Paolo Maria Pavan The Hidden Footprint of Remote Teams In early 2021, I visited an old friend, a self-proclaimed digital nomad running a remote-first consultancy from his renovated farmhouse in Drenthe. We sipped coffee by a wood stove while he explained ... ES ESG IT NL Paolo Maria Pavan WISE 5 Aug 2025
Paolo Maria Pavan Founder Burnout = Governance Breakdown In 2017, I met the owner of a small restaurant in Rotterdam, Mediterranean kitchen, fiftyseats, full most nights. His name was Karim. The food was honest, the reviews glowing, the staff loyal. But tha... ES ESG IT NL Paolo Maria Pavan WISE 4 Aug 2025
Paolo Maria Pavan Scalable Leadership: Hard Truths for Small Business Owners Years ago, I sat across from a baker in Utrecht whose croissants were the talk of the street, but whose staff turnover was the talk of his accountant. “They leave as soon as they learn the ropes,” he ... ES ESG IT NL Paolo Maria Pavan WISE 1 Aug 2025
Paolo Maria Pavan Minimalism as Environmental Governance For micro and small business owners in the Netherlands, the term "environmental governance" often feels distant, like a policy manual written in someone else’s language. But it’s not. It’s about how y... ES ESG IT NL Paolo Maria Pavan WISE 31 Jul 2025
Paolo Maria Pavan Informal Power Still Needs Oversight In my early thirties, I worked with a Manifactur owner in Sondrio (IT) who swore his cousin “just helps with deliveries.” No contract. No payroll. No title. Yet every major decision, from hiring staff... ES ESG IT NL Paolo Maria Pavan WISE 30 Jul 2025
Paolo Maria Pavan Team Size Doesn’t Equal Simplicity In 2018, I met a woman in Utrecht who ran a two-person catering business. She told me, “We’re just small, so we don’t need all that structure.” Two months later, her business shut down after a client ... ES IT NL Paolo Maria Pavan WISE 29 Jul 2025
Paolo Maria Pavan Your “Good Intentions” Are Killing Your Business When I was 18, I watched a baker scream at a boy for stealing bread. The boy didn’t cry. He just looked at the man and said, “You have shelves. I have hunger.” The baker replied, “And I have rules.” I... ES ESG IT NL Paolo Maria Pavan WISE 28 Jul 2025
Paolo Maria Pavan Stop Babysitting Your Team The Coat That Was Never Returned When I was 24, I lent my best wool coat to a team member before his pitch. He forgot it on a train. He apologized, and I told him, “It’s not the coat. It’s what it mea... ES ESG IT NL Paolo Maria Pavan WISE 25 Jul 2025
Paolo Maria Pavan Role Separation in Micro-Companies In 2010, I watched a bakery in Utrecht lose its soul. Not its recipe. Not its clients. Its soul. The founder, warm, tireless, beloved, was the baker, the bookkeeper, the HR manager, the delivery drive... ES ESG IT NL Paolo Maria Pavan WISE 24 Jul 2025
Paolo Maria Pavan Sustainable Starts with Restraint My grandfather never threw away string. Every time he opened a package, he’d untie the knots carefully, roll the twine around two fingers, and hang it on a nail in the shed. “Because one day,” he’d sa... ES ESG IT NL Paolo Maria Pavan WISE 23 Jul 2025
Paolo Maria Pavan Why “We’re a Family” Can Be a Red Flag Years ago, I visited a small printing business run by two brothers. At first glance, it felt warm, colleagues called each other “auntie” or “uncle,” birthday cakes were mandatory, and staff often stay... ES IT NL Paolo Maria Pavan WISE 22 Jul 2025
Paolo Maria Pavan The Ethics of Outsourcing for Dutch SMEs The van arrived at 03:47 in the morning. No logo, no sound. A man in a blue hoodie dumped two black containers behind our office. By the time the sun came up, they were gone, along with three years of... ES ESG IT NL Paolo Maria Pavan 21 Jul 2025
