Is The Grass Always Greener on The Other Side?

In my early days of being a business owner I would look at other people and wish that I had the success they had. My perception was that these people were successful because….

  • They had more money than me to invest in their business.
  • The brand was better than mine.
  • They had more help than me.

The above list is a shorter version than my original list, but you get the idea.

In essence, I wished I was them, the grass looked a lot greener from where I stood.

How we Make Our Grass Grow 

Green grass does not grow just like that, it takes work and nurturing. Before we can plant our grass seed we have to prepare the ground, and make sure the soil we are using is the right one for the grass seeds to grow. If we do not prepare the ground, and the soil consists of something, such as clay, which might not be good for the grass seeds to thrive, we have no chance of enjoying green grass.

Planting the seeds too close together means they will not have room to grow.

This relates to business in the sense that if you believe everyone is your target market, everyone is your customer you are doomed to fail. If everyone could be your target market that would mean you have something no one person on this earth can live without your product or service. But, as we all know, and if we use the Telecom organizations as an example, even they cannot service everyone.

Once we have planted our grass seeds we need to ensure the ground is watered regularly. This means checking that the ground has not dried up, so making a schedule to ensure we do not forget this task is essential to the growth of the grass.

This relates to business because once we have shared our marketing materials, or posted online, we may just sit there and wait. We are waiting for our customers to come to us, but why would they? We should be discovering what solution our clients need, and by building trusted relationships with them, we are more likely to gain sales. If we do not do the work involved and just wait our business will dry up and die.

At least two times a year we need to fertilize our grass to make sure future growth is strong, and the grass is green and lush.

There may be some bald spots; when this happens we should fill in the bald spots with new grass seed and continue to water consistently.

Keeping an eye on the weed control is another task people forget to do on a regular basis. If the weeds take over, then the grass and all the hard work is all for nothing.

All of the three above examples are related to business because once we have made a sale we want to gain referrals from our loyal clients. If we just forget them after taking their money and move on to the new customer we will probably have no referrals from those people. Being loyal to our customers, staying in touch with them, having an excellent follow up plan with them, relates to fantastic customer service. We can follow up with our loyal customers face to face, via email, phone and of course online.

How Does Growing Grass Relate to Business?

Think of your business as something you want to grow.

When you think about starting a business plan, prepare, and prioritize, three important steps at the very beginning.

A few things you should prepare would be:

  • A business plan. A map if you like to call it that, an overall idea of where you are going, how you are going to get there, including short and long term goals. How much investment you need, how you will get that money. Research your target market.
  • Start building your brand. Once you have a good