Business Briefs -- Don't Get Caught With Your Pants Down

Inaba USA: Sometimes You Can Do Everything Wrong (Digitally) and Still Get Business Right

leah.workman@gmail.com (Leah Workman) — Mon, 06 Jan 2025 20:19:28 GMT

The Power of the Japanese Way

Being based in Los Angeles, I often notice Japanese brands with local headquarters, especially their online strategies. That’s my business, after all, and many of them eventually came to us when their online presence starts causing serious problems.

One brand that stands out in this space is Inaba USA , the maker of the wildly popular Churu cat treats. If you’ve ever scrolled through a cat lover’s social media, you’ve seen them.

Inaba's Churu is viral, beloved, and imitated by every major pet brand — but consistently rejected by cats who will only settle for the original.

And yet, despite their massive success, Inaba USA has one of the worst digital footprints of any major Japanese brand I’ve ever encountered.

Truly one of the all-time worst.

Shockingly so at times.

They absolutely don't understand or care about digital marketing or standard branding in the U.S. market at all.

I’m not exaggerating. It’s as if they spend nothing on their digital presence—or worse, if they’re actually spending money on it, everyone involved needs to be fired. Immediately. It’s that bad.

Their approach to U.S. marketing seems to be set at a solid negative 15.

It’s so poorly executed that when I first saw their online presence, I assumed Inaba was a tiny, family-run mom and pop business. Imagine my shock when I learned they’re a massively successful multinational enterprise, pulling in hundreds of millions in annual revenue worldwide.

If someone had shown me their digital content and asked, “Can we launch and succeed with JUST this marketing?” I would have confidently said, “There’s a minus five percent chance. ”

Here’s why:

One of the hands-down worst internal digital presences for one of the strongest viral brands in the pet vertical

Website: 2/10

Their website is, frankly, a disaster.

Design: It’s a cheap WordPress template site with stock-ish generic photos, minimal information, and no professional polish. Conversely, it doesn’t exude warmth or authenticity like a family-run business might. It’s just… outdated and uninviting. No branding, just nothing at all that says a hundred-million-dollar brand, or a brand that cats love more than anything in the world.
Objective: Is the goal to attract more retail outlets? It’s not friendly for that. To provide information for end-users? It’s neither very user-friendly nor appealing. It's like they asked an employee with zero experience in web or digital to create "something" online.
Broken Links: Their main menus link to pages that simply don’t work. When I was writing this I went to the store locator page and got this. UPDATE: Looks like some things are working today, but since it's NOT a 2 man mom and pop show, it's almost unthinkable that this is the face of a brand this big. (Unthinkable unless you're a Japanese brand in the U.S. market with a ginormous parent company; more about this in this article)

(It appears to be working now but who debugs live??) Japanese MNEs that's who.

Dead Site Vibes: It feels abandoned. Copyright 2022 in 2025? The only Reason I know it's not abandoned is because they changed the twitter logo to X.

2022 to 2025 *feels* like an instance but it's really not

Zero Updates: It’s 2025, and their site hasn’t been updated to reflect the year in 3?
Nonexistent SEO: when I peeped the source code their SEO strategy seems to rely on a cheap WordPress template and an underutilized plugin. Even their basics weren’t done right:

<title>Treats for Cats and Kittens | Inaba Foods</title>

They could have at least optimized that plugin—but no, they didn't even have the ability or staff for that at that time. UPDATE: Looks like they're working on it live, real-time. ��

Social Media: 1/10

Their social media presence is even worse:

Content: Cheesy, generic posts with stock photos and absolutely uninspired captions. It's like it's run by someone who is the intern, not a digital professional.

They could do literally anything, are a viral hit and do this

Engagement: Almost nonexistent. Posts with just three likes for an international brand? It's not incompetence, it's that they don't care about the whole digital world.
Value: There’s zero reason to follow their accounts. No authenticity, no creativity, nothing engaging, they're not putting in or getting value from this medium. They're not believers in the new ways.
Customer Interaction: When I once reached out to ask if they were being pulled from shelves of a local shop because the Inaba shelves were on sale and half empty (my cats would riot without their Churu treats), the response time was so slow it worried me. While I eventually got a personal reply, it didn’t feel like professional brand management once again, unpaid intern vibes.

The Irony of Success

By every digital marketing standard, Inaba USA has done everything wrong.

