Is your business blooming like the trees outside?
Several years ago I met a banker who was also a weekend fruit farmer. We talked mostly about his orchard which comprised of antique apples and pears. He had a few places that bought his apples wholesale, but mostly he sold out early to a steady loyal group of customers. He saw this orchard as part of his retirement plan - the part that will keep him physically active and social.
We also talked about getting things done in the orchard. Starting in early February, he would begin the process of pruning his fruit trees. Each evening as the days got longer and he arrived home from his banking career, he would spend more and more time outside pruning and trimming. Before he knew it, spring would be filling his orchard with the beauty and scent of future customers. He also expressed how the spring trimming of branches had a trimming effect on his body, too, and prepared him for the heavy work of harvest.
Trees, and especially fruit trees really mirror many parts of the business and the diligence to the plan of getting a good crop yielding a good profit. You have to feed, nurture and prune a business to get the best results and the feeding, nurturing and pruning extends to all areas - employees, customers, vendors and the plan. Ignoring pruning over feeding will lead to beautiful blossoms - lots of blossoms - but if the blooms all were to set fruit the fruit may be smaller and the branches would break impacting customer satisfaction and demand.
With spring finally here, what in your business will need pruning to make the rest of 2011 fruitful? If you have a nagging feeling that your business needs to do some pruning, give me a call and let's get a plan in place.
