Companies Often Choose Profits Over Consumer Safety — Here’s What It Takes to Hold Them Accountable

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Lawyers miss high-value defect cases every year. Not because they aren’t trying, but because they don’t know what to look for. That’s what I set out to change.

That was the motivation behind writing Defect Safety: A Primer for Lawyers to Identify Defective Products and Promote Consumer Safety Through Litigation. The book draws on lessons from nearly four decades in the courtroom, where I have seen how the justice system protects consumers when regulatory systems fall short.

The Florida Bar recently approved the book for continuing legal education credit, making it eligible for 14.0 hours of CLE under the self-study category. This matters not only because it fulfills a requirement, but because it signals a shift in what legal education can look like. Rather than abstract theory or checklist compliance, the approval affirms the value of practical insight drawn from real-world litigation.

When continuing education reflects the actual challenges attorneys face in court, it becomes a more powerful tool for protecting clients and holding corporations accountable, the kind of experience that helps them recognize danger, challenge negligence and protect the people they serve.

We assume that the products we use every day are safe because government agencies are watching. But in case after case, I have learned that real safety improvements often do not happen until a jury steps in. Companies weigh the cost of fixing a defect against the potential cost of lawsuits. And too often, the calculation ends with someone getting hurt.

This is where litigation becomes more than a legal process. It becomes a catalyst for change. Many of the safety features we now take for granted, such as stronger seat belts, tire recalls and better labeling, only happened because a jury demanded accountability.

The role of the lawyer in a flawed system

Legal education teaches theory, but trial lawyers working in product defect litigation know that what truly matters is how those theories hold up when lives are on the line. You cannot spot a hidden defect from a casebook. You need to know how to identify the weak point in a design, how to preserve critical evidence and how to explain risk to a jury in a way that makes it real.

Over the years, I have handled cases involving tire failures, defective seatbacks, hazardous fuel systems and unsafe boat designs. These cases have revealed not only design flaws but also internal corporate decisions to ignore or delay safety improvements.

In one case, a boat manufacturer ignored a known hazard for decades. A child died as a result. That case ended in a two hundred million dollar verdict and, more importantly, a global safety alert that reached boat owners around the world. That outcome was not driven by a fine or a government agency. It was driven by a jury.

A responsibility to share what we know

Trial lawyers work in a space where the stakes are often life and death. Over time, patterns emerge. Some cases echo others. Some mistakes repeat. The details change, but the underlying failures in design, oversight and corporate responsibility are familiar.

Sharing what we learn from these cases is not about credit. It is about passing on the knowledge that might help prevent the next tragedy. Attorneys entering this field should not have to learn every lesson the hard way. If they are better prepared, the entire system becomes stronger.

A final thought

Our legal system is not perfect. But in a world where profits often come before safety, the courtroom remains one of the only places where individuals can hold corporations accountable. It is one of the last systems where truth still matters, evidence is tested and everyday citizens have the power to demand better.

That power begins with preparation. And that preparation must come from lawyers who understand what is at stake and who are willing to share what they know. If this book helps even one lawyer take on a case they might have otherwise missed, then it is doing what I hoped it would — helping make products safer for all of us.

Lawyers miss high-value defect cases every year. Not because they aren’t trying, but because they don’t know what to look for. That’s what I set out to change.

The rest of this article is locked.

Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/why-product-defect-cases-are-slipping-through-the-cracks/494545

How to Develop the Mindset for a Billion-Dollar Success, According to Raising Cane’s CEO

When Raising Cane’s opened a new restaurant in Miami, it hired local influencers to hype it up. That included two of the city’s buzziest names — Hanna and Haley Cavinder, twins who rose to fame while playing basketball for the Miami Hurricanes, and cofounded the TWOgether fitness app and Hustle Beauty brand for athletes.

Recently, we asked the twins what entrepreneur they’d most like to talk with. They circled right back to that chicken restaurant — and said they’d love to meet Raising Cane’s billionaire founder, Todd Graves. They’d seen his business from the outside, but they wanted to understand it from the inside. And Graves, who believes that partnerships are the key to success, was eager to meet and learn from them too.

So we brought the three of them together for a conversation. In turn, they drew up a game plan for growth — in business and in sports.

This conversation was part of a new series we call The Playbook, produced in partnership with Sports Illustrated. We pair entrepreneurs with entrepreneurial athletes for career-spanning conversations. Here’s an edited version of their conversation; you can watch the full video here.

Haley Cavinder: When you started Raising Cane’s, did people understand what you wanted to build?

Todd Graves: I got turned down by every bank in town, because it was a weird concept back then: Just chicken-finger meals. Other restaurants were adding more items to add more sales. The only model I could think of was In-N-Out Burger — which primarily sells hamburgers — but nobody in Louisiana, where I started, had heard of that.

But I just believed in myself. I said, “If you can serve a ‘craveable’ meal consistently, over and over and over, it’s going to be a success.”

So I knew I had to take it into my own hands. I worked in oil refineries, I worked as a boilermaker, I worked in commercial fishing in Alaska — all to make money for this business. The fishermen in Alaska could see me working so hard for this chicken-finger dream, and they’d tell me, “You’re going to make it.” That was my first encouraging group.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Jeffrey A. Salter | Sports Illustrated

Haley: Once you got going, what was the hardest part?

