ReportWire

Tag: Growth

  • The Power of Unlearning 

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    Many of us have been conditioned to glorify more—more degrees, more skills, more certifications. But what if the real power lies not in adding, but in pausing? In taking a moment to examine the beliefs, habits, and coping mechanisms that are no longer serving you. 

    Intrigued? Let’s dive in. 

    From the moment we take our first steps, life becomes a classroom. Some lessons are taught directly—by parents, teachers, or mentors. Others are absorbed indirectly—by what we see, what we hear, and how others respond to our choices. Over time, those inputs become our “truth,” shaping our worldview, our sense of right and wrong, and the stories we tell ourselves about what’s possible. 

    Those early lessons served me well for a time. They gave me the foundation to pursue education, climb career ladders, and build success as a founder, CEO, mother, and speaker. But somewhere in my forties, I realized something profound: Some of the very lessons that once helped me thrive were now holding me back. 

    Unlearning is about retraining the brain. It’s recognizing that beliefs, behaviors, and frameworks that once kept you safe—or even propelled you—may no longer serve the version of you that you’re becoming. The process is uncomfortable, but it’s also the gateway to growth. 

    Here are three questions that helped guide me toward freedom, joy, and alignment: 

    1. Are the variables still applicable today? 

    The world looks very different from when many of us first learned the “rules.” Technology, business, and even social norms have evolved dramatically—and clinging to outdated lessons can quietly limit our growth. 

    Take the rise of AI, for example. Many of us were taught that expertise comes only from years of education or formal certification. While education remains valuable, the truth today is that someone can sit down with tools like ChatGPT and generate business strategies, marketing campaigns, or even launch a podcast in days, not years. 

    If we don’t unlearn the belief that knowledge only comes from traditional systems, we risk missing new ways to accelerate our impact. 

    2. Are my indirect lessons actually true? 

    Sometimes what we absorb isn’t truth—it’s trauma. 

    When my great-grandmother passed, I remember watching my mother cry in the car as mascara streamed down her face. As a child, I made a false conclusion: If this is what love looks like, I don’t want it. For years, that unconscious belief kept me from fully opening myself to love and intimacy. 

    It wasn’t until my thirties that I confronted the truth: Love isn’t pain—loss is. By holding on to a child’s interpretation, I was protecting myself from the very thing I deeply desired. That realization forced me to unlearn, to rewrite my definition of love, and to give myself permission to receive it. 

    3. What beliefs are holding me back right now? 

    This is where transformation begins—with honesty. Are you clinging to a mindset that keeps you safe but small? Are you holding tight to “the way things have always been done” while yearning for something greater? 

    Unlearning is hard because it demands accountability. It requires you to look in the mirror and admit that the obstacles in your path might not just be external—they may be internal, born from lessons you’ve outgrown. 

    But here’s the truth: The life you want, the relationships you long for, and the impact you’re destined to make won’t come from clinging to old patterns. They’ll emerge when you find the courage to let go, reframe, and embrace new ways of thinking. 

    Visionaries aren’t defined by what they know—they’re defined by their willingness to evolve. 

    So ask yourself: 
    What do you need to unlearn today to step into your fullest power? 

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    Angel Livas

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  • Visibility Won’t Save You, Systems Will

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    When I started Steady, I worked out of a small coworking space surrounded by other scrappy founders trying to make something out of nothing. None of us had funding. We were all hustling. But even then, I noticed a split.

    Some founders spent their days tweaking their websites, refining pitch decks, and polishing their résumés for investors. Others were in the trenches—selling, building, failing, pivoting, and collecting their first checks.

    That difference stuck with me. Because years later, I see it everywhere: Many founders chase visibility before they build foundations.

    Visibility is seductive

    It’s easy to focus on what looks good from the outside. A flashy website. A polished LinkedIn announcement. A big funding headline. And yes—awards.

    The appeal is obvious. Recognition feels good. It validates the sacrifices you’ve made. It gets people’s attention. And in many cases, visibility can even buy time—helping attract investors, talent, or customers.

    I get it. The temptation is real. But it’s also a trap. Visibility is a sugar high. It looks great from the outside while the foundation underneath stays shaky.

    Here’s the simple test I use to determine if it’s visibility or foundation: If the thing I’m working on would look great in a press release but doesn’t move the business forward in six months, it’s visibility—not foundation.

    After the spotlight dims

    Earlier this year, I accepted the SBA Person of the Year award, and more recently Steady made the Inc. 5000 list for the second year. It was an incredible moment—for me, for my family, and for our team. We’d built this company from scratch, and the recognition was deeply meaningful.

    But the morning after, nothing magical had changed. The inbox was full. Subcontractors needed answers. Schedules were slipping. The cameras had turned off, and the work was exactly the same. That moment drove home a lesson I’d learned early on: awards are markers, not engines. They reflect what you’ve built—they don’t build it for you.

    How to build a company

    Our growth at Steady didn’t come from applause. It came from people, systems, and discipline. It started with people—team members who take ownership, solve problems, and execute day after day. Then came systems—clear roles through a responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed metric, workflow tools, cost catalogs, approval paths, reporting cadences. None of it glamorous. All of it essential.

    For example, early on every subcontract had to cross my desk for approval. It seemed efficient—until projects began stalling while they waited for me. Once we created a standard contract package and delegated approvals to project managers, turnaround times dropped from five days to one. No award could’ve done that. Only systems could.

    And then there’s culture—an insistence on action over perfection, accountability over chaos.

    One personal discipline shaped how I lead: I do the hard things first. Every morning, I tackle the decisions, conversations, and tasks that truly move the company forward. The easy stuff—emails, updates, quick approvals—can wait. Growth happens in those early hours, not in the late-day cleanup.

    How awards fit in

    Awards have their place. They open doors with clients who don’t know you yet. They boost team morale. They make recruiting easier. They give credibility a push.

    But they’re multipliers, not foundations. They amplify what already works. They can’t fix what doesn’t.

    My message to other founders

    Don’t confuse recognition with substance. The grind—the pivots, the failures, the small wins, and the boring operational work—is what builds a company. Awards will come if you do the work. But even when they do, remember: The trophies look great on the shelf, but they don’t build the business.

    Before you spend another hour polishing your pitch deck or crafting the perfect announcement, ask yourself: Have I built the foundation that will still be standing when the spotlight moves on?

    That’s the real work. And it’s what separates companies that shine for a moment from those that last.

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    Fabien Reille

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  • Stop Working in Your Business and Start Working on It

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    As a founder of a third-party warehousing and fulfillment company, I get a lot of exposure to other founders and business leaders. A common theme that seems to plague all business leaders is getting out of the business so you can work on the business.

    If this is a concept you are unfamiliar with, working in the business is the day-to-day operations that are absolutely required to keep the business running. Working on the business involves the non-essential items for daily operations—tasks that are easily procrastinated but essential for growth and scaling. 

    Learning to differentiate between the two is the first step in moving out of the business so you can work on it.

    Let go of the day to day

    All business leaders struggle with this. The day to day is clear, and knowing the next fire to put out is obvious. It is a comfortable place where we achieve immediate, actionable results—a daily dose of dopamine. Founders especially struggle with this because our organization is our baby. Giving up control over the day-to-day can be terrifying—not only for our sense of self-worth and accomplishment but also due to the fear that others may fall short of our standards.

    Regardless of these fears and excuses, it is a necessary and worthwhile adventure to make the transition from being in your business to working on it. It is how you go from having a job to owning a company. It takes your organization from a startup to a true enterprise.

    Create a written framework around company values

    I operated my company, NovEx Supply Chain, for five years before I made a true effort to step out of the business and work on it. At that time, I was wearing so many hats that recovering 50 percent of my time seemed like a monumental feat.

