Business is Good with Chris Cooper

Chris Cooper
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One on one mentorship saved my business. So I decided to share that process starting with a 200-word blog post. Fast forward to today and my mentorship practice is a 21 million dollar worldwide company with a team of 50 professional mentors. Scaling from a tiny gym business to one of the largest mentorship practices in the world meant developing simple systems that could be taught easily to others. But building a movement requires leading by example, and showing people that business isn’t evil; that building wealth doesn’t require taking it from others; and that creating value lifts us all. It’s always been important to me to succeed the right way: without empty promises or slimy sales tricks. So the purpose of the Business Is Good podcast is to share the models that will scale a business FAST; but, more importantly, to help you build a business you’re proud to own. Visit businessisgood.com for more info and resources from the show.

  1. 5D AGO

    When a Brand Becomes a Cult

    fter World War II, villagers on a Pacific island built bamboo replicas of military airstrips — and waited for the planes to come back. They still wait today. Historians call it a "cargo cult": a community so committed to repeating the rituals of success that they completely lose sight of what actually caused that success in the first place. This episode is about what happens when brands do the same thing. Using CrossFit as the central case study — and drawing on the timelines of Kodak, Blackberry, and Blockbuster — Chris Cooper maps out exactly how a thriving, innovative brand calcifies into a cult. The signs are predictable. The pattern is consistent. And the result is always the same: the company stops evolving while competitors do the science. You'll learn the five warning signs that a brand is heading toward cult status, what the "dark ages" look like inside a company, and why the most dangerous thing a business can do is confuse its method with its mission. This episode ends with the biggest test facing businesses right now: AI. The companies that are already testing, experimenting, and adapting will be the ones still standing. The ones waiting for things to go back to normal are building bamboo control towers. If you're a Canadian business owner who wants to grow — not just survive — this one's for you. Connect with Chris Cooper: Website - https://businessisgood.com/

    23 min

  2. MAR 22

    The Right Way (and Wrong Way) to Create Jobs

    Every election, politicians promise to create jobs. There's just one problem: governments can't create real, sustainable jobs. Not in a way that adds value to the economy. Not in a way that pays for itself. In this episode of BusinessIsGood, Chris Cooper breaks down the fundamental difference between governments that create the conditions for businesses to grow — and governments that try to substitute for them. The right approach looks like clear laws, enforced contracts, solid infrastructure, and sensible protections. When that's done well, businesses grow. They hire. They pay taxes. They fill the pot that funds our hospitals, schools, and roads. The wrong approach is governments hiring their way to "full employment." Unlike private-sector jobs, these positions produce no goods, serve no paying customers, and generate no revenue. They consume the pot instead of filling it. Here's what that actually costs. The Parliamentary Budget Office calculated that the average full-time federal government worker costs $125,300 per year in total compensation — salary, pension, paid time off, and benefits included. The average Canadian individual taxpayer pays roughly $24,000 a year in total taxes. That means it takes about five taxpayers' entire annual tax bills just to fund one government position. Meanwhile, more than one in five Canadian workers now works in government — and nearly half of all net new jobs created since 2019 have been in the public sector. Chris explains why the bureaucracy almost never shrinks, introduces the concept of More's Law, and makes the case for why your business is more important to this country than you might think. Connect with Chris Cooper: Website - https://businessisgood.com/

    20 min

  3. MAR 14

    The Coach and the Mentor: Building an In-House Development Program That Actually Works