Todd: When we started, we didn’t really know what we were doing. We were open seven days a week — and we still are. But back then, the college students I hired wouldn’t show up to work. So I’d call friends, call family: “I need you to come help me cover this shift.” I didn’t do much sleeping. We were open every night until 3:30 a.m.

By the time we got out, it’d be 5:30, and then we had to be back opening at 8:30 every morning.

Haley: Jeez.

Todd: There is not a balance of life at a startup. You have to put 100% into it. It’s why I started Cane’s when I was y’all’s age. I opened up at 24, and at that time I could devote everything. It was that drive, that passion. Look, I profited $30 my first month, and I was thrilled. Because it meant I could pay my people, I could pay my vendors, I could pay rent. That’s when I knew this was going to be a success.

The next hard phase was going from one restaurant to two. I didn’t know how to build teams. I got as much advice as I could, but it was more about learning through trial and error. I burned through people. I felt bad about that, not knowing what I was doing. Then I learned to get the most out of people and be able to coach ‘em and lead ‘em to where they became managers.

Now we have 75,000 crew members, and I have a platform to teach them. For most of them, Raising Cane’s is their first job. So I tell them: “Work hard. Have fun. Let’s deliver quality product. Let’s earn our money.”

Haley: Darn, you make a good coach, too!

Hanna Cavinder: You played football, correct? I feel like that started with the athlete mindset.

Todd: A hundred percent. I learned leadership through sports. For example, when someone does something wrong in business, leaders might think, Oh, I’ll talk to them about that in a couple days. But coaches don’t do that! They course-correct right then.

Haley: In the moment.

Todd: And the culture is: Everybody’s always trying to get better. Mistakes don’t mean you’re bad. We have a culture where it’s okay to make mistakes — but we need to learn from ‘em.

How has playing basketball helped you with starting and growing your businesses?

Hanna: We learned consistency and discipline. You have to show up every single day, regardless of the highs and lows.

Haley: We also learned how to get the most out of a group of people. When you all have one common goal, it doesn’t matter what someone’s past is, or where they come from. You just ask: How can we all accomplish this? Also, recognize that we all have different strengths and weaknesses. That’s true even for Hanna and I, but we have one goal: to be successful. And you can’t fake it. If you feel like your coach is just saying empty things to you, you don’t want to show up for them. You need people to think, I want to show up and do this because they really care about me.

Todd: That’s true. The crew’s happier. They’re working better. It affects quality. It affects everything else.

Hanna: Also, we learned how to respond to things outside our control. It’s like, “Okay, the coach didn’t play me. I can’t control that. So what can I control and still have success?”

Image Credit: Courtesy of Jeffrey A. Salter | Sports Illustrated

Todd: You’re years ahead of your time. I literally tried to control everything and make everything so perfect. One of the biggest lessons

I learned was: Concentrate on progress rather than perfection. For example, I wouldn’t release my first training manual because I kept thinking, I’ve got to make it better. But people were like, “Hey, just do version one. Then work on that.” That was good advice.

You’ve built a great community for your businesses. What is your secret sauce for bringing people together?

Haley: When we started our health and fitness businesses, we thought a lot about having a purpose. And that purpose is to help young girls. That allows us to stay happy and in a good mindset.

Hanna: That helps us through hard times, too.

For example, we both had an eating disorder — but we were able to turn it into a positive for other people by making an app to help them eat better. It was like, “We’re going to impact a little girl, or somebody who’s struggling in life, and that’s a win in itself.”

Todd: That’s purpose.

Haley: That’s the passion that keeps you going.

Todd: Look, if you love what you do, you’ll do it till the day you die. In business, people often value money and wealth more than purpose. That’s why so many great entrepreneurs sell out early on. Then their company is bought by private equity, and it doesn’t have the same values. You lose that special founder deal.

People ask me, “Hey, what’s your endgame?” I’m gonna grow old and die with this business, and the kids are gonna take it on and keep those values going, and then hopefully their kids, and we’ll just keep those values going forever.

Hanna: There’s never an endgame.

Todd: I love that.

Ready to break through your revenue ceiling? Join us at Level Up, a conference for ambitious business leaders to unlock new growth opportunities.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/starting-a-business/raising-canes-ceo-shares-his-mindset-for-a-billion-dollar/494345

How to Make Sure ChatGPT Recommends Your Products — Not Your Competitor’s

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

A major shift is underway in the way consumers discover, research and purchase products online — and it’s being driven by artificial intelligence.

OpenAI is rolling out new features and exploring integrations with platforms like Shopify that could allow users to shop directly through ChatGPT. This means customers could search for and buy products from Shopify merchants without ever leaving a chat interface.

For decades, online shopping began with a Google search. Consumers typed in keywords, skimmed links, compared reviews and then clicked “buy.” That model is quickly being replaced by something faster, smarter and more personalized: AI-assisted shopping.

