Gonzalez-Santana, who uses a wheelchair, is among more than one in four—or 70 million— adults in the U.S. who reported having a disability, according to the CDC. However, many entrepreneurs with disabilities and experts in the field say finding resources to support their small business dreams is challenging.

The National Disability Institute

Through its Small Business Hub, the nonprofit National Disability Institute (NDI) has spent the past several years working with federal and state government agencies and other organizations to make their educational services more accessible for entrepreneurs with disabilities. NDI provides entrepreneurial support services including a streaming TV channel, webinars, podcasts, and in-person gatherings. Beyond NDI, two other business incubators specialize in this sector; Synergies Work an 2Gether International.

The need is great. According to the National Disability Institute, one in four people with disabilities live in poverty and experience barriers to wage-based employment. An average of just 22.5 percent of people with disabilities were employed in 2023— an all-time high, according to the Center for American Progress, yet still a small portion of the population. Without wage-based employment, many of these individuals experience financial instability, which compromises their ability to live independently. 

Entrepreneurship can be a viable alternative—and it often is. People with disabilities start businesses at a higher rate than the general population; 9.5% of people with disabilities are entrepreneurs, compared with 6.1% of Americans without disabilities, according to the Small Business Administration.

Primed for entrepreneurship

“Many of the entrepreneurs we work with, which has been way over 1,000 in the last four years, … have said… this world is just not set up for me,” says Nikki Powis, NDI’s director of small business programs. She observes that many of the entrepreneurs the NDI has worked with have faced difficulty earning wage-based employment. “A lot of folks have experienced… assumptions about their abilities and skills, and so have sort of given up trying to get a job and decided they’re going to create their own.”  

Gonzalez-Santana says she was building entrepreneurial skills, such as creativity, problem-solving, and innovation, navigating her daily life. “I’ve been employing caretakers for 15 years. So, when you put that in perspective, that’s an extremely long amount of experience in the human resources aspect, right? It’s hiring; it’s training; it’s firing; it’s all those things,” she says. “I can’t get out of bed unless someone gets me out. So, imagine all the logistics that go into that; making sure there’s somebody here to do it. Having a backup plan. All those types of things that we just naturally have to adapt to in order to live our lives.” 

Being her own boss and controlling her own schedule is also conducive to Gonzalez-Santana’s lifestyle needs. “[With] my body, I have moments where I’m feeling really great. I have moments when I’m not. That kind of comes and goes. So, the idea of working flexible schedules is that… I’m able to manage it based on… when I feel the best,” she says.

Powis says entrepreneurs with disabilities face the same challenges as any other person starting a business and that they need a support system. Just as a tech genius may need to hire marketing support, or a creative may need to seek out a financial whiz, entrepreneurs with disabilities may need employees, contractors, or parents/family members to assist with various aspects of their businesses. NDI works one-on-one with entrepreneurs to identify their need areas and connect them with resources via an integrated resource team model.

Gonzalez-Santana channeled her dream of starting a business into classes and mentorship with SCORE, which bills itself as the country’s largest network of volunteer expert business mentors. From her SCORE mentor, she says she learned about the vitality and viability of entrepreneurship, as well as tactical information for daily business operations.

Government and corporate support

Entrepreneurs with disabilities may hesitate to start their own businesses out of concerns that doing so will cause them to lose disability benefits and/or Medicaid; however, it may be possible to maintain benefits—and many entrepreneurs have successfully done so. 

Existing entrepreneurs may in turn hesitate to disclose their disability because they’ve experienced ableism and worry that sharing will lead to other businesses or customers not wanting to do business with them, Powis says.   

However, disclosing a disability may lead to additional opportunities. Individuals must identify their disability to tap into NDI resources, and the institute encourages people to share. Historically, businesses that receive Disability-Owned Business Enterprise (DOBE) certification, which indicates a business is at least 51% owned, managed, and controlled by a person with a disability, have received priority federal contracting. 

These certifications also assist with private sector contracts. Disability IN helps certify businesses and links them to organizations hoping to diversify their supply chains. “There are doors that open and funding that’s available if you disclose you have a disability. But it’s ultimately… up to the person and what their experience has been and whether they want to do that or not,” Powis says.

Working within the system

Government resources are available for the tenacious, Gonzalez-Santana says. She tapped into the vocational rehabilitation services department in her home state of Florida, which helped with vehicle modifications and desk equipment to start her business, as well as funding her master’s degree. 

However, she found the department wasn’t open to or encouraging of entrepreneurship; it took resourcefulness on her part to navigate the system. “There’s definitely some education that’s needed,” she says. “However [if] we look at the positive side, [vocational rehabilitation departments have] huge budgets that they can spend in order to get you the things that you need.”

Powis says the federal and state agencies NDI has worked with to date have been open to identifying where they could do more to connect with entrepreneurs with disabilities and/or make their existing resources more accessible. “They need to be at the table. They need to be part of the conversations. They need to be willing and open to hearing the voices of the entrepreneurs and business owners with disabilities and hearing where there needs to be some change,” she says.

Regardless of the sphere, when it comes to supporting entrepreneurs with disabilities Gonzalez-Santana says communication is key. “Most people with disabilities… they know what works best for them, and if you’re given the opportunity to discuss that openly and freely, without judgment or fear …and both sides are just listening to each other, I think that would really just make everything flow,” she says.

Photo by SeventyFour/shutterstock.com

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Survey finds 41% of young workers are sabotaging AI strategies

Recent research from enterprise startup Writer has found that while U.S. companies are making considerable efforts to integrate AI, employees remain largely skeptical. Writer surveyed 800 employees and 800 C-suite executives from various industries such as financial services, health care, pharmaceuticals, life sciences, retail and consumer goods and technology. All those surveyed were regular users of generative AI. 

The survey discovered a significant gap in attitudes toward AI between C-suite executives and employees. While 75% of executives believe their company’s AI rollout over the past year has been successful, only 45% of employees agree. Some employees are so resistant to AI that they have deliberately tried to block adoption efforts: 41% of millennial and Gen Z employees admit to sabotaging their company’s AI strategy by rejecting AI tools or outputs. 