    Most companies reward their best people by promoting them out of what they're actually good at. Your top salesperson becomes a sales manager. Your best developer becomes a team lead. And suddenly you're paying them more to do a job they weren't trained for — while they generate fewer results doing the job they were hired for. There's a better way. And it starts with understanding the difference between a coach and a mentor. In this episode, Chris Cooper breaks down the two-track system the best companies use to develop their people from the inside. Coaches help employees apply company standards and perform their jobs better — they're an investment in performance. Mentors help employees build careers and see the path forward — they're an investment in retention. You'll learn how to identify the right people for each role, how to teach them to transfer their skills effectively (because being great at something doesn't automatically make you great at teaching it), and how to run a 3-month test to measure whether your coaching program is generating a real return. Chris also covers how to connect your coaching program to the tools from last episode's company college — online courses, drip learning, gamification, and AI — so your college and your coaches work together instead of in parallel. Plus: two concrete examples of executive mentorship programs that reduced turnover, rebuilt leadership pipelines, and freed up CEOs to actually lead. If your best people are being wasted in the wrong roles — or quietly looking for the door — this episode is for you. Connect with Chris Cooper: Website - https://businessisgood.com/

    22 min

  4. MAR 8

    How to Start a College Inside Your Company

    Most small business owners are waiting for universities to produce the employees they need. The smart ones stopped waiting years ago — and started building their own training programs. In this episode, Chris Cooper looks at a quiet trend reshaping how companies find, develop, and keep talent: the rise of the company college. Rolex opened a tuition-free watchmaking school in Dallas, complete with a monthly stipend and a final exam in Geneva. Google built a certificate program now recognized by over 150 employers. And just this week, MasterClass launched MasterClass Executive — a 12-week, AI-powered business school built with the University of Chicago and OpenAI, taught by Ray Dalio, Mark Cuban, and Nobel Laureates. These aren't vanity projects. They're strategic solutions to a real problem: universities aren't producing job-ready graduates fast enough, and the companies that can't afford to wait are building their own pipelines. Chris shares how he did exactly this at Two-Brain Business, and breaks down a four-phase blueprint any company can follow — regardless of size or budget. You'll learn why 15-minute daily lessons outperform full-day orientations, why gamification isn't just for millennials, and why your credential matters as much as your curriculum. Your Golden Hour task this week: define one role, list 10 skills, write one 15-minute lesson. That's Module One of your Company College. Next episode: how to layer a mentorship and coaching program on top of your training — turning trained employees into future leaders. Business is good. Connect with Chris Cooper: Website - https://businessisgood.com/

    16 min

  5. MAR 1

    Why Universities Are Failing

    Canadian universities are in crisis — and not just because the government cut international student visas. Fourteen Ontario universities are running combined deficits of over $400 million. The University of Waterloo is staring down a $75 million shortfall. Laurentian already went bankrupt. And through all of it, the response from most institutions has been to ask the government for more money rather than examine how they got here. In this episode of BusinessIsGood, Chris Cooper makes the case that universities are businesses — whether they want to admit it or not — and they're failing at the basics. Chris breaks down four specific failures holding universities back. First, fiscal management: institutions that built their entire revenue model around a single funding source they couldn't control, then acted surprised when it disappeared. Second, curriculum relevance: graduates entering the workforce without knowing how to use AI, navigate the gig economy, or market themselves — because their professors were hired under an industrial model that no longer exists. Third, the social experience myth: the "campus life" pitch that peaked in 1985 and mostly vanished, leaving students who were put into groups but never actually taught how to work in them. Fourth, and most critically, the failure to teach people how to think — skipping logic, self-leadership, public speaking, and entrepreneurship in favour of increasingly abstract academic programming. The question universities need to answer honestly: what are they actually selling? And if it's critical thinking, real-world preparation, or how to manage oneself — most universities should put themselves through their own program first. Connect with Chris Cooper: Website - https://businessisgood.com/

    18 min

  6. FEB 23

    Actually, We Need The Billionaires

    Anti-billionaire sentiment is at an all-time high in Canada — and it's costing us. In this direct response to the Paikin Podcast's call for higher taxes on the wealthy, Chris Cooper dismantles five of the most persistent myths about billionaires, delivers statistics most Canadians have never seen, and makes the case that wealth creators aren't the problem — they're the solution. Topics include: the scarcity fallacy and why wealth creation is not zero-sum; the reality of what the wealthy actually pay in taxes; why most "billionaires" don't have a billion dollars in cash; how corporate taxes subsidize your personal tax rate; the real cost of running a business in Canada; what happened when France tried a wealth tax; and why attacking wealth creation is a threat to democracy itself. Connect with Chris Cooper: Website - https://businessisgood.com/

