Insights
Ideas, frameworks, and arguments about building better businesses.
Short, practical reads on strategy, marketing, coaching, and the craft of running a family business. New essays monthly.
Operations
Running your family business by the numbers: the KPIs that actually matter
Most family business owners run on instinct and the occasional look at the bank account. Here's the dashboard that replaces the guesswork.
Ownership
The three-legged stool: family, employees, and community
Family businesses exist to support three things, not just one. Here's how to think about whether you're making enough for all three — and what it means when you're not.
Leadership
Hiring outside the family: how to do it without breaking trust
Every growing family business hits the ceiling where you have to hire people who aren't blood. Here's how to build that trust — and what not to do.
Family Dynamics
The old heads don't want to change: navigating generational mindset shifts
Every 2nd-generation owner runs into it. The founders built something that works. The younger generation sees things that need to change. Here's how to get past the standoff.
Leadership
Building 1:1s that don't break when you're out
Most owners run their business by being around. Take them out of the building for a week and things slip. The fix is a communication rhythm the business owns, not one you do.
Strategy
Why most strategic plans fail in the first 90 days
The problem isn't the plan — it's the handoff. Here's the bridge that separates strategy from execution.
Coaching
The three questions I ask every new coaching client
They sound simple. They aren't. If you can answer them cleanly, you're further ahead than most owners.
Marketing
The audit every small business should run once a year
A simple framework for pressure-testing your marketing — what to keep, what to kill, what to double down on.
Leadership
Year-end employee assessments: how to actually do them
Most family businesses skip them, rush them, or turn them into formalities. Here's what a real assessment looks like — and why it's worth doing right.
Operations
The tribal knowledge problem: building processes that outlast the people
Every family business runs on tribal knowledge. Bob knows how to do the thing, but it's only in Bob's head. Here's how to get it out.
Ownership
Putting enough money away: the owner treasury question
Family business owners reinvest or distribute. Rarely do they build a personal treasury that outlasts the business. Here's why that's a mistake.
Operations
How to build a budget a family business will actually follow
Most budgets get made in December and ignored by March. Here's what a working budget looks like — and how to build one the team uses.
Leadership
The hardest skill leaders never build: having the conversation
Avoidance is the single biggest leadership failure I see. Here's what the tough conversation actually looks like — and how to have it.
Ownership
You don't need to know everything (and never did)
The founder trap: feeling like you have to be the smartest person in every room. Here's why that belief is holding your business back.
Leadership
Why “I’ll just teach them what I know” isn’t training
Most owners default to teaching people themselves. That caps the business at what one person knows. The shift: invest in people so they have skills you don't.
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