not just Spanish or English. A little effort in their preferred language shows respect and goes a long way in building connections. 👉 Mind the Cultural Nuances: Brits, for instance, enjoy a bit of dry humour, but that might not fly everywhere. In Japan, for example, a more formal approach is better. It’s about knowing when to be cheeky and when to keep it straight! At the end of the day, getting your international campaigns right is more than just translation. It's about really getting to know your audience, understanding their culture, and crafting messages that truly resonate with them. What’s been your biggest challenge with international email marketing? Would love to hear your thoughts or any tips you’ve picked up! 👇 https://lnkd.in/egFQ8qaE #AudienceEngagement #CrossCulturalCommunication #MarketingTips #BusinessGrowth #CustomerExperience

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ChatGPT3 will glug 4 times more water than initially predicted.... Or so I read in an article by The Times last week... I hadn't even thought about the environmental or sustainability impact of AI as of course we naturally use it online (imagining clouds and other-worldly ether-wielding black holes capturing our data) and as such don't even question its capacity or need for hardware... With vast amounts of water needed, it's not just our human thirst for more and more right now that's the problem, it's also that of our tech too, as the tech giants house their data centres and with demand being so high there is an increased need for AI, which increases the big drinking problem that that brings... In the article, it states that writing a 1000 word article for example using ChatGPT, would require X1 500ml bottle of water which is the equivalent to X7 full charges of an iPhone Pro Max.... The training part of GPT-3 needs 5.4m litres of water which translates to approx the annual usage of 26 UK homes (based on a family of 4 people)... It's the servers that need cooling for the AI tech and they're essentially like radiators, which isn't new (although is new news to me) but with AI processing large swathes of data the demand of cooling resources is much larger and with Microsoft releasing figures in September for GPT-3 the requirement is said to be at least four times of what was needed in 2020. Match that with the water needed for cooling and that's a mounting quantity to enable the tech to function at optimum levels in order for it to meet our demands... Not only that, it has to be drinking water quality because of the risk of damage to servers, so there's a purity element to this too. With the rise of AI and with the wonders it can offer us as a society, I question how much we've thought about the impact upon our environments and with more data centres expected, how will we combat this (despite 2030 water positive pledges being made by tech), what changes will be made and how will they be enforced to ensure our communities resources are protected from energy intensive centres? Had you realised the impact that AI poses in terms of sustainability of resources? What do you think? Is this the first time you'd heard about this? Share your thoughts in the comments and I'll post the article link there too if you want a little further (not light) reading.... PS. Don't get me wrong, I love tech and the benefits that AI brings as much as the next person but this is an aspect that's not widely discussed or likely that lots of people know about that needs addressing. #AIsustainability #AIimpacts #Datacentres #Businesscopy #Environmentalimpacts #businesscontent #messagingstrategist #AI

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"£50 is too expensive!" few people told me recently - so let's talk about marginal gains in business... (Not a promo - REAL business talk here) 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 - 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. I've had discussed some software to help with processes with a number of people recently and the general consensus was that many are unlikely to pay £30, £50 or £100 for a piece of software... let alone any more than this. 𝗜𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 - 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗬𝗘𝗘 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗦𝗘𝗧 Why? Because in business there is no such thing as 'too expensive' -> There is only 'not enough value' or 𝗡𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. 𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦: You have £3000 product. You sell 3 of them per month, equalling to £108,000 per year in revenue. It takes you around 10 hours of sales time to sell each - or 30 hours per month = 1 hour per day. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝗮 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝟭𝟬% 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿? Just 6 minutes a day saved. 6 MINUTES. Worthless! 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗽𝗶𝗱 - 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗵. 6 minutes a day is 180 minutes = 3 hours / month 36 hours per year 3.6 extra sales 𝗜𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘁? 3.6 sales = £10,800 per year extra. That's £10,800 of revenue gained or saved. From just 6 minutes a day, or £300 / £600 / £1200 per year. 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁? At £1200 translated to £10,800 it's 900% return. And that assumes you only have 1 sales rep. A good system scales with team growth. PS. Have I changed your mind on what is expensive and what isn't?

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🚨 New Blog Post Alert! 🚨 We've just published a detailed blog post on a critical development involving Innovate UK and its recent decision to reverse course on funding for female founders. After initially cutting the promised grants in half, Innovate UK faced significant backlash from the startup community - leading to a full reinstatement of the funding. In this post, I explore: ✔ The events that led to Innovate UK's decision ✔ The broader implications for female founders ✔ The urgent need for transparency and reform in funding processes Don't miss out on this important discussion about equity in innovation! Thanks to Let's Fund More Women Emma Jarvis Becky Lodge Bridget Greenwood and all founders, investors and allies who stepped up and pressed to make this happen. 👉 Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/e8DqXnUC Female Tech Leaders Community support female founders! #femaletechleaders #FemaleFounders #Entrepreneurship #Funding #WomenInBusiness #Startups #Equality #InnovateUK

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