With over 250 menu items, the Cheesecake Factory is a masterclass in offering something for everyone, yet few diners can explain what it truly specializes in.
For entrepreneur, brand strategist, and owner of R Public Relations (RPR), Emily Reynolds Bergh, the restaurant’s overwhelming menu became the perfect metaphor for a common business trap: The Cheesecake Factory Conundrum.
This dilemma arises when small businesses attempt to do too much for too many people. A large chain like The Cheesecake Factory might be able to accomplish this feat, but it often leaves small businesses misaligned and employees burnt out.
In an era when society is seemingly obsessed with instant gratification and hustle culture, Bergh argues that the key to sustainable growth isn’t offering more. It’s offering less—with intention.
The Cheesecake Factory Conundrum
As is the case with many founders, Bergh launched RPR with the goal to help as many people as possible, often finding herself overdelivering and spreading herself too thin, too quickly.
“If someone asked me to do it—branding, social media, PR strategy—I said yes,” Bergh recalled. “I thought I was being agile and accommodating, serving our clients the best I could.”
However, she realized that in the long run, this flexibility came at a cost.
Campaigns began to muddy, messaging was less clear internally and externally, and current and prospective clients began approaching her for services she didn’t actually want to focus on or be known for. This is when she realized that her business had become the Cheesecake Factory—busy, burnt out, and overextended.
The Journey From Generalist to Specialist
When a business offers too many services or tries to serve too many audiences, clarity and purpose suffer.
In essence, the broader a brand becomes, the less distinct its identity.
Also known as brand dilution or excessive brand extension, “this is when a brand diminishes its value, usually after releasing a product that doesn’t align with the company’s original mission. For example, [one] might consider a chocolate bar brand suddenly releasing a line of tennis shoes to be brand dilution.”
When this occurs, external stakeholders have a more difficult time identifying and describing the brand, making it challenging to know what to hire the business for, or worse, they don’t know what type of work to refer it for.
Internally, trying to please everyone can lead to scattered messaging, mismatched expectations, scope creep, energy drain, creative burnout, and limited space for specialization.
Once Bergh realized that she and her team were being drained by this overextension and overservicing, she sat down to consider which clients and services were lifting them up and which ones were draining them.
She started trimming services—the extras, off-brand requests, and empathy-driven projects—and elevated her business’s standards. This sharpened RPRs’ core offerings, focusing on clients she enjoyed serving the most.
The result? Everything got easier. Clients in need of RPR’s specialized services found them more quickly and easily, the firm’s marketing efforts became more refined, and client campaigns thrived.
The Sweet Spot
“Now, I approach each of our services and prospective clients through the lens of what our team loves doing, what we’re highly skilled at, and what our ideal clients are looking for,” noted Bergh. “This has helped me find the sweet spot for my business.”
According to the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, focusing on finding the ideal balance of specialization and generalization for a brand can result in sharper focus, stronger pitches, smarter spending choices, improved marketing focus, solidified trust as an expert, and a distinct brand identity.
When scopes are clear and the work feels aligned, the value a brand brings to the table is obvious.
When Saying No Helps You Grow
Once internal and external messaging, along with the goals they represent, are clear, learning the art of saying ‘no’ is a necessary next step.
“It’s scary at first, without a doubt,” Bergh admits. “Turning down work is difficult to say the least when you’re used to taking every yes that comes your way—it’s how many small businesses make due.”
Over time, saying no becomes freeing, as each refusal makes room for a better-aligned ‘yes’—even if it initially feels counterintuitive.
This is where the real growth begins for many business owners: the realization that specialization doesn’t limit you—it liberates you.
Final Thoughts
When a business finds itself stuck in the Cheesecake Factory Conundrum, there are several ways it can recover its specialties and regain control of its messaging.
This includes:
- Auditing current services: What drains the brand’s team, and what delights it?
- Reviewing client rosters: Who do team members love working with—and who makes them dread checking their inboxes?
- Defining the business’s ‘Sweet Spot’ and tailoring messaging to support it.
- Beginning to trim and clarify.
In the end, simplicity is scalable. Prioritize what sets your business apart.
“You don’t have to be the Cheesecake Factory,” Bergh says. “Instead, be the bistro with five or six standout dishes—and a line out the door.”
