56% of small businesses in the United States report difficulty paying basic operating expenses — and that number has held stubbornly high even as inflation has cooled from its 2022 peak, according to the Federal Reserve’s 2024 Small Business Credit… 

In my years of advising mid-market companies, I have noticed a recurring, unsettling pattern. A CEO sits across from me, managing a business with $25 million in revenue and 150 employees. On paper, the company is “stable.” The banks are… 

A Diagnostic Review of Structural Margin Erosion A Diagnostic Review of Structural Margin Erosion Most businesses do not fail in a single, dramatic moment of catastrophe. Instead, they experience a slow, structural deterioration. This process often goes unnoticed because revenue… 

For many leaders of mid-sized companies, there is a recurring paradox: the more the business grows, the heavier the burden of leadership feels. You might assume that reaching a certain revenue milestone—perhaps $10M, $25M, or $50M—would bring a sense of…