And yet, Churu treats dominate the U.S. market for lickable cat snacks .

How is this possible?

It’s a testament to the strength of their product and the traditional Japanese approach to business, and a wealthy parent company.

A recipe that like their Churu, is EXTREMELY hard to reproduce successfully and here's why.

The Two Main Approaches to U.S. Market Success

There are two ways to establish and maintain a brand in the U.S.:

1. The Traditional Japanese Way

Have a superior product .
Employ a small, low-paid staff with little to no marketing budget.
Have staff personally introduce the product to shops or retail outlets, giving out samples utilizing a walking-salesperson approach.
Attend trade shows and do the same.
Rely on word-of-mouth over years (or decades) to build consumer awareness and loyalty.
Gradually expand the product line, disseminating new product info the same way.
Hope for enough brand loyalty to weather retail shifts, such as major chains going out of business.

Merits: Strong industry relationships and reliance on resellers and end users to market the product of their own volition.

Demerits: Extremely slow growth, heavy dependence on retail conditions, and high vulnerability to market changes / competition / alternate branding.

2. The Digital Marketing Way

Develop a comprehensive digital marketing and branding strategy.
Build a strong, user-friendly web presence that attracts and converts visitors.
Engage in online marketing techniques to drive traffic and awareness.
Foster brand advocates and authentic interactions.
Create demand directly with consumers, prompting retailers to seek you out.

Merits: Faster market penetration and higher control over brand perception: Your customers come to you.

Demerits: Requires expertise and significant initial investment in skilled marketing

Inaba’s Unique Position

Inaba USA represents a paradox: their digital presence is an unmitigated disaster, but their product quality and traditional Japanese business approach have allowed them to thrive in an intensely competitive market.

Churu and their chicken/tuna fillets remain staples in my household. My cats refuse all imitations, no matter how many competitors try to copy Inaba’s success.

They are a resolutely Japanese company, thriving in a landscape dominated by aggressive American multinationals. It’s an incredible feat, and a reminder that there’s no single way to succeed.

However, if you choose the harder, slower path, you need an unassailable product—one that can’t be copied and outperformed, and the money to keep going until your slow burn catches fire.

Because while cats might refuse fake Churu, the more typical American consumers won’t care whose cute kigurumi they’re wearing, as long as it looks good and is $40 cheaper than their competition. (in other words, how Chinese, Korean and American brands beat Japanese brands in the U.S. market: price-point and speed of delivery.)

INABA FOODS (USA), INC. #churu #digitalmarketing #japanesebusiness #digitalbusiness #traditionalBusinessmethods

Asking the Wrong Questions Part 3: "Will This Sell in the U.S.?"

leah.workman@gmail.com (Leah Workman) — Mon, 09 Dec 2024 18:57:47 GMT

Part 3 of “the Wrong Questions Japanese Businesses Ask”

HINT: The answer is always “yes,” but it’s also always “no.”

It depends entirely on your company’s approach, attitude, and investment.

The Real Opportunity

There is always a market in the U.S. for any Japanese product, but not necessarily because it’s a Japanese product.

Korean businesses find that market. Chinese direct-to-consumer sellers find it, often with inferior quality products.

They copy your ideas, price them competitively, and sell them as if they’re a brand new idea.

And we LOVE them.

What do Japanese businesses do instead?

They say:

“The American market won’t like these. We should focus on the Asian market instead.”

But what they really mean is:

“We don’t know how to brand or compete in the U.S. market, so we’ll stick to Asia, where our brand name alone carries weight, making it a lot easier to sell our products without learning how to sell our products in the U.S. which is highly competitive and hard.”

Toilet Seat & Bidets

In the early 2000s, when we were just starting out, we met with a major Japanese toilet manufacturer. (Not Toto—they’ve always had a clear understanding of the American market and it shows in their massive success here.)

This company sat down with us and confidently declared that Americans would never adopt bidet seats while I said that Americans abroad loved bidets and washlets, so the market was ripe for the toilet seat conversions.

They argued that it was a European or Japanese phenomenon, unsuited for Americans and our culture. Their solution? Focus entirely on Asia instead.

What’s happened since? Toilet seat bidets (often called washlet which is a Toto specific name but now semi-part of the vernacular like the word Kleenex), are a more and more common part of American households in even the most unexpected of demographics. Sold by both U.S. start-ups and a slew of Asian vendors, from Amazon to upscale, the options are unlimited.