    My first attempt at this was hiring a consultant to come in and help me with processes. That lasted about three weeks and cost me entirely too much money. At the time, I was simultaneously recruiting for a chief operating officer, a position that was new to our organizational chart. It was more than double the salary of any role I had previously had on my staff and even more than my own payroll. Despite the cost, I knew I was going to have to invest in my company if I wanted to create the capacity to grow it.

    While this hire was not a magic button that removed me from the business, it did get us started in the right direction. The COO I hired helped me create a written framework around the values I was already practicing within NovEx. Being explicit with our values gave us more power to guide our growth and staffing. We were able to build a team that I could trust with more of the day to day. Over time we implemented the correct roles to push accountability down the line and free up more of my time to work on the business.

    Set a deadline for transformation

    There were a lot of hiccups along the way. Nearly two years into the process I was feeling frustrated with our progress. My husband had joined the company to assist me with business development, but we still were not growing as I knew we could. He felt like I had the wrong person in the role. We had a theoretical academic when what I needed a tactical operator to build out the standard operating procedures required to complete my transformation from owner and doer to president and scaler.

    By December 2024, I had been on this journey to transition out of the day to day since March 2023. I am a procrastinator by nature. I need firm deadlines to force my hand. So, we planned a 17-day trip to Europe for late June 2025, a trip that would require the business to operate without me. A true deadline for the transformation.

    Overcome the myth of indispensability

    All the tasks I had been holding onto out of fear became critical to transition. The myth of indispensability, the idea that no one could do it like I could do it, had to be overcome. By March it was clear to me that I had the wrong structure in place, and we made a change. The transition felt like a setback, but we were more resilient as an organization than we had been two years earlier. We had not achieved the goals I had set but the progress was real and measurable.  Having a COO helped me to realize that what we really needed was a strong operations manager and an HR director. Together they would be able to finish building out the team and processes so I could focus on growing and scaling the company. 

    I took that trip in June and it went beautifully. My family made amazing memories, and I was able to leave work behind. I answered a few questions and took a few phone calls to show support, but overall, I was disconnected and on vacation. It was the first time in eight years of business that I had taken a true vacation where I didn’t work. I was able to focus on my family with confidence that my clients and employees would be just fine when I returned.

    Your business can’t be dependent on one person

    We still have more progress to make. I am still trying to figure out exactly what leadership structure works for us. I am also still getting comfortable with allowing people to do things at a slightly lower caliber than I would. I take comfort in knowing that I am creating an organization that can exist without me, a true company that isn’t dependent on any one person or role, one that can grow and scale to whatever heights I can imagine for it. That gives me the courage and the power to keep moving forward and working toward my goals.

    Letting go of the day to day didn’t make me less important to my company; it made me more valuable. And it gave me the freedom to build both the business and the life I envisioned.

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    Kelsey Hensley

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  • Inclusion Isn’t a Nice-to-Have, But a Must-Have Innovation Strategy 

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    You’ve surely heard it before: fail fast, build MVPs, test and iterate. For years, speed has been the golden rule in innovation. However, in 2025, the smartest path to growth isn’t building in isolation. Instead, leaders must build through inclusion. Instead of trying to craft the perfect new offer behind closed doors and nervously rolling it out to your audience, consider a different approach. The best strategy is to prototype it live, in front of your customer. You might even do this with their help. That’s not just brave, it’s smart. 

    Recent research from the 2025 Workplace Wellbeing Initiative found that teams that openly tested and iterated ideas with real stakeholders reported faster traction, stronger buy-in, and significantly less burnout. It turns out, people don’t just want you to sell them something. They want to feel part of what they’re buying. Inclusion isn’t nice-to-have. It’s a traction strategy. 

    When you’re selling ideas, involve people early. 

    While I think it works broadly, I’ve found this strategy is especially powerful in the world of services such as coaching, consulting, learning, and advisory work. Why? You don’t have the benefit of a shiny product to demo. If your business is more like mine as a coach, you’re selling transformation and possibility. So how do you prototype that? 

    You show the rough draft, and you pitch the half-baked version. You say, “I’m building this—would this work for you?” It doesn’t need to be polished. In fact, in a world flooded with AI-generated perfection, raw and real is often more compelling. 

    If you’ve been thinking about a new offer, you can ask yourself this question: Are you trying to guess what your customer wants? Are you inviting them into the room to help shape it? That shift can change everything. 

    What co-creation can look like 

    You don’t need a massive production to start. Co-creation can be simple. It might look like hosting a “service design” session with a few trusted clients, running a low-cost pilot offer with real-time feedback loops, or sharing a visual draft or one-pager and asking, “Would this solve your problem?” 

    You’re not just testing the viability of your strategy. You’re creating space for your audience to say, “Make it this way—for me.” That moment of shared authorship is where buy-in begins. It’s the new gold standard for innovation. 

    Don’t wait for perfection.  

    It might feel uncomfortable at first. However, the real risk isn’t showing something unfinished. The real risk is spending six months polishing something no one asked for. So, here’s your challenge: What service, idea, or offering have you been overthinking? Do you have one in mind? OK, agree to stop perfecting it. Instead, start testing it with your customer in the loop.  

    Build the Google Doc. Share the napkin sketch. Invite their input early. Let them shape the thing you’re trying to sell. It doesn’t need to be perfect, but it needs to exist. It also needs to evolve with the people it’s meant to serve. Action creates clarity. But co-creation? That type of strategy creates momentum. 

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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    Robin Camarote

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  • 9 Simple Ways to Drive Business Agility and Accelerate Growth

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    Small companies have one key advantage big companies often struggle to achieve: agility. In a world of accelerated change, an organization’s ability to pivot quickly can make the difference between success and failure. When it comes to pivoting, small businesses often have a big leg up over their big business competitors. Here are nine simple ways to increase your business’s agility while accelerating growth. 

    1. Obsessed with customers 

    Customers come first. Best-in-class organizations keep a close check on customer feedback and quickly address customer needs. They also anticipate changes in customer demands and preferences. 

    2. Energized by leadership 

    Companies that prioritize agility have leaders who lead by example. These leaders are full of energy and get their work done by encouraging their team members to do great things and then allowing them the freedom to perform. 

    3. Aligned by clarity 

    Agility means fast execution. It’s easier to execute fast when everyone is aligned with common goals. The highest performing organizations have a single direction, and everyone knows how their work relates to the big picture. 

    4. Empowered by simplicity 

    Simple rules and less bureaucracy make for a more agile organization. The fastest organizations are also the simplest organizations. Complexity slows you down. 

    5. Enabled by ownership 

    The most successful organizations have a meritocratic culture, and they are fair to everyone. This inculcates ownership in employees for the success of the organization and themselves. 

    6. Attracted by winning 

    A simple way to attract the best talent in the industry is to show your organization is a great place to work. When good talent comes together, you attract more good talent and create positive momentum for success. 

    7. Disrupted by innovation 

    Successful organizations stay ahead of the curve and are also the most innovative. New ideas and initiatives draw the attention of both customers and employees. 

    8. Ratcheted by challenge 

    Best-in-class organizations push the envelope. They encourage people to stretch themselves by giving and taking constructive criticism and expecting the best from everyone. 

    9. Accelerated by collaboration 

    Collaboration and trust-based partnerships, both within and outside the organization, result in win-win situations and help in building long-term business relationships. When your people communicate better, they get more and better work done. 

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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    Peter Economy

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  • There Are Lots of Ways to Raise Capital. Here’s How 3 Inc. 5000 Founders Did It

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    Looking to scale your business? You’re going to need money to do it—and unless you’re planning on bootstrapping indefinitely, that’ll probably involve some outside capital.

    But with lots of different ways to secure third-party investment, from venture capital and private equity to grant programs and the public markets, how’s an entrepreneur to choose?

