Why Chasing Viral Trends Without Leverage Is a Recipe for Failure (And How One Chocolate Kit Beat the Odds)

Viral trends come and go like tidal waves—magnificent, powerful, and utterly unforgiving if you’re not anchored with leverage. Everybody wants a slice of the viral pie, but most entrepreneurs drown chasing the swell rather than riding it. Brittany Nemandoust’s chocolate kit business, Chocbox, flips this script. Emerging from pandemic gloom and near collapse, her pivot to capitalize on the viral Dubai chocolate trend didn’t just save her venture—it propelled it into seven-figure territory. This isn’t a fluff story about being in the right place at the right time. It’s a masterclass in systems thinking and strategic leverage that every founder desperate for scale should dissect.

The Mirage of Viral Success Without Foundational Leverage

Most business owners mistake viral trends for magic. They believe a spike in attention automatically converts to sustainable revenue and growth. Spoiler: it doesn’t. Nemandoust’s initial chocolate kits struggled for years, fluctuating wildly with no predictable cash flow, even forcing her back to a dental hygienist job. Viral bursts without the right infrastructure and systems are like fireworks—you get dazzled momentarily but are left in smoke afterward.

This is why she nearly shut down Chocbox in early 2024, the business not yet profitable, staffed by a skeleton crew, and with sales trickling in amid mounting expenses. Yet, this low point was the paradoxical ignition for a high-leverage breakthrough.

Riding a viral trend unprepared is akin to surfing on air. To harness leverage — the multiplier effect of strategic assets, systems, and timing — you need something far beyond ephemeral fame. You need the right product-market fit, agile operations, and present-but-not-overloaded capacity to scale fast and smart. Brittany’s story is a blueprint in this uncommon orchestration.

Systems Thinking: From Hobby to Homework to High Gear

Most side hustles are passion plays until passion wears off. Chocbox began in pandemic solitude, with Brittany tinkering from a room in her parents’ house. She wasn't a baker, didn’t even enjoy baking, but recognized that the concept of DIY chocolate kits was an untapped category—an overlooked leverage point. While others dismissed the idea for its niche nature, she methodically built a system:

• Curated high-quality ingredients and reusable molds tailored for the experience
• Turned her parents' home into a lean headquarters—low overhead, direct control
• Leveraged social media to validate demand, field questions, and educate her audience
• Developed virtual chocolate-making classes for corporate clients — an immediate cash flow lever with network externalities

This approach reflects a vital strategic principle: leverage is rarely about explosive effort; it’s about constructing a resilient, flexible system that converts small inputs into outsized outputs. When the initial consumer craze for at-home projects faded, the system sustained Chocbox just enough to keep the embers alive— an often overlooked but critical stage before breakthrough.

For a deeper look at the importance of systems thinking in business leverage, see our comprehensive guide here.

The Dubai Chocolate Trend: A Viral Spark Meets Strategic Preparedness

When a TikTok trend exploded around the extravagant Dubai chocolate bar—a thick chocolate shell filled with pistachio cream, tahini, and kataifi pastry—Chocbox was the rare player flush with the right molds, ingredients, and experience. This convergence wasn’t luck; it was serendipity engineered through years of building capacity and unique assets:

• Exclusive molds designed thicker to “give people more chocolate” that perfectly suited the viral product
• Access to Middle Eastern specialty ingredients difficult to source fast
• An operational base with enough people and space to pivot production rapidly
• An engaged social media audience primed for the next craze

Brittany’s viral TikTok video hit 100,000 views in a day, unleashing hundreds of orders with limited inventory. Most businesses would have collapsed or scrambled impotently. Instead, they sprinted.

Kevin, Brittany’s husband, quit his day job and they both transitioned full-time into scaling Chocbox—they were ready to leverage this viral moment into sustainable revenue, not just a fleeting spike. The lesson here is every viral wave exposes your operational and strategic gaps brutally fast. If you’re not designed to absorb and amplify it, you self-destruct. The Dubai chocolate event was a crash test for their leverage system, and Chocbox aced it.

