This morning, I harvested almost 2 gallons of strawberries from my little garden patch. The other day, I harvested a gallon. A couple days before that, my boyfriend Nelson probably ate a pint standing out there and brought a pint in. With all the rain we’ve been having, the garden is making fruit like never before.
And truthfully, I see gardening as a little bit like business.
There are busy seasons and slower seasons. Times when the business is incredibly fruitful and times of drought.
With my strawberry picking, that original patch of 16 plants has swelled to probably 30. Now, they need more water, more attention. And I have to harvest nearly every single day. And it doesn’t take long – but I have to make time for it.
If I leave the strawberry patch for too long, it gets to be an overwhelming mess. The fruit will get attacked by bugs and slugs and birds and frogs. Or the fruit will just rot right there on the vine.
All that goodness going to waste – what a shame!
So, gentle reader…where in your business are you neglecting a good patch of goodness? Think about the Five Essential Business Systems (TM) for a minute. As a refresher, they are:
- Getting Clients
- Doing the Work
- Getting Paid
- Running the Business
- Owner’s Mindset/Toolbox
Just like my daily or near-daily harvesting of the strawberry patch, imagine if you could make time to put your attention on each essential business system. Even one a day over the course of each week.
You’d find a little time to follow up with prospects (#1), touch base with current clients (#2), and pay attention to finances once a week (#3). Then, you could do something crazy like review your business’ emergency plan (#4), and finally, with just a skosh more attention, you’d stay out of email overwhelm, get stuff done in an office space you love, manage your time, energy, and tasks to work a sane amount of hours (#5), and perhaps…have time to plan a vacation.
Egads!!!!!!! It’s like the perfect plan. The perfect mixture of harvest and planting. And it’s all laid out in my new book.
Get it. Read it. One single little action a day. That’s five actions a week, 20 a month, and 240 a year. Talk about planting the seeds of success over and over!
And soon, you’ll be harvesting gallons of fruit, too.
Sincerely,
Angie