Business

LocalStove Satisfies Your Cravings For Homemade Food

Published

7 years ago

July 8, 2019

Steve and Greg believe that everyone deserves homemade meals, but realize that with our busy lives, homemade meals are not always possible. As a result, they cofounded an online platform called LocalStove that connects the best home cooks in your neighborhood to you. On their website you can select which dishes you want from a variety of home cooks, and the food will be made and delivered to your event. We had the opportunity to interview them and learn more about their entrepreneurial journey and startup.

What inspired you to become entrepreneurs in the food industry?

Steven Finn: Food has been an obsession of mine for as long as I can remember. I started developing my own skirt steak marinade at age five, had a few years where my primary source of media was the food network, and have traveled as far as Australia and back in search of the best food out there. Wherever I go, I want to eat like a local. I spent several years as a software engineer for Bloomberg, and was ready to go out on my own and build something that I had a burning passion for. I decided I wanted to found a startup before we had the idea for LocalStove, and was exploring a variety of ideas. When it came down to actually doing something, working with incredibly talented local chefs who make authentic food from all over the world made so much sense!

Greg Dubin: I learned about the power of food to bring people together at a really young age. While growing up, my grandfather owned a restaurant in a small town in Wisconsin. It was the type of place where almost all the customers were regulars and everyone there knew everybody else’s name. People were drawn in by amazing comfort food (like deep fried balls of cheese as big as your fist!), but would stay for hours because they were made to feel like family. Spending a lot of time at the restaurant from as long as I can remember left a deep impression on me about the emotions that food can bring out in people and drove me to find away to impart this gift on to others, like my grandfather did. Yet, this exposure also taught me how tough owning a restaurant is. Between the brutal hours, high risk and thin margins, I realized it wasn’t the right business for me. LocalStove came about as a result of the realization that we can still create amazing culinary experiences, without a brick and mortar establishment. So, I sought to abstract away the worst parts of the restaurant business and harness tech to enable talented, passionate cooks to share their creations with the world.

What was your biggest challenge when founding LocalStove?

Steven Finn: Our biggest challenge was in deciding to take the plunge to pivot our business model. Our original model was to have our chefs offer individual meals through our website with us providing marketing, payment processing, and delivery logistics, and more. While this business was growing, it was difficult to spread the word. Then, we fell into office catering, mostly by accident. We originally viewed it as a marketing activity to sell individual meals, but corporate clients kept calling us back. We discovered that there was a real gap in the market serving small to mid size offices, where groups of around 10-75 people are too large to order effectively from restaurants and too small to get good menus for good prices from traditional caterers. These groups were regularly ending up with pizza and sub platters. This is the perfect size group for one experienced cook with no help and low overhead to cook for, and it allows us to sell much better food to offices for prices comparable to (or better than) existing options. On top of that, our cooks are making a lot more money per hour of labor than they would on virtually any other “gig economy” platform. As catering became a larger and larger portion of our revenue, we noticed that the catering model actually solved a lot of the problems we were having in individual meals. Having office catering become our primary business model was a tough call to make, but one that has worked out and allowed us to build the beginnings of a sustainable and scalable business.

Greg Dubin: The biggest challenge was probably emotional or mental in nature. Mainly, just taking the plunge into pursuing our endeavor full-time. Doing so at the end of business school was particularly challenging. Right when the majority of our friends were accepting high-paying jobs in lucrative industries, we were committing to having no income for the foreseeable future with absolutely no guarantee of success. The fact that all of us were married and either had kids or kids on the way certainly made the consequences of failure feel more daunting.

How was your experience like having 2 other cofounders?

Steven Finn: Having cofounders is great. I’ve worked on a startup alone before, and it’s hard to keep moving! Having cofounders gets everything done faster, provides a source of instant feedback on your work, and allows for rapid iteration. We are lucky to have complimentary skill sets. At this point, we know almost without talking about it who should take responsibility for something that needs to get done because we each know our cofounder’s strengths and weaknesses as well as we know our own.