73% of companies commit $1M+ to AI despite workforce anxiety

Employees’ anxieties about AI are understandable. To some, AI’s growing presence is the first step toward their roles being phased out. Even as anxiety around AI grows, businesses are doubling down on its potential to reduce costs. According to HFS Research and Globality, AI-driven autonomous sourcing can reduce operational costs by 20%, enhancing productivity and accelerating speed-to-market—key advantages for leaders managing inflationary challenges.

With 73% of companies investing at least $1 million annually in generative AI, according to Writer, businesses are embracing these tools as long-term solutions. In health care, AI chatbots are now managing appointment bookings and routine questions, reducing the availability of administrative roles. In tech, AI-driven coding platforms are streamlining repetitive programming tasks, limiting the need for full-time junior developers.

Do companies have a real AI plan? Employees aren’t convinced

Though workers worry about AI affecting job security, the survey found that 81% of employees and nearly all C-suite executives (97%) would still prefer to work at a company that uses generative AI. Many workers see AI adoption as a sign of a company’s long-term success, boosting their confidence in future security and career prospects—at least for those who can avoid being replaced. 

The survey also found a divide in perceptions of AI strategy. While 89% of C-suite executives believe their companies has a solid long-term plan, only 57% of employees agree. Just 33% of employees in the survey feel their company is well-grounded in AI literacy. 

AI literacy remains an ongoing challenge for many companies racing to adapt. Major organizations are now recognizing the urgent need to upskill not just executives but the entire workforce, ensuring that everyone understands how to work with AI effectively and to a reasonable standard. While AI is certainly causing “deep rifts” within companies and, in some cases, even “tearing apart” organizations (at least according to almost half of executives), Writer CEO May Habib argues that this shouldn’t overshadow the positive potential of generative AI moving forward.

“The future belongs to the enterprises that can turn AI enthusiasm into business reinvention. Generative AI holds transformative potential, but it’s also creating deep rifts within companies that are relying on a patchwork of point solutions or developing internal apps in a silo,” she said. 

Closing the intelligence gap: Why AI strategies must include everyone

Writer points to a divide that goes beyond AI, exposing a deeper disconnect between leadership and employees as organizations navigate rapid technological change. 

Executives see AI as a game-changer, a tool that can drive profitability and efficiency. But for workers, AI often represents uncertainty, a force that could alter their roles or make them obsolete. Many organizations choose to sidestep these concerns rather than confront them. In doing so, they inadvertently create intelligence gaps, limiting employees to AI-driven insights for routine tasks while keeping them out of strategic and big picture decision-making. 

Successful AI integration requires organizations to balance innovation with investment in human capital. A workforce that feels valued and secure is essential; otherwise, even the most ambitious strategies can fall apart. For this reason, AI integration cannot be a top-down effort. Without full workforce involvement, adoption risks being incomplete, ineffective and burdened by internal struggles. Writer’s research suggests that while employees are still generally optimistic about AI, concerns arise when discussions shift to job security and trust. For most organizations, this is the more manageable of two challenges—if approached with pragmatism and honesty. 

Photo from Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock

The post Nearly Half of Executives Say AI is Dividing Their Company, Survey Reveals appeared first on SUCCESS.

If it’s any comfort, you are not alone if you’re unhappy in your current job. Nearly 6 in 10 workers are considering a search for a new job in 2025, according to a recent survey by Resume Templates. And 28% of respondents cited poor management as their reason for wanting to move on.

In a 2014 survey, 59% of employees interviewed reported working for a micromanager at some point in their careers. The survey also found the constant scrutiny negatively impacted most workers: 68% of those who felt they’d been micromanaged said it decreased their morale and 55% said it hurt their productivity.

Tales from the front lines

Beth Ezekiel has a computer science degree from an Ivy League university and was working for a software development company. She wrote code all day and made sure everything was running before she left for the evening. It wasn’t long before her manager started rewriting all her code every night. 

“Each morning I would find him pacing outside my office so he could go over all the changes he made, none of which were necessary. As this was only my second job after graduation, I thought maybe this is how companies operate,” she says. “I lasted two years there but then decided to leave as the situation never improved.”

Don’t think micromanaging only happens to entry-level employees. John Stanton was a very experienced CFO of a manufacturing company in New York. After about three months, he realized the CEO was not only a micromanager but a bully as well. “I woke up at 5:45 a.m. one day and saw seven texts from him, starting at 4 a.m., wanting an update on something,” he says. “The texts got angrier and angrier because I hadn’t responded. Each day he had to know every detail of what I was working on and would tell me to send an email to someone, dictating every word of what I should say.”

At the office holiday party, Stanton says the manager even told his staff what great things to say to his wife about him so she would know how valuable he was to the company. “He would not tolerate any kind of conversation when I tried to improve the relationship and would just say that I was not performing up to par. I lasted six months before I decided I had to leave.”  

Why managers micromanage 

So, why are some bosses so controlling? Steve McClatchy, author of Leading Relationships: Build Meaningful Connections, Eliminate Conflict, and Radically Improve Engagement, says micromanagement is not always a bad thing. “Micromanagement is a tool in the toolbox of a manager that needs to be complemented with macromanagement,” he says. Macromanagement means giving employees a lot of autonomy.

He notes that micromanagement is often a trust issue. “If the manager was promoted because they mastered a certain skill and, as a result, became the best performer, then their tendency as a manager might be to teach everyone to do a task exactly the way they used to do it. The problem with this approach is it leaves out the ability for that task to be completed a different way.” 

Strategies to manage the micromanager

If a micromanager is driving you crazy, you do have options beyond finding another job. First, I find complaining to HR is usually not a great strategy. While trying to be helpful, they may go to your boss and say, “Mary Smith was in my office today saying that she is unhappy with how you constantly micromanage.” It will upset your boss that you took the issue outside the group, and you might set yourself 10 steps back when trying to improve the situation.

McClatchy suggests meeting with your micromanager and saying something like, “‘I need your help. I could be off base with this, but I’m sensing that you’re worried about my ability to complete the task (or project) successfully. I often find myself spending a lot of time updating you on the completion of a task versus spending that time working on it. What do you think?’ 