Over the past 20 years, I’ve had that same conversation tens, if not hundreds, of times with Japanese companies.

The products vary, but the routine is the same every time:

A head of sales or marketing from a major Japanese multinational corporation comes looking for advice about a product that's invisible or struggling in the U.S. market.

I explain how to introduce it: emphasize visibility, invest in digital and w.o.m marketing, and point out its existing popularity among Americans familiar with it in Japan or Asia as proof that it’s not the “not popular with Americans” on a molecular level item they’re trying to paint it to be but rather a failure of marketing. (Which, since it’s their failure, doesn’t always go over well.)

And INSIST that along with that a massive BRANDING campaign is necessary.

Why this approach?

If a Japanese company doesn’t put in the effort to establish their brand as the go-to option for this specific product, competitors will seize the opportunity.

Korean businesses, direct-to-consumer Chinese sellers on Amazon and Temu, or American startups (often Asian American with their fingers on the pulse of several cultures and a keen understanding of both) will repackage, remarket, and sell the same product—smarter, cheaper, and better-branded.

These competitors will dominate the market that the Japanese company worked to establish.

Additionally, I stress the importance of local operations: a solid U.S.-based team to handle customer service, shipping, and returns seamlessly because your competition will beat you in price or on the ground so you need to be an all-around.

What Generally Happens Instead:

Mediocre Efforts The Japanese project leader, relying on their own assumptions about “the American market,” underfunds marketing and awareness campaigns. They choose lukewarm, ineffective advertising channels that fail to generate visibility. (The moment I hear the words “Antenna shop on Amazon” from a project leader I know we’re circling the drain) The project fizzles before it gains traction. A few years later, a Korean or Chinese company—or an American-based Asian American team—relaunches the same product with better marketing, branding, and pricing. The market becomes saturated with non-Japanese versions of a highly successful “Japanese” item, while the Japanese product is relegated to a niche, high-end, or largely unknown option.
Half-hearted Investment The company invests a reasonable budget, and the product sees modest success. However, the parent company doesn’t see the American revenues as attractive enough to commit enough resources to scale. Branding remains secondary, and cheaper competitors cannibalize the market share as in scenario #1.
The Easy Option The company opts for a U.S.-based Japanese agency because they speak Japanese and are easier to work with. But these agencies rarely prioritize effective branding or hire high-caliber talent, resulting in a half-baked campaign. The product fails, and the company concludes, “The American market doesn’t like our product. Let’s focus on Asia instead.”
Blind Faith in Outsourcing The company hires an expensive, flashy American agency, assuming they’ll deliver the American market on a platter. Without a deep understanding of the product, the company, or the target market, the agency delivers a lackluster campaign. The product flops, further entrenching the belief that “the American market isn’t right for us.”

The Myth of the Monolithic "American Market"

If you’re a Japanese national with a U.S. MBA and you think you “know” the American market, but your understanding treats it as a monolith, you don’t know the American market.

America is vast and diverse. It has everything and everyone.

Are you targeting the U.S. mass market? If so, what does being Japanese have to do with it?
Are you aiming for national grocery chains?
Niche markets? If so, which?
Are you selling to tweens? Which demographic?

Do you know your target consumer? Their spending habits? Their brand loyalty?

Nine times out of ten, the internal marketing staff of excellent Japanese corporations assume Americans will buy their higher-priced product simply because of its superior quality, and simply because it’s a Japanese product or because of the name of their company which means a lot in Japan and Asia, but nothing at all, or just not enough, in the U.S. market.

So they often neglect branding altogether, falling back on generic, uninspired marketing—like using koto music against a momiji background, embarrassing "gaijin love Kyoto" tropes —that fails to connect with American consumers because “Japanese” isn’t branding.

Showing just how much they don’t understand the U.S. market.

So How Do You Sell In A Market That Doesn't Value Names? (Or Your Brand Specifically)

If Japanese companies can address their branding failures in the U.S., they can finally move past these common pitfalls.

That’s where we come in. We help Japanese businesses navigate the complexities of the U.S. market, ensuring that their superior products achieve the visibility, branding, and success they deserve by not choosing the wrong partners. Or by telling you that you are.