Greg Dubin: I believe there is a study that correlated three cofounders with the highest chances of success for a startup. I completely understand why. First, launching a startup requires so
much work every day, across literally dozens of areas of expertise. I truly cannot
comprehend how sole founders can do it alone. Second, I cannot overstate the
importance of having a diversity of opinions and perspectives when formulating strategies and finding solutions to problems. Moreover, having three cofounders instead of two helps break through impasses where only two equal founders may be at a stalemate.

(Side note: Our third cofounder Henrique left the company a few months after launching to take a full time job. He left on good terms and retained a tiny bit of equity, but isn’t involve in any day-to- day operations of the business)

Why did you focus your business around home cooked meals?

Steven Finn: We believe that the best food in the world is locked behind the front doors of our neighbors. It doesn’t necessarily take years of culinary training to make food that resonates deeply with people. To us, home style cooking is Grandma’s recipes. It’s something you’ve made 1,000 times, but you still love to make it. It’s cooked with feeling, passion, and editorial control. We find that we’re more likely to get this type of food from a local, independent cook who works for his or herself than we are from a professionally trained line cook who spends their days pumping out somebody else’s recipes in a restaurant setting. We don’t tell our cooks what to make or what to charge. They give us menus of what they’re best at, they set their prices, and we match them with offices whose budget and dietary preferences are a good fit. On a personal note, some of our food is some of the best food I’ve ever had, and I’d eat at Per Se for my wedding anniversary or drive to South Dakota for a rack of ribs (Bob’s Broasted Ribs in Sioux Falls!).

Greg Dubin: I’ve always loved to travel and quickly came to appreciate what an immense impact food has on culture. When visiting other countries, I truly believe there is no better way learn and understand about another culture than through its cuisine. A single dish can represent the mosaic of hundreds of years of history; a cross-section of the country’s plants, animals and ecology; and the long-held, rich traditions of the people. However, you don’t have to get on a plane to have these experiences. Philadelphia represents a rich tapestry of cultures, be them ethnic, religious, or simply socially-based. All these cultures have unique, exciting and authentic foods, which until now had been locked inside people’s own kitchens. The best cooks aren’t the ones on line pumping whatever they are told to cook for minimum wage. They are the ones who truly live and breathe their cuisine, because it is a part of who they are. LocalStove’s mission is about unlocking the kitchen door and enabling these amazing cooks to share not only their food with the world, but their passion, history and story as well.

How do you choose and evaluate new cooks?

Steven Finn: Most of our best cooks have come to us. The value proposition of LocalStove for them is very strong. We bring them new customers who otherwise would never have found them, we handle payments, we provide them with a web presence, we deal with delivery logistics. We like to say that our cooks only have to worry about the cooking, and that they should let us worry about the details of running a food business. Evaluating cooks for LocalStove is the best part of our job. We meet with the cooks, learn their stories, and eat their food. Our cooks are great people to work with, but it’s their food blows me away almost every time.

Greg Dubin: Finding new cooks is actually one of the easiest parts of LocalStove. We developed a comprehensive marketing plan to attract new cooks, but haven’t had the need to implement it yet. Whenever we explain to anyone what LocalStove is about, the most common response we get is, “I know the perfect cook for you.” Pretty much everybody knows the “best cook in the world,” who makes incredible food but has no desire to actually open their own restaurant. As far as evaluation, the cooks have to go through our screening process before being allowed to post food on the platform. Part of this involves us trying the food first, which is definitely one of the best perks of the job. We also usually to have friends and loyal customers sample the food as well and give us their honest opinions. Ultimately though, it is really the user ratings that will determine how successful a cook will be on LocalStove. The best cooks rise to the top pretty quickly and can command higher prices for their meals. Cooks who aren’t incredible fall to the bottom pretty quickly and don’t get orders. Furthermore, if their rating falls below a certain threshold we remove them from the platform.

What are some memorable company milestones, and what developments do you project for this year?