According to Adobe Analytics, 39% of U.S. consumers say they’ve already used generative AI for shopping-related tasks. More than half (53%) plan to use it this year to research products, get gift ideas, compare pricing and discover unique brands.

Instead of browsing dozens of web pages, AI assistants summarize product options instantly, personalize recommendations and even build shopping lists tailored to individual needs. Here are the latest developments you need to know:

AI-powered shopping: what’s already happening

This shift isn’t just theoretical — it’s already taking shape:

Even before fully integrating with Shopify, Open AI has improved ChatGPT’s product search and memory, allowing customers to buy products surfaced by AI chat responses.
Amazon recently launched a “Buy for Me” feature that allows AI agents to purchase products from other brand websites when they aren’t available on Amazon.
Perplexity introduced a Pro Shopping Assistant in 2024, designed to streamline decision-making by providing AI-curated product summaries

This new generation of intelligent shopping tools is redefining what it means to be “discoverable.” For e-commerce brands, that means adapting fast, or risk being left out of the conversation entirely.

What does this mean for your business?

To stay competitive in an AI-driven marketplace, brands must rethink how they present their products online. Here are five practical steps you can take today:

Step 1: Shift from SEO to AEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) dominated digital marketing for decades. Brands invested heavily to optimize their websites and content with keywords for search engines – a race to be listed at the top of Google’s search results. That’s how companies stood out among competitors, driving traffic and boosting sales.

But searching for products on Google forces consumers to scroll through various websites and click a lot of links to read reviews, compare product features and evaluate pricing and shipping times. While convenient and fast compared to traditional, in-person shopping, AI now offers an even more efficient shortcut.

AI chatbots can instantly search everywhere, scouring the Internet for websites and feedback, and then provide an easy-to-follow summary of findings. With customers increasingly using AI instead of Google to shop, SEO is becoming less relevant. In addition to SEO, what you now need is a way to make sure your products are included in ChatGPT’s recommendations and responses.

Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the new SEO. While this shift is just getting underway, tech and consumer behavior are moving fast. If you want to stay ahead of the competition, you need to start adapting your strategies now to optimize for AI.

Step 2: Make sure AI can understand and recommend your products

As platforms like Shopify become more integrated with AI systems, you want to make sure the AI chatbot suggests your products, not your competitor’s. To be recommended, brands need to organize and present their data in a way that’s accessible and readable by ChatGPT. And, as consumers engage in conversation with chatbots – by adding or taking away criteria, for example – updated responses will surface in real-time.
Brands will need support designing their Shopify storefronts and listings in order to stay ahead of ChatGPT’s nuanced recommendation engine.

That means:

Optimizing your Shopify product listings with clear, conversational copy
Using standardized formats for pricing, availability and shipping
Highlighting your most competitive features in plain language

When consumers interact with AI assistants — adding preferences or asking follow-up questions — the AI dynamically updates recommendations. If your product data isn’t accessible or detailed enough, your brand could be left out.

My company, FORE Enterprise, is developing infrastructure to support both customers and brands through this AEO shift. By connecting your company’s own data to ChatGPT, we help ensure the accuracy of the information shoppers receive about your brand.

Step 3: Differentiate or disappear

AI assistants rely on data to make decisions, and that means only the best-positioned products will be recommended.

To stand out, you need to clearly communicate:

What makes your product different
Why it’s worth the price
What value it offers over similar options

Ask yourself: If a consumer were using a chatbot to shop, what would they want to know about your product? Price? Durability? Eco-friendly packaging? Award-winning design?

Start by identifying your brand’s unique value propositions, then ensure those qualities are clearly reflected in your listings and website content.

Step 4: Write like a human, not a spec sheet

AI tools like ChatGPT rely on natural language understanding, so your product pages need to speak the way humans do.

Instead of jargon-heavy descriptions or overly technical language, focus on conversational, customer-focused storytelling:

Answer common questions customers might ask
Highlight use cases and real-life benefits
Use bullet points, bold text and digestible formatting

The more your content resembles how people actually talk and shop, the easier it is for AI to understand — and recommend — your products.

Step 5: Start now — not later

The AI shopping revolution is happening quickly. While the concept of AEO is still evolving, the companies that move first will have the biggest advantage.

Right now, there’s a narrow window to position your brand at the forefront of AI-driven discovery. This means:

Auditing your product content and structure
Rewriting listings for clarity and AI-readability
Partnering with experts to connect your data to AI platforms

Final thought: adapt early, win big

This isn’t just a new tech trend. It’s a fundamental change in how people find, evaluate and purchase products online.

Brands that succeed in the next era of e-commerce will be those that understand how AI thinks, speaks and recommends. If you want to ensure your products are seen — and bought — you need to act now.

Let AI work for you, not against you.

Ready to break through your revenue ceiling? Join us at Level Up, a conference for ambitious business leaders to unlock new growth opportunities.

A major shift is underway in the way consumers discover, research and purchase products online — and it’s being driven by artificial intelligence.

The rest of this article is locked.

Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/how-to-make-sure-chatgpt-recommends-your-products-not/493753

The One Real Problem You Must Solve to Make Your Startup Succeed

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Dropbox was born because Drew Houston was sick of emailing himself files. ConvertKit came from a blogger who was tired of clunky email automations. Notion grew out of the chaos of managing scattered notes and documents.

