The Most Dangerous Thing in Business Isn't Failure. It's "Good Enough."

There’s a disease in business that infects entrepreneurs, executives, and managers every day. This disease doesn't generally come after a big loss or a failed launch. In most cases, it actually infects its victims when things are going well.

It's a slow-killing disease called "comfort."

It starts with the phrase, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” And it ends with you wondering why your competitors are lapping you while you’re standing still. We were doing well with our vending services. The numbers were growing, clients were happy. It was… good enough.

And that’s what concerned me.

“Good enough” is the first step toward irrelevance. It’s the mindset that allows two silent killers to enter your boardroom, your sales calls, and your company culture: complacency and arrogance.

Complacency is deciding that today’s revenue is more important than tomorrow’s vision. It’s running the same plays because they’ve always worked. Arrogance is assuming you know what your clients think about your product or service, rather than asking them. It’s ignoring the quiet feedback, and the internal whispers of “what if we did this better?”

This isn’t a new story. In 2000, Blockbuster had a chance to buy Netflix for $50 million. They passed. Why? Arrogance. They believed their model—physical stores and late fees—was superior. They were the established giant, and their systems were “good enough.” We all know how that story ended. As a Harvard Business Review analysis pointed out, Blockbuster’s failure wasn't a single bad decision, but a result of a complacent culture that was unwilling to disrupt itself.

Last year, we had our own Blockbuster moment at Skala Industries. We looked at our vending business—our core service—and we saw the trap. We saw the coils, the potential for machine errors, the limited selection. It worked. It was profitable. It was good enough.

But our clients, and their employees, deserved better than just "good enough." They deserved an exceptional experience. That's when we decided we weren't in the vending machine business. We're in the "workplace and residential building experience" business.

And that changed everything.

This realization led to a new philosophy at Skala Industries, built on four core pillars:

1. Constant, Aggressive Investment: We made the decision to stop expanding our traditional vending services and pour our resources into a better system. True growth isn’t just adding more of the same; it’s investing in what’s next, even when what you have is working.
   

2. Listen to the Critique (Especially the Unspoken Kind): No client ever called us and said, "I wish your machine didn't have those metal coils." But we saw the experience. We saw people wanting more variety, healthier options, and a more modern, frictionless transaction. Arrogance ignores that. Our philosophy is to seek it out. Your clients’ unspoken frustrations are your biggest opportunities.
   

3. Kill Bureaucracy, Promote Transparency: Even as a small company, bureaucracy can creep in. "That's how we've always done it" is a death sentence. We operate on radical transparency. My team knows the numbers, the goals, and the challenges. Every idea is on the table, and we can pivot fast because we’re not bogged down by red tape. This agility is our superpower.
   

4. Relentlessly Improve the System: A vending machine is a product. But the experience of getting a snack or a drink at work? That’s a system. We asked ourselves, how can we make that system 10x better? The answer wasn’t a better vending machine. It was to get rid of the machine altogether.
   

That's why we launched our Micro Market Services.

Our micro markets are the physical embodiment of this entire philosophy. It’s our answer to "good enough."

It’s an open-concept market with shelves of a variety of snacks, glass-front coolers filled with drinks, and a seamless self-checkout kiosk. It’s built on constant investment in a superior solution. It’s the direct result of listening to our clients’ needs for more variety and a better experience. It’s a system that removes the friction of a traditional machine.

Our future, our growth, and our energy are focused on building something better than just "good enough." In business, the moment you get comfortable is the moment you start losing. We're just getting started.

If your company's breakroom experience is currently just "good enough," maybe it’s time we talked. Let’s build something exceptional together.

Learn more about transforming your workspace with our free micro market service here: https://forms.skala.industries/