Planting Seeds for a Better Tomorrow
Growing Your Business Like a Garden
Businesses that thrive believe in planting seeds. Allowing ideas the time and space they need to grow is the only way to facilitate the long-term health of a company. As much as we want to believe it, there are no magic bullets and no fix-all solutions that come at the flip of a switch. Trust me, I know: I’ve been hired to be the bullet. While there are a lot of turnkey solutions out there, they don’t solve all of your problems – at least not yet – which is why it’s important to treat your business like a garden. If you give it the time and attention it deserves, you’ll reap the rewards. Here’s how to do it:
1. Inspect the Soil
Assess your environment. Sometimes you don’t know what the true problems are, and they usually take quite a lot of time to suss out. Do some digging to find out what’s hiding underneath the surface. Take the time to thoroughly understand the issues at hand.
2. Plan Your Garden
Now that you know what needs to be fixed, it’s time to move toward fixing it.
- How do you do that? By making a plan.
- Do you need a new process?
- Training?
- More investment in your team?
- To build buy-in?
- Maybe better team management?
All of those things take time – and preparation. Plan.
3. Plant… and Wait
Once you know what you want to plant, it’s important to know how long it will take before harvest. Some ideas take three months to implement. Some take six – or longer.
- Have you accounted for the time it takes to break old habits?
- Build new ones?
- Acquire new resources?
- Onboard a new hire?
As much as we want our tomatoes to appear immediately, it just doesn’t work that way.
4. Water
Once you’ve implemented your new changes, you can’t just walk away. You have to provide sustenance.
- Are you appraising new procedures and trends?
- Testing processes?
- Do you work with consultants to evaluate workflow?
- What do you do with feedback?
Everything you do in a business needs constant love and attention.
Maybe a project takes six months, depending on how much you throw your employees into the deep end. What if you know things take time and you’re ready to be patient and tend to the garden? HINT: The answer is long-term success. If that’s what you’re after, you’re going to need to know how to keep your garden healthy after you plant the seeds. Check out my follow-up post: How Does Your Garden Grow? Tending to the Health of Your Business.
While I’m not a magic bullet, I can help your business thrive. Click here to view my coaching packages! Be sure to check out my podcast!