These weren’t random startup ideas pulled from a pitch deck. They were solutions to personal problems. And that’s what made them powerful. When you build what you need, you shortcut months of guesswork. You skip the focus groups, the theoretical personas and the assumptions. You already understand the problem deeply because you live it.

Start with friction, not vision

The first step to building a meaningful product isn’t to identify a trendy niche or chase a hot market. It’s to pay attention to the moments in your day that feel harder than they should. The tasks you procrastinate. The tools you silently curse. That friction is your opportunity.

Forget disruption. Forget scale. The best early-stage products come from irritation, not inspiration. What’s broken in your workflow? What are you duct-taping together every week just to get by? Start there. That’s where urgency and empathy already live.

Talk to people like you

Once you spot a problem, skip the massive surveys. Talk to a handful of people who share your situation. If you’re a freelancer, speak with freelancers. If you’re a working parent with a side hustle, speak with others juggling the same chaos. The more overlap between you and your early users, the faster you’ll know if this is a real pain or just a minor inconvenience.

What you’re looking for is emotional signal — frustration, not politeness. You want someone to say, “I’d pay for that today.”

Build the painkiller, not the platform

You don’t need to launch a polished product. In fact, polish is usually a waste early on. Your first version can be a spreadsheet, a Notion template, a Zapier automation — whatever works. The goal is to prove the fix, not win design awards.

Don’t aim for elegance. Aim for utility. If it works, users won’t care that it’s scrappy.

Test willingness to pay as soon as possible

This is where most people hesitate. But if your product solves a real problem, people will pay — even if it’s ugly. Even if it’s early. Real payment is the difference between “interesting idea” and “actual business.” And it doesn’t have to be much. Charge a small onboarding fee or ask for a credit card to reserve early access. You’re not trying to trick anyone. You’re testing commitment.

Too many founders wait until everything is perfect before asking for money. By then, they’ve burned time, budget and momentum. Pricing is feedback. So get it early.

Narrate the build, don’t just build

While you’re creating your product, share the journey. Post what you’re building, what you’re stuck on and what you’re learning. Whether it’s Twitter, LinkedIn or a Substack, showing your process builds trust. You’re not selling — you’re storytelling. And that attracts the right people: others who feel the same pain you’re solving.

Make your first users successful

Don’t rush to scale. If you’re still explaining what your product does, you’re not ready to grow. Focus instead on helping your early users get results. Support them. Follow up. Ask who else they know who needs this. Word-of-mouth isn’t a viral fluke — it’s the byproduct of usefulness.

Build from conviction, not theory

When you build for yourself, you don’t need to fake insight. You don’t have to invent personas. You already understand the stakes. That shows up in the product, the copy and the customer experience. And most importantly, it builds trust. You’re not a startup guessing at what might matter—you’re a person solving something that already does.

Drew Houston didn’t plan on building a billion-dollar company. He just wanted a faster way to move his files. That pain became Dropbox — and millions of others felt it too.

You don’t need permission. You don’t need a grand strategy. You need to notice the problem that keeps nagging at you — and build the thing you wish already existed.

That’s where real businesses begin.

Ready to break through your revenue ceiling? Join us at Level Up, a conference for ambitious business leaders to unlock new growth opportunities.

The rest of this article is locked.

Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/starting-a-business/the-one-real-problem-you-must-solve-to-make-your-startup/491579

Chipotle’s AI Tool ‘Ava Cado’ Is Cutting Hiring Time by 75%, According to the Company’s CEO

Last fall, Chipotle announced that it was using an AI tool named “Ava Cado” to speed up its hiring process. And so far, it is working out well for the burrito maker.

Chipotle Chief Human Resources Officer Ilene Eskenazi told CNBC Monday that since implementing the technology, the number of applicants the company has received has increased “dramatically.”

Eskenazi said that the company has seen an 85% application completion rate, much higher than average, because the tool helps candidates fill in fields, which cuts down the time it takes to complete.

“[It] has greatly increased our funnel so that we’re serving up many more candidates for our managers to evaluate,” Eskenazi said.

“Ava Cado” interacts with job candidates, answers questions, collects information, and schedules interviews with (human) hiring managers. It also speaks multiple languages: English, Spanish, French, and German.

In October, Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright said the tool reduced hiring times by up to 75%. This week, Eskenazi gave an example and said that it used to take 12 days to get a candidate from application to hire-ready. Thanks to Ava Cado, it now takes three and a half days — and they show up much more prepared.

“They’re much more informed about what the job really is, and so then we know that the applicants are that much more interested in the job by the time they’re meeting a hiring manager in person,” Eskenazi said. “I personally have been pleasantly surprised by how much candidates have enjoyed interacting with Ava.”

It hasn’t helped with sales, though. Last week, Chipotle reported that traffic had declined for the second quarter in a row.

^{Join top CEOs, founders and operators at the Level Up conference to unlock strategies for scaling your business, boosting revenue and building sustainable success.}

Last fall, Chipotle announced that it was using an AI tool named “Ava Cado” to speed up its hiring process. And so far, it is working out well for the burrito maker.

