How many people does it take to serve a donut?
When I walked into an artisanal donut shop in Kurashiki, Japan I wasn’t expecting it to turn into an exercise in existential despair when I ordered one of their signature filled donuts.
4 people to serve ONE donut:
• 1 takes order, preps base
• 1 prepares filling
• 1 precisely fills the donut base on a scale to ensure perfect quantity
• 1 carefully wraps and takes payment
Time taken: Over 10 minutes
It’s like watching a Formula 1 pit crew change the tires on a clown car . . . using chopsticks. Sure, it’s impressive, but you can’t help thinking, “Is this really necessary?”
Result: A beautifully wrapped but average tasting donut.
Here’s the hard truth:
What businesses perceive as “quality” often misses the mark entirely.
The only opinion that truly matters? The customer’s.
Key lessons:
• Quality is subjective and contextual
• Focus on what the customer cares most about
• Overengineering can lead to diminishing returns
Businesses often focus on delivering excellence in areas that aren’t meaningful to the client’s core needs.
This incident reminded me why I founded Area Ten and now CMAX.ai. Much of the SEO industry felt and still feels like it’s serving Kurashiki level artisanal donuts – beautiful presentation decks wrapped around thick recommendation documents that are as useful as a chocolate teapot. The end result being it takes at least 6 months to drive mediocre improvements, if any.
When we connected with our target customers, their priorities were clear: achieve bigger results, faster. For over a decade, we’ve been dedicated to fulfilling these exact needs. While our presentations might not be the flashiest, our focus remains steadfast on consistently delivering high-quality traffic that drives conversions at scale.
Quality matters, but whose definition are you using?
1300 471 730