“From here you would navigate the conversation towards what you are looking for, which is to receive more macromanagement,” he says. “Ask your boss what they would need to see, hear or  experience to have trust and confidence that you can produce the end result.”

Gail Welch is a retired vice president of a large defense contractor, and over the years, she worked out great strategies to deal with a micromanager. “First you need to build a foundation of trust,” she advises. “Always meet your deadlines and if you can, turn in assignments a day or two early.”

When assigned a project, Welch would come up with at least two ideas on how to accomplish the work. The first would be a traditional, straightforward approach and the second would be more creative. 

“I would always emphasize how this new idea is grounded in the company’s culture and how they work with a customer,” she says. “You also want to get buy-in from your internal stakeholders and even bring another person, such as [from] finance, to a planning session with your boss. Always keep in mind their tolerance level for creativity. When you are successful a couple of times, your boss is more assured that they can rely on you.”

Welch says she would then ask, “‘How often do you want me to brief you on my progress? How do you like to communicate—by email, phone or by swinging by your office?’ I would also frequently send out ‘Heads Up on XYZ Project’ emails so my boss always had sound bites if he was in a meeting with his management or a customer,” she adds. “You never want them to be caught not being in the know. Basically, you have to adjust your style to their style and be on the same page—and your page is his page.”

Give these tactics a try and you’ll feel a great sense of accomplishment that you managed your micromanager. 

Photo by Stock-Asso/Shutterstock

The post How to Manage the Micromanager appeared first on SUCCESS.

Something has to get inside your brain to inspire you to do what you never thought possible.

For pearls to be made, an irritant must find its way inside the shell of its host.

For humans, that “irritant” might be passion or purpose. For mollusks (e.g., oysters and mussels), parasites, crabs or worms can get into the lining of the shell and cause irritation. A liquid substance coats the irritant, which hardens to become a pearl over time.

The beauty that results from a mollusk’s internal struggle can take years. For Matt Harris, it took half a lifetime.

As one of the world’s most sought-after pearl experts, his ascent didn’t happen overnight. And it didn’t happen without many “irritants” entering his brain before he found the career he was destined for.

Discovering a new passion

When he turned 50, Harris had a job he liked “just fine” and was making good money, but he wasn’t fulfilled. Change can be hard, but it’s even harder, he admits, “the older you get, when you have mortgages and bills.”

Thankfully, he knows hard can be easy when it’s the right thing for you.

Having done everything from conducting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and selling fine art to managing all of Warner Brothers’ West Coast retail stores and running his own software company, Harris’ niche-fluid career helped him become a lifelong learner.

So, it was no surprise that, in preparing for his wedding, he volunteered to research a topic that fascinated him.

“My wife and I decided to get pearls for the bridesmaids, but neither of us knew how to buy them,” he recalls. Because he’d accompanied his mom to her jewelry making classes when he was a child, he was comfortable walking into a shop at the California Jewelry Mart in Los Angeles and asking the women working there if they’d teach him Chinese pearl stringing, which uses silk and closely knit knots. “They thought it was the cutest thing in the world,” he says, “so I learned how to string this traditional silk method.”

When his software company reached its 20-year mark, he moved to Napa Valley with the intention of building a winery but says he felt stagnant.

“At a certain point later, I’m like, ‘Where did the fire go?’” he says. “It wasn’t that I was in bad shape. It’s just that I got comfortable, and I realized I didn’t want to be mediocre anymore, so I had to reignite that.”

Reigniting the fire

The fire returned when Harris moved to Austin, Texas, and started selling his pearl creations at a local jewelry store. He convinced the owner to let him manage the store and earn 50% of the profits if he doubled their revenue.

After quadrupling their revenue—and having reached a milestone birthday—he says he asked himself, “Do I want to die being known as a really great jewelry store manager, or do I want to leave a mark? Something people can remember me by—something that my daughter can remember me by and say, ‘My dad did that.’”

Turns out, the mark he wanted to leave was sitting in his drawers. With thousands of collected pearls, Harris realized pearls had a story to be told, yet no one was telling it in a way that did them justice.

“There was no one person that was the person,” he says. “It seemed like there’s this spot open, and it seemed like it was waiting for me.”

A few years and many celebrity and travel experiences later, Harris has found his purpose. He has some advice for living the life you were meant to live.

Find your 2.0

Harris attributes his shifts to The Super Connector Mastermind run by Jen Gottlieb and Chris Winfield. In the 2.0 exercise, where attendees were asked to imagine themselves a year into the future, he remembers questions like: “How do you feel?” and “What does it look like?”

“I saw myself speaking about pearls in exotic locations like Tahiti, where a lot of pearls come from,” he says. “And I saw myself being known in the industry… as the guy that’s teaching people about pearls.”

Harris 2.0 was born.

Take a leap of faith in yourself

When Harris learned of a conference in Tahiti for jewelers touring pearl farms, he asked to speak about the history of pearls. He got the gig.

He didn’t have a speech written or experience but still pitched himself as the right person for the job.

“There’s a saying that I love: ‘Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they’re yours,’” Harris says. “If I would have had the slightest thought that I couldn’t have landed that, then I wouldn’t have asked. So, I did. And before you know it, somebody says, ‘Oh, Matt, you’re speaking [in] Tahiti?… Why don’t you speak over here?’”

A year later, he’s in a video about the history of pearls shown on all Air Tahiti Nui flights—all because “I got into 2.0, and I believed that I could do it. And that’s kind of like that leap of faith in yourself.”

Don’t be afraid to ask

When Harris started designing jewelry as a hobby—long before he launched into it full-time—he emailed everyone he knew, asking if anyone knew actress Debra Messing, who he thought would look perfect in one of his necklaces.

A friend who Harris shares wine tastings with responded. “He says, ‘I don’t know if you know this, because we don’t talk business over wine, but I’m a photographer for NBC, and I work on the Will & Grace show.’”

Harris gave that friend a necklace for Messing, and her wardrobe person called, asking to meet. After designing for Messing for two seasons of the show, he asked her to connect him with Britney Spears, who was going to be a guest on an upcoming episode.

