Welcome to The 1% Edge

Where serious business owners sharpen their strategy and scale with purpose.

Most newsletters are filled with surface-level tips, feel-good quotes, or overhyped marketing trends.

This is not one of them.

I created The 1% Edge for business owners who are tired of the noise — and ready for the truth.

Why I Launched This Newsletter

After more than 30 years in business — building four multimillion-dollar companies, surviving twelve major crises, and consulting with CEOs, founders, and leadership teams across industries — I noticed a pattern.

Too many smart, capable business owners are stuck.

Not because they don’t work hard.
Not because they lack passion.
But because they’ve been told to hustle instead of think.

They’ve been sold shiny marketing tricks instead of solid strategy. They’ve been encouraged to chase trends instead of build systems. And when results stall or chaos sets in, no one tells them why.

The 1% Edge is here to change that.

This newsletter is designed to give you what most business owners never get:
✅ A clear perspective
✅ A strategic roadmap
✅ And a sharp edge in a crowded, noisy marketplace

What You’ll Get in Every Issue

Each edition of The 1% Edge is built around the three areas I believe are essential to long-term, scalable success. If your business isn’t growing the way it should, you’re likely stuck in one of these three zones — and I’ll show you how to break through each one.

1. Business Strategy – Because winging it isn’t a plan.

Most businesses don’t fail because of lack of effort. They fail because they’re reactive. They’re guessing. They’re throwing time and money at tactics without a clear foundation beneath them.

That’s why every issue includes insights on strategy — from defining your value proposition, to making data-driven decisions, to understanding your market position.

If you can’t answer these questions with confidence:

• What makes your business truly different?

• What does your customer value most?

• What metrics matter in your business (and which don’t)?

Then you don’t need more effort — you need a strategy.

This section of the newsletter will challenge your thinking, sharpen your focus, and give you tools to lead your business with intention, not instinct.

2. Scaling a Business – Because growth should increase freedom, not stress.

Growing a business is one thing. Scaling it is another.

I’ve seen businesses hit 7 figures and fall apart because they tried to grow on top of broken systems. I’ve worked with founders who were doing everything themselves — and burning out while the business depended on them for every decision.

Scaling isn’t about doing more. It’s about designing your business to grow without breaking you.

In this section, I’ll walk you through:

• Building scalable offers

• Delegating with clarity and accountability

• Creating systems that drive consistent results

• Increasing profit, not just revenue

If you're ready to scale smarter — not just sell more — this column will help you engineer a business that runs without chaos.

3. Fix What’s Broken – Because your business can’t scale if it’s cracked beneath the surface.

Every business has bottlenecks. But most owners are so busy solving symptoms that they never find the root cause.

Marketing isn’t converting?
Is it the message… or the offer?
Is it the traffic… or the targeting?
Is it the team… or the training?

This part of the newsletter is dedicated to diagnosis. I’ll show you how to identify what’s really broken in your business — and how to fix it fast.

Because pouring more money into a broken process won’t save you. It’ll just speed up the failure.

Whether it's operations, leadership, tech, pricing, or delivery — this column is about solving the problems no one else wants to talk about.

What Makes This Different

This newsletter isn’t built on theory. It’s built on trenches-tested experience.

I’ve:

• Launched and exited businesses through mergers, acquisitions, and ESOPs

• Consulted Fortune 1000 companies, private firms, and government agencies

• Survived lawsuits, theft, fraud, and financial collapse — and still came back stronger

• Helped business owners double, triple, even 10X their revenue — without gimmicks

What I’ll share here comes from doing, not guessing. From building, not just advising. From helping owners like you get real results — not social media applause.

How to Use The 1% Edge

Read it.
Rethink your assumptions.
Apply what fits.
Act on what matters.

Each issue is here to help you think like a high-performing CEO — not just a busy business owner.

Ready to sharpen your edge?
Then let’s get to work.

And if you’re reading this as a Founding Subscriber — congratulations. You’ve already made a smarter move than most.

Let’s build something strong.

—
Darlene M. Ziebell
Business Strategist | Founder, The 1% Edge