Steven Finn: Getting our first “subscription” customer for LocalStove was amazing. Having somebody tell us that they loved our food so much that they wanted to have it again every week was something I’ll never forget. Passing $100,000 in sales was great as well, and we can’t wait to add a digit and get to $1,000,000 and beyond!

Greg Dubin: One of our cooks is a culinary student who was also working a part time job to help put herself through school. She recently told us that she was able to quit this job that she hated, because LocalStove was giving her enough income to support herself. This was a powerful reminder of why we do what we do.

What is one character trait that defines you and why?

Steven Finn: I love to learn new things, and I always have. I like to understand how things work. I have three Penn degrees in totally different subjects (Operations, Entrepreneurship, and Computer Science), and am always reading about something new. Entrepreneurship is the best way to learn rapidly that I’ve found yet.

Greg Dubin: Believing that there is always a solution to any problem. This means never admitting “it’s impossible” when faced with a challenge. Instead of asking “can we,” I only ask, “how can we?”

What are your tips for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Steven Finn: Don’t pursue a great idea that you aren’t passionate about. If you wouldn’t be a user of your product, it doesn’t matter how great the idea or opportunity is, you are not the person to execute on it. Make sure if you get into something that it’s a field that you’re willing to spend the next 5+ years in and be eager to learn everything about it. Also, I can’t stress the idea of putting something out into the world quickly enough. We started selling food less than three weeks after we initially had the idea for LocalStove, and we’ve learned so much because of the pace. I’ve worked at a startup where we spent way too long in a room, figuring out every little detail of our product to make it perfect before launching, and we failed before we’d even finished the product. Startup guru Steve Blank says that “No business plan survives first contact with customers.” He’s right. The only way to move quickly enough toward real product market fit in an industry like ours is to put something out in the world, double down on what works, and quickly abandon what doesn’t.

Greg Dubin: Focus all your energy on finding product-market fit and don’t be afraid to pivot. Don’t spending all your time and resources developing what you think is a perfect product before you know if enough people are actually going to buy it. Instead, get your MVP out there as quickly as possible and see how it resonates with various audiences. If the product-market fit is right, they will accept an imperfect product because they innately see the value of what you are trying to do. Once you’ve identified the right customer base, engage and listen to them. They will be your most valuable resources for perfecting your product and driving your company’s direction.

Business

The Software As A Service Business Model Explained

Published

3 days ago

February 6, 2026

Chris Blondell

Software-as -a-Service (SaaS) is no longer just a convenient way to access software through the cloud. In 2026, the software-as-a-service business model is now the very backbone of how modern businesses operate and scale. In fact, data tells us that SaaS and enterprise software companies have raised about $4.7 billion in investments in 2024.

In this guide, let’s break down how the SaaS business model works, why it continues to dominate the software industry, and what has changed leading into 2026.

What Is SaaS?

SaaS is a delivery model of centrally hosted software that is licensed to customers via a subscription plan. If a company leases its software through a central, cloud-based system is technically a SaaS company.

These companies maintain responsibility and oversight of servers, databases, and any relevant software that allows people to access and use their products.

Some of the most popular SaaS giants in 2026 include:

Adobe
Google Workspace
Salesforce
Microsoft 365
Notion
Canva
OpenAI
Grammarly

In 2026, SaaS applications are often enhanced by built-in AI capabilities, such as in the cases of OpenAI, Grammarly, and many others.

The way that SaaS companies lease their product is through subscription plans. These plans can vary greatly from company to company. SaaS business models offer different services and different applications within their systems. Different subscription plans give different access to different services. Many offer a regular plan with one or two other plans that offer more access and increased services.

What Is The Software As A Service Business Model?

The software as a service business model includes a number of factors that are unique to it. There are three in particular that are important to take note of.

Recurring Payments

In SaaS, clients do not buy hardware. The software as a service business model involves providing a subscription service for software. Recurring payments typically take the form of Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR), though many SaaS companies now track additional metrics like Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), Net Revenue Retention (NRR), and expansion revenue.