You don’t have to listen to our advice, but at least you can have in writing that the “Amazon Antenna Shop” your team is about to spend USD 35k on isn’t going to answer the question; “Will this sell in the U.S. market” in any significant business-building way, at least not how Japanese companies do it.

Now if you’re a DtoC Chinese company on the other hand.. They make it work because they actually put the work in and aren't just opening vanity branches in the U.S. to say they've got a branch here.

But that's a topic for a whole different article about the REAL reason some Japanese companies open U.S. branches.

Asking the Wrong Questions Part 2: "Is This a Good Logo?"

leah.workman@gmail.com (Leah Workman) — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 18:37:26 GMT

Fujiyama, Geisha, Anime, & “Cool” Japan: How Japanese Businesses’ Reliance on Cultural Stereotypes Weakens Their Brands

Japanese logos designed for Japanese markets are often nuanced, creative, and highly effective.

Japanese graphic designers rank among the most talented in the world, producing work that reflects sophistication and originality.

But when Japanese companies create logos for products or brands to be sold in the U.S., the result often veers into embarrassing territory.

What we see are caricatures: ninja, kanji, sakura, and other overused "Gaijin love this" motifs, slapped together with outdated stereotypes by Japanese designers or agencies who have no genuine understanding of the American market.

The outcome? Logos that feel cheap and disconnected, a flat parody of Japan’s rich cultural identity, created by people who assume the U.S. audience views Japan as a monolith.

Worse, these logos frequently ignore their target demographic entirely, which is a common and baffling misstep for Japanese companies.

A National Obsession with External Perception

From my first visit to Japan as a teenager during Showa 64 / Heisei 1, I noticed how fixated Japan was on how other countries viewed it.

As an American, I found this novel.

In the U.S., we’re so oblivious to the “external gaze” that we rarely stop to consider how we’re perceived abroad, embarrassingly so and it's a real issue.

The juxtaposition to this is Japan, I remember watching news programs highlighting clips of foreign media talking about Japan—a constant reflection of the outside world’s perception, and thinking how constant the concern with how the outside world perceived and noticed them was.

In my decade or so living in Japan and my then nearly 20-year career working with Japanese corporations, it became clear: Japan’s image abroad is a national obsession. Or at least that they're being notice.

Because despite all this attention, there’s often a striking lack of understanding of ACTUAL perception .

For many Japanese businesses I’ve worked with—and even more so for the contractors they hire—this preoccupation with their image is paired with a glaring blind spot .

It’s a paradox: an intense focus on external perception, coupled with an inability to accurately gauge what foreign markets actually want or think.

A Historically Understandable Blind Spot

This obsession is rooted in history. Japan’s need to maintain sovereignty and fend off European colonialism made observing the external Western world a cultural imperative. The country’s success in navigating international politics since the 1600s(?) has relied heavily on observing and responding to outside influences.

But today, this instinct often manifests in ineffective ways.

The problem? Japanese companies often fail to identify and promote their real strengths. Instead, they lean on shallow stereotypes that appeal to no one.

And a big problem becomes that instead of building an individual brand here in the U.S., they’re overly reliant on “ JAPANESE ” being their entire brand and think that means something to consumers who have very little loyalty to anything or the weight behind that “brand” they think it has.

While Japanese skincare is arguably the best in the world, Korean skincare has dominated the American marketplace and made in-roads in ways the J-Beauty brands should have.

On top of that, take, for example, the massive success of Tatcha, a brand marketed as Japanese skincare in the U.S. While its branding leverages the allure of “traditional Japanese beauty secrets,” the brand itself was created by a Taiwanese-American entrepreneur and later acquired by Unilever. Tatcha isn’t Japanese at all—it’s smart marketing by someone who understands how to sell Japan to (generally White) Americans better than Japanese companies themselves.

The Good Logos vs. the Bad Ones

What makes a logo good?

If you’ve read my article about “good” photos, the same principles apply.

Let me share an example:

A client once brought us a glossy booklet with several proposed logos from a Japanese design agency. The agency’s portfolio looked solid. Their website appeared professional. They even had a few non-Japanese staff listed on their “About Us” page.

For a first-time business owner, they must have seemed like a reputable agency. The client had paid for mockups of several logos, and we could tell she loved them.

But from a professional perspective, the logos were disastrous.

