Why Subscribe to Crabcakes & Commerce, Hon.
About Crabcakes & Commerce
Honest, laid-back takes on starting and running a small business.
Most business advice is written for companies that don’t look anything like yours. It assumes a boardroom, a runway, and a department for everything. This newsletter is written for the other ninety-nine percent — the owner who is also the head of sales, the HR department, and the person who unclogs the sink on a Saturday.
I’m Mike DeBaugh. I run Crimson Business Consulting, a strategic advisory firm here in Maryland, and I write this for the people I actually work with: small and mid-size business owners, founders, and the folks still deciding whether to jump.
What you’ll find here
Strategy and decision-making — the frameworks that hold up when you’re the one making the call and there’s no committee to hide behind.
Legal, in plain English. I have a JD and bar license, which mostly means I’ve read the fine print so you don’t have to. When something matters — your entity structure, your contracts, your risk — I’ll tell you why in language that doesn’t require a translator.
Operations and systems — the unglamorous machinery that separates a business you own from a job you can’t quit.
The Maryland layer. I’m based here, my clients are here, and I’ll write about the state’s programs, funding, and quirks when they’re worth knowing. If you’re in Maryland, that’s a bonus. If you’re not, the rest of the page still applies — the mechanics of running a small business don’t change at the state line. Only the paperwork does.
The podcast
Every episode opens with five to ten minutes on what’s actually going on — news worth your attention, something I ran into that week, or a question a reader sent in.
Then we get to The Discussion: one topic, taken apart properly. Sometimes that’s cash flow or hiring. Sometimes it’s the same lesson delivered sideways — what football teaches about protecting your cash reserves, or what a poker player knows about picking your market. The framing changes. The goal doesn’t: you should finish the episode able to do something differently on Monday.
Who this is for
Owner-operators. First-time founders. People running a business that’s working and want it to work better. People running a business that isn’t and want an honest read on why. Anyone who’s tired of advice that sounds impressive and helps nothing.
No fluff, no hustle-grifting, no ten-step systems I’ve never used myself. Just what I’ve seen work — and what I’ve watched fail — with real businesses and real money on the line.
A bit more on me
Mike DeBaugh, JD, MBA. I’m currently completing doctoral research at the University of Maryland on how leadership communication shapes business outcomes — which is the academic way of saying I study why some owners get their people to follow them and some don’t.
Subscribe to get new posts and episodes in your inbox. It’s free, it’s occasional, and it’s written by someone who’s actually in it.