Chipotle Chief Human Resources Officer Ilene Eskenazi told CNBC Monday that since implementing the technology, the number of applicants the company has received has increased “dramatically.”

Eskenazi said that the company has seen an 85% application completion rate, much higher than average, because the tool helps candidates fill in fields, which cuts down the time it takes to complete.

The rest of this article is locked.

Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/chipotle-says-candidates-love-its-ai-hiring-tool-ava-cado/495137

AI Will Create More Millionaires in the Next 5 Years Than the Internet Did in 2 Decades, According to Nvidia’s CEO

In a new interview, Nvidia co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang says that AI will mint more millionaires in the next five years than the Internet did in two decades.

On a recent episode of “The All-In Podcast,” Huang said that AI technology enables people to create new things, filling in skill gaps and allowing for more chances to generate revenue.

For example, Huang noted that AI is “the greatest technology equalizer of all time” because it can turn anyone into a programmer, removing the barrier of learning a coding language like Python or C++ to be able to build an app or create a website for a business.

“AI in my case is creating jobs,” Huang said on the podcast. “It causes people to create things that other people would like to buy.”

Anyone can communicate with AI in natural language, Huang added. Every creative now has a technical skillset thanks to AI, and, in turn, every technical person can tap into AI for creative powers. Everyone is “an artist” or “a programmer” because of AI, Huang said.

There’s a downside to the technology, though: People who don’t use AI will be replaced by those who do.

“The one thing that we know for certain is that if you’re not using AI, you’re going to lose your job to somebody who uses AI,” Huang said.

Also, Huang echoed his remarks from an interview earlier this month with CNN by stating in the podcast that everyone’s jobs will be “different,” and the work people will do will change. Some roles will be rendered “obsolete” by AI, though “many” jobs will be created, Huang stated on the podcast.

^{Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks onstage at the All-In podcast last week. Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Hill & Valley Forum}

Nvidia is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the AI boom. With 70% to 95% of the market share for AI chips, Nvidia is powering AI advances. Its chips are the brainpower behind ChatGPT (which reaches 500 million global weekly users) and other popular AI products from companies like Amazon and Meta.

Huang, who has led Nvidia as CEO since its inception in 1993, said on the podcast that he has “created more billionaires” on his management team than any other CEO in the world.

Nvidia is currently the most valuable company in the world, becoming the first company to cross a market value of $4 trillion for the first time earlier this month. The company’s stock has grown nearly 27% year-to-date, and a noteworthy 1,554% over the past five years.

Join top CEOs, founders and operators at the Level Up conference to unlock strategies for scaling your business, boosting revenue and building sustainable success.

In a new interview, Nvidia co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang says that AI will mint more millionaires in the next five years than the Internet did in two decades.

On a recent episode of “The All-In Podcast,” Huang said that AI technology enables people to create new things, filling in skill gaps and allowing for more chances to generate revenue.

The rest of this article is locked.

Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-says-ai-will-create-millionaires/495134

Her Self-Funded Brand Hit $25 Million Revenue Last Year — And 3 Secrets Keep It Growing Alongside Her ‘Mischievous’ Second Venture: ‘Entrepreneurship Is a Mind Game’

Growing up in Toronto, Canada, Tanya Taylor, now founder of her namesake womenswear brand and a second eveningwear brand, Delphine, didn’t really know she could build a career in fashion, she says. However, as someone from a “very entrepreneurial” family, she’d always dreamed of running her own business.

^{Image Credit: Courtesy of Tanya Taylor. Tanya Taylor.}

“ I took for granted that our dinner table conversations were always about small businesses, the people you work with, the values you have in your work and how rewarding it is when you can build a company,” Taylor says.

That foundation led her to study finance at McGill University, but Taylor couldn’t shake the “creative itch” she felt to join the fashion world. So Taylor moved to New York City, where she didn’t know anyone at the time, and applied to the Parsons AAS Fashion Design program — after which her “whole world changed.”

Taylor went on to work for Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen on their contemporary lifestyle brand, Elizabeth and James, for several years.

“ What I found so inspiring, and what I still like to think about today, is how personal they were with their design process,” Taylor recalls, “and how working for a female founder that was creating product for a customer that they could really relate to, whether through age or just lifestyle, felt fun. We weren’t guessing who this person was. It wasn’t fantasy; it was grounded in reality.”

^{Image Credit: Courtesy of Tanya Taylor}

Taylor decided to marry what she’d learned in business school with her growing experience in the fashion industry. She recognized a gap in the market for an “expressive, inclusive, joyful brand” that felt as though it was designed by someone who wanted to be close to the customer.

Although Taylor admits she was “naive” when she made the leap to fashion founder, her commitment to starting a company that would be “adaptive to the market” paid off. Taylor’s namesake brand grew from one employee in 2012 to a team of about 40 people today. The brand saw $25 million gross revenue last year, and net sales growth surpassed 40%.

“ I wanted to bring a different pace and give myself a different creative playground.”

Last year, Taylor also branched into eveningwear with the launch of her second brand, Delphine.