When your customer signs up and subscribes, you will get some money upfront. It is imperative that this initial cash not be counted as revenue until it’s been properly earned. It is a liability until the terms of service have been completed. A customer can ask for that money back at any point if the service isn’t delivered.

Revenue recognition is one of the most fundamental aspects of running a successful SaaS company. Alongside subscriptions, SaaS companies also monetize through usage-based pricing, AI consumption pricing, or hybrid billing models that combine multiple approaches.

Heightened Customer Retention

All businesses care about customer retention. In SaaS business models, however, it is ten times more important. Customer retention is what keeps SaaS companies afloat. Because you cannot lay claim to all of your customers’ subscription money until the term of service has been completed.

If you sign a customer for one year or twelve months and they leave after two, then you’re without ten months of recurring revenue. As a result, it is critical to put a significant value on cultivating customer relationships and upselling.

An existing SaaS customer spends more money on average than a new one. It is in a SaaS company’s best interest to upkeep and maintain higher-quality customer service. If you don’t, or if the quality of customer service is poor, your customer is very likely to jump to a competitor.

No matter how great the product, poor customer service can break a company.

Consistent Updates

SaaS companies must continuously release updates, security patches, AI model improvements, and new automation capabilities to stay competitive and retain customers. Plenty of companies provide “next-gen” product versions, but SaaS has to continuously update and patch to stay above water.

This is now standard across modern cloud software, where continuous deployment and rapid feature iteration are expected by customers. Software vulnerabilities can put customer information at risk from hackers. Nobody wants that. That’s why continuously assessing and updating security fixes is a top priority in the software as a service business model.

Since SaaS companies host their own products, they can push updates as needed. They can release new features or enhance prior versions whenever they want. Between consistent updates and quality customer service, SaaS companies have the potential to be highly responsive to customer base feedback.

This is a real-time luxury that most other industries do not have.

How Are SaaS Companies Built?

Generally speaking, there are three critical stages as to how to build and develop a SaaS company: Setup, Growth, Stabilization.

Setup

This is the early stage where the company establishes its foundation. These are fairly typical processes. Founders discover the need for the products they intend to develop, identify their target market, and create the product.

This is also the opportunity to create an effective marketing campaign and sales strategy, consider various customer support plans, and organize finances.

Growth

Once the product has hit the market, it’s time to expand. This is arguably the fun part. Because there is seemingly no limit to how far a SaaS company can expand in its market, it’s possible for a SaaS company to expect new customers. This creates a sudden demand for marketing, sales, and customer service teams.

This is when a company has to act quickly in order to capitalize and secure a loyal customer base. Ideally, this growth will be accompanied by additional revenue. Companies then reinvest the capital back into their products and services. That way, they have the resources necessary to meet their customers’ needs.

Stabilization

Now that the business is beginning to acclimate with a steady incoming stream of customers, that means the company does not have to invest in more overhead. If the SaaS company has wisely invested in customer service software, marketing automation, and consistent product updates, it is on the right track to stabilization.

Why This Business Model Works

The SaaS business model is now a mature and dominant software delivery standard across nearly every industry. You can find the evidence of this in the vast investments in SaaS. How many office spaces use Slack to communicate? How many designers use Adobe? As our technology advances, so does the SaaS industry.

While the SaaS market remains full of opportunity, success in 2026 requires strong differentiation, AI integration, and clear customer value.

Featured Image Credit: Photo by Markus Winkler from Pexels

Business

Top 10 Email Marketing Software Modern Businesses Need Today

Published

3 days ago

February 5, 2026

Kaytie Cayton

For many business owners, video marketing may seem like the best strategy. However, studies show that email remains a powerful channel for promoting your brand. If you want to jump on the bandwagon, you’ll need reliable email marketing software. Fortunately, we compiled a list of the best to help you decide.

1. Brevo

Most email marketing software applications these days have an all-in-one marketing solution, and an example of an all-in-one marketing platform like this is Brevo. Formerly known as Sendinblue, it lets you design emails on its platform using its drag-and-drop features. But if you’re not a designer, don’t fret! You can use templates to create email newsletters. Aside from that, you can personalize their emails by adding your subscribers’ names. Plus, you can also segment emails or A/B test emails to different groups.

