Three KC-based companies have launched franchises that are popping up across the country. Title Boxing Club started as a unique gym down the street from the Sprint campus. It’s now considered one of the fastest-growing franchises in the country. Shear Madness Haircuts for Kids began when a savvy business owner set out to improve the haircutting experience for children and parents in Leawood. Now her ideas, philosophy and even wacky…

How Carl Wasinger and Smart Warehousing have responded to rocketing growth. When Carl Wasinger left corporate America and launched Smart Ware-housing in 2002, the company took up only 5,600 square feet. “It was a little old warehouse out in Olathe, and it was just me,” he recalled. Today, Smart Warehousing operates 24 different facilities in the United States and Canada—totaling more than 5 million square feet. Lego, Kraft Foods, Under…

Talk is cheap. Depending on who’s talking and who’s listening, though, it also can be very valuable.That’s certainly true at Digital Sandbox KC, a proof-of-concept center that launched earlier this year. Backed by $2 million in funding, the Sandbox provides support for concept development to prove an early-stage tech product or service is viable in the marketplace. But the center, which is based at Union Station, is designed to go…

The answer might surprise you. What business are you in?” This famous question is one that has been made popular by case studies at the Harvard Business School. It is a deceptively simple question, filled with nuance and significance if taken seriously. This question goes to the heart of how leaders and owners see themselves and their businesses. “As we see ourselves, so shall we behave,” the saying goes. So…

Give your customers what your large competitors can’t—or won’t. I’m too small. They’re too big. They’re too smart. I don’t have the resources, or the staff, or the time, or … News flash! There’s room in the marketplace for both big guys and small guys who provide quality products and services at a reasonable price coupled with outstanding customer service. Small businesses make up a formidable force in the marketplace…