    Attendees at this week’s Inc. 5000 conference in Phoenix got a first-hand look at some of the different paths that high-growth business leaders have followed to success during a panel on Thursday featuring creative growth capital strategies. On stage were three Inc. 5000 founders: Tony Lamb of the shaved ice truck business Kona Ice (No. 1935 in 2014), Vanessa Rissetto of the telehealth nutrition startup Culina Health (No. 564 this year) and Kim Vaccarella of the beach bag brand Bogg Bag (No. 434 in 2020).

    All three founders achieved impressive scale with their startups, but financed them in very distinct ways. Vaccarella started Bogg Bag as a side hustle, using money from her kids’ college savings plan and husbands’ pension to kick things off before eventually inking a deal for a minority investment. Rissetto, meanwhile, built up Culina with referrals from doctor friends, then went down the venture capital path, closing a $7.9 million Series A late last year. And Lamb bootstrapped Kona Ice for a while before private equity eventually bought out his co-founder’s shares, leaving him with a 51 percent stake; following a second PE deal, he now owns around one-third of the company.

    People have very mixed feelings about PE funds, he told the Inc. 5000 audience, but “no one brings value like private equity brings value.”

    Of course, not every financing opportunity bears fruit. Lamb said he fielded meetings with 15 different prospective investors before landing on the right one, while Rissetto turned down an early offer from a VC fund that said it would back Culina if it had $10 million EBITDA—to which Rissetto responded, “If I was $10 million EBITDA, I would not need you.”

    Vaccarella also turned down a major deal with a public company because it would’ve given them full control over Bogg—something she was unwilling to sign over.

    “I was not ready to give up my baby yet,” she says of the proposal, which would’ve been worth over $100 million had she taken it. She went into “a little bit of a depression” after rejecting the offer, she says, in part because she’d told her nieces and nephews that she would take them all to Disney when she thought the deal was going to happen.

    But “better things come along,” she adds. Still, she encourages her fellow entrepreneurs to listen to their guts when it comes to working with the people on their cap table.

    “They’re going to have a million ideas for you, because they’ve done it all a million times,” Vaccarella said. “The people that they were bringing in had so much more experience in bigger brands than Bogg Bag—but at the end of the day, what I do know is, I do know Bogg Bag. I know my customer. So I needed to forcefully, in the nicest way possible, come out and say, ‘No, this is the way I want to see it done. This is what we need to get back to.’”

    She added: “Sometimes you lose yourself when you take on all those partners, and you’re intimidated by them. So finding that balance has been important for me.”

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    Brian Contreras

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  • Jay Shetty Expands His Tea Brand Juni Into Whole Foods Stores Nationwide 

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    If you’re one of the millions of people who regularly tune into Jay Shetty’s podcast “On Purpose” where the best-selling author and life coach interviews some of the most famous people on the planet—including Cardi B, Oprah, and Michelle Obama—you’ve likely seen him or one of his guests reach for a colorful can to take a sip in between questions. That’s Shetty’s own sparkling tea brand.

    Shetty launched Juni with his wife, Radhi Devlukia, in 2023 as a direct-to-consumer business and in the two years since, has rapidly scaled the company. The canned teas, which are formulated with adaptogenic herbs, such as ashwagandha, lion’s mane, and reishi mushrooms, are available in more than 6,000 stores, including Erewhon, Target, Sprouts, Wegmans, and now Whole Foods nationwide. 

    That growing reach, along with a repeat customer rate near 50 percent, has helped sales surge. The company projects 300 percent year-over-year revenue growth in 2025 and is on track to hit eight figures in revenue by the end of this year. 

    This trajectory comes amid a notoriously tough environment for consumer-packaged goods brands. Financing has largely dried up. Since the industry’s peak in 2021, early-stage venture funding for CPG  brands has plummeted nearly 60 percent, according to Pitchbook. At the same time, brands are shuttering and far fewer new entrants are coming to market and hitting shelves. Consumer products data provider Spins put the number at 70 percent less.

    Still, Shetty tells Inc. that he is cognizant of the fact he is a novice in this space. His success as a podcaster does not guarantee success in the CPG space. His company has raised multi-million dollars in funding from investors, but wants to grow in a steady and strategic way. That means learning to say no to certain opportunities, he says.

    “It’s been easy to see brands just blow up really quick and then not exist,” says Shetty. “Our goal is to steadily build the relationships, whether it’s with the distributors, with the community.”

    Shetty is tapping into his massive audience with a message of incremental change—choosing a Juni over a sugary soda or a third cup of caffeinated coffee—rather than promising far-reaching health benefits that has gotten other drink brands in trouble. “We’re saying, ‘Here’s a healthy alternative,’” Shetty says. 

    Still, getting on the shelf is one thing. Getting into customers’ shopping carts is a whole other hurdle, says Juni CEO and co-founder Kim Perell: “We’re building for big future, but we want to make sure that we continue to grow with within our means.”

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    Ali Donaldson

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  • Chobani Just Landed a $20 Billion Valuation. It’s Still Hungry for Growth

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    The investment will help fuel the New York City-based company’s continued buildout, namely helping finance growth in its $1.2 billion dairy processing plant in Rome, New York, along with its $500 million expansion plans for its plant in Twin Falls, Idaho. The Rome plant is expected to spur 1,000 new jobs, while the Twin Falls expansion is expected to tack on about 160 new ones.

    “This investment means more than just capital — it’s a testament to everything we’ve built,” Hamdi Ulukaya, Chobani’s founder and CEO, told DealBook, which noted that Chobani is on track to clinch $3.8 billion worth of sales this year, up 28 percent compared with last year.

    The capital is a notable milestone for the New York City-based company that first opened its doors in 2005, after Ulukaya took out an $800,000 loan from the Small Business Administration. He used the capital to buy an old Kraft factory, which he then fashioned into what would become the company’s first plant dedicated to churning out a thick Greek yogurt packed with protein. Within three years, Chobani became the top yogurt seller in the U.S.

    And it’s grown even more since then, now offering creamers and milks—dairy and otherwise—beyond just Greek yogurt. Along the way, Chobani has gone on an acquisition spree as well. It picked up popular coffee maker La Colombe for $900 million in December 2023 and Daily Harvest, well-known for its plant-based frozen smoothies, for an undisclosed amount in May.

    Representatives for Chobani did not immediately respond to Inc.’s request for comment.

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    Melissa Angell

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  • The Surprising Lessons Behind Chess.com’s Rise to a Billion-Dollar Company

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    When Chess.com launched back in 2007, its co-founders had a few starting advantages: a lifelong love of the game, two prior companies they’d exited a year before, and one very good domain name that cost them $56,000, purchased with the money they got from their exits. 

    In business, as in chess itself, you can’t always predict what’s going to happen. But you can learn to spot opportunities as they arise. That’s why, after several years of cultural shifts—paired with feature launches that capitalized on changing attitudes toward a very old game—Chess.com came out on top in 2023 with a billion-dollar valuation. Its valuation today is even higher.

    It’s something of a 20-year overnight success story. Through its early years, Chess.com focused on making it easy and fun for people to play chess, co-founder and CEO Erik Allebest says. But co-founder Danny Rensch—the company’s “chief chess master”—had a bigger goal. “Danny’s vision was, ‘We’re gonna revolutionize how chess is perceived,’” Allebest says. “And it took time to get there, but we grew in that way.”

    One key early gambit: The team was early to streaming, long before the platform Twitch became so popular that even presidential candidates started to appear on it. In 2012, Chess.com hosted its first-ever “death match,” in which two master players competed to see who could win the most rapid-fire games, played on laptops, with $1,000 cash in prize money at stake. The company has seriously upped its game since that low-res approach: today, Chess.com has 1.2 million followers on its Twitch account and 2.6 million on YouTube.

