Millions of people love sushi. Even more love donuts. What would happen if you combined these two highly coveted delights? You guessed it… the mind-blowing Sushi Donut.
This new concoction deviates from the traditional straight-cylinder sushi roll by being formed into a connected ring like a donut. Don’t worry, it’s made of rice instead of fried dough, and the fillings are spicy tuna or avocado instead of butterscotch cream or raspberry jelly. This round roll is topped with sashimi fish, veggies, sesame seeds, and other sushi ingredients. Invented by Project Poke in Orange County, California, the Sushi Donut craze is sweeping the country as eager customers line up to gobble them down.
In the highly saturated and competitive market for hungry diners, this simple new twist is filling bellies and ringing cash registers. As a sushi lover myself, I’ll seek out a restaurant that provides these newfangled contraptions and may well discover my new go-to sushi joint.
In our businesses, doing the same as our competitors is no way to win and keep customers. When groundbreaking innovation just isn’t in the cards, a little creative twist can be just what the doctor ordered. Project Poke didn’t develop a new species of fish or create 3D-printed wasabi; they simply added a fresh take on the tired and typical sushi roll. The lines out the door and the cult-like fervor for this simple, yet effective twist say it all. A little creativity can go a long way.
Take a hard look at your own product or service, and brainstorm a handful of creative twists that could be embraced. These ideas may cost little or no cash, but may help you stand out from the competitive herd. It doesn’t take an industry-changing breakthrough to demonstrate creativity. Instead, just a small dash of spice on top of the ordinary can be enough to drive meaningful results.
With fickle customers and brutal competition, see if you can shake things up to create better outcomes. A small twist of differentiation may be all it takes to achieve the growth you seek. If the simple fusion of a sushi roll and a donut can light up the internet and change customer behavior, think what a dash of creativity can do to your business.
I’ll take mine with extra ginger and wasabi, please.