Category: Applied and Practice

Selling the Family Business? Prepare the Family for What Comes Next

A business sale changes more than ownership. Families must also rethink governance, roles, wealth, identity, and purpose after the company is gone. A family signs the sale of the company it built Read more

Selling to a large company means finding the right champion, budget owner and technical gatekeeper — and understanding when the organization is ready to act. Every founder pitching a new technology Read more

Tickle Me Elmo, Pound Puppies and other toy hits reveal why human insight, emotion and lived experience still matter in the age of generative AI. Toy invention is a brutal business. On the worst Read more

New Zealand’s rural communities survived a brutal economic shakeup by adding value, embracing local identity and building businesses around assets they already had. Rural entrepreneurs work from a Read more

Why Every Family Business Leader Needs a Peer Group

More than 300 peer-group meetings show what happens when family business leaders have a trusted place to talk with people who truly understand their challenges. If you’ve never participated in a Read more

Build a Family Governance Talent Pipeline Before You Need One

Don’t wait for a vacancy. Prepare family members now — through education, mentoring, clear expectations, and hands-on experience — to serve on boards, family councils, and committees. Family Read more

Founder Succession: Six Lessons From 15 CEOs Who Actually Lived It

What happens after the founder steps aside? Interviews with successor CEOs reveal the emotional, organizational, and family dynamics that determine whether leadership transitions succeed—or stall. Read more

Fleet Feet Charleston shows how franchise owners can use “coopetition” — working with suppliers, rivals, franchisors and employees — to build a stronger local business ecosystem. Last in a Read more

Franchising is often sold as a safer path to entrepreneurship. But when franchisors collapse or change direction, franchisees can be left with heavy financial risks, little information, and almost no Read more

Before buying a franchise, learn how to use the FDD to spot risks, costs, churn, and signs of system health. Third in a series about franchising If you're looking into franchising, you've likely seen Read more