I had a stack of books and a daily newspaper during the holiday break, but it was a recent article in The New Yorker that really got me thinking. So you can thank Cal Newport's “The Year in Quiet Quitting: A new generation discovers that it’s hard to balance work with a well lived life" from the December 29th issue for today's naval-gazing newsletter.

Newport argues that like the Boomers and Millennials before them, Gen Z is just taking its generational at-bat of reimagining the balance and intertwining of being a person and needing a job. As an elder millennial approaching my 42nd birthday, I could recognize the generational differences between my parents, my peers, and kids these days.

Most of the time, our first conversation with a prospective Pedal Retailer makes them very happy. They’re happy (or at least relieved) to hear that (a) they can do what they’re dreaming of doing, and (b) we can help them do it. But without fail, we eventually make our way to the topic that triggers the cortisol...

We always manage to upset people when we answer the question, “so how long is this going to take?”

Since we’re committed to “real talk, always,” we’re honest with our clients about the realistic timeframe to opening a bricks-and-mortar business. We explain that the process takes anywhere from six to 18 months, and that seems to be about six to 18 months longer than they wer...

We talk often about why business plans are essential to providing you the information required to find the right space and right deal. But like many things in our TikTok-attention-span world, the style and appearance of your business plan are going to do a lot of the heavy lifting.

If we're really being honest, not many people are going to read your entire business plan. My mom will, and she'll happily point out every grammatical error, but she's not your target audience. Anyone who you need to say "yes!" to your business plan is most likely going to skim your plan and read only the sections they're most interested in.

This means that your plan has to land on desks (or inboxes) and m...