AmiSights

For the first time ever, more retail space is going to services than stores. Think fewer shopping bags… more Botox, boxing, and Pilates. According to the Wall Street Journal , Over 50% of retail space is now leased to service businesses—driven by a $2T+ wellness boom and the continued rise of e-commerce. What’s changing: • Consumers spend on how they feel , not what they own • The gym is the new “happy hour” • Landlords favor experience-driven tenants The takeaway: Retail isn

In this week’s edition of the AmiSights Podcast , we talk to Emeka Oguh . Emeka is the CEO of PeopleJoy , a company that helps HR leaders attract and retain top talent with turnkey student loan and education benefits. "Entrepreneurial success is driven more by mindset—passion, resilience, and vision—than by initial capital. My journey shows how strategic thinking and determination can overcome limited resources to achieve significant success." The three main topics of this ep

Search is shifting from keywords to conversations . According to a recent Wall Street Journal article , AI tools like ChatGPT don’t just rank websites—they pull from what people are saying about you across Reddit, reviews, and forums. Your digital reputation is now your visibility. Old SEO still matters, but it’s no longer enough. Winning now means: • Being talked about (not just optimized) • Providing clear, contextual content • Earning trust across the web The hard part? Yo

Most of what we worry about never actually happens. We replay conversations, predict worst-case scenarios, and convince ourselves we’re being productive—but most of it is just noise. There’s a saying: “Worrying works, because 90% of what I worry about never happens.” It feels true, but it’s backwards. Those things weren’t likely to happen anyway. Worry creates the illusion of control. It feels like action, but it isn’t. Focus on what’s real, what’s in front of you, and what y

A business owner called me last week, believing he was resolving his Economic Injury Disaster Loan. He wasn’t. It was already in collections—he just didn’t know. It’s a situation that is becoming more common than you might suspect. When business owners fall behind on their EIDL loans, they sometimes assume they’ll figure something out with the Small Business Administration—maybe buy some time, maybe work out a plan. And then one day, they’re no longer dealing with the SBA. Th

I’ve been thinking a lot about AI lately, and to me it really comes down to a simple idea: it’s a coin with two very different sides. On one side, there’s a real danger of it making you lazy. If you just let AI do the work, accept what it gives you without questioning it, and stop thinking things through yourself, you’re going to lose that muscle. And once that starts happening, it’s a slippery slope. On the other side, if you ignore AI completely, you’re putting yourself at

A recent case highlighted by Bob Coleman is a reminder of just how far PPP fraud went—and how it ends. One tax preparer submitted over 1,500 fake PPP applications , generating millions in loans and at least $700K in kickbacks. He knew it was fraud. He even texted, “You gonna put my ass in jail soon.” He wasn’t wrong. He got 10 years in prison —one of the longest PPP fraud sentences so far. What stands out isn’t just the scale. It’s how blatant it was. Fake incomes. Fake busi

A recent Bloomberg Businessweek  article highlights something I’m hearing more and more: Private equity is flooding Main Street with offers—but more owners are saying no. Not because the price isn’t attractive. In many cases, it is. They’re saying no because they don’t like what comes after: loss of control, pressure on employees, and a shift away from what made the business successful in the first place. Some are even leaning into it—marketing themselves as “locally owned” a

“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” — Carl Jung In a world that constantly tells us who to be, it’s easy to lose sight of ourselves. We follow paths that feel expected rather than authentic, often without even realizing it. Carl Jung’s quote is a reminder that the real work of life isn’t becoming more like others, it’s becoming more like you. That means peeling back the layers of expectation, fear, and comparison to discover what genuinely feels righ

Before seeking financing, every borrower should ask a simple question: How will lenders actually see my situation? Entrepreneurs naturally view their businesses through their own experience—past wins, loyal customers, and confidence that the next opportunity is around the corner. Lenders see something different. They focus on what is certain today and how they get repaid. A contractor we recently spoke with is waiting on their next government contract. From their perspective,

One of the hardest parts of our work is also one of the most important: being honest. Entrepreneurs are dreamers by nature. That optimism is often exactly what allows them to build great companies. The last thing anyone wants to do is be the person who delivers difficult news or challenges the vision. But avoiding hard conversations doesn’t help anyone. Doing this work well requires consistency — consistently evaluating situations objectively and giving candid assessments, ev

In this edition of the AmiSights Podcast, Bryan Clayton  shares his entrepreneurial journey from starting a small lawn mowing business to founding GreenPal , a tech platform that connects homeowners with lawn care services. He discusses the challenges of scaling a business, the process of selling it, and the impact of technology and AI on modern entrepreneurship. Bryan emphasizes the importance of customer service and the personal fulfillment that comes from helping others su

According to The Wall Street Journal , entrepreneurship is surging again. In January alone, 532,000 new business applications were filed—up nearly 37% year over year. Meanwhile, the number of people listing themselves as “founders” on LinkedIn is up 69%. What’s driving it? AI—both the threat and the opportunity. Fear of layoffs and automation is pushing more workers to rethink job security. At the same time, AI tools are dramatically lowering the barriers to starting somethin

Before Alice ever reached Wonderland, she had to do something uncertain... she had to fall. In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Alice’s adventure begins the moment she follows curiosity down the rabbit hole. She doesn’t know where it will lead. She simply chooses to go. That moment feels familiar to many of us. Whether you’re starting a business, changing careers, pursuing a new goal, or simply stepping outside your comfort zone, growth often begins the same

Five months into the federal fiscal year, SBA lending is slowing in an unexpected way. From Oct. 1 through the end of February, lenders approved $11.8 billion  in SBA 7(a) loans, down from $14.6 billion  during the same period last year — a decline of about 19.6 percent . But the more striking number isn’t the dollars. It’s the number of loans . At this point last year, the SBA had approved 34,105 loans . This year, the number is 21,638  — a 36.5 percent drop . That means loa