    “That took us in a different direction,” Allebest says. “A whole bunch of purists are like, ‘chess has been ruined,’ but it’s grown the game and the appeal massively.” With its domain name as straightforward as possible, Chess.com has not spent any money on traditional marketing channels, such as social media advertising. Instead, it’s focused on promoting the game itself, Allebest explains. Significant tailwinds in 2020 helped the company with that task.

    First there was the Covid-19 pandemic, which spiked users of Chess.com as people in quarantine looked for new ways to stay busy. In June of that year, the company launched PogChamps, a two-week competition in which 16 of Twitch’s biggest streamers—intentionally not those who are known for being particularly good at chess—competed for $50,000 worth of prizes. Chess grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, the most-followed player on Twitch, coached participants in livestreamed lessons ahead of the event. PogChamps drew more than 155,000 concurrent viewers and drove a 57 percent jump in hours of gaming watched on Chess.com compared to the prior month. The company has continued the annual competition since.

    Checkmate: the Netflix effect

    Then in October of 2020 came the cultural win the company couldn’t have predicted. Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, the chess-focused limited series starring actor Anya Taylor-Joy, became a massive hit: 62 million households streamed the show in its first 28 days on the platform, according to Netflix. By early 2021, new registrations on Chess.com hit more than 500 percent year-over-year growth.

    The Queen’s Gambit and its cultural cache poised the company well to roll out its first character bot later that year, allowing users to “play against” Beth Harmon, the protagonist of Netflix’s chess success story. Since then, the company has expanded that roster and introduce bots personifying real chess players like Nakamura, as well as fan favorites like Mittens, a snarky cat that users played nearly 40 million times the month it debuted in 2023. The bot—which performed deceptively well even against professional players—went so viral that it earned multiple press mentions, including from The Wall Street Journal, which called it “the chess world’s new villain.”  

    “It blew up the internet,” Allebest says. “It was hilarious.” 

    Chess.com has offered tiered premium subscriptions since 2009, ranging in price from $29 to $99 per year and giving users access to ad-free experience, as well as features including unlimited puzzles, daily lessons, instructional videos, and full game analysis. 

    In 2022, for the first time in more than a decade, it revamped its premium experience and increased its pricing to range from $50 to $120 annually. Roughly five percent of Chess.com’s active users have premium subscriptions, and the number of premium subscribers has surged more than 8x since the start of 2020. Today, annual revenue from subscriptions exceeds $150 million.

    The premium revamp involved rolling out a more comprehensive, AI-powered game review. Post gameplay, a coach-bot walks users through their performance. “What we found is most people actually don’t want to know what they did wrong. They want to know what they did right,” Allebest says. He points to research about the “optimal win to lose ratio for learning,” which leans heavily toward winning. Plus, he adds, “chess is punishing—you’re expected to lose half your games or more, so you’re already getting the negative feedback of losing games.”

    That insight led the company to find new opportunities to “gamify” its features and pepper in moments of positive reinforcement. “There’s a special symbol, a teal exclamation mark, that’s called ‘brilliant move.’ Finding those is very hard, and you only get to see them if you do a game review,” Allebest says. “It’s kind of a badge of honor.”

    The same year, Chess.com also closed on a star-powered deal, acquiring Magnus Carlsen’s Play Magnus Group—then a publicly traded company on the Oslo Stock Exchange—for $82.9 million. The company self-financed the deal through a combination of debt, internal financing, and equity, Allebest says. Carlson, a five-time World Chess Champion with 2 million followers on Instagram and 1.5 million on YouTube, was a big draw. But so was its educational platform, Chessable, which featured proprietary technology for spaced repetition learning.

    As Chess.com has invested in its core functions, it’s also continued to promote the game through innovative partnerships—like its BlitzChamps tournament series with the NFL, which it’s held annually since 2022, pitting NFL players past and present against one another for games of rapidfire chess.

    “Chess is just a game”

    Now, with 225 million registered users, Chess.com is quite the institution: the company has about 580 full-time employees, with about 40 percent devoted to engineering, and 10 percent in customer support. The platform is currently undergoing localization in 60 languages, Allebest adds, which adds to the organization’s complexity. “We answer everybody’s support tickets,” he says. “Some big companies are like, ‘Go look in the forums.’ We actually do care about every single inquiry that comes in.”

    Going forward, Allebest hopes that the platform can help users better connect with each other, too. The company plans to upgrade its social media features, most of which date back to 2009. The potential he sees is great. “Chess.com is a huge social network, but we don’t have a good user profile and feed. Like, when I win a game, why doesn’t it show up on my feed? What are my friends up to? What famous chess celebrity posted a cool video?”

    While Chess.com’s success has an exceptionally long arc, Allebest isn’t one to look in the rearview mirror. The company could have invested in its data infrastructure sooner, he says, but it was largely guided by “heart and intuition.” Now, with the numbers to inform the way it moves forward, it’s operating strategically.

    It’s not unlike playing the game itself. “You just have to make the first move and then react to what happens. And I think people get paralyzed by feeling like they need to see to the end,” Allebest says. “But you know, chess is just a game. You can only play one move at a time and do your best at that moment, and then react to what happens. And I think that is exactly what good entrepreneurship can look like.”

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    Rebecca Deczynski

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  • Californians spend $8,640 more than other Americans. Where did it go?

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    We all know that California is a pricey place to live.

    However, what drives those higher expenses is not just housing, although putting a California roof over your head is the largest expense.

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    Jonathan Lansner

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  • With the BLS Shuttered, You Might Get Jobs Data From Private Companies

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    Employers have grappled with high levels of uncertainty for the last six months, as concerns about the effects of tariffs, mass deportations, and stalled job creation stoked confusion and doubt about the economy. Now, with the government shutdown closing the doors at the federal agency that supplies most employment and labor data, private businesses are increasingly seeking to fill that void by releasing statistical insights of their own.

    The Department of Labor’s data gathering Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) had been scheduled to release its monthly job report for September on October 3. It was prevented from doing so by the ongoing government shutdown, which began just two days earlier. That cancellation may have come as something of a relief to President Donald Trump and governing Republicans, since BLS publications have reflected increasingly anemic hiring by businesses since May. Those weak figures suggest companies have largely limited recruitment to only replacing departing employees. That in turn appears to reflect executives’ worries that economic growth may be slowing — and their wider doubts about Trump’s management of the economy.

    But contrasting indicators have only served to increase business leaders’ confusion about where exactly the economy is headed.

    Official data earlier this year that showed the GDP contracted by 0.6 percent in the first quarter of 2025 was followed by more recent statistics reflecting the econmy came booming back with 3.8 percent growth in Q3. Other positive indicators since have led some observers to forecast continuing expansion in the third quarter, despite continued weak job growth and rising inflation suggesting otherwise.

    Now, with federal agencies no longer publishing reports under the government shutdown, most economic analysis is mostly speculation — although BLS has reportedly called in a small group of people to prepare the next consumer price data release. In the meantime, several private business are stepping up to offer any data-driven insights they can glean about the economy.

    For example, this week private equity firm Carlyle published data suggesting the BLS report for September would have again contained more disappointing job numbers if it had been released on October 3 as planned.

    Using proprietary information from 277 of its portfolio companies employing a total of 730,000 people, Carlyle estimated just 17,000 new jobs were likely created by U.S. businesses last month. That figure is even less than the 22,000 new hires BLS counted in August — dragging the monthly average since May down to just 26,750 new positions.

    But the modest numbers Carlyle estimated for September were far better than those from payroll services company ADP, which has long issued a private sector report around the time the BLS releases its own statistics. It said U.S. employers eliminated a net 32,000 jobs last month, basing that estimate on data it collected from the 26 million employees of its customer companies.

    Somewhere in between those two analyses  was last week’s report from executive outplacement and coaching specialist Challenger, Grey, and Christmas. It said businesses laid off a little over 54,000 people in September, without calculating a net gain or loss.