Strategic Leverage in Action: What Chocbox Teaches Us About Growth

The predictable rise after the unpredictability illustrates three critical leverage principles:

• **Proactive resource allocation:** Turning a home office into scalable production space and investing in staff before hitting seven figures shows the importance of preparing to pivot investment ahead of demand validation. See how mastering resource allocation magnifies your leverage here.
• **Leveraging unique assets:** Their thicker molds—a seemingly trivial detail—became a distinct competitive advantage. Sometimes, leverage lurks in the overlooked, the mundane, or the misunderstood parts of your business.
• **Systems agility:** The ability to adjust cost structures, ingredient sourcing, and fulfillment logistics on the fly is a classic power move in strategic leverage. It’s not just about working harder; it’s about working smarter and faster in response to real-time stimuli. Explore how automation and workflow optimization do this for you here.

Chocbox’s story dismantles the myth that viral success is purely about marketing sparkle or timing luck. True leverage is about the intersection of culture, product, operational design, and strategic preparedness. Brittany’s conviction that “you don’t need to be perfect to start a business” echoes the core leverage mindset—start with a minimum viable product but build systems and assets that let you pivot and scale when opportunity knocks.

Beyond the Viral: Sustainable Leverage and Long-Term Strategic Advantage

Here’s where most businesses chasing quick wins self-sabotage. Viral moments rarely convert a business into a sustainable powerhouse on their own. What separates Chocbox is ongoing reinvestment and system expansion:

• Reinvesting revenue to build stable supply chains
• Scaling human resources wisely rather than just throwing money at the problem
• Balancing personal and professional priorities to avoid burnout—a silent killer of leverage in founder-led ventures
• Envisioning the business beyond a side hustle, aiming for an empire built on repeatable processes and diversified products

Kevin and Brittany’s exit from day jobs to full-time founders underscores this transition from sporadic hustle to strategic leverage. They aren’t chasing every shiny new trend; they’re building a replicable, adaptable system to turn fresh opportunities into lasting growth.

For founders itching to elevate beyond the hustle, our feature on The Leveraged Entrepreneur is indispensable reading.

The True Leverage Isn’t Viral, It’s Systemic

Chocbox is not an anomaly because it caught a trend. It’s an exemplar because it embodied leverage that transcended vanity metrics and viral hype:

• **Systems thinking** to design flexibility and scalability into their operation
• **Strategic asset ownership** like proprietary molds and ingredient sourcing giving them unassailable advantage
• **Operational readiness** that turns a viral event from an existential crisis into a growth launchpad

These are lessons that big tech firms and startups alike overlook in their rush for the next digital gold rush. Viral success is a byproduct of leverage, not a substitute for it.

To explore how systems thinking creates unbeatable leverage in business, check out our in-depth article Systems Thinking Approach for Business Leverage. Remember, as tempting as viral fame is, without a lever to pry your business upward, it’s just a dust storm waiting to blow over.

So next time you see a viral trend erupting, ask yourself: are you merely chasing fire or do you possess the match, the fuel, and the spark to turn it into a roaring blaze? Brittany Nemandoust’s chocolate kit didn't just ride a viral wave—they engineered its momentum from a position of strategic leverage. That’s why, while everyone else was scrambling, she was savoring seven figures.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Importance of Having Foundational Leverage in Business?

A strong foundation of leverage ensures sustainable growth and revenue by utilizing strategic assets, systems, and timing to scale efficiently and effectively.

How Can Systems Thinking Help in Business Leverage?

Systems thinking fosters flexibility and scalability in operations, allowing businesses to convert small inputs into significant outputs by building resilient systems.

Why Is Proactive Resource Allocation Important for Leveraging Growth?

Proactive resource allocation, such as investing in scalable production space and staff before demand validation, prepares businesses to pivot and magnify leverage effectively.

What Role Do Unique Assets Play in Strategic Leverage?

Unique assets, like proprietary molds and rare ingredient sourcing, can provide businesses with distinct competitive advantages, showcasing that leverage can stem from overlooked aspects of operations.

How Does Systems Agility Contribute to Strategic Leverage?

Systems agility allows businesses to adjust cost structures, source ingredients, and manage logistics swiftly in response to real-time stimuli, showcasing the importance of working smarter, not just harder.

Why Is Sustainable Leverage Essential for Long-Term Business Success?

Sustainable leverage ensures lasting growth by reinvesting revenue, scaling resources wisely, balancing priorities to prevent burnout, and envisioning businesses beyond side hustles, aiming for replicable processes and diversified products.