No wonder Sendinblue is one of the best email marketing software applications on the market.

Pricing:

Free

Starter – $9/mo

Standard – $18/mo

Professional – $499/mo

Enterprise – Contact sales

2. MailChimp

This top 10 email marketing software list won’t be complete without mentioning MailChimp. After all, MailChimp is one of the original email marketing software platforms. And even though they have been there for a long time, MailChimp’s pricing remains affordable for small businesses. But MailChimp is no longer just an email marketing software application since it expanded its list of features in the last few years. Here’s what to expect when you’re subscribed to MailChimp for your email marketing strategy:

Drag-and-drop email builder
Email templates
Content optimizer
Customer journey builder
Analytics and reports

Pricing

Free: For 250 contacts

Premium: Starts at $175/mo, for 500 contacts

Standard: Starts at $10/mo, for 500 contacts

Essentials: Starts at $6.50/mo, for 500 contacts

3. Salesmate

Salesmate is an amazing CRM and customer journey software. It might be one of your company’s best cost-to-value investments because it can be a beneficial tool for your sales, marketing, and customer experience teams.

Specifically speaking of marketing teams, Salesmate is a potent email marketing CRM that assists you in quickly designing and implementing campaigns.

Email campaigns are created using a drag-and-drop journey builder by Salesmate.

Using different metrics, such as Live Views, Campaign Goals, Automation Logs, etc., you can quickly monitor the effectiveness of your campaigns. You have enough information from that to run A/B tests on campaigns and find the best fit.

Pricing

Basic: $29 per user/ month

Pro: $49 per user/ month

Business: $79 per user/ month

4. Omnisend

Here’s another email marketing software for eCommerce businesses. Omnisend will help you increase sales through campaigns and automated workflows as well. They make it easy and simple for you to create beautiful email designs to send to subscribers.

Plus, creating promotional emails through their drag-and-drop builder and content blocks is faster. In addition, you can also segment emails and optimize them through A/B testing and boosters. And if you want to improve your email marketing efforts, Omnisend lets you access reports and insights, too.

Pricing

Free

Standard: $11.20/mo

Pro: $41.30/mo

Custom: Contact Sales

5. Kit

Kit ensures that your emails don’t get filtered, and your subscribers will read every email you send them. They make it so through their amazing email templates and styling options.

Similar to other email marketing software applications here, you can integrate your email marketing efforts with other strategies, like building a landing page or sign-up forms. Plus, you can also segment your subscribers and automate your email funnel. And if you want to improve your campaigns, Kit presents you with data.

And if you’re a creator, Kit is the BEST email marketing software for you.

Pricing

Newsletter: Free, up to 10,000 subscribers

Creator: $39/mo, for 1,000 subscribers

Pro: $79/mo, for 1,000 subscribers

6. Campaign Monitor

If you want to combine email marketing with your SMS marketing efforts, Campaign Monitor is your best option. Of course, like the others on this list, you can design your emails through their drag-and-drop builder and email templates, personalize emails, and create customer journeys.

Aside from those, one feature that helps Campaign Monitor to stand out from the rest is its Link Review. Before sending your email newsletter, Campaign Monitor will check if there are any dead links.

Pricing

Lite: $12/mo

Essentials: $29/mo

Premier: $159/mo

Enterprise: Contact Sales

7. EmailOctopus

If you want customized email designs, Em a ilOctopus helps you create designs from scratch. Aside from that, you will also find the exact features in any email marketing software, such as landing page creation and data analysis. In addition to that, you can connect EmailOctopus with other apps, such as Shopify, Squarespace, and Gravity Forms.

Pricing

Starter: Free

Pro: $10/mo (500 subscribers, 10,000 emails)

8. Constant Contact

Constant Contact simplifies its features into three categories: do, reach, and engage. With “do”, businesses can create email templates, manage their customer list, automate emails, and know how to improve their campaigns through data.