    While its figures on headcount reductions last month were lower than the 85,000 in August, Challenger, Grey, and Christmas noted the total 946,426 job cuts in 2025 so far were the highest since 2020. At the same time, the firm said U.S. employers were hiring at well under half the rate this year than they did in 2024 — generally reinforcing the picture of flattening employment creation.

    Those weren’t the only ways private companies trying to generate data capable of making sense of the economy in the absence of official reports during the government shutdown.

    According to an article this week in the Washington Post, that private sector search for clues about economic activity is leading observers to scrutinize “paychecks, credit card expenditures, restaurant reservations, Broadway show bookings, and even Statue of Liberty visitor numbers.” They then dive into that data to analyze how people are working and spending, and how fast inflation is pushing up the prices they’re paying.

    Carlyle’s findings for September even included the estimate that the economy grew at a 2.7 percent annualized pace in September. And this week, Moody’s Analytics released a report analyzing data from U.S. states showing 22 of them were already in recession, or on the brink of it.

    “We’re suddenly opening up new spreadsheets, looking at data we don’t usually turn to,” Apollo Global Management chief economist Torsten Slok told the Post. “Some of these indicators are really on the fringe, so we’re having to do different translations: What does this data mean? What might it tell us about the economy?”

    Is all that frantic digging really necessary, especially with history showing government shutdowns are typically short — the longest having lasted only 35 days?  Perhaps, given the concerns of some observers about trusting data from BLS once it starts issuing reports again.

    On August 1, Trump fired then-BLS director Erika McEntarfer after the agency issued downward revisions that dramatically reduced jobs creation numbers from previous months. The result was enduring uncertainty of business leaders and economists about how the economy was faring immediately got worse. In response, Trump took to social media to claim the lower numbers were “phony,” and called them intentionally “RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.”

    He then nominated an activist conservative economist to take over the BLS, despite his pick’s controversial track record that included calling for the agency to stop issuing reports on job creation and other important economic indicators.

    Though that nominee later withdrew from consideration, economists’ concerns generated by McEntarfer’s firing persist. Those are based on fears of the BLS and other federal departments potentially being forced to issue only data that reflects positively on Trump’s economic stewardship.

    That worry about the future reliability of official statistics is likely a big reason why private companies have gotten active in finding and analyzing economic data of their own — and may continue doing so even after the government shutdown ends.

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    Bruce Crumley

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  • When the Market Shifts, so Should You

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    Markets don’t stay still. In real estate, we’ve seen interest rates rise, cap rates expand, and lending conditions tighten. Even the most disciplined operators are finding it harder to generate the returns that once came easily.

    Moments like these test more than resilience. They call for reinvention. The question isn’t if you’ll adapt—it’s how.

    Expand beyond the core

    The strongest leaders don’t abandon their foundation. They look for adjacent opportunities—sectors that build on what they already do well.

    Both cases prove the point: Adjacent growth can become just as valuable as the core.

    Our next chapter

    At GSH, our foundation is multifamily real estate. Over the past decade, we’ve managed more than $1 billion in assets across thousands of units. Multifamily remains resilient—but today’s market calls for more.

    That’s why we’re moving into energy infrastructure—specifically battery storage and EV charging. These assets share the same fundamentals as real estate: They are capital-intensive, operations-driven, and long-term. The better they’re managed, the more value they create.

    We started by adding energy upgrades at existing properties. Now we’re launching a dedicated platform. It’s not about chasing a hot sector—it’s about applying discipline where it fits.

    A framework for leaders

    For companies considering new directions, a few principles can help:

    • Start with strengths. What does your business do exceptionally well? Where else can those skills apply?
    • Check the fundamentals. Look for sectors with durable demand drivers, not just temporary buzz.
    • Test first. Pilot on a small scale, learn, then expand.
    • Stay aligned. New ventures should extend your mission, not dilute it.
    • Think long-term. Prioritize opportunities that will add value through the next cycle—not just the next quarter.

    The bigger picture

    The Empire State Building didn’t stop being an office tower when it opened its decks—it became more. Starbucks didn’t stop serving lattes when it entered grocery stores—it built a second growth engine.

    The same principle applies across industries: Resilience matters, but resilience without reinvention is standing still. Leaders who expand their playbooks thoughtfully will be the ones to thrive.

    Because the future of business isn’t either/or.

    It’s both.

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    Gideon Pfeffer

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  • #4999—Scraping the Surface, Not the Bottom

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    In July, I landed in Las Vegas for NBA Summer League, excited to watch new talent on the court and coach rookies in the NBA Player Development Program. It was a dream come true, and I stepped off the plane ready for an unforgettable week. Little did I know something far more special was in store.

    Like many entrepreneurs glued to their phones, I followed my regular deplaning routine, checking my texts and emails the second I have reception. The very first message floored me: Inc. Magazine congratulating Empower U., the company I founded, for making the list of America’s 5000 fastest-growing companies.

    After verifying the sender’s domain to make sure it wasn’t a prank, I realized that the communication was indeed real, although the reality of what it revealed felt anything but. I’d like to believe that most successful entrepreneurs are big dreamers at heart. I am no different. Naturally, my mind immediately jumped to where we might rank: Top 1000? Top 500? Top 100? What could this mean for my company’s future? The daydreams played over and over in my head like the words to the most annoying song you know.

    When the music stops

    On reveal day, we listened to words of wisdom from business leaders, including the sharks of Shark Tank. I tuned in, but what I really wanted to see was our rank. When the time came, time itself seemed to enter Matrix mode as the numbers rolled out slowly like that river card that ruins the winning hand you thought you had. There we were—all in— and there it was, #4999. Some might see that as squeaking by, like squeezing into a packed NYC train just before it leaves the station, risking life and limb in the process of prying the door to make way. But for me, it felt familiar—like I’d been here before.

    I love to engage in reflection from time to time. In high school, my senior superlative was “Most Likely to Be Late to Graduation,” and even there I may have been runner-up. True to form, I literally walked (briskly) into the ceremony as they were calling my name to receive my diploma. I remember another time where my AAU basketball team played for a state championship. I was last off the bench to get into the game, but we won the title. I was sour in the moment, but in hindsight, the moment was fleeting. Today, exactly 30 years later, I still have a shiny trophy to show for it.

    These are only a couple examples out of many, but the theme of the life lesson taught was consistent: Getting to the big game is far more important than whether you get to start or star in it. Being first or last can be seen as the imposters of triumph and disaster that Rudyard Kipling’s “If” advises us to treat as one and the same. Some people panic about being last. Others, like myself, may not particularly experience comfort or discomfort there, but rather find inspiration.

    It’s only up from here

    There’s something liberating about being at the back. You can watch, learn, and plan without the pressure of leading too soon. And you can surprise people. One moment they think you’re just barely clinging to dear life, the next you’ve surged beyond imagination.

    That’s what #4999 is to me. Not a ceiling, but a launching pad. Not scraping the bottom, but scraping the surface. When we told our team, I framed it as proof we’re at the doorway of something extraordinary. We made the Inc. 5000! However we walked in, we’re here now—and it only gets better from here.

    Just a few years ago, Empower U. was only an idea: reimagining behavioral health through culturally competent, deeply human care for underserved communities. We began with a small team, a big heart, and an even bigger challenge: Prove we could scale without losing our values.

    Since then, we’ve served thousands of individuals and families, built systems that support clinicians and clients, and grown beyond what seemed possible. The work hasn’t been glamorous: long days, sleepless nights, and tough conversations (some ending in departures). Add in the doubt every entrepreneur knows, those moments when the voice in your head achieves a decibel level loud enough to make you question whether you still have what it takes or why you do any of this at all. But every challenge added muscle to the mission. Some even left cool-enough battle scars to share while supporting other entrepreneurs and their organizations on their journey.