“Britney then asked if I could make a necklace and earring set for her,” Harris says. “If you don’t ask, you’re never going to get it…. In order to have the courage to ask, you have to believe that you’re the person that can do it…. You are your 2.0.” 

This article originally appeared in the March/April 2025 issue of SUCCESS magazine. Photo courtesy of Matt Harris Designs.

The post Pearls With a Purpose: Why Matt Harris Left a Lucrative Career to Pursue Pearl Jewelry appeared first on SUCCESS.

Recognizing the consumer shift

PepsiCo’s move comes at a critical inflection point. As CEO Ramon Laguarta noted in the official press release, “More than ever, consumers are looking for convenient and great-tasting options that fit their lifestyles and respond to their growing interest in health and wellness.” This acquisition represents years of market observation culminating in precisely timed action.

The company observed health-conscious consumers shifting away from traditional sodas and toward functional beverages. This strategic move is also enabling PepsiCo to compete with Coca-Cola’s Simply Pop prebiotic soda line, which has been gaining market share in the healthier alternatives segment.

Rather than playing catch-up through a lengthy product development cycle, PepsiCo’s acquisition gives them immediate entry into this growing market with an already established brand that has proven consumer appeal. While PepsiCo could have developed its own prebiotic soda internally, the company recognized that sometimes perfect timing means buying rather than building, especially when rivals have already established a foothold.

The build versus buy decision

PepsiCo faced the classic strategic question: build capabilities internally or acquire them? According to Ram Krishnan, CEO of PepsiCo Beverages North America, Poppi represented a “white space” in their portfolio. By acquiring an established brand rather than developing a competing product, PepsiCo saved years of development time and millions in R&D costs.

This decision framework applies to businesses large and small. Consider whether the market window will remain open long enough for internal development. Sometimes, the perfect timing means decisively entering a market segment through acquisition rather than risking competitors establishing dominance while you build capabilities.

Cultural compatibility and brand alignment

Timing isn’t just about market conditions—it’s also about finding the right partner at the right moment in their growth trajectory. PepsiCo identified Poppi when the brand had already built substantial consumer loyalty but before it reached a scale that would make acquisition prohibitively expensive.

Allison Ellsworth, Poppi’s co-founder, created the product with a clear mission: “to create a better-for-you soda.” This consumer-first approach aligns with PepsiCo’s portfolio transformation efforts, increasing the likelihood of post-acquisition success.

Applying strategic timing to your business

For leaders at any level, the PepsiCo–Poppi acquisition offers valuable lessons:

1. Identify market gaps: Continuously assess where your offerings fall short of emerging consumer demands
2. Value speed to market: Calculate the true cost of developing capabilities internally versus acquiring them
3. Assess cultural fit: Look beyond financials to evaluate whether an acquisition target’s culture aligns with your company
4. Recognize perfect timing: The ideal acquisition moment exists when a target has proven its concept but hasn’t yet realized its full growth potential
5. Consider readiness factors: Honestly assess your company’s integration capabilities and management bandwidth

PepsiCo demonstrates that perfect timing isn’t just about recognizing market trends—it’s about knowing when to adapt through partnership rather than independent development. By applying these principles, businesses can identify and act on their own perfect timing moments.

Photo by Nicole Kandi/Shutterstock

The post PepsiCo’s Acquisition of Poppi Reveals the Perfect Business Timing Most Leaders Miss appeared first on SUCCESS.

“One of the biggest risks to the growth of privately held companies is owner dependency. As Peter Drucker once said, ‘Entrepreneurial management in a new venture requires building a top management team long before the new venture actually needs one and long before it can actually afford one,’” says Laurie Barkman, adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business. Barkman, fittingly, is also author of a handbook on business succession planning: The Business Transition Handbook: How to Avoid Succession Pitfalls and Create Valuable Exit Options.

Succession planning can feel overwhelming at first and understandably so. You might have never thought about handing over the reins to someone else to manage your corporate steed, but it’s not as complicated as it sounds. We’ll go over the basics of succession planning and the five steps every plan should include. Plus, we’ll give you some actionable templates to start the succession process yourself.

What Is Succession Planning?

Succession planning is preparing a role—and the person who will fill it—to be transferred due to a key business leader retiring or leaving the company. This only applies with critical roles. These might include C-suite positions, vice-president roles, key managerial positions or the owner/operator of a company. Succession planning is different from other types of strategic planning because it doesn’t focus on a goal but on preparing for an event. It’s a form of contingency planning.

A successor plan is key to making sure your business has long-term success and continuity. Without a plan to fill a vacant role with a properly trained person, you could be left scrambling if a critical employee leaves the business at an inopportune time. Filling the role quickly with someone that can scrape by doesn’t solve the problems a vacant position creates, either. It could exacerbate them.

Proper succession planning, instead, creates an environment where staff are expected to lean into more demanding and fulfilling roles with the proper training and oversight. It allows for insightful knowledge transfer to occur between senior employees and up-and-coming staff. This happens with the expectation that the knowledge will be used in the future. The undesirable alternative is that the information is forgotten when the senior employee retires.

The Succession Planning Process

The steps to succession planning can feel daunting, especially if you’re a smaller, family-owned business. Thankfully, it can be broken down into five digestible steps: assessment, identification, development, creation and implementation.

1.  Assessing Current Leadership Needs

Taking the right first step is critical to building a comprehensive succession plan. You’ll need to begin assessing and evaluating your current leadership structure.

Start by identifying gaps or areas for improvement for critical roles. Looking for a key way to determine whether a role is critical to your business’ health? Start by assessing if the role is an essential support in carrying out the business’ mission. For example, if you run a bookkeeping business with a mission to help fellow business owners track their expenses correctly and find savings, then the role of a senior bookkeeper is a key component to fulfilling your mission. Without them, you would lose the ability to service clients.

Not sure where to start looking for leadership needs or potential risks? Begin by creating—or reviewing—your business organizational chart. Then, ask the following questions: 

• Which roles are critical to our business mission?
• Of these roles, which ones have potential successors? Which ones do not?
• Of the roles reviewed, which are critical to our business strategy? Which are critical to operations?