“ I wanted to bring a different pace and give myself a different creative playground that represented a different side of my friends, of myself and what I saw missing in the market,” Taylor says. “I’m 39, and I was having a very hard time finding dresses to go to all of the events I have in my life that weren’t either too young or too sexy. I was missing the sleek sophistication that I used to be able to find.”

^{Image Credit: Courtesy of Delphine}

Of course, the decade-plus between the roll-out of Taylor’s first and second brands has seen significant changes in the fashion business.

Entrepreneur sat down with Taylor to learn more about how building her first brand and adapting to industry shifts have shaped her ongoing growth strategy and new brand, Delphine.

1. Retail remains valuable amid the shifting landscape

As a young designer without a network in New York, Taylor staged an attention-grabbing Fashion Week show in the MoMA’s Agnes Gund Lobby with “kooky” details — like bartenders with serving trays carrying goldfish swimming in glasses alongside regular drinks — to create a “magical, surprising little world.”

Wholesale was the way to launch when Taylor started her first brand, and the MoMA show got her in the door successfully. Saks Fifth Avenue expressed interest, noting “the longevity” of Taylor’s ideas and how the brand didn’t feel like one “chasing trends.” Saks became Taylor’s first retailer, and Bergdorf Goodman followed soon after.

Many businesses have had to contend with a decline in physical retail over the past decade-plus. However, brick-and-mortar stores are seeing a resurgence, and luxury brands increasingly invest in flagship stores, Vogue Business reported in 2022. In 2023, Tanya Taylor opened its first flagship store on Madison Avenue in New York City. The store was profitable in its first year and boasts a 40% customer return rate.

Taylor looks forward to leaning into her company’s flagship presence.

“That’s where retail’s exciting to me,” the founder says. “We get more chances to [connect with] people. Every day at 6:30 p.m., we get this novel from our store about every person who walked in: a little story about where they’re from, why they decided on what they bought or didn’t, what’s going on with their sister. It’s so interesting to feel personally attached to the people you designed for. That is what fuels me and feels like the future of both brands.”

^{Image Credit: Courtesy of Tanya Taylor}

2. Self-funding continues to give Taylor’s brands an edge

Taylor’s first brand was self-funded and remains so; she’s currently making the same move with Delphine.

Although challenging at times, self-funding allows Taylor to invest in herself and her team fully and provides the flexibility to put brand values first and consider long-term wins over short-term gains, the founder says.

Additionally, self-funding prevents the brands from adopting a “private equity-backed voice.” That’s particularly important given their distinct personas — the first brand’s “happy,” “approachable” ethos versus the second’s “emotionally driven, more mischievous” vibe.

Despite the differences between the two brands, Taylor approaches both of their voices and marketing strategies with a similar “zest,” which she says is the key to connecting with customers and putting them first always.

3. Direct engagement with customers means more opportunities

The rise of direct-to-consumer marketing translates to a new opportunity to “own the relationship with the customer,” Taylor says.

Delphine does work with some “incredible retailers,” but the brand’s presence online and in the Madison Avenue store serves as a chance to “go back to the basics” and ask important questions: How do I get close to the customer? How do I excite her?

Social media, naturally, is another means to that end. Influencer marketing didn’t exist when Tanya Taylor launched; now, it’s often a customer’s first touchpoint with a brand.

“ That feels like a huge shift in the industry,” Taylor says. “You’re not staring at a model in a studio showing you how you put a sweater with a skirt. You’re getting to see it on somebody running to work, what shoes they’re wearing and how their life looks. That has put the customer so much more in the center of fashion, in a way that is well-aligned with how I like to design.”

Additionally, social media, especially Instagram, allows Taylor to interact with customers more than ever before — and she embraces that by responding to many DMs herself. “ I’m asking people questions,” Taylor says. “I am so excited about quick learning. I love crowdsourcing opinions, and as a designer who is like a sponge, it’s been so rewarding to see that access change.”

^{Image Credit: Courtesy of Delphine}

As a two-time fashion founder in an era when ecommerce and social media have completely transformed the industry, Taylor has some helpful advice for any entrepreneur who hopes to succeed in the business: Figure out what makes you distinctive, and surround yourself with people who believe in that distinction, whether professors, industry professionals or friends.

“ That was really, really important for me,” Taylor says. “[It] helped me feel some confidence. Entrepreneurship is a mind game. Once you embark on it, lots of people love it and want to continue, but you have to find ways to keep yourself strong and your creativity strong, and that’s through community.”

This article is part of our ongoing Women Entrepreneur® series highlighting the stories, challenges and triumphs of running a business as a woman.

Ready to break through your revenue ceiling? Join us at Level Up, a conference for ambitious business leaders to unlock new growth opportunities.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/starting-a-business/self-funded-founders-3-secrets-for-25m-revenue-and-2/495024

Benefit From Strong Brand Awareness with a Moe’s Southwest Grill Franchise

Are you ready to invest in a business that combines bold flavors with a proven business model and a vibrant brand? Moe’s Southwest Grill offers an exceptional franchise opportunity for entrepreneurs who want to make an impact in their community while running a rewarding business.

