In this episode, I sit down with 30-year business veteran and strategic advisor Kemmy Safdie whose journey through retail, global imports, and business consulting is packed with insight and hard-earned lessons.

Kemmy once built a multi-million-dollar import company with booming sales but behind the scenes, inventory ballooned, margins slipped, and cash flow vanished. Despite $15 million in revenue, the business collapsed because no one was looking at the big picture. That experience fuels his mission today: helping entrepreneurs avoid the blind spots that can break a business.

We talk about why companies fail even when sales are strong, how leaders get trapped in the weeds, and why “common sense” disappears when you're too close to the work.

This episode is a wake-up call: if you don’t step back and look at the big picture, you can’t lead the business you’re trying to grow.

Whether you’re scaling or just starting out, this conversation will shift how you think about leadership, clarity, and responsibility in business.

Key Takeaways:

• Big-picture thinking saves businesses: When you’re stuck in the weeds, you miss the signals that matter.
• Sales alone won’t save you: If inventory, margins, cash flow, or systems aren’t aligned, high revenue still leads to burnout or bankruptcy.
• Common sense isn’t common in entrepreneurship: What seems “obvious” is often invisible when you’re too close to the business.
• Blind spots sink even successful companies: Blockbuster, MySpace, and multi-million-dollar wholesalers didn’t fail from lack of sales, they failed from lack of awareness.
• You must step out to see clearly: Once a month or once a quarter, physically leave your business and evaluate it like a customer or an outsider.
• Threats are only threats if you ignore them: Innovation can be either a disruption or an opportunity.
• Great leaders don’t know everything: They know how to ask, listen, question assumptions, and gather the perspectives they can’t see themselves.
• Your people need freedom, not micromanagement: Employees disengage when leaders dismiss their ideas or control every detail.
• Your thoughts create your business: Mindset, perspective, and openness determine whether you grow or get stuck.

Unlock the Secrets to Building a Resilient and Profitable Business at the Profit Connectors Club - https://profitconnectors.club/

About Kemmy Safdie:

Kemmy Safdie has been in the business world for over 30 yrs (primarily Imports). He also opened a Strategic Advising business helping Clients focus on the big picture in their businesses as he has often noticed many owners & entrepreneurs get sidetracked & lose that focus which in turns causes many issues. As a veteran of this occurring to him as well, he enjoys sharing with others so that they do not repeat the same mistakes he made.

About Sharon:

Sharon Galluzzo, Profit Growth Strategist at Profit Connections, is the author of several Amazon Best Selling books including “Legendary Business: From Rats to Riche$.” She ran a successful multi-six figure, award winning business for more than a decade before selling it for a profit. In her more than 19 years as an entrepreneur, Sharon has coached professionals across the country from franchisors and solopreneurs to businesses on the verge expansion.

http://sharongalluzzo.com/