If you find roles that have a high risk of hurting the company if they were to unexpectedly leave or retire, those require a succession plan process. Harrison Tang, co-founder and CEO of the people search engine Spokeo, suggests using continual training to minimize these risks. If someone were to leave at a moment’s notice, someone could step in temporarily. He and his team also use absences to strategically train.

“Additionally, to assess the risks associated with key employees leaving or retiring unexpectedly, we provide individualized training to ensure continuity. When a team member is absent, we use it as an opportunity for stress testing, allowing us to evaluate how well others adapt and step into critical roles,” Tang tells SUCCESS®.

2. Identifying Potential Successors

Once you’ve found leadership gaps in your organization, finding potential successors is the next step and, arguably, the harder of the two. This is especially true for smaller, private businesses that have a few key employees necessary for the business to function.

“The number one pitfall for succession is whether the organization needs one person too much. It’s a big reason why many small businesses close their doors when the owner retires,” says Barkman.

That’s why identifying potential successors early on is so important. 

To identify potential successors, Barkman recommends using the following criteria:

• Desire—Motivated to work in the business and committed to future success

• Fit—The right fit for the role and the company

• Value—Make an impact by driving measurable or highly visible results

• Mentorship—Coachable, open to having mentors and being a mentor as well

• Humility—Recognize and appreciate how they are part of something larger than themselves

To help you in your search, here are some helpful templates to get you started. 

• Succession Nomination Survey Template – This helpful template from Sigma Assessment Systems Inc. helps identify candidate readiness. It allows you to easily see a list of specific candidates, years of experience and comments. 
• Candidate Succession Profile Template – This profile template, also from Sigma Assessment Systems Inc., provides a place to keep track of candidate details. This includes things like education, experience, leadership profile assessment results and more.  

3. Developing Talent

Investing in your employees should be standard practice in any organization. It’s even more vital when it comes to developing the talent that is key to your succession plan. Create an environment where career growth, training, mentorship and development are staples in the business, not just luxuries.

Leaders in your business can offer courses, workshops, seminars and classes on developing both technical and soft skills so employees can feel more confident in their roles. With the advent of fully online learning programs through platforms like Coursera, this is easy to implement.

In addition to general training, key successors you or your employer identified in step two need to be trained for the role they plan to fill. Consider having the outgoing employee coach the successor through job shadowing. Or, have them create a presentation on the ins-and-outs of the role and how they succeeded. Helping cultivate a relationship between these key team members can also set the stage for mentorship. This in turn builds immense trust between the successor and predecessor.

4. Creating A Succession Plan

You’ve highlighted critical areas that need a plan in place, found suitable replacement employees and made efforts to develop their skills. Now it’s time to put that hard-earned information to use by creating a succession plan.

Remember: The process of creating a successor plan is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Each company will have different plans and tactics depending on their size and business needs.

Basic Steps to Take

That aside, below are some basic steps you can follow: 

1. Use a success planning template (like this step-by-step guide from the National Institute of Health) to enter in your critical information. This should include the leadership needs and risks and the potential successors for these roles, at a minimum. 
2. Come up with a training regime for the successor based on the leadership role that could become vacant in the future. Some ideas to ensure the successor is ready might include covering the predecessor’s sick days, working on special projects with them, taking courses specifically designed for the upcoming role and engaging in roundtable meetings with staff in similar positions (where applicable). 
3. Set timelines for each major developmental step. For example, when the successor should be partially or fully ready to take over the role and when the predecessor is planning to leave or retire.
4. Include contingency plans for cases when a prominent leader decides to leave unexpectedly. Outline how the risks with this situation can be mitigated or avoided and who will step into the newly vacated role. 

While creating the plan, remember that it needs to be clear and accessible to anyone who reads it. They need to understand exactly what is required of them—-and their colleagues—to implement the plan. 

Quick Tip: If you’re looking for a more fleshed-out approach, look into the book Who Comes Next? Leadership Succession Planning Made Easy by Mary C. Kelly, Ph.D. and Meredith Elliott Powell, MBA.

Succession Templates

Want a few more ideas? Here are some robust succession plan templates to use as a starting point when creating your own plan:

• Succession Planning Toolkit – This template from the University of Washington provides tools to assess your leadership gaps, evaluate employees and develop talent for succession planning.
• Simple Succession Planning Template – This template from the Academy to Innovate Human Resources allows you to see roles, potential candidates and specific details. It includes readiness and performance monitoring at a glance. 
• Succession Planning Overview Template – This resource from Sigma Assessment Systems Inc. leads you through six simple steps. Plus, find accompanying tools to effectively create a succession plan. 

5. Implementing And Monitoring

Creating the succession plan requires buy-in from everyone involved. When you’re starting out, communicate the plan to those impacted by it, including stakeholders, employees, potential successors and potential predecessors. For the plan to work, everyone involved—or affected—needs to support it. 

While starting off on the right foot is vital, it’s not sufficient to keep the plan on course. For that, you need to continually monitor how the plan is going and create measurable objectives that correspond to your desired timelines. 

Broadly speaking, there are two types of goals you should review: quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative metrics for a succession plan might include:

• How many vital roles were filled without issue this year
• What percentage of successor candidates are ready to fill vital roles 
• How long the succession development training currently takes

Qualitative metrics are a bit harder to nail down, as they are more subjective in nature. However, they’re still important to measuring success. Here are a few to consider: 

• What the organization’s bench strength looks like compared to before the succession plan was implemented
• How satisfied employees are with their training and overall role 
• Whether there are any notable improvements in employee training, mentoring, coaching or other forms of development

Keep in mind that an effective succession plan has goals and objectives that are subject to change. A business is an organic entity, filled with people who have changing desires, goals and aspirations. Your succession plan needs to match those changes and be updated as necessary. 

Key Steps to Success In Succession Planning

Using templates and advice can improve your succession planning efforts, but three additional steps are needed to keep your plan on track.

Be Proactive

Data suggests that it takes anywhere from one to two years for a new employee to be “fully productive” in their new role. That’s one of the reasons you need to be proactive in creating a succession plan—even if you don’t have an immediate need for one. Replacing key employees takes an immense toll on a business that isn’t prepared.