Benefits of owning a Moe’s Southwest Grill franchise:

Proven Brand with Strong Support: Moe’s boasts over 600 locations nationwide and a loyal following. Franchisees benefit from robust training, ongoing operational support, and national marketing initiatives powered by industry-leading franchisor Goto Foods.
Attractive Financial Performance: The average net sales per location is approximately $1.24 million, with over 550 locations nationwide.
Multiple Revenue Streams: In addition to in-store sales, Moe’s franchisees can maximize earnings through catering, online ordering, third-party delivery, and a popular customer rewards program that drives repeat business and higher ticket averages.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/benefit-from-strong-brand-awareness-with-a-moes-southwest/495119

The Financial Truths No One Tells You in Your First 2 Years of Entrepreneurship

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

When I first started my business, I approached budgeting with the optimism of someone who hadn’t yet been burned. I treated it like a tidy math problem: Plug in a few cost estimates, apply a sensible cushion, and the numbers would hold. At least, they did in the spreadsheet.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that business finances aren’t as predictable as most people would like. They don’t follow rules the way spreadsheets pretend they do. They behave more like weather — hard to predict, full of surprises and capable of swinging dramatically based on a single shift in direction. That realization came slowly, usually through trial by fire.

Of all the financial lessons I’ve learned since those early days, two continue to shape the way I run my business. They sound simple, but they’ve fundamentally changed the way I think about spending, saving and planning.

Lesson 1: Expect everything to cost twice as much (and take twice as long)

Everything? Yes — especially in those early years.

Not in a pessimistic or dramatic way, but in a realistic one. If there’s one thing I’ve seen consistently, both in my business and in conversations with other founders, it’s that things always take longer and cost more than you think they will.

Maybe it’s that contractor who takes six weeks instead of three. Maybe it’s the tech stack that needs five additional integrations to work properly. Maybe it’s the time cost of revisiting a project because you made a rushed decision up front. You’re not necessarily budgeting poorly — you just don’t know what you don’t know.

In those early days, business finances are at their most unpredictable, and there are almost always invisible costs in execution that you can’t see in the planning stage. You’re still learning. Your systems are fragile. Your vendors and team might still be new. You don’t yet have reliable baselines, and you haven’t yet built the muscle memory to forecast with accuracy.

Eventually, this levels out. The business becomes more predictable. You find better partners. And, frankly, you get better at managing finances. But in those early years, invisible costs lurk everywhere: training time, review cycles that drag, vendor misalignment, tech hiccups, unexpected fees. The little things you forget to add as line items (or just don’t know about yet) can really add up.

Now, when I forecast expenses, I don’t just add a generic buffer — I build in a true margin of safety. We run multiple scenarios: best case, expected case and worst case. For any major investment, I ask, “What happens if this costs twice as much and takes twice as long? Do we still want to do it?”

Sophisticated planning means pressure-testing not just the numbers, but the assumptions underneath them. If the ROI still holds under stress, we move forward. If it doesn’t, we either adjust scope or wait. The goal isn’t to predict the future perfectly — it’s to avoid being surprised by the entirely predictable.

Lesson 2: You don’t save money if you just spend it somewhere else

I used to think I was being financially savvy when I negotiated better deals, swapped tools or cut recurring costs. And to be clear, those are good habits. But I had a blind spot: Every time I “saved” money, I spent it just as quickly elsewhere.

At the time, I’d get real satisfaction from trimming costs. Found a cheaper software? Win. Promoted from within instead of hiring externally? Another win. Swapped out a tool, renegotiated a rate, cut an unnecessary subscription? All wins.

And then I’d take those savings and (without realizing it) spend them on something else. Sometimes that new margin went to a branding update. Sometimes to a software platform we didn’t truly need. Other times, it disappeared into the ambiguous category of “miscellaneous expenses” — things that felt justified in the moment, but didn’t move the business forward in any measurable way.

I told myself those costs were inconsequential. After all, we’d just saved the money elsewhere, right? But I didn’t realize I was chasing efficiency while perpetuating waste. The problem wasn’t that I was spending; it was that I wasn’t using those savings intentionally to fuel growth where it actually mattered.

Now, when we save money on something, I don’t reallocate it reflexively. Instead, we treat that margin as strategic capital — money that can be redeployed, but only if it directly supports our growth goals or operational efficiency. Sometimes it sits for a quarter. Sometimes it gets earmarked for a high-leverage initiative we’ve already prioritized. Either way, that discipline gives us space to invest with intention — not impulse — and ensures that savings actually create value, not just movement.

This shift created financial discipline, not just breathing room. More importantly, it gave us better visibility into which investments were truly driving growth, versus which ones were just reactive gap-fillers that felt urgent in the moment but didn’t move the business forward.

What these lessons protect you from

It’s tempting to treat finances like a back-office function: something to review monthly or quarterly. But your financial habits are often the clearest reflection of your leadership.

Do you act with discipline or impulsiveness? Do you chase savings without a strategy? Do you overcommit and underprepare?