    Forward focus

    This ranking isn’t about prestige. It’s about proof. Proof that a minority-owned, values-driven behavioral health agency belongs on the national stage. Proof that social impact and revenue growth are not mutually exclusive. Proof that underdogs have a place in the conversation—and a seat in the future.

    We’re expanding into new states, integrating technology into mental health delivery, and partnering with schools, corporations, and communities to change the way care is experienced. Recognition like this assures us that we’re not just dreaming. We’re doing something right.

    We aim to be strong contributors in the movement that shifts the standard for what business growth looks like. Where profitability meets purpose, and success is measured in lives changed, not just lines on a spreadsheet or statement. It’s the what, how, and when that is entrepreneurship’s constant juggling act. With this mission and especially in this climate, we surely have 4999 problems, but a list ain’t one.

    To every founder, creator, and dreamer who feels stuck at the bottom, remember: The climb is where the magic happens. Every step up writes the next chapter and yours is already being written. Keep stepping.

    Here’s to looking up!

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    Marlon Gray

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  • How Diwali Is Driving Revenue and Traffic Across Industries

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    Diwali, the festival of lights, has long been a time of celebration, family gatherings, and gift-giving. In recent years, however, it has also emerged as a powerful catalyst for brand growth. This is especially true for businesses that understand and leverage the cultural significance of the occasion. Beyond mere transactional opportunities, brands that embed purpose and experience into their Diwali campaigns are discovering a path to sustainable scaling and deeper consumer connection. 

    Diwali: A multibillion-dollar opportunity  

    The economic impact of Diwali is undeniable. Consumers open their wallets for everything from traditional sweets and clothing to electronics and home décor. From Costco to Target to Home Goods, customers flock to stores looking for unique gifts and offerings. They want to feel connected to the festival. However, they want to find that connection where they have already shopped or where they can rely on markers such as quality and delivery time.  

    Beyond the sheer volume of sales, Diwali offers a unique platform for brands to build awareness and foster loyalty. Campaigns that resonate with the spirit of the festival—joy, togetherness, and new beginnings—often create lasting positive associations with consumers. 

    Purpose-drive brands shine brighter 

    While capitalizing on the festive spending spree is important, the true differentiator for brands looking to scale lies in integrating purpose into their Diwali strategies. Consumers, especially younger generations, are increasingly seeking brands that align with their values and demonstrate a commitment to social responsibility. Diwali provides a natural and authentic opportunity for brands to showcase this commitment. 

    Akruti Babaria, from Kulture Khazana, a brand deeply rooted in cultural celebration with a playful spin, offers insight into her brand ethos based on purpose and passion.  

    “I had always been obsessed with Rangoli because that’s my most favorite memory of Diwali, but the weather here did not support making them. So, I thought, OK, what if I take a giant Rangoli pattern, which is vibrant and beautiful, and turn it into a puzzle?” Babaria explained.  

    Babaria took that puzzle concept, bringing a non-messy Rangoli into U.S. homes, and built a brand based on it. Call it nostalgia or applicability to their lives, but consumers have taken notice. In our interview, she shared about her entrance into the world of entrepreneurship and the ups and downs she experienced. She also talked about her scaling success, which led her to more than 280 Target stores in 2025.  

    Babaria dove into operational planning, customer personas, and journey management to bring only the best customer experiences. She also shared how she engages with the community, celebrating and sharing her work with schools, and events such as a Diwali event at the Smithsonian Museum. 

    Brands that, like Kulture Khazana, go beyond purely commercial objectives and actively contribute to the community or promote cultural understanding during Diwali often stand out. This could involve supporting local artisans, promoting eco-friendly celebrations, or even educational initiatives related to the festival’s history and traditions. It adds to the greater brand experience and drives customer behavior associated with it. 

    A founder’s thoughts on purpose and branding 

    According to Babaria, the key to scaling through purpose and achieving her Diwali volume goals has been important to the mission. She has taken data and careful planning into account to be able to drive today’s results. Everything she does, however, she does with the end user in mind—the child.  

    This authentic connection to purpose allows brands to build trust and foster a loyal community. When consumers feel that a brand shares their values, they are more likely to support it, recommend it to others, and remain customers long after the festive season ends. This type of customer loyalty, driven by shared purpose, is a crucial ingredient for sustainable scaling. 

    The future of festive branding 

    As Diwali continues to grow in global recognition, its potential for brands will only expand. The brands that will thrive and scale are those that recognize the festival not just as a sales event. Instead, they will see it as a cultural cornerstone, tying experience to their sales to drive future expansion. 

    By embracing the spirit of Diwali and integrating genuine purpose into their campaigns, brands can foster deeper connections with consumers, build lasting loyalty, and achieve significant, sustainable growth. The insights from leaders like Babaria underscore that purpose isn’t just a buzzword. It’s a powerful engine for brand scaling in the vibrant landscape of festive celebrations. 

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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    Parul Bhandari

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  • Why Prioritizing Sustainability Can Help Your Retail Business Grow

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    In today’s retail environment, achieving success often depends on more than just your products. While many brands continue trying to stand out through pricing or other initiatives, others are finding that sustainability is one of the best ways to ensure retail success.

    With the right implementation, sustainability efforts can have an impactful and far-reaching outcome on your retail sales and overall growth.

    Customers want sustainability

    Perhaps the most important reason why retail success and sustainability now go hand in hand is because today’s customers—myself included—want sustainable products. A joint study by NielsenIQ and McKinsey found that 78 percent of customers say a sustainable lifestyle is important. 

    More notably, their research into over 600,000 product SKUs found that when products made sustainability-related claims, they experienced 28 percent cumulative growth during a five-year period. However, products that didn’t make sustainability claims saw 20 percent cumulative growth.

    Growth isn’t just from products customers choose to purchase—but how much they will spend. In 2024, PwC found that customers were willing to pay an average of 9.7 percent more for sustainable products—even with the rampant concerns about inflation.

    When I shop brands, I want to support those who prioritize sustainability and am willing to pay more for it. Many customers today demonstrate this mindset when choosing products, making sustainability poised to become even more important for brands.

    Sustainability initiatives enhance operational efficiency

    Sustainable practices can also improve your operational efficiency in a way that reduces expenses and boosts your bottom line. A report from the SEAD and International Energy Agency highlighted that over 40 percent of global electricity consumption results from industrial motor systems, air conditioners, refrigerators and lighting systems. However, the energy-efficient products that are available could reduce total energy consumption in each of these categories by 50 percent. 

    In my workplace, I try to find ways to integrate sustainability into everyday technology that we already use. One example would be our smart thermostats, which save on energy consumption by automatically adjusting the temperature according to the weather and turn off when people aren’t in the office. Drastic reductions in electricity use are just one of many ways to increase your bottom line.

    Retail brands can also make impacts when managing unsold goods or products returned by customers. For e-commerce retailers, the percentage of returned goods can exceed 30 percent, and much of that ends up in landfills.

    For example, in a case study by CheckSammy, the Yellowstone National Park Lodges were able to recycle over 25,000 pounds of retired textiles in 2024, contributing to 20 metric tons of CO2 savings. CheckSammy used its Zero Point facilities to receive, sort and separate product returns into the appropriate recycling stream. Such facilities offer retailers and others the ability to aggregate and store materials to the point that they enable economies of scale, lowering the relative costs of diverting those materials away from landfills.  

    Organizations that use these Zero Point facilities to manage excess inventories and returned goods can lower their waste costs, monetize recyclable materials and use the accompanying reporting to track their diversion efforts and share progress with stakeholders. 