For reach, you can integrate your email marketing campaigns with Google and social media ads, landing pages, and sign-up forms.

And finally, for engage, you can engage with your target audience by publishing social media posts and surveys or polls.

Pricing

Lite: $9.99/mo

Standard: $35/mo

Premium: $80/mo

9. HubSpot Email Marketing

The reason many love HubSpot is they offer free tools for marketers. That’s the case for their email marketing software. Marketers can use them for free and get access to amazing features, such as a built-in email design editor, personalization, and A/B testing.

HubSpot recommends that you also use their CRM to get more out of your email marketing strategy. But if you need to level up your email marketing efforts, you can subscribe to HubSpot’s Marketing Hub. This gives you access to other marketing features.

Free

Starter: $9/mo/seat

Professional: $800/mo

Enterprise: $3,600/mo

10. Moosend

If your business is part of these industries: eCommerce, travel, publishers, SaaS, and agencies, Moosend is the best option for you. You can rely on Moosend to have the basic features of any email marketing software, such as automated workflows, design, and personalization. Aside from their regular pricing tiers, you can also buy email credits from Moosend if you want to send more newsletters or campaigns to more subscribers.

Pricing

Free Trial (30 days)

Pro: $7/mo

Moosend+: Contact Sales

Enterprise: Contact Sales

Key Thoughts

These software applications have become the most trusted names in email marketing. Not only that, but they are also beginner-friendly software applications to make it easy for you to create and send emails in minutes!

Business

5 Quiet Operational Leaks Costing Fortune 500s Millions

Published

7 days ago

February 2, 2026

Carmen Day

TL;DR – Even enterprises lose millions of dollars not from major product or investment failures but from operational issues hidden from plain sight, such as decision-making inefficiencies, workflow problems, execution and tech systems, and slow customer feedback integration.

Whatever the size of the business, operational efficiency is a crucial factor that spells the difference between a venture that thrives and one that bleeds. In fact, a study cited by Forbes revealed that companies lose 20% to 30% of revenue to process inefficiencies annually.

While it’s easy to assume that operational issues affect businesses more when they’re still at their initial growth phase, not many realize that these small inefficiencies could amplify consequences during scaling, when headcount, revenue, and investments grow fast.

In this article, let’s unpack five common operational areas where issues go unnoticed, causing even Fortune 500 companies millions of dollars. We’ll also discuss the best practices in each area to help optimize operations.

1. Decision Latency

How much time passes between identifying an issue in your organization and actually taking an action to address or correct it?

Oftentimes, enterprises have too many stakeholders, making it harder to align and make decisions fast. In addition, risk-avoidant companies typically push decisions upward, giving birth to a risk-escalation culture.

*Photo by Christina Morillo from Pexels*

But does slower decision-making equal better decision-making? Not really. A survey by McKinsey & Company shows that people who spend more than one-third of their time and those who spend less reported the same effectiveness. The same survey reveals that 78% of respondents were involved in cross-cutting decisions, which typically require multiple approval layers.

It all boils down to a lack of a decision system design, which means repeated reviews, muddled accountability, and cross-functional dependency loops that could eat up time and other resources. How does it translate to real-world operational issues? Think project launch delays, missed market opportunities, and campaign schedule disruptions.

Best Practice: Build a decision design system that defines who should make and own which types of decisions. The design must also identify which decisions can go ahead without needing escalation.

2. Cross-Functional Hand-Offs

There are always opportunities for inefficiency within a department or team when all its parts are moving. This opportunity further widens when work moves across departments, regions, and even vendor arrangements.

Research by Deloitte on Global Business Services models shows that having a standard structure to unify cross-functional operations can reduce costs by 5 to 10%. Without such a unified structure, it means the company is missing potential efficiency gains of up to 10%.

At scale, the operational efficiency in this area can lead to duplication of work, loss of context, and delays between functions caused by poorly coordinated queues.

Best Practice: Design workflows that foster end-to-end accountability instead of workflows that pass through department boundaries. Doing so can help reduce cross-functional issues and improve speed.

