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Friday 31 March 2023

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Welcome to Courier Weekly, packed with everything we've seen this week to help you start something and build a life on your terms. We've got our eye on luxury ice, the opportunity in the dusty products in your medicine cabinet and a wellbeing retreat that centers the African diaspora. Let's get into it… 🤿

🍦 Tapiwa Guzha left behind a career in molecular biology to start Tapi Tapi, an ice cream shop in Cape Town focused on nostalgic African flavors: one's inspired by spiced pilau rice, while another combines rooibos tea and okra. ‘If you come here and you don't even blink at the flavors, I haven't done something right,he says.

🍇 Pisco is following in mezcal's high-growth footsteps. After strict lockdowns severely limited Peru's exports, sales of the grape-based spirit are growing steadily. But with high demand for agave hurting mezcal supply, pisco brands are taking a different approach to growth. ‘Other industries have experienced too much growth too fast and I believe it's negatively impacted quality,’ says Alex Hildebrandt, the Peruvian-American co-founder of SUYO. ‘If we continue to invest in the vineyards, agricultural practices and the people – the producers – we will be successful as an industry.

🌱 Also keep an eye on sotol – a spirit made from the desert spoon plant, a spiky succulent native to northern Mexico and the southern US. Los Magos and Desert Door are two to watch.
🧊 Speaking of cocktails, fancy ice cubes are having a moment. Here are four brands taking frozen water to the next level.
  1. Disco Cubes designs luxury ice cubes with herbs, fruits and flowers frozen inside.
  2. La Buena makes clear ice with no air bubbles or impurities.
  3. Navy Strength Ice Co hand-cuts cubes from 140kg blocks of ice.
  4. Siligrams makes custom silicone ice-cube trays.
🖼️ Creative director Adrián Rodd renovated his family's old garage near the beach, turning it into an accommodation and studio space aimed at creatives visiting Lanzarote, Spain.

🛠️ Fynn is a financing platform for people who need help paying for training to get into hands-on trades like mechanics or carpentry.

🧘🏽‍♀️ DJ, yogi and doctor Rebekah Jade started wellbeing community Pana after volunteering at yoga classes and often being the only person of color. Now she's running yoga retreats that center the African diaspora – Pana's first retreat in Gambia was booked out in 24 hours. But, as a solo founder, she's built in ways to make sure she stays afloat: ‘I haven't got loads in the bank to just be like: oh, if it doesn't work out, it's fine,’ she says. ‘So, what I did was start registering interest before I paid the deposit.
FUND YOURSELF
Bootstrapping – starting a business without outside investment – is a big topic (bigger than we can fit in this email). Here's our guide to get started.
👗 Sample sales are all over social media as demand for luxury meets the cost-of-living crisis. But it's not just for the big players – small businesses can also tap into the hype, one sample-sale events manager told us. ‘As long as you can translate that feeling of being at a yard sale – where there are a limited number of things that are gone when they're gone – people will engage.

🧴 Cool brands are overhauling very uncool basics. Take Topicals, which treats skin flare-ups like ingrown hairs and acne scars. Revenue is up 675% year over year and it's the fastest growing skincare brand at Sephora. 

🪞 This relaxation brand is inspired by the growing practice of mirror work, a therapeutic technique focused on affirmations you say to your reflection.

🌌 Emerging astrology companies are turning old frameworks into new tools for personal exploration.

🧾 Deinfluencing videos on TikTok have left some worried about the future of retail on a platform that's boosted sales for a ton of small brands. Lucy Sambrook from membership community PR for the People says it's about going the extra step. ‘You need to show how your product works, not tell – so your customers feel like they're making their own decisions on purchasing.’ 

TIP!

Still not sure about working with traditional influencers? Try user-generated content, where you pay someone for their organic content. We get into all things UGC here.
🛍️ This app lets you keep track of everything you own – and announce to the community when you're planning on buying something new. 

🎧 Headphones from Danish brand AIAIAI are modular, meaning you can customize them based on sound preferences (and get replacement parts if something wears out).

⚱️ Travel photographer Marianna Jamadi just launched a line of ceramic commemorative urns called KUNOKAIKU. When both her parents died, she found the options for urns disappointing, so she was inspired to create something rooted in ritual.

👩🏻‍💻 Kuwait-based psychologist Latifah AlEssa built Ayadi, an online therapy platform tailored to the Middle East. In addition to qualifications, therapists must be bilingual and culturally competent.

🧈 His butter-soaked recipes led to 1.9 million TikTok followers and a buzzy London restaurant, and now chef Thomas Straker is launching a butter brand. We love a full circle.

🧑🏼‍🌾 You can become a farmer without owning land (Heritage Graziers is doing it).

📸 Singapore-based friends Jasper Phua and Marcus Chong started renting out a couple of drones from a bedroom. But the biz (and their drone stockpile) grew fast, so they quit their day jobs as police to rent out cameras, video equipment, drones and related accessories full-time. 

LEARN:

Renting your stuff could be a profitable side hustle – or a big business. Check out our guide on how you can rent out your stuff to bring in passive $$$.

Elsewhere in Courier:


🤳 On TikTok: How old is too old to start a business?
▶️ On YouTube: Welcome to the little treats economy.
💻 Online: Your supply chain needs to be transparent.
📰 In print: Feeling inspired? Our magbook will get you started.

Drop us a line any time at hello@couriermedia.com.
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