Each one was worse than the next—cheesy, stereotypical designs more suited to a rural Kentucky sushi restaurant than a high-end women’s cosmetics shop.

Why?

Because the agency lacked a deep understanding of the target demographic and market. They relied on outdated tropes that didn’t resonate with the modern U.S. audience.

Hiring random non-Japanese staff to provide vague “Western” feedback doesn’t fix the problem.

Real expertise in branding and market demographics is essential, as is having a clear, authentic brand identity.

Understanding the Market—Or Failing to Do So

When it comes to selling in the U.S. market, a good number of Japanese companies suffer from identity issues.

They forget who they are, and who they aren't, and it turns into a mess of an identity crisis.

So let me help a little here and be blunt.

Who you’re not: Japan is not Korean brands with their deep understanding of how to capture the American youth market on a broad level. Popular American katsu chains? Mochi donuts just like from Mister Donuts? Korean-run. K-dramas, K-pop, Korean skincare? It could have been Japanese, but it’s not. They’ve taken the best of Japanese and Korean popular culture, Americanized it, priced it competitively, and sold it back to Americans as part of our cool youth culture. Japan assumed it had to be "Made in Japan" to sell like hotcakes, but we're as happy with Samsung as we are with Sony.

Much more if you consider our electronics market which you are no longer part of.

Who else you’re not: Japan is not China, able to change a product—or an entire production line—in a week, with the ability to pivot in a flash. Flexible, affordable, and not too proud to have zero branding, zero brand, just be a d-to-c product on some random platform and have that speed and affordability nobody else in the world can match.

Direct-to-consumer Chinese products flood Amazon and TikTok, often with limited branding and minimal customer support. They’re cheap versions of branded goods—or even more intriguing, products straight out of Chinese youth culture—adapted constantly based on reviews and feedback from American consumers who are tired of paying for brands and want to buy directly from the source.

So that’s who you aren’t, Japanese companies and products.

If you don’t know who your audience is or what they want—and many Japanese companies truly don’t—my advice is simple:

Know yourself: A fake identity designed to cater to an audience you don’t understand is the fastest path to failure.

If you can’t replicate the clever market positioning of Korean brands or the agile, low-cost strategies of Chinese brands, AND MOST OF YOU CAN'T, lean into your real strengths as Japanese companies.

Be a good Japanese brand, and do what you’d do to succeed in Japan:

Showcase authenticity.
Develop real brand advocates.
Build a clear identity that highlights your genuine value.
Be a valuable product or service.
Be passionate about your business.

Stop trying to create a version of yourself tailored to Americans when you don’t actually understand us.

And stop trusting contractors or agencies who claim they do, but clearly don’t.

Because if your logo—or your brand—feels fake, it won’t just fail to connect. It will actively drive your audience away.

Does that answer your question about what I think about your logo?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Asking the Wrong Questions Part 1: "Is This a Good Photo?"

leah.workman@gmail.com (Leah Workman) — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 18:13:03 GMT

How to Ask Better Questions About Creative Output for Business

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had this conversation in my career, but if I had a dollar for every time I had it, I could eat out at a Michelin rated restaurant with at least 2 other people.

Scene: A client—or potential client—shows me an image, video, graphic, tagline, or bit of copy or potential hire’s portfolio and asks, “Is this good?”

It’s a straightforward question on the surface, but the answer is anything but.

I can tell you if it's technically bad immediately; taken by a person with who is TECHNICALLY unskilled.

But " good ?"

That's a different metric entirely when it comes to business.

It’s Not About Pretty Pictures

Here’s the thing: while I’ve spent much of my career working alongside creatives and even count several medium of art as a personal passion, I’m not an art critic, a gallery curator, or a museum professional.

I’m a digital business development professional , and my lens for evaluating creative work isn’t only aesthetics— it’s business and how much the creatives earn back in sales (actual money) and evaluating what the purpose of the creative output is.

If the creative output in question is intended for marketing or branding, the question isn’t whether the image, video, or design is “good” in the artistic sense. It’s whether it works.

Whether it’s EFFECTIVE

Does it achieve its intended purpose?
Does it help sell the product or communicate the brand’s unique value?
Did the ad make the client money ?
Did the photo help sell the product?
Did the image answer the viewer’s questions?
Did it do its specific job (branding / instruction / information) while appropriately representing the brand?

