You're losing the talent war—not because you're a bad employer, but because the game is rigged against you.

Government standardizes pay across wildly different cost-of-living markets. Big corporations offer pensions and benefits you can't touch. Your salary dollar is worth less before you even start competing.

So how do you keep great people when you can't match the offer down the street?

Stop trying to win on salary. Your employees don't actually want more money—they want fewer problems. Money just happens to solve problems.

In this episode, discover how a Toronto Maple Leafs GM facing a 43% tax disadvantage turned his structural weakness into a competitive advantage. Then learn the five-problem framework small businesses use to retain talent without breaking the bank:

• Time Theft – Save them hours with on-site services and strategic partnerships

• Food Friction – Solve meal planning and grocery stress cheaper than raises

• Family Burden – Real examples like free staff housing and vacation property rotation

• Health & Wellness Gaps – Group-rate access to trainers, RMTs, and financial planners

• Development Stagnation – Create visible growth paths that keep people engaged

You'll also learn the five critical rules that make this work (including the tax structure mistake that turns perks into taxable income), and why foosball tables and branded swag are "perk theater" that won't retain anyone.

Golden Hour Action: Survey your team with one question—"What costs you the most time or money outside work?"—then build your competing offer from their actual problems.

The salary game is rigged. But the problem-solving game? That's one you can win.

Connect with Chris Cooper:

Website - https://businessisgood.com/

AI is supposed to make everything easier—but in many service businesses it’s doing the opposite: pushing people back toward humans they can trust. In this episode, I unpack why. First, audiences are shifting from links to answers—organic search and email engagement are down as more people ask LLMs directly. Second, trust is fracturing. A whole generation raised on edited, vetted nightly news now treats the open internet as suspect; when the stakes are high (money, health, legal, travel), they want eye contact, not a chatbot. Third, overload is real: infinite choices don’t mean better decisions; they mean decision fatigue. That’s why travel agents, financial advisors, and boutique service pros are seeing a quiet resurgence.

But this isn’t anti-AI—it’s pro-human with AI at your back. I share a playbook for blending high-touch delivery with backstage automation: AI for intake, prep, drafting, scheduling, and QA; humans for discovery, judgment, and relationship. You’ll hear 10 examples of service roles that can lean into person-to-person delivery while using AI to scale the unscalable. The takeaway: trust is the new moat. Pair it with smart automation and you don’t just survive the AI wave—you surf it.

Connect with Chris Cooper:

Website - https://businessisgood.com/

We live in an always-on world where everyone can connect with anyone instantly. This much communication should make business easier and faster, right?

Wrong. Communication has reached a tipping point where more is no longer better.

In this episode, we explore why the explosion of workplace messaging tools, constant availability, and "open door" digital policies are actually hurting your business—and what to do about it.

We break down five critical problems with overcommunication: CEOs who can't find time to think strategically, analysis paralysis from gathering too many opinions, leaders who dodge responsibility through "democracy theater," the office politics created when you ask for input you won't use, and the blurred boundaries that happen when founders overshare personal struggles to win loyalty.

Drawing on insights from Naval Ravikant's recent podcast on why his company banned Slack, we examine why the best founders—from Steve Jobs to Jeff Bezos to Elon Musk—have always fought to "unscale" their companies and protect focused work time.

Then we get practical. You'll learn specific frameworks including the Golden Hour (one growth move before opening any communication), how to set communication guardrails using asynchronous channels and office hours, and why "input does not equal a vote" when making decisions.

If you're a founder or leader who feels chained to your phone, overwhelmed by notifications, and unable to do the strategic thinking your company needs—this episode is for you.

Key takeaway: The right communication beats more communication. Every time.

Connect with Chris Cooper:

Website - https://businessisgood.com/