A few weeks ago, I was at a store that didn’t carry the local coffee I usually buy, so I grabbed the big national brand that felt like the next-best option. I was surprised it was a whole $7 cheaper. Grocery shopping has been leaving me with a bit of sticker shock lately and it was eye opening to see what a big difference a few similar swaps might make. A few days later I was making my coffee and noticed that what I had assumed was a full pound was only 11 ounces. It had been packaged in a...

A lot of people start their business because they have a vision for how things should work. They want to create something better than what they’ve experienced themselves, whether that means treating employees fairly, contributing to their community, or filling a void. Having a strong vision often provides the energy and momentum needed to get a business started, but bringing a vision to life is only one part of running a business. Long‑term stability comes from the operational structure...

Running a business requires keeping a hand on a lot of different things. Managing the daily minutia can mean losing sight of the big picture, leaving critical weaknesses in the broader operation. Recently, a client came to me in a state of paralysis. They needed help explaining the state of their business to an investor and were panicked that they couldn’t answer the investor’s questions. The business had been declining for a while. They were stuck in the weeds of daily operations, and they...