In early 2025, when a salmon farm in New York prepared to shut down, it faced a decision most businesses never plan for: what happens to food that still exists when the business no longer can. LocalCoho, a land-based salmon farming company in Auburn, New York, was closing after failing to secure further investment. Inside its tanks were more than 18,000 kilograms of coho salmon  — edible, high-quality food with real economic and nutritional value. Instead of allowing that foo

On a stretch of road in Shirley , a neighbourhood in the city of Southampton on England’s south coast , a fish and chip shop made a simple but costly decision in December 2025: it opened on Christmas Day and served free meals to people who needed them. For readers outside the UK, Shirley is not a tourist district or a city centre. It’s a busy residential area — the kind of place where independent takeaways, charity shops, pharmacies, and corner stores sit side by side, servin

Kisan Diwas , or Farmers’ Day, is observed in India on the 23rd December to recognise the role farmers play in the economy and food system. But the questions it surfaces go far beyond national borders. This is not a story about farming as a tradition or identity. It is a story about how business decisions shape risk, power, and stability across global food systems  — often far from the consumer’s view. The first decision that matters: who carries the risk In most modern food

If you run a café, restaurant, takeaway, bakery, or small catering business, food safety isn’t a policy document — it’s something you manage between orders, staff shortages, and long shifts . Most food safety problems don’t come from not caring. They come from being busy, tired, or under pressure. This practical toolkit is written for independent food businesses  — and builds directly on our earlier piece, Do You Trust the Food You Eat? What follows focuses on decisions you c

Hair is rarely just hair. For many people, it’s identity, confidence, dignity, and recovery — especially after illness, stress, or loss. That’s why the global wig and hair extensions industry operates differently from most consumer markets. When people buy hair, they aren’t just buying a product. They’re placing trust. And that makes the business decisions behind the product matter far more than most customers realise. A global supply chain built on distance and expectation H

Electric vehicles are often sold as cheaper to run, simpler to maintain, and better for the future. For many drivers, that’s true — right up until something goes wrong. At that point, the question stops being about technology and starts being about protection : Who carries the risk when the most expensive part of the car fails? For most drivers, the battery is  the risk In a petrol or diesel car, failure usually arrives in stages. Parts wear down. Costs accumulate gradually.

In December 2025, the UK government announced new funding designed to help small businesses cut costs and invest in sustainability. Unlike most policy headlines, this one wasn’t about big targets or future ambitions — it was about real pressure facing real businesses today , and what it means when policy meets lived business conditions. Small firms can now access support through the expanded Made Smarter Adoption Programme  to reduce energy bills and adopt technology like im

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

Long before watches became status symbols, they were tools. They helped farmers track daylight, sailors calculate longitude, and communities organise work and rest. Early timekeeping wasn’t about luxury — it was about coordination, reliability, and shared trust . To wear a watch today is to carry a piece of that history. From Necessity to Craft The first portable timepieces emerged in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. They were inaccurate by modern standards, but revolut

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

Not every business story is loud. Some are built quietly — through restraint, simplicity, and a clear sense of what doesn’t  need to be added. That’s the feeling behind Prosto Concept , a design-led home and lifestyle brand rooted in the belief that everyday spaces work better when they are calm, functional, and thoughtfully made. When Less Is the Point In a world of constant upgrades, bold statements, and fast trends, choosing simplicity is a decision. Prosto Concept’s app

Smart-home technology has quietly moved from novelty to normal. IoT — the Internet of Things — refers to everyday physical objects connected to the internet that collect data and interact with software or other devices . Cameras watch front doors. Sensors regulate heating. Apps control lights, locks, and alarms. What once felt futuristic now sits comfortably in kitchens, hallways, and bedrooms. This rapid adoption is often framed as progress — more convenience, more safety,

Today, 15th December is International Tea Day Tea is one of the most ordinary things in the world. And that’s exactly why it matters. Every day, over 2 billion cups of tea  are consumed globally, making it the second most consumed drink on the planet after water , according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) . Behind those cups are millions of people  — smallholder farmers, pickers, processors, packers, traders, cafés, and family-run business

For many of us, LEGO isn’t just a toy. It’s memory. It’s imagination. It’s hours on the floor building worlds that didn’t exist five minutes earlier. And quietly, for decades, LEGO has represented something rare in modern business: values that endure . LEGO Was Never Just About Plastic Bricks LEGO’s roots go back to the 1930s, founded on a simple Danish philosophy: “Only the best is good enough.” Not the fastest. Not the cheapest. The best. That mindset shaped more than a pro

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

Somewhere along the way, “good business” picked up a reputation for being… exhausting. Perfect sustainability reports. Perfect carbon accounting. Perfect language. Perfect credentials. And if you don’t tick all the boxes, it can feel like you don’t belong in the conversation at all. But here’s the truth we don’t say loudly enough: Good business isn’t about being perfect. It’s about intent. You don’t need a 40-page ESG strategy to be a good business. You don’t need to speak fl

(Observed every year on 10 December — marking the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) Every year, Human Rights Day  arrives as a reminder of something bigger than law, politics or policy. It’s a reminder of how we choose to treat one another  — and how those choices shape the world we build. And in 2025, one truth is becoming impossible to ignore: There is no sustainability without human rights. And there are no human rights without a sustainable world. The

In a world where high streets shrink, wages wobble, and household budgets feel tighter every month, something simple — like finding everyday essentials at a fair price — becomes more important than we admit. Not glamorous. Not headline-worthy. But profoundly human. That’s why online platforms like FabFinds  matter more than they appear at first glance. This mention contains an affiliate link. If you purchase through it, Stories of Business may earn a commission at no extra co