Does the vaccine mandate affect your SMB?

BAGEL BREAK

Better Brand's $1M+ run rate

Aimee Yang dreamed of a world where she didn’t have to worry about weight gain or health issues. She constantly struggled with balanced eating and her weight. And she’s not alone. 

In the US, 40% of adults are considered obese. An additional 32% are overweight. And in 2018, the CDC found that 49.1% of American adults had tried to lose weight in the previous year. 

After a lifetime of struggling with healthy eating, Aimee wanted to redefine her relationship with food - most notably, refined carbs. So, she founded the food tech startup Better Brand. 

“[Better Brand] aims to create a world where consumers can] eat freely without restriction or worry,” shared Aimee in an interview with Forbes. “We aim to use our breakthroughs in the food space to drive forward a movement of empowering and inspiring a world free of unnecessary barriers and limitations.”

After developing Grain-changing TechnologyTM, the company can remove refined carbs from traditionally carb-heavy foods. And their first order of business: The Better Bagel.

With a bit of luck, Aimee and her team quickly developed a plant-based bagel with the equivalent protein of 4 eggs and the carbs of only 2 banana slices. This past summer, they launched The Better Bagel on their online store (a 4-pack costs $18).

And the product has caused a wave of excitement, leading to lots of earned media (content written about a company that wasn't paid for or written by the company). As a result, Better Brand has already hit a $1M run rate (a prediction of annual revenue based on current numbers). And it's only been 3 months!

That’s because The Better Bagel proves the power (and profitability) of delivering a product consumers actually want. 

“We’re lucky in that the product speaks for itself and addresses a very real pain point that a lot of people feel on a daily basis,” Aimee explained. “That won us a lot of earned media and customer excitement, and we’re just getting started!”

👉 Catch the full interview.

HEADS UP

US vaccine mandate goes into effect on Nov. 22

On September 9, the White House announced that any company with 100+ employees must require that everyone is vaccinated or takes a weekly COVID test. Companies must also provide the PTO to get the vaccine (and recover from it) or take the weekly test.

The mandate goes into effect on November 22. And businesses that fail to abide will face a $14,000 fine per violation. It is still unclear how these requirements will be strictly enforced. 

Many small business leaders have mixed feelings about the mandate, calling it "overdue" or "unconstitutional." But the mandate falls under the emergency provision in the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. And it does not apply to most US small businesses. 

The Small Business Association (SBA) defines a small business as any company with less than 500 employees. And according to SBA, roughly 31.7M US businesses (or 99.9%) don't meet the mandate's 100-employee threshold. 

So, if you're in that majority, it's still totally up to you whether you require employee vaccinations or not.

MATCH-MAKER

How to get the right people in the right roles

People planning is probably the biggest responsibility (and challenge) that business leaders have. And it comes down to hiring the right people, then getting them in the right roles.

Serial entrepreneur Dan Martell realized this early in his career and used it to build and scale 5 successful SaaS startups over the last 16 years. Today, he’s the managing partner at High Speed Ventures and helps fellow entrepreneurs scale their businesses. 

One way he’s been able to do that is by trademarking his People Planner Process methodology. AKA a simple and proven 5-step strategy that gets the right people in the right positions (all while planning for the next 12 months). 

That’s because his 5-step process focuses on:

• Which employees are in the right role - and who’s not
• What responsibilities does each employee own
• What roles you’ll need to hire within the next year

When you know all of that, you’ll have everyone on your team doing what they do best. And when that happens, your company will be ready to scale.

👉 Try the People Planner Process for free.

TL;DR

This week's highlight reel

• And they’re back! Yelp said 85% of US SMBs that temporarily shut down during COVID have reopened. Plus, new business openings have topped pre-pandemic levels.

• That’s funny. TikTok emerged as a frontrunner for modern work-life commentary as Millennials satirize their corporate dread on the app. The videos give a new look into what young workers really want from employers.

• Vroom, vroom. Gaming startup Grid Rival raised a $3M seed round to build a motorsports fantasy league for Formula One's fast-growing US fanbase.

• Slam dunk. The NBA landed the first cryptocurrency sponsorship with the trading software Coinbase. Details on the deal have not been disclosed.