To start being proactive, find key roles in the business—leaders you can’t afford to lose. Then start coming up with ideas on transferring the knowledge from the person currently in that role to someone who could eventually replace them. Keep in mind that not all managerial positions are necessarily critical roles. Longtime employees who have important knowledge of company processes or client information can also be a risk if they were to leave suddenly.

In the long-term, taking a proactive approach can set your business up for a transition that, while uncomfortable in the short-term, allows for strong continuity in its infrastructure.

Hiring And Recruiting Strategies

Though a robust succession plan strategy involves replacing key team members, that doesn’t mean your succession strategy can’t start at the hiring and recruiting stages.

Rather than simply hiring individuals to fill a role, hire people that fit the company’s long-term vision and are flexible enough to adapt to a new change in the future. As a CEO that hires often, Tang takes a “diversified approach” to hiring.

“For example, I evaluate candidates based on a combination of leadership potential, adaptability and alignment with the company’s vision… I look for adaptable, growth-minded individuals and ensure they have clear development paths. Every hire is a step toward long-term leadership stability, not just filling a role.”

Leadership And Team Development

The final step to getting your successor strategy on track is to continually invest in your team members. Just like hiring people for long-term success and not merely for role replacement, treat your current employees as long-term assets, too. Give them opportunities to train skills that help them in their current position and prepare them for tasks more aligned with critical roles.

Cross-training can also help employees to be more nimble. This is especially helpful in the context of succession planning in a small business. Let’s say you run a small retail store with a manager, bookkeeper and a customer service person (CSP) who runs the till and helps clients as they come into the store. Training the CSP on aspects of store inventory management or vendor communications can help prepare them for a managerial role, even if the position isn’t expected to be vacant for some time.

Start Succession Planning Now to Keep Your Business Running Smoothly

Succession planning can be a long process involving identifying critical roles, finding potential successors, training them properly and continually maintaining and updating your succession plan to fit your business’s ever-evolving needs.

While the process might seem daunting at first glance, starting early allows you to approach a successor plan in small pieces—starting with critical role identification and then moving into implementation down the road.

Maybe succession planning in your business hasn’t occurred to you before you read this article, and now you’re scrambling for ideas. Or perhaps you’ve realized you’ve been putting it off for too long now that an employee has given their resignation. Whatever your situation, working on a succession plan right now will only set you and your business up for future success.

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The post Strengthen Your Business With Strategic Succession Planning appeared first on SUCCESS.

While retail-specific challenges contributed to Forever 21’s downfall, the underlying warning signs apply to businesses in virtually any industry. By examining these signals closely, entrepreneurs can detect similar vulnerabilities before reaching a crisis point.

3 business model mistakes to avoid

1. Digital transformation resistance

Forever 21’s collapse illustrates the devastating consequences of failing to adapt to digital disruption. As CFO Brad Sell acknowledged per the outlet, competition from foreign e-commerce players like Shein and Temu significantly undermined the company’s market position. These online rivals leveraged technology to create more efficient operations and better customer experiences—advantages Forever 21 couldn’t match with its primarily brick-and-mortar approach.

Warning signs to monitor:

• Declining customer acquisition through traditional channels
• Technology investments that consistently underperform
• Customer feedback indicating your digital experience lags behind competitors

If your business continues operating with outdated systems while competitors embrace digital transformation, you’re likely following Forever 21’s trajectory.

2. Misreading changing customer preferences

Forever 21’s inability to evolve with shifting consumer behaviors represents another critical failure. The brand’s original value proposition—trendy styles at affordable prices—became less compelling as consumers increasingly prioritized sustainability, online shopping convenience and personalized experiences.

Warning signs to monitor:

• Gradual sales declines across core product lines
• Increasing customer acquisition costs with declining lifetime value
• Competitors gaining market share with alternative approaches

Examine your fundamental underlying assumptions—especially the core reason you believe customers will spend money on your offerings—and consider whether they remain valid. Economic changes and technological developments can rapidly transform consumer behaviors.

3. Unsustainable cost structures

Forever 21’s massive physical footprint—once a competitive advantage—became an unbearable financial burden as mall traffic declined. The company maintained hundreds of large-format stores, each carrying significant overhead costs that couldn’t be justified by decreasing revenues.

Warning signs to monitor:

• Profit and cash flow growth not keeping pace with revenue growth
• Consistently extending payment terms with suppliers
• Cash flow problems despite seemingly healthy sales

An unsustainable cost structure can sink even well-established businesses that have strong brand messaging and loyal customers.

Taking action: Your business stress test

Rather than waiting for a crisis, proactively evaluate your business using these steps:

1. Digital readiness assessment: Compare your digital capabilities against both direct competitors and potential market disruptors.
2. Customer value analysis: Conduct deep research into evolving customer priorities beyond satisfaction surveys.
3. Financial flexibility test: Assess your company’s ability to quickly adjust its cost structure during market downturns. Identify which expenses could be reduced or eliminated if needed, and determine how quickly you could implement such changes.

Most businesses don’t collapse suddenly—instead, they gradually decline over an extended period before leadership finally acknowledges defeat. By recognizing these warning signs early, business leaders can take corrective action while options remain available.

Photo by Colleen Michaels/Shutterstock

The post The Forever 21 Warning: Three Critical Signs Your Business Model is Failing appeared first on SUCCESS.

For some roles, a video might make sense, especially for jobs where you need to showcase your personality or communication skills, such as applying to be a talk show host or salesperson.

But for many other positions, it could create additional hurdles for job seekers and may accidentally cancel out candidates who would be great but aren’t tech-savvy or comfortable on camera.

But why are companies asking for video submissions in the first place?

The benefits of video submissions

According to Peter Murphy Lewis, the chief marketing officer of Strategic Pete, a marketing agency, there are a variety of reasons why companies might be asking applicants to submit videos with their resumes and cover letters.

“The first reason is it’s just another filter to see if the person wants the job or wants the internship,” he says. The second reason is trying to determine if the candidate is a good cultural fit. “[Companies are] trying to read personalities over a video, so that they don’t have to waste time trying to figure that out in the actual interview,” he explains. 