The Difference Between "Art" and "Business Creatives"

Art is about subjective beauty, personal expression, and emotional resonance.

Marketing creativity, on the other hand, is about results. It’s not just about being visually appealing; it’s about being effective as a marketing tool. U.G.C., for example, (User generated content) can be patently UNPROFESSIONAL in its quality and be highly effective. That doesn't mean a BRAND can produce content at that same unprofessional level and post it on its social media outlets, there are endless rules for what is and isn't ok in professional and business imagery and content that you need to understand before choosing or hiring or using imagery for business and marketing output.

And yet an ALARMING number of businesses will either spend astronomical amounts of "professional" images that absolutely don't have value, or have in-house amateurs create embarrassing product images useless for any and all marketing imagery and not understand the incredible damage it does to their brand identity

When evaluating creative work for business purposes, I can immediately spot the basics:

Does the photographer understand lighting and composition?
Is the copywriter’s grammar solid, or are they misusing their title?
Does the graphic designer understand balance and hierarchy?

These are the fundamentals, and they’re easy to critique. I can immediately tell you what’s bad or unskilled. But whether the creative piece is good —whether it’s effective—requires much more context.

It’s All About the Brief

To effectively evaluate a piece of marketing or branding content, I need to know:

What’s the brief? What was the creator tasked to achieve?
What are the goals of the campaign?
Who is the target demographic?
What are the USPs (unique selling propositions) of the product or service?
How does it fit into the larger branding strategy?
What’s the market and competitive landscape?

Without this context, you’re not asking me to evaluate the effectiveness of the creative— you’re asking for a gut reaction to its surface-level appearance , and that's not a professional opinion, that's a personal one .

And while my guess on the subject is an informed one, a truly informed analysis will always serve you best.

To reiterate: It’s Not Art; It’s Sales. It's Advertising. It's Branding.

Creative work in advertising, marketing, and branding isn’t about being pretty, clever, or technically flawless. It’s about answering a brief. It’s about strategy, logic, and achieving specific objectives.

Think of it this way: asking me to evaluate a photo or portfolio for business without providing the context is like asking me to rate an Uber driver before the ride even starts. Sure, I can tell you if the car is clean and the driver’s on time, but I can’t tell you if they’ll get you to your destination safely and efficiently.

A great piece of creative content may look like art and it may look, frankly, like a mess, but its purpose isn’t artistic. It’s functional. It’s built to drive engagement, communicate a message, and ultimately generate revenue .

If the creative work doesn’t do that—no matter how stunning it looks—it’s NOT a good photo, video, or graphic FOR BUSINESS.

We're not hiring your wedding photographer here, that's a different world of photography.

So the next time you’re asking a pro to evaluate creative output for you, understand that we're looking at the 360 marketing or branding, and don’t start with, “Is this good?” Instead, start with arming us with the answers to the following questions:

“What’s the goal?”
“Who is this for?”
“Does this achieve the BUSINESS result we need?”
"Did it or will it probably make us money?"

Because in business, it’s not about beauty—it’s about quantifiable results.

And then and only then can we tell you if it's "good".

A CEO is Like a Goldfish Bowl: Why Business Growth (or Stagnation) Starts and Ends with Leadership

leah.workman@gmail.com (Leah Workman) — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 18:08:23 GMT

Success doesn't guarantee growth, great leadership does .

In my years working with businesses, one of the most common issue I hear from established leaders is: “We need to change something, switch something up. We’ve hit a plateau and we’re not sure what to do next.”

Generally, these businesses have achieved a relatively substantial success—a $10 million company, maybe $20 million. They’ve built something strong and steady but have stalled and are starting to decline.

While their competitors are racing ahead, they're stagnating, and the CEO or business owner begins to feel the pressure. They see their competition all over the places they used to be and in the hands of the newer generations of customers.

“If we don’t do something now, we’re going to fall behind. We need to act quickly!”

It’s the natural reaction. They’ve had success before, they’re proud, and even a little cocky.

And it's where things start to come undone. Get messy. Go downhill.

Success Doesn’t Guarantee Growth

Many of these leaders are comfortable.

They’re confident in the formula that brought them their initial success.

But they're not introspective about the fact that their personal formula worked in a very specific time, place, and market.

Or that the world doesn’t stop evolving just because your business hit its stride.