These are patterns, and they compound quietly. Handled well, they create stability and space to grow. Handled poorly, they chip away at your margins, your options and your confidence. If your current habits aren’t moving you in the right direction, course-correct now before the consequences become permanent.

Sure, there will always be months where it feels like the money comes in and flows right back out. That’s part of the reality of entrepreneurship. But the more you can build financial awareness into your leadership muscle, the less chaotic those moments will feel.

So if you’re looking for a place to start: Double your cost estimates. Be intentional with your savings. And treat every financial decision like it matters.

Because it does.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/money-finance/2-important-financial-truths-new-entrepreneurs-need-to-know/494841

Why Your Inner Voice Might Be Sabotaging Your Trading Strategy

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

We all know how social media provides an endless stream of opinions, confident recommendations and even downright wrong information. Long before we were exposed to social media, we got all of that same type of chatter from an even more familiar source — our own brains. It comes in the form of self-talk. If you are day trading, this self-talk can be dangerous.

This article will explore how it’s dangerous and what you can do about it.

Pretty much every waking minute, we’re bathed in self-talk. It’s been that way for as long as we can remember. This communication is especially potent because it’s not coming from the “bad guys” that we’re trained as kids to avoid. Because it originates in our own minds, self-talk can seem like it should have our best interests in mind.

If self-talk were confined to low-consequence situations, that would be one thing. But when we hear this internal play-by-play commentator while day trading, that can get really expensive.

Let’s look at the types of day trading self-talk that can tie a boat anchor around your success. What’s interesting is that this phenomenon is not confined to beginner day traders. If you continue in this profession, the talk is never far away, as you’ll see in a moment.

Let’s first think about what self-talk beginners experience:

“I have my homework cut out for me! I need to read up on company financials, watch MSNBC, and get a real feeling for the stock before I take a trade.”

That’s wrong on many levels. First, it’s a way of saying: “Ready, aim, aim,…” where you never get to the “fire” part. You can analyze for a long time and never feel ready. Also, how do you choose the stock to analyze? You can do all that work, and the stock you chose ends up being a sleepy non-mover. On top of that, MSNBC talking heads do not provide useful guidance about what trade you should make in the next five minutes.

Day trading is about getting in and out of your trades today, not someday. I look for the stock that has shot into the limelight today, sometimes out of nowhere. Maybe it had news of a new drug approval, a merger announcement or an unexpectedly strong earnings report. I want to be trading the stock that’s at the top of everyone’s trading screens right now. That has nothing to do with their balance sheet or income statement.

“I should trade that meme stock I’m hearing about on social media — if I’m right, cool. If I’m wrong, at least I can point to everyone else in the same boat.”

At the point I just made earlier, notice that I said “the stock that’s at the top of everyone’s trading screens” and not “the stock being mentioned on TikTok.” What counts is what traders are focused on right at this very moment, not what social media influencers are chatting about.

Let’s say you’re not a beginning day trader, but you’ve reached the point when you’re net positive over five or six weeks. Congrats! That really is an accomplishment you can be proud of. What does self-talk sound like at this stage?

“Okay, that was a really bad trade, but I’m so close! I can make it up on the next trade.”

On your journey to get to this point, you learned that you need to know — ahead of time — when to bail out on a trade and also when to bail out for the day. In the heat of the moment, it’s so tempting to put those rules aside and take just one more trade. It’s true that it might be profitable, but — no matter how that trade works out — what you just lost that’s even more valuable is a hunk of your self-discipline. Believe me, it’s not worth it. Pack it in for the day.

Maybe you finally get to the exclusive club of traders who’ve made this their profession, like me. I’ve placed more than 20,000 trades in my career. Surely I’ve built up an immunity to negative self-talk, right?

I wish. When you’re a beginner and you make a dumb trade, hey, you’re a beginner! But what about when you’re a pro and you make a rookie blunder that just costs you the price of a Lexus? Your self-talk has a ready answer:

“Maybe I’m losing my touch.”

The correct thing to do is ignore that inner heckler, but this is where you might compound the problem and do what’s known as “revenge trading” to prove that you still have it. You mash the buy button and most likely soon regret it. Here again, the correct move is to resist the temptation to take an emotion-fueled trade.

But what if you’ve sat back down at your computer for several days in a row and have now lost the equivalent of a Bentley? Your self-talk starts to look more like that famous “silent scream” painting.

There’s only one thing to do: You need to check yourself into what I call “Trader Rehab.” I’ve done it many times. It’s where you calm down, go back to small trades, low daily trading limits and basic principles, and gradually rebuild your confidence.

The market is agnostic. It doesn’t care if you create millions of dollars in profits or if you lose your shirt. The thing that decides which it will be is your combination of knowledge, discipline, and actions.

You’ll always have self-talk. Sometimes it can even be positive, as in “We’re really showing those nay-sayers that we could make it in this business!” But if you want to play the long game as a day trader, you’ll always be alert to the self-talk pitfalls. You will be ready to head off those instant emotions with rational, pre-arranged actions that allow you to step back, get some perspective and carry on

This article will explore how it’s dangerous and what you can do about it.

The rest of this article is locked.

Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/money-finance/the-most-dangerous-voice-in-day-trading-your-own/494859