Be the gardener of your business
I live in Los Angeles, California, and though we tolerate bad traffic, bad acting and bad earthquakes, the gorgeous weather we get year round makes it all worthwhile. One thing I enjoy as a result of the weather is the ability to have a garden with an abundance of plants and flowers. My partner and I work hard to keep this garden alive, but we also have some help from mother nature.
As we were designing the garden, we wanted it to expand and grow. We knew that if we could attract bees into the garden, they would bring with them ongoing activity and help pollinate the space. So, we planted a few lavender bushes around the edges of the garden in hopes that they would attract bees and pollinate the garden.
It occurred to me that the garden, the lavender and the bees are a lot like your business, your marketing and your clients.
Your business is the garden that provides you with the fruits you desire. The lavender is the marketing you put out into the world, and the bees are the clients who come and pollinate your business.
Planting lavender in our garden was intentional. We knew that if we wanted a healthy garden, we wanted to attract bees. And, we knew that bees would come only if we had the right type of plant to attract them.
Your ideal client is that bee that will look for the lavender in your business. The lavender is your marketing plan that needs ongoing care and nourishment for clients to keep coming back. Having healthy lavender will attract the clients you want.
Want to grow a better, healthier business? Treat that business like a garden and you are the dedicated gardner. Here are a few tips on what it takes to create a flourishing garden. Apply this to your business and watch it grow.
1. Experience: Gardening makes you a better gardner. The more you spend time on your garden (not just in it), you will learn more, fail more and grow more. Nobody wakes up one day knowing exactly what to do in their garden. You learn by doing. Same for your business. You need to spend time working on it, not just in it.
2. Consistency and Persistence: Plants need ongoing care. Growing a garden isn’t like learning to crochet. You can’t put it down and take it back up three months later and expect everything to be right where you left off. Develop a habit of going out there on a regular basis. Your plants are like your marketing—consistency and persistence will give you a chance to understand your market, catch problems and observe changes.
3. Plant the right plants for your climate: Chances are you won't be able to grow every type of plant you would like, so choose the type of plants that will grow well in your environment. Start with a small variety of plants and see how they do. Once they are growing well on their own, you can add more. Same goes for marketing. Choose the right tools that are the right fit for you and your business.
4. Embrace Failure: Perfectionism is dead. As long as you have a garden, you will have plants that die. Sometimes plants die on their own and sometimes gardeners kill plants. Don't let that stop you from keep planting. If a marketing tool fails or stops working, learn from that experience and move on. Take chances and give yourself room to screw up. It's often in those failures that we have our biggest a-ha! moments.
Growing a business doesn't happen by itself. Without you, the business owner, nourishing and loving your business, you may find yourself in the middle of a dying garden filled with weeds and pests. Be the best gardner in your business and watch the magnificent beauty you can grow.