Technological advancements, changing consumer behavior, and the digital-first landscape are moving faster than ever.

So the simple truth is many of these CEOs find themselves stuck, clinging to the old ways:

Outdated internal systems frustrate employees, clients and customers and slow productivity.
Weak digital presence alienates younger consumers who expect seamless online interactions.
Aging workflows demotivate staff, who see more modern opportunities elsewhere.

Instead of adapting, they focus on squeezing more out of the same people and processes that got them this far.

But that’s not how growth works.

That's how you crush a once-successful enterprise under the weight of your own ego.

Blame Game: When Leadership Avoids Accountability

Here’s the critical moment: the CEO hires consultants, IT specialists, or digital business experts. They think they want help modernizing but really only actually only half believe it’s necessary.

In their hearts, they’re still convinced the problem lies outside their leadership and with anything but them:

“If only the sales team worked harder...”
“If only my staff weren’t so lazy...”
“If we had the right hires or better consultants, we’d be fine.”
"It's just market conditions"

But the truth is often simpler—and harder for business owners to hear or internalize: their business can never grow bigger than its leader's vision and leadership abilities, so if it's suck, it's a top-down issue.

When a CEO blames external factors or their team for stagnation, they miss the obvious: A business reflects its leadership, just as a goldfish’s growth is determined by the size of its tank.

A small, limiting vessel stunts growth, no matter how much potential the fish—or business—might have.

What type of leader are you? Look at your staff if you want to know that answer.

The Impact of Leadership on Team Morale

In these stagnant (or more bluntly), down-turning companies, staff morale often follows the same trajectory:

Demotivation: Employees see no rewards for extra effort. Salaries stagnate, workflows remain inefficient, and the future feels bleak.
High turnover: The most talented employees leave for opportunities where their skills are valued and their contributions recognized.
Blame culture: Those who remain feel unsupported and unmotivated, as leadership focuses on assigning blame rather than providing vision or growth.

Loyalty erodes, productivity plummets, and the down cycle continues.

And yet, the CEO sees the symptoms— poor performance, turnover, and missed targets — but not the cause because introspection require one to put aside ego , something only the best leaders can do.

Why the Business is Stuck in a Rut

When I evaluate a business’s health, one of the first things I look for is simple:

Is there trash outside or in the lobby? The state of the physical space reflects the care and pride in the organization; if nobody cares, you’re on the way out. (more about this in a later article)
When I ask the CEO why growth has stalled, what’s their answer? If their response is anything other than, “Me. I’m responsible,” it’s clear that the problem lies in their unwillingness to take accountability.

Leaders who avoid responsibility perpetuate a vicious cycle of stagnation.

If the CEO can’t grow, the business can’t grow.

The Harsh Reality of Business

If your business is failing, if your team feels stuck, and if your best people thrive only after leaving your company , the common denominator is clear: it’s you.

You’re the small goldfish bowl that’s keeping everything else inside you small.

Your inability to see the need to adapt, expand, or delegate and trust in skill professionals is crushing the potential of your business.

And before you pay tens to hundreds of thousands to millions in consulting and development or marketing fees only to ignore expert advice and do things exactly as you always have, learn this about yourself and save yourself the expense.

Growth demands change.

Sometimes that means modernizing your processes , hiring better / more people or teams, and stepping back and letting them thrive without micromanagement.

Sometimes it means actually learning and implementing new processes and arming them with the staffing and investments required to allow them to succeed.

Sometimes it means embracing the uncomfortable truth: the formula that brought you your first success isn’t going to work for you forever.

Often it's all three.

What Great CEOs Understand

The best leaders recognize that growth starts with them.

They know that to maintain a healthy business they need to:

Be flexible and open to change. Success isn’t a static achievement—it’s an ongoing process that requires adaptation. If you aren’t invested in change, shut the business down; growing bitter, blaming employees and living in the past isn’t healthy.
Empower their teams. Motivated, well-trained employees who feel valued are the backbone of any thriving company, same goes for any business relationship, customers and clients as well.
Take accountability. Growth begins when you stop blaming external factors and start looking inward. Confidence is healthy, check your ego at the door.

If your business is stagnating or losing ground, take a moment to reflect: are you creating the space for growth, or are you the fishbowl that’s holding everyone back?