While Lewis’s company does not require job applicants to submit videos, he does give them the option to submit one. In his most recent hiring round, he received applications from roughly 192 candidates, who were applying to be interns, and the majority of them did submit videos. 

Showing your personality

Those who submitted videos were encouraged to introduce themselves, share their insights on the CEO’s podcast(s), and explain why they believed they would be a good fit for the team.

“The videos allowed us to determine a little bit of their personality,” he says.

Lewis described one candidate who immediately stood out based on his video submission—and ultimately, it helped him land the internship.

The candidate discussed Lewis’s podcast, shared his own failures, reflected on Lewis’s failures, and explained why he wanted to work on a team with someone who had experienced setbacks as well.

Lewis says he knew from watching the video that the applicant would be a great fit for the team, as the candidate was vulnerable and honest, qualities Lewis values. “You could tell, in that two-minute video, that he wanted to be around like-minded individuals.” The candidate, who was hired as an intern, is now a manager on Lewis’s team. 

“I think a unique opportunity to [include] your voice and your personality,” he says—things you can’t always get from reading a written application. 

Lewis has hired job applicants who didn’t submit a video, because, even without it, their applications still stood out. 

“When we did… interview with them, they were spectacular, and we hired them because they brought in grit,” he says. “Just because they didn’t want to be on camera didn’t mean they didn’t… have grit, and I would have missed out on them,” if video submissions had been the deal breaker.

Drawbacks of Video Submissions

While video submissions provide benefits, there are also some potential downsides for candidates. These include:

Tech challenges

Although video submissions can be a great way to showcase an applicant’s enthusiasm and eagerness for a role, one significant drawback is the potential for tech challenges, especially if making videos isn’t part of the actual job description. 

Not all job seekers have the resources to create a high-quality video. Some may lack access to professional recording equipment or suitable lighting, which can make it harder for hiring managers to focus on the candidate’s qualifications. Additionally, some applicants may not know how to record, edit or upload a video, further complicating the process. 

Lack of experience

Another potential downside is nerves. Candidates who aren’t used to speaking to a camera may find video submissions nerve-wracking, which could impact their performance. 

One job seeker, Meagan Morris, a digital strategist, recalled the first time she had to record a video for a job application. “It felt really odd. I was looking at a blank screen like I was recording a video and it just didn’t make a lot of sense, and I felt very self-conscious,” she says. 

For those who aren’t great public speakers or are uncomfortable sitting in front of a camera, the pressure to appear polished and sound well-spoken can be overwhelming. If nerves are high, this may impact how they communicate their ideas, qualifications, or why they’re a great fit for the role. 

“When you’re putting a video of yourself out there, I think it’s very—I don’t think intimate is the right word—but you’re vulnerable because you’re not getting the face-to-face interaction, not seeing the body language or reaction of the person you’re talking to,” Morris says. 

Interview fatigue 

If more and more companies begin to require video submissions, interview fatigue could set in and become a significant issue for job seekers. Candidates who are recording videos for multiple applications may quickly become overwhelmed and lose their enthusiasm. 

Over time, this fatigue may reduce the quality of a candidate’s video and hold the applicant back from making a strong impression. The pressure to constantly perform well on camera can lead to burnout, leaving candidates feeling less confident and potentially hurting their ability to show why they’re the perfect choice for the job.

Morris explains how nowadays, job seekers have to customize their resume along with a custom cover letter; adding in the extra step of recording a video might be a bit too much for some.

“There’s no guarantee you’ll even get a response or even a rejection [email] anymore, and so you’re putting a lot of work in for no guarantee of any kind of payoff,” she says.

Should you submit a video if asked?

If you truly want a position and the company asks for a video submission, even if it’s optional, it might be best to submit one, as not submitting one could potentially hurt your chances of landing the job. 

If you’re the one hiring, it might be best to consider if a video submission really adds value to the hiring process, or if a resume and well-done interview can be enough. 

Video submissions can be insightful, but you don’t want to lose a really good candidate who might not shine well on camera.

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The post Why More Companies Ask Job Applicants to Include Video Submissions appeared first on SUCCESS.

As the interview began, she explained that it was company policy to ask me a series of survey questions, and I was asked to answer them honestly. I nodded, and the survey began. I didn’t want to be there—I didn’t want to lose my job two days before Christmas. But I agreed, hoping that my answers might improve the company in some way.

That experience stayed with me. Since then, I’ve often wondered if there’s a better way to conduct exit interviews. Is there a right or wrong way to do them?

All companies are different, but there are ways to make exit interviews a little better for those involved. Let’s take a look at a few.

Conduct exit interviews face-to-face

According to Deborah McGee, president and CEO of PZI Group, a consultancy focused on human resources outsourcing, one of the biggest mistakes companies make is skipping exit interviews altogether. 

“It’s a shame because I think they lose out on valuable information,” she says. “It’s an opportunity for the employee to discuss issues that they might have felt… or things that possibly the company could have done better.”

McGee also emphasized that exit interviews should be conducted by human resources. This helps HR see what their internal managers are doing, whether in good ways, bad ways or ways that might be indifferent, she explains.

She adds that exit interviews should be handled in person, rather than by sending a survey to an employee’s inbox. “It should be done face to face. If somebody’s leaving your organization, you should take the time to at least spend five [or] 10 minutes with them,” she says.

Timing is another key factor. It’s important not to conduct an exit interview too early, as the employee still needs to work there, McGee explains.

At McGee’s company, she prefers to schedule exit interviews two days before the employee’s final day. This gives them enough time to share their thoughts while also allowing them to say their goodbyes and participate in farewell activities, like a final lunch. 

The goal is to ensure that they leave on a positive note and maintain a good relationship with both their colleagues and the company culture, she says.

Watch what questions you ask

When conducting an exit interview, McGee suggests asking questions like, “‘What did you like about your position?’” She explains that it’s important to remember that nobody hates everything about their job.

Other questions to consider include, “What would you have done differently if you’d had the opportunity?” and “Would you consider coming back to work for this organization?”

