Chess is often used as a metaphor for business, usually badly. The language is familiar: strategy, foresight, sacrifice, endgames. But most business writing treats chess as a teaching aid rather than a diagnostic tool. In reality, the deeper parallel is not about clever moves or grandmasters’ brilliance. It is about how systems behave when information is incomplete, resources are asymmetric, and early decisions constrain everything that follows. Chess does not reward inspirat

When a negative review appears, most businesses react emotionally. They apologise quickly. They defend themselves quietly. Or they ignore it and hope it disappears. What rarely happens is a considered response built around why the review happened in the first place. And that’s where many businesses unintentionally make things worse. As our previous piece explored, online reviews tend to punish inconsistency far more than they reward great moments. One off-day, one delayed or

On January 29 each year, the calendar marks Freethinkers Day, remembering thinkers who challenged prevailing authority and argued for reason over unexamined belief. The day is linked to Thomas Paine, born on that date in 1737, whose radical pamphlets helped shift the political and social landscape in ways that still echo centuries later. Most people associate freethinking with politics, religion, or philosophy. In business, however, its footprint is far subtler — and far more

In “Is Handmade a Product — or a Relationship?”  we explored how handmade commerce is often interpreted as relational, not just transactional. That perception shapes buyer expectations, seller behaviour, and ultimately — whether a business can be sustainable. This toolkit gives you practical frameworks and steps  to translate that insight into better pricing, communications, boundaries, and community value — without over-promising or underpricing your labour. 1) Relationship

A Stories of Business reader told us how he recently flew from the UK to Istanbul for dental treatment. The process didn’t begin with a referral. It didn’t involve a long phone call. There was no paperwork up front. It started with a Google search. He landed on a professional-looking site with strong reviews and a consultation presence linked to Harley Street in London. That created credibility. But what turned interest into action wasn’t the website. It was a WhatsApp number

Most businesses track what’s easy to measure. Website visits. Follower counts. Monthly revenue. Open rates. These numbers are tidy, familiar, and comforting. They look like control. But they often miss the signals that matter most — the ones that tell you whether your business is actually working in the world , not just on a dashboard. Good businesses don’t fail because they ignore data. They fail because they track the wrong data, or mistake activity for impact. This piece i

B Corp is often treated as a shortcut to “doing good business”. A certification.A logo.A score. But frameworks don’t create impact on their own. Decisions do. So the real question isn’t whether B Corp exists — it’s whether frameworks like it actually change how businesses behave , and whether communities feel the difference. What Frameworks Like B Corp Are Designed to Do At their core, frameworks like B Corp try to solve a practical problem: Business decisions are complex, an

Most businesses treat the sale as the finish line. In reality, it’s the handover point — where responsibility either becomes operational or quietly disappears. In our earlier piece, Why Responsibility Starts After the Sale , we explored why trust, impact, and real-world consequences are shaped long after money changes hands. This toolkit answers the next question: What does responsibility actually look like once the sale is done? Not in theory. In decisions, systems, and ever

December also marks " Write a Business Plan Month"  — usually associated with revenue forecasts, pricing models, and funding decks. All of that matters. But many of the business failures we later describe as “unavoidable” were quietly designed in at the planning stage — long before the first customer arrived. Purpose is cheapest when nothing exists yet Once a business is running, change becomes expensive. Systems are locked in. Habits form. Shortcuts appear under pressure. At

Every December, the world marks Food Service Safety Month . Not as a celebration, but as a reminder of something most of us rarely think about: how much unseen work it takes for people to eat safely, every single day. We eat at home, at school, at work, in hospitals, cafés, events, and roadside stops. We trust that the food will not make us ill — not because we’ve checked, but because modern life depends on that trust holding. When food safety works, nothing happens. When it

Winter is everywhere. From Northern Europe to Central Asia, from mountain regions to inland plains, cold seasons test how societies and businesses function when conditions turn hostile. In this story, we use the United States and Canada as reference points — not because winter belongs to them, but because they offer clear, well-documented examples of how businesses operate when cold, distance, and disruption are structural realities rather than exceptions. When temperatures f

Most businesses treat the moment of sale as the finish line. The product is delivered. The invoice is paid. The transaction is complete. But in reality, that’s where responsibility begins. In a world of complex supply chains, digital products, and long‑lasting environmental and social impact, what happens after  the sale often matters more than what happens before it. The Comfortable Myth of the Completed Transaction Traditional business thinking is built around a simple idea

Today, 14th December is Monkey Day  — a slightly unusual observance that celebrates curiosity, intelligence, and adaptability. At first glance, monkeys and business don’t seem to have much in common. But look closer. Because monkeys don’t survive by being the biggest, strongest, or most perfectly organised. They survive by being observant, adaptable, and deeply social . That combination turns out to be a pretty good business model too. Monkeys Learn by Watching — Not by Manu

(International Pastry Day — December 9) Pastry may look simple — flour, butter, water, a little magic — but it carries centuries of movement, migration and adaptation.From ancient Middle Eastern laminated doughs to French viennoiseries, Portuguese custard traditions, Japanese precision baking and the Scandinavian love of enriched breads, pastry has always travelled well. Wherever it goes, it picks up new techniques, new stories and new meanings. And in 2025, pastry businesses

Most people think of veterinary practices as places you go when something is wrong with your pet. But on the International Day of Veterinary Medicine  — observed every year on December 9th  — we’re reminded that vets are some of the quietest, strongest examples of what good business looks like. Not because they talk about values, but because they live  them every day. Behind every consultation room door is a lesson in trust, integrity, service and community. When Veterinary C

Every year, International Anti-Corruption Day  arrives on the 9th of December with the same message: Integrity isn’t a legal requirement — it’s a leadership decision. Corruption is often spoken about in big systems, big governments, big institutions. But the truth is simpler and closer to home: Every business makes daily choices that either strengthen or weaken trust. And in 2025, trust is the currency that matters most. Ethics Isn’t a Department. It’s Culture. You don’t need

Big trust doesn’t come from big marketing budgets. It comes from the smallest things — done consistently, when nobody’s watching. Most businesses think trust is built through: Branding Ads Reviews Social proof Those things help. But they’re not the foundation. Trust is formed in the quiet moments: The reply that comes faster than expected. The mistake that’s owned instead of hidden. The promise that’s kept even when it’s inconvenient. Customers may never write a review about

There’s a moment that changes everything in a young person’s life — that first opportunity to walk into a workplace, see how things actually function, and imagine themselves belonging there. Not a classroom simulation. Not a textbook. Not a motivational assembly. A real workplace. With real people. Doing real work. For many young people, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, that moment never comes. And that gap — between potential and opportunity — becomes the dif

Fashioned by expectations, reinforced by culture, and quietly propping up the global economy — the Double Shift is the invisible reality millions of women live every single day. Women are expected to work like they don’t have children —and mother like they don’t have jobs. It sounds like a dramatic line from a documentary. But it’s not drama. It’s data. According to the International Labour Organization, women spend 3–5 times more hours  on unpaid care work than men: cooking,

You don’t need to look at global headlines to understand the true heartbeat of an economy. You see it in the corner shops that keep neighbourhoods alive. In the micro-entrepreneurs carving out dignity one sale at a time. In the small manufacturers giving people their first stable wage. This is the part of the world economy we rarely talk about — yet it carries the weight of possibility on its shoulders. According to the UN’s own 2030 Agenda, ending poverty will depend not onl