If you’re going through the motions of hiring us, consultants, or new talented staff and then ignoring everything because you think you know better, your business wouldn’t be stuck where it is losing market share, you absolute walnut.

The choice is yours—and the future of your business depends on it, choose wisely.

The World’s Best Baker vs. The World’s Best Bakery: Why Being Great at Something Isn’t Enough to Succeed in Business

leah.workman@gmail.com (Leah Workman) — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 18:08:23 GMT

Why businesses really fail

Being a World-Class Producer vs. Being a Business Owner

We’ve all heard the stats: Countless businesses fail within their first few years, and the reasons why can feel overwhelming and impossible to overcome.

But one of the most common and generally overlooked reasons is this: being highly skilled or passionate about something doesn’t automatically translate into being good at running a business.

The skill-sets are often a world-apart.

If you’re worried that your business isn’t thriving, or you’re scared it won’t succeed, there is a decisive indicator that you can look to maximize your potential for success.

Understanding this one distinction could be the insight you need to course-correct or set yourself up for success even before you even launch.

Demystifying Business: Success Isn't About Your Skills At Your Craft

Imagine this: you’re the best baker in your city, a true artisan. People rave about your pastries, and you’ve earned your place at the top of your craft.

Or maybe you’re a rockstar software developer whose skills are in demand across industries.

You’re tired of the bureaucracy, fed up with your boss calling the shots, and ready to strike out on your own. With your level of skill, surely your business will be a guaranteed success, right?

Wrong.

Here’s the cold, hard truth: being great at what you do is not the same as being great at business. Not even close.

Running a business is an entirely different skill set. Your talent as a baker or developer—no matter how exceptional— falls under production skills .

But the moment you decide to own a business, you need a completely new arsenal of skills, like:

Marketing & Branding: Attracting and retaining customers isn’t just luck—it’s strategy.
Advertising & P.R.: How do people hear about you?
Lead Generation: Can you keep a steady pipeline of clients coming in?
Negotiation: Getting the best deals from suppliers, partners, or even landlords.
Hiring & Staffing: The right team can make or break you.
Customer Service & Retention: Because repeat customers are your lifeline.
Accounting & Cash Flow Management: Do you know where your money is going?
Legal & Regulatory Compliance: Because one mistake here can sink you.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Why Most New Business Owners Struggle

Here’s what usually happens:

You dive in, full of passion, ready to conquer the world. Then reality hits. You realize that running the business side is a full-time job on its own.

But your production duties— the thing you’re best at and love most —are also full-time.

So you end up working 16-hour days, trying to juggle it all. Or worse, you lose momentum because you can’t keep up with the business side.

Before you know it, you’re burned out—or out of business.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. It’s a trap so many fall into because no one teaches us the difference between being the world’s best baker and running the world’s best bakery and we assume they’re at least pretty closely related.

Ask Yourself These Critical Questions Before Starting

If you’re considering striking out on your own—or you’re already running a business and struggling— take a moment to reflect honestly:

Do I enjoy the business aspects of running a business? If the idea of dealing with invoices, marketing campaigns, and HR makes your stomach turn, you’ll either need a partner and highly skilled team to take that on or a serious commitment to learning these skills and the time to do them.
Am I skilled at attracting and retaining customers? Your talent alone won’t bring in clients—especially in competitive markets. Do you know how to stand out and keep people coming back? This is everything.
Do I have enough hours in the day for both production and business management?
Be honest with yourself here. Can you realistically wear all the hats without burning out?

What Success Really Takes

To build a thriving business, you have to think beyond your craft or passion. You either need to:

Partner with someone who can handle the business side as skillfully as you handle production, or
Learn the essentials of business management so you can keep your ship afloat without sacrificing your craft which leaves you doing all the jobs, all the time and isn’t usually sustainable.

Because here’s the thing: businesses don’t succeed on passion or skill alone. They succeed when you master the art of running the business .

So before you leap into the unknown—or to get back on track—start by asking yourself if you’re ready to step out of the “producer” mindset and embrace the role of a true business owner. It’s not easy, but it’s the difference between having a skill and building something sustainable, and part of that is building the right partnerships because you really can’t do it all on your own.

And that’s how you go from being the best baker to running the best bakery; learning a lot, and finding the right team to get you to where you can shine in the role that best suits you instead of wearing all the hats all the time, because even if you can at the start, there's always a limit and risks to this one-man-band business model.