    To achieve the maximum impact in this area, brands must consider their Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Research by McKinsey found that indirect (and often partner-related) Scope 3 emissions account for about 90 percent of a company’s combined emissions. Because of this, retail brands must also collaborate closely with their suppliers and other partners. Examining your direct emissions and developing a strategy to reduce them is relatively straightforward. 

    Whether it’s changing how you and your suppliers operate or switching suppliers altogether, both can create new opportunities to improve your profit margins.

    Sustainability strengthens your marketing

    The full potential of your sustainability efforts will only be unlocked when you use them to differentiate your brand. Improving sustainability can still be a net positive no matter how you do it, but integrating it into your messaging makes it far more impactful for your bottom line.

    Highlighting your sustainability through marketing, details on product packaging and other messaging will go a long way in helping you earn your target audience’s trust. A key way to strengthen sustainability messaging is to make sure your company and its products qualify for any relevant sustainability certifications. Eco-minded consumers look for these certifications as a mark that a brand is truly sustainable.

    You can also share how you work with ethical partners or use sustainable sourcing in ads and on product packaging. Your company website and social media can also be great ways to highlight efforts like switching to renewable energy or volunteering to support environmental causes. For instance, in my office, we have a wall near our office entrance that is dedicated to displaying the local charities we support as a company. This wall not only sparks great discussions with the people who stop by our office, but it also brings the much-needed awareness to local organizations in the community that they might not know about. 

    Regardless of your industry, sustainability as a core messaging element can help you differentiate yourself from competitors in your niche and attract like-minded customers and employees.

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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    John Hall

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  • Opinion | Japan Gets New Kind of Leader

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    Sanae Takaichi, a hawkish nationalist, wants to make her country great again.

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    Walter Russell Mead

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  • ‘The Customer Success Talent Playbook’ Is Here to Level Up Teams

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    Since its inception in the 1990s, customer success (CS) has evolved from a reactive support function to a proactive growth engine. It has grown up in the SaaS era and the AI-assisted age. Now, it is at a pivotal point to drive AI-native company success. Yet many companies still struggle to fully harness the full potential of CS. Often, outdated approaches to talent acquisition, development, and progression within their CS teams weigh them down. That’s precisely why I co-wrote The Customer Success Talent Playbook, a new book designed to fundamentally change how organizations perceive and cultivate customer success. 

    For too long, customer success has been viewed as a role for individuals with excellent people skills or a background in traditional account management. While these traits are valuable, they represent only a fraction of what’s truly needed for strategic customer success in the modern era. This book shares strategies for all sides, CSMs to leaders, job seekers to hiring managers, to learn how to grow and thrive in this fast-moving function.  

    A playbook for modern customer success 

    The Customer Success Talent Playbook provides a comprehensive framework for CS transformation through standardization. It delves into critical areas, including: 

    • Defining the modern recruiting process. The book outlines the specific competencies and skill sets required for success in various CS roles. This ranges from individual contributors to leadership positions.  
    • Strategic titling and compensation. A well-crafted title is a set of expectations and an external signal to the market. Without them, individuals and companies can drown in mismatches and costs. This book outlines common pitfalls and how to easily overcome them. 
    • Measuring and optimizing CS progression. This book guides leaders and individuals on how to plan for, hire, and grow through skill progression and competencies. 
    • Building effectiveness through fit. Finding the right company or job is key to balancing employee retention and effectiveness. It not only reduces costs long term, but also drives results through fit as a framework. 
    • Networking to grow and evolve. The best enabler of growth and leadership is whom you know and what help they give you. This book dives into the how, what, and who of networking and community for growth. 
    • Developing a culture of continuous learning. The customer success landscape is constantly evolving. This book highlights the importance of ongoing training and development to ensure CS professionals are equipped with the latest knowledge and skills. 

    The value of investing in CS talent 

    The Customer Success Talent Playbook, now available on Amazon, is a call to action for businesses to rethink their investment in CS talent. It’s not just about filling a role. It’s about strategically building a team that will be the foundation of your customer strategy, driving long-term value and sustainable growth. By adopting the principles and practices, companies can truly transform their customer success teams. They will shift from unclear operational cost centers to well-defined profit drivers, ensuring their customers not only stay but thrive alongside them. 

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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    Parul Bhandari

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  • California consumer confidence slips to 3-month low

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    California shoppers’ optimism hit a three-month low, according to new polling data.

    My trusty spreadsheet’s review of the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index for California showed a 4% decline in this shopper psyche measurement from August to September. This index is based on consumer surveys.

    Golden State confidence has declined 23% over the past year and is 9% below its average dating to 2007.

    California and President Donald Trump are not a good mix, politically or economically. The new administration’s “American First” thinking sharply contrasts with California’s globally oriented business environment.

    Think about the two parts that comprise this confidence index.

    California’s “present situation” index – tracking impressions of current economic conditions – was off 8% for September to a five-month low. It’s off 22% year-over-year yet remains 1% above its 19-year average.

    However, the future remains the biggest question mark. California’s forward-looking “expectations” index did rise 1% in a month to its highest level in seven months. But it’s down 24% in a year and is 16% below average.

    Nationally nervous

    The White House’s unorthodox business policies have shaken the economy statewide and nationally. The Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate cut was a signal that the economy is, at best, cooling.

    Nationwide polling found U.S. confidence fell 4% in a month to a five-month low and has declined 5% over the past year. However, the index is 3% above its average since 2007.

    Americans have mixed feelings about today’s economy. The U.S. “present situation” yardstick is down 5% in a month to a 12-month low. Nevertheless, it’s up 1% in a year and 19% above its 19-year average.

    Yet U.S. consumers also see an uneasy economic future. The “expectations” marker is down 2% in a month to a three-month low. It’s off 11% in a year and runs 11% below average.

    Unsettled states

    Five of the seven other states tracked experienced confidence dips for the month, ranked by the index change.

    Illinois:  Off 23% in September to a five-month low. It’s down 9% in a year, but 2% above the average.

    Texas: Off 18% in September to the lowest since December 2020. It’s down 12% in a year but 18% below average.

    Pennsylvania:  Off 11% in September to a 12-month low. It’s up 4% in a year but 7% below average.

    Ohio: Off 6% in September to the lowest since October 2016. It’s down 17% in a year but 2% above average.

    Florida: Off 6% in September to a five-month low. It’s down 1% in a year, but 7% above average.

    Michigan: Up 4% in September, off 3% in a year, and 17% above average.

    New York: Up 13% in September to a five-month high. It’s up 13% in a year and 28% above average.

    Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com

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    Jonathan Lansner

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  • How Career ‘Ghost Growth’ Can Hurt Your Business 

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    It’s easy to feel like just a small cog in a very complex machine when you’re a low-level worker. Employers try to counter this feeling of having a limited career horizon by promising raises and promotions — a hint that you won’t remain a small cog for long, and there’s a bigger and brighter future for you if you just stick with it and grow with the company. But a new survey shows that many of these promises ring hollow, and the majority of American workers have experienced what’s called “ghost growth,” where their employer has promised advancement of one type or another, and then simply failed to follow through. There are lessons to be learned from this for your company, primarily how to avoid damaging employee morale.

    The data, from San Francisco-based resume platform MyPerfectResume, found that fully 65 percent of U.S. workers surveyed said they’d suffered ghost growth at one time or another. Essentially this means that two in every three workers have been promised advancement, and may have been handed expanded duties or authority, but without any meaningful changes to their jobs, such as significant pay raises, HRDive reports.

    Digging into the details, the study confirms that 78 percent of the 1,000 workers questioned said they’d been assigned new duties without getting a raise or promotion. Over half said they’d been promised promotions that never materialized, and over a third complained that they’d been given an increased workload as part of this process but had not been given a raise. Only 15 percent of people said they’d received a raise in the past year that matched their ever-growing duty list. And 35 percent — more than one in three people — said they’d never been properly compensated for additional workloads.