    20 min

  7. FEB 18

    Six Side Hustles that Actually Work

    After our last episode about teaching kids entrepreneurship, many parents realized they wanted to start something themselves. But most side hustle advice is terrible - scams, pyramid schemes, or ideas requiring massive followings. This episode cuts through the noise with six proven side hustles you can start this week with under $200 and 5-10 hours per week. **The Six Side Hustles:** **Virtual Assistant Services** ($600-1,800/month) - Handle administrative tasks for small businesses remotely. Minimal startup, flexible hours. **Online Tutoring** ($480-1,600/month) - Teach what you know, whether academic subjects or professional skills. Parents are desperate for quality tutoring. **Pet Sitting & Dog Walking** ($400-1,200/month) - Canadians spent $10 billion on pets in 2023. Trusted local pet care is always in demand. **Freelance Content Writing** ($500-2,000/month) - Every business needs blogs, social media content, and newsletters but most owners hate writing. **Home Services** ($600-2,000/month) - Handyman work, cleaning, organizing. Simple services with constant demand. **Digital Products** ($100-500/month) - Create templates, guides, or courses once and sell them forever. Each side hustle includes: exactly what it is, why it works, startup costs, how to get your first client, time commitment, and realistic income expectations. No hype. No "quit your job in 90 days." Just practical ways real Canadians can create extra income while keeping their day jobs.

    18 min

  8. FEB 10

    How to Talk To Your Kids About Money

    Three parents texted me the same week. All asking: "What should I tell my kid about entrepreneurship?" One said: "My 16-year-old asked if she should start a business or get a job at Tim Hortons. I told her to focus on school. What should I have said?" Another: "My son wants to start a lawn care business but I'm worried he'll fail and get discouraged." And the third: "My daughter asked why she needs university if she could just sell stuff online. Did I kill her dreams?" These are good parents trying to give good advice. But nobody taught them about entrepreneurship, so they default to what their parents told them: "Get good grades, go to college, get a stable job." Except that world doesn't exist anymore. This episode is my answer to those parents. Three conversations every parent should have with their kids about making money, starting businesses, and building real security. Learn why the "risky" path (entrepreneurship) is actually the secure one. Discover the three types of businesses any kid can start for $100 or less. Understand why failure at 16 costs $100 but failure at 35 costs $100,000. The math is simple: A kid mowing 10 lawns on Saturdays makes $1,300/month—double a Tim Hortons job in fewer hours while learning skills they'll use their entire life. Golden Hour Challenge: Have "The Dinner Table Business Plan" conversation tonight. Ask your kid what they'd do, pick one thing to start, do the math together, and challenge them to make their first $100 profit in 30 days. The goal isn't making them millionaires. It's teaching them to create value. Because that's real security. Connect with Chris Cooper: Website - https://businessisgood.com/

    23 min
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About

One on one mentorship saved my business. So I decided to share that process starting with a 200-word blog post. Fast forward to today and my mentorship practice is a 21 million dollar worldwide company with a team of 50 professional mentors. Scaling from a tiny gym business to one of the largest mentorship practices in the world meant developing simple systems that could be taught easily to others. But building a movement requires leading by example, and showing people that business isn’t evil; that building wealth doesn’t require taking it from others; and that creating value lifts us all. It’s always been important to me to succeed the right way: without empty promises or slimy sales tricks. So the purpose of the Business Is Good podcast is to share the models that will scale a business FAST; but, more importantly, to help you build a business you’re proud to own. Visit businessisgood.com for more info and resources from the show.

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