3. Creative Execution and Production Workflows

Creativity doesn’t come cheap. A survey of over 1,000 businesses found the average monthly agency cost of social media marketing to be between $100 and $5,000, search engine optimization (SEO) at around $2,500, and content marketing falling at $5,001 to $10,000.

And these are just the regular businesses. Fortune 500 companies could potentially allot more resources for the production of creative assets, as well as campaign design and marketing assets.

And here’s where it can get tricky: expensive as it is already, creative execution and production can leak even more resources when there’s no clear creative workflow and regional offices recreate the same assets. It could also be the case when there’s an overlap between the work done by internal creative teams, agencies, and hired freelancers.

*Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels*

Most importantly, brands of all sizes risk suffering financially when there’s creative inconsistency. A 2024 UK study by System1, the Creative Effectiveness Platform, and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising revealed that brands that didn’t focus on creative consistency needed to spend more to achieve the same growth as those that did. In fact, the cost gap is estimated at £3.47 billion.

System1 Global Partnerships Senior Vice President Andrew Tindall emphasized the data’s implication on businesses.

“…Brands win big on fame building, profit gain, market share gain and more when they foster a culture that supports creativity and consistency,” Tindall said in a statement.

Best Practice: Standardize the creative workflow and ensure that it’s centralized to reduce production timelines and improve creative consistency. Internal shared-service teams or design-as-a-service platforms like Penji can help streamline production and maintain consistent output.

4. Complexity Tax

Getting the latest AI solutions or adding something new to your tech stack regularly might seem productive, but it could be the opposite.

In fact, a study by Nexthink found that 49.96% of software installed in 2023 was unused by team members. This average spans 6 million customer environments in 12 regions, putting forward the question of sustainable efficiency.

However, pulling out from licenses altogether isn’t the solution and could even lead to higher costs that could quietly waste millions, according to Nexthink Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer Yassine Zaied.

“Only when IT has access to all the information about who is using what, what is not used, what is still performing and what needs to be repaired or replaced, can it see and take advantage of greater efficiencies in a sustainable and recurring manner,” Zaied said.

Best Practice: Design your tech ecosystem based on the value they offer around your workflow, and not based on maximizing the tools because they’re already available. By doing so, you can avoid redundant tools and improve tech adoption across teams.

5. Customer Feedback Integration Latency

Fortune 500 leaders have always been vocal about the importance of customer satisfaction.

As Michael L. Tipsord, the former CEO and Chairman of State Farm Insurance, once said, “Our success in serving our customers, that is what will ultimately determine the opportunities that are available to all of us.”

Walmart founder Sam Walton, meanwhile, famously said the customer is the boss.

“And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else,” Walton emphasized.

In an ideal business environment, customer feedback is part and parcel of product and service improvement. And rarely do enterprises lack data; the problem lies with integrating that data into their operations.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index 2025 Q3 results point to a broader systemic risk. While the national score remained flat at 76.9, it followed a period of decline and long-term stagnation. Analysts say this trend could potentially decouple buyer utility from seller profit, meaning companies may continue generating revenue without improving customer value.

Whether you’re managing a Fortune 500 company or a small business, one thing holds true: customer feedback is only valuable when you convert it into action in a timely manner.

Best Practice: Make sure your feedback systems move at the same speed as your customers. Treat feedback as a core part of your operating system and not a separate entity that’s only reviewed when the occasion presents itself.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is decision latency in simple terms?

Decision latency pertains to the time between identifying an issue and the time the company takes action to address such an issue.

Why are cross-functional hand-offs risky for large companies?

Cross-functional hand-offs can pose risks for enterprises because there’s always a chance for miscommunication, context misinterpretation, and work duplication. Such hand-offs can also make accountability harder to define clearly.

Why do Fortune 500 companies still experience operational inefficiencies?

Scale not only increases revenue and opportunities but also the complexities that come with it, especially when the inefficiencies that remain unnoticed between the processes multiply across teams and systems.

Featured Image Credit: Photo by Artem Podrez from Pexels