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Real-world examples of business owners facing important decisions, challenges, and opportunities, and the thinking, choices, and actions that helped them move forward.


Five Lessons Every Business Can Learn from Chick-fil-A
How clear standards help organizations remain consistent when everything else is changing. Finding employees. Rising costs. Inflation. Supply chain issues. Technology changes. Changing customer expectations. For many businesses, simply keeping up has required more attention than ever before. As a result, many have taken their eyes off the very things that earned their customers' trust in the first place. Customer service has suffered. Product quality has become inconsistent.

Rick Slark
Jul 173 min read


The Partnership a Century in the Making
Before Detroit was a symbol, it was work. In 1889, Hamilton Carhartt began sewing work garments in a small loft in the city. Railroad workers were wearing through their clothes too quickly. Seams split under strain. Fabric wore thin. Carhartt responded in a practical way. He reinforced the stitching. He used heavier duck canvas. The garments were not designed to impress. They were designed to endure. Fourteen years later, in 1903, Henry Ford began assembling automobiles in th

Rick Slark
Feb 272 min read


Aldi’s Growth Playbook: Lessons for Growth Companies
Aldi’s Growth Playbook: What Growth Leaders Can Learn
While most grocers are stagnant, Aldi is up 7% in customer traffic.
Their secret? Clarity, not complexity.

Rick Slark
Sep 5, 20254 min read
“Greatness is not in where we stand, but in what direction we are moving".— Oliver Wendell Holmes
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