    This phenomenon seems incredibly prevalent, which may explain why two in three of the survey respondents blamed their employer for taking part in “growth theater.” You can think of this as being like greenwashing (promising some eco-friendly credentials that are associated with a particular item or business process, in order to boost sales and the company’s image, even though there’s no meaningful benefit), but for career growth. Basically an employer goes through all the big-gesture motions of promising to help their staff’s career paths without actually intending to go through with much of it. This could look like offering training to a staff member who’s been given new, expanded responsibilities ,but then failing to promote them to a new job title or boost their salary.

    The damage this bait-and-switch can cause is significant. Survey respondents noted how emotionally damaging ghost growth can be, with 53 percent saying it “looks like” their career is progressing, even as it actually doesn’t feel like it. And 49 percent of people say they’ve reached a plateau in their career and, as the report notes, “their company is trying to mask it with superficial opportunities.”

    Promising someone recognition of some sort and then not following through can harm trust and, ultimately, even drive staff to look for work elsewhere if they feel they’re being exploited by their employer, or if their extra duties are burning them out. Nearly 7 in 10 people in the survey said they’d considered quitting due to ghost growth issues, and nearly 3 in 10 people had actually done so.

    Losing these frustrated, disaffected employees can hurt a business beyond the departure of trained personnel and their expertise. It has an actual cost, from repeating the recruitment process, which increases the price tag through the extra time and effort required. This might be one reason why ghost growth happens, of course: conscious of their bottom line, and faced with a an important employee’s departure, some managers may be tempted to share out that person’s duties to their remaining colleagues, but not reward them accordingly.

    What can you take from this for your company?

    Simple: if you’ve promised your workers some form of support along their career journey, you should follow through by actually helping them to advance and compensating them accordingly. Tangible benefits like higher pay, or even a clear path to promotion and leadership roles, supported by upskilling and placing your trust in them are good ideas, HRDive notes. This is supported by MyPerfectResume’s data, which found 27 percent of employees saying they’d like higher pay to go with expanded duties, and 18 percent said they’d feel they’d “grown” if they were offered better work-life balance. 

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    Kit Eaton

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  • The Best Loyalty Programs Grow Customer Businesses, Not Just Retain Them | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Too many loyalty programs operate like rusty hand-cranked machines that require immense effort for a single turn. They rest on the premise of short-term retention, a model that stalls the moment a competitor offers a slightly better deal. The future of loyalty is a frictionless flywheel that gains momentum with every joint success. Stop incentivizing purchases and start enabling program members’ success.

    When each new project a member secures is fueled by unique data, and each product innovation immediately translates into a new capability, a powerful cycle comes to life. This symbiotic relationship between a brand’s growth and the member’s pipeline transforms loyalty from a defensive cost center into an unstoppable offensive strategy.

    Related: How to Turn Your ‘Marketable Passion’ Into Income After Retirement

    Diagnosing the pain points in a loyalty program

    The first missed opportunity appears when a loyalty program begins with a rebate table rather than a team member conversation. A recent survey found that engagement among US loyalty members has dropped 10% since 2022, and loyalty has fallen twice as much, indicating that short-term incentives lose charm quickly when competitors match the offer.

    Complex rules then create administrative overhead: layers of thresholds, expiry dates and blackout periods turn what should be encouraging into burdensome work. Champions who sign up to gain momentum often discover that the rewards demand more time than they deliver value.

    Another gap emerges when programs focus solely on tracking spending. Hours invested in training, referrals or brand advocacy stay invisible, so contractors receive no acknowledgment for actions that raise their value.

    Uniform benefit packs widen the gap further because a regional remodeler aiming for local credibility and a national distributor expanding into new states need different kinds of help. Each shortcoming stems from the same underlying issue: the program safeguards current revenue instead of expanding future opportunity.

    Building an engine for mutual growth

    Progress starts with a shift in perspective: replace “How do we keep customers from leaving?” with “How do we help participants secure their next win faster and at a better margin?”. Conversations with contractors, retailers and distributors consistently reveal three accelerators: early access to product improvements, dependable lead flow and credentials that earn trust. Benefits aligned with these goals transform a points account into a business toolbox.

    For example, when a contractor can show a homeowner an exclusive product that saves labor, purchase decisions speed up and profitability rises on both sides. Data transparency must flow both ways. Dashboards give members real-time insight into tier progress and upcoming rewards while giving brands immediate feedback about which features drive incremental revenue.

    Second, benefits are personalized: a rural roofer sees different opportunities than an urban remodeling firm, so the program adjusts instead of broadcasting one generic coupon. Third, purpose sits alongside price. When a program offers community service grants or sustainability certification, members receive a story they can pass to clients, adding reputation equity that compounds over time.

    Related: How Transparency In Business Leads to Customer Growth and Loyalty

    Revealing the impact of collaboration

    The impact of a growth-focused program shows up first in financial data. Share of wallet rises among enrolled members, new product launches gain faster traction and churn recedes because leaving would erase visible support. Pipelines expand when a loyalty badge elevates credibility and leads arrive warmed by national marketing.

    Over 37% of consumers spend more money with brands they subscribe to or belong to membership programs. For example, my company’s TAMKO Edge® loyalty program not only offers cash back rewards but also digital business tools, exclusive events and training. When points fund advanced workshops, regional ad credits or software that streamlines estimates, members invest in their personal growth, rather than merely offset costs.

    Referral momentum reinforces the outcome. Team members who experience measurable gains invite peers, confident that additional network strength raises the tide for everyone. Listening sessions shift from rule confusion to conversations about shared innovation, indicating the relationship has moved from transactional to strategic.

    Resilience during market swings provides final confirmation: members who rely on shared dashboards adapt quickly to supply fluctuations because joint planning aligns inventory with forecast demand. The brand benefits from steadier demand curves and reduced emergency discounting, an advantage no one-off rebate can match.

    Tailoring programs to consumer pain points

    Before investing in a redesign, teams can run a quick audit: match every perk to a real obstacle members face. Perks without that link waste focus and budget. Contractors, for example, often need support beyond their craft, like sales training, business guidance or lead generation.

    Loyalty programs that offer these resources directly address pain points while tiered structures keep members engaged and motivated to grow. Prioritizing rewards that expand capacity, like marketing credits or extended warranties, over one-off treats builds long-term, mutually beneficial relationships. Early checks reveal gaps while costs to adjust are still low.

    Sustaining momentum once it starts

    Partnership thrives on scheduled dialogue. Setting aside time each quarter allows members to outline new hurdles while program teams share upcoming capabilities. During review sessions, owners confirm whether members choose rewards that extend reach, like advertising placements, skill certifications and longer service windows, rather than vouchers that offset routine expenses. Ongoing dialogue turns intention into concrete action by aligning future perks with real-time feedback.

    Programs that cling to rebates compete in a shrinking arena defined by price, while initiatives that equip customers to secure bigger, faster wins compete in a wider field where every success multiplies. Align every reward, insight and meeting with that reality.

    When mutual growth drives each decision, both ledgers rise together, turning loyalty into a long-term partnership that endures shifts in market, technology and customer expectations.

    Too many loyalty programs operate like rusty hand-cranked machines that require immense effort for a single turn. They rest on the premise of short-term retention, a model that stalls the moment a competitor offers a slightly better deal. The future of loyalty is a frictionless flywheel that gains momentum with every joint success. Stop incentivizing purchases and start enabling program members’ success.

    When each new project a member secures is fueled by unique data, and each product innovation immediately translates into a new capability, a powerful cycle comes to life. This symbiotic relationship between a brand’s growth and the member’s pipeline transforms loyalty from a defensive cost center into an unstoppable offensive strategy.

    Related: How to Turn Your ‘Marketable Passion’ Into Income After Retirement

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    Fallon Anawalt

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