I was excited to read some of my peers’ blogs and experience their perspectives on the business world. When I came across Min Young’s post entitled Young Women in Business, I was immediately intrigued because of my similar interest in successful business women.

My interest not only encompasses business women who have experienced economic success, but also those who enjoy what they do and have a positive impact. All women in business, whether a CEO or a blogger can offer advice and expertise to benefit others.

This is relevant to me because I read blogs and watch YouTube videos almost daily to gain knowledge about consumer information and business insights. Mimi Ikonn is one of my favourite YouTubers and bloggers. She is an entrepreneur who has multiple product lines that she markets successfully online such as Luxy Hair, which makes over one million dollars annually.

In Tuesday’s class we learned about entrepreneurship and how important a clear value proposition and innovation are to the success of a business. When Mimi first started Luxy Hair, YouTube was relatively new. Mimi saw the opportunity in marketing Luxy Hair through this new platform. It was an innovative move and she also included tutorials, which helped to increase the popularity of the product. Today this YouTube channel has over three million subscribers.

Blogging is an effective marketing tool because it draws in viewers to learn about products and helps establish the blogger as a source of knowledge. Blogs provide longer-term advertising benefits than traditional paper or TV ads because people may view them via search engines several months or years after the initial post.

Mimi continues to emphasize the value of uplifting others. She is regularly posting YouTube videos with inspiring messages, as well information on how to start a business, fashion tips, travel videos and how to live an active lifestyle. Mimi, along with her husband, continues to create new products, such as The Five Minute Journal and The Productivity Planner, which are both designed to have a positive impact to peoples’ lives.

Women like Mimi have demonstrated that they can be successful in business by combining innovative tools like blogs with their enthusiasm and positive messaging around their products. I hope one day to be in a position where I am utilizing my Sauder degree to have a rewarding commerce career, where I can be innovative and have a positive impact through my business endeavours.

Word Count: 410

Sources:

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/the-benefits-of-business-blogging-ht

In addition, see hyperlinks incorporated throughout text.

Image Links

http://stayclassytoronto.blogspot.ca/2014/11/the-selection-mimi-ikonn.html

https://www.luxyhair.com

https://www.anupliftedday.com/products/productivity-planner

As our class exited COMM101 after our Finance lecture, I began to think about what stocks I could invest in and why. I looked at successful companies that have products and services I am familiar with and enjoy using. One company that fit that criterion was Pinterest, but I was surprise to find that it is not a public company. I decided to find out what makes Pinterest so successful and why they haven’t gone public.

Pinterest is a mobile app and website that allows users to discover, save and share ideas and products on boards they create.

Pinterest’s CEO Benn Silbermann confirmed in a CNBC interview that Pinterest has over 175 million users and is on track to receive 500 million dollars in revenue this year. In addition, 75% of new sign-ups are from outside the United States and over 40% of total users are men. The company has also seen a 67% growth rate since 2016.

Pinterest has been smart to partner with small business advertisers as well as incorporate app-install ads to their website generating revenue. Pinterest has also partnered with Samsung and their new features, such as ‘Visual Search’.

All of these positive business moves and evidence of stability, make Pinterest a “prime IPO target”, so why hasn’t the company gone public?

In class we learned that there are challenges associated with going public. Those reasons include, the high cost and initial listing fee, performance pressure, market volatility and a greater risk of takeover.

In addition, Benn Silbermann explained that the company has decided not to go public simply because they want to “focus on growing the business” and he is “not sure that going public would help the company retain and grow its user base.”

One major obstacle that the company faces is China’s inaccessibility to the site. China has the largest population per country in the world, and the company is missing out on a large segment of customers.

Finally, if a company goes public it has to share all of its financial statements. This is so stakeholders have a fair understanding of what they are investing in. This also makes companies vulnerable for “copycat” sites. Pinterest has already seen similar sites emerge such as Wanderfly and Gentlemint.

Overall I think Pinterest is a great option for an investor if they did go public in the future. Their business has proven to be successful and is continuing to grow. Just like any business it has considered the risks and challenges of going public and may enter the market when those risks are reduced. Maybe then I will even buy a share myself.

Words: 442

Sources:

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/04/03/pinterest-ceo-no-plans-to-go-public.html

https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/274823/is-pinterest-a-top-ipo-candidate-for-2017

https://business.pinterest.com/en/how-pinterest-works

https://canvas.ubc.ca/courses/810/files/folder/Class%20Slides?preview=111475

Images sources:

https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/new_logo_for_pinterest.php

https://www.pinterest.ca

https://smallbiztrends.com/2017/03/pinterest-lens-visual-search.htm