No, the reason why your favourite small business eventually fails has nothing to do with inflation, the economy, the manufacturing chain or the rise in prices for everything. Ok, maybe a small percentage, maybe under 5%, have. But the sole, shocking, for me at least, reason why successful small businesses eventually fail is that whoever owns them stops giving a damn about the thing, the minute their first big hit happens.
Let me tell you a printing story…
I was trying to get some quotes on some labels for the 2026 jams season for my artisanal jarred goods business. I’d sent out 5 emails, and luckily, 4 of the businesses replied. In Romania, that’s a lot, as most printing businesses are backed by European Union money… and whatever happens, once you “win” a project and get the cash, you don’t have to give them back, regardless of whether your printing gig works or you just don’t care about it.
This is exactly what I’d dealt with in the case of, let’s call him, Brian.
There’s no Brian in the Romanian naming jargon, but just go with it, okay?
Coming back to the labels, some businesses even sent out some samples, but nothing serious so far, and one of them… well, it shocked me. This guy, Brian, a dude well in his 50s, as I decided to do some journalistic work and stalk his socials, was the sole proprietor of this particular printing office.
Well, recently, luck had struck Brian after years of struggling with his hustle. In Romania, you can see the actual income a business makes over the years, and Brian was not doing very well. Considering how he treats his potential new customers, that would prove to be completely expected, if you ask me. Brian then applied for some EU funds… and got them.
My printer costs 600.000 euros, peasant!
Right, Brian and I kicked it off well at first. Brian even decided to print my samples for free. I told him I would be delivering the editable and the final .png files in high resolution, to which he said fine. I know printers don’t really love Canva, but I love it, and in the past, there were no issues with me going to a shop to have some damn jarred goods labels done.
Brian said he was fine with it… But he was not.
Long story short, I had to ask the guy several times, at least 10, for the samples. Via email, by phone, messages, a baby pigeon I’d secretly trained to send and receive coded language via a special form of Morse Code, and so on. After the 10th time, he replied, and the samples were on their way.
But then they arrived and… let me show you how the samples actually looked on my end:
It’s in Romanian, and about jams, bla bla, not important. Not great, not terrible. And now this is what Brian had sent me:
Let’s do a side-by-side comparison between my design and what Brian had sent me:
Just… how, Brian?! Again, not my best work, but ever since then, this is how my actual 2026 labels now look like:
By this point, I was mad. And called Brian. Who picked up on the spot? And then I asked him about the completely crazy mismatching design between my work and his final product. To which he replied by saying, and please take a seat for this, that his 600.000 euros printing machine is the best in the world, and if the machine printed this, then that’s how it is!
First of all, they ain’t matte, Brian, they glow, like your superimposed ego. Second, I’ve NEVER seen a final design being so completely different while being put through the INSIDE of a printing machine. This physical anomaly, scratch that, impossibility, has to be investigated by either the people at Princeton University, or the crew from the famous FEAR show from the 2000s MTV.
Business owners who „make it” stop caring too soon
It’s normal to stop investing as much time as you did at the start when your business finally takes off and makes money. It’s actually a sign you’re in a healthy relationship with it. It doesn’t consume you, it’s you and then it’s the gig, never both at the same time, never the latter over the former.
That’s how it’s supposed to be. Life over everything, especially business.
But when you’re a business owner and you’re still not out of the blue, albeit you won a grant or something that makes you feel invincible… that’s the most dangerous moment of them all.
It’s like winning the lottery.
That’s when most people go to morally (and sometimes physically!) die.
Brian made it big, bought the machines, and put some money away that he will never have to give back to the EU. But he decided to pull out of it, almost entirely, the moment this happened. I’m just one of the who-knows-how-many possible clients he gave zero fucks about.
This attitude, very common in Romania but probably as common in many other parts of this beautiful, crazy world, can only do much harm to any business.
I will never buy from Brian again. In fact, I haven’t been able to do it even once. And it’s only his fault. It has nothing to do with the economy, the surge in prices, Donald Trump, the aliens, and whatnot.
This is all on Brian, his lack of interest, passion and genuine business attire.
His ”making it big” attitude, without actually hitting hard on earnings, clients or any other metric, is what is going to eventually put him out of business. And when he tries to find clients on his own accord, it will be too late. Fortunately, my labels do look amazing now, and I found a local shop right in my small city for the job, at half the price.
The samples look amazing, and I cannot wait to stick them on my premium deep ridge jars of jam next year.
So yeah, fuck you too, Brian.
An ode to all the Brians out there
Brian, thank you.
Thank you for being so bad at what you do. What you earned from having the European Union buy you a state-of-the-art printer worth way too much, you make up for in your complete lack of verbal skills, interest for your business, and even basic human qualities.
Like returning a call, or an email.
If it weren’t for you and your sorry ego, I would’ve printed the absolute worse jam labels in Romania for next year. Because of your complete lack of dedication for your craft, I’d found a local shop who can actually print the new ones, and do it without any drama.
And although they don’t have a 600k printer, they do have human decency, charisma, and a genuine willingness to help a fellow small business owner out.
Which you don’t.
To you, and all the Brians out there, be humane. It’s not that hard. Try it, and see how good it looks on your skin!
Life is so much easier if you keep yourself decent.