McGee also recommends steering clear of certain questions, such as, “What didn’t you like about your manager?” or “Was there anyone in particular you had issues with?” While departing employees might choose to share these details, McGee stresses that the interview shouldn’t feel like a witch hunt.

While HR should have a guide or template with questions to ask, it should serve as just that: a guide. Interviewers should take the time to understand the individual they’re interviewing—rather than simply reading off a list of survey questions—and also remind them where their efforts were valued.

“Especially if they’re not leaving by choice, then praise them for what they did for the company,” McGee says.

Don’t take feedback personally 

Exit interviews can be uncomfortable on both ends, especially if the interviewee is hostile or upset, McGee says. It’s important to recognize that the employee may be facing difficult circumstances, such as losing their insurance.

“They’re in a really hard spot that makes it uncomfortable,” she explains.

McGee also emphasizes that interviewers should avoid taking negative feedback personally. “It will feel personal because it’s person to person,” she says, but it shouldn’t be taken that way.

Overall, an exit interview should be just as important as onboarding since it represents the employee’s final experience with the company. Because of this, it’s important to understand the purpose behind the exit interview and ensure that it’s handled respectfully, McGee says.

What to do before getting to an exit interview

Although exit interviews often occur due to layoffs, they can also happen when employees choose to leave for better opportunities. Before it gets to that point, it can be helpful to check in with your employees while they’re still working for your company. 

“We actually do stay interviews,” McGee says. After six months or more, she asks her employees, “‘Why do you stay with us? What are we doing well? How can we make it better for you?’”

Conducting stay interviews addresses employees’ concerns proactively and creates a better work environment, McGee says, which helps employees choose to stay rather than leave.

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The post 3 Steps for Conducting an Exit Interview appeared first on SUCCESS.

Since then, ZeroBounce has been on the Inc. 5000 list four times and has grown about 30–35% year-over-year. “There were some years that we grew much more in the beginning… because, you know, when you’re small, it’s easier to grow faster,” says Tanase.

ZeroBounce began with just two employees in 2017—Tanase, as the company’s founder and CEO, and a chief technology officer. Today, it has 80 employees, as well as clients all over the world, including big-name companies like Amazon, Disney, Airbnb and Netflix.

Invest in success

The secret to the company’s success, Tanase says, is investing in two things: marketing and cybersecurity.

He estimates that ZeroBounce has invested at least $3 million in marketing over time to figure out how to best reach the company’s target audience. The company’s overall approach could be summed up in three short sentences:

• Keep what’s working and remove what’s not.
• Fail fast.
• Don’t keep what’s not working for very long.

While Tanase is expansive with marketing, he is extra cautious with cybersecurity. He doesn’t trust other cloud platforms with client data, so ZeroBounce has built its own cloud platform.

Clients use ZeroBounce to detect if a customer is signing up for their services using a disposable or temporary email. They also use ZeroBounce to ensure that their email lists aren’t filled with old, invalid emails. For instance, Tanase says, if your email list is five years old, the percentage of invalid emails could be as high as 60% or 70% because people change jobs.

Test, fail, and keep what works

With so many companies using email to communicate with customers, Tanase believed there was a need for ZeroBounce. He just needed a way for potential clients to find it.

“Our idea was to be everywhere, if possible,” Tanase says. Then potential customers could see the company and test the software. “If they see our service, then we can convince them that we, you know, are one of the better companies out there,” he adds.

With this mentality in mind, ZeroBounce started marketing on all social media platforms, from Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter to LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram.

“We tested, and we invested a lot of money into them in the beginning just to see what works and what doesn’t,” Tanase says. Although it takes a significant amount of money to build something on each platform, Tanase believes it’s worth the investment.

“In a way, we lose money,” Tanase admits. “But then, after everything is done and we test it, we see what works—then actually, we keep those things, and they’re highly profitable.” But without that investment of time and money, ZeroBounce wouldn’t know which channels would be the most profitable.

“To put a number on this, I would say investment in terms of understanding what works and what doesn’t [equals] around $3 million over time—not in one year, like in three years, something like that,” he says.

He admits that this is a lot of money. “But, again, that actually pays out in the end because you only get what really works, what’s highly profitable, but it’s very hard to get there unless you have the data to see what works and what doesn’t and test things,” Tanase adds.

Sometimes a platform doesn’t work because it doesn’t reach the right audience, he continues. But the decision to stop marketing on a specific platform is driven by data, not emotion. “The whole idea is to have a scientific and data-driven way to get to the results,” he says.

It’s also important to fail fast. “So don’t let things take too long. If you see a keyword, for example, that is really bad in terms of conversion,” Tanase explains, ”don’t let it be there for months on end because it’s just wasted money.”

Marketing on more than one platform also has led to ZeroBounce’s success. Say your growth is 1% from each platform. According to Tanase, when you put all of them together, the sum is bigger than the individual things you do.

Own your infrastructure

When Tanase isn’t thinking about marketing, he’s obsessing over cybersecurity. He knows all too well that a data breach can tarnish a company’s reputation, lead to lower profits and cause headaches for clients. As a result, security is “insanely important,” he says.

Instead of using cloud services from a third-party provider, ZeroBounce has built its own. “All the infrastructure that we have, we own,” he says. “It’s not a cloud service, so that eliminates as many attack vectors as possible.” The company also has a policy of deleting customer data every 30 days.

While Tanase’s approach to cybersecurity is very insular, his approach to improving ZeroBounce is not. He says he is always seeking feedback from outside the company. It’s essential to be up-to-date on what’s going on in the market and implement as many new things as possible.

Tanase is also careful to treat every customer the same, regardless of whether they are a big household name or a small boutique client. Too often when companies grow, they start to treat their customers badly, he explains. “Even if it’s a small customer… we treat them the same.”

Although this is the fifth company Tanase has founded, he says he is not itching to start any new companies right now. “The team that we created here—I think it’s the difference between all the other companies that I created,” he says. “It’s a much more mature team and it’s, I don’t know, I’m just very lucky to have them—and very, very proud of them.”

However, if he ever did create another startup, he says it would be a cybersecurity company.

This article originally appeared in the March/April 2025 issue of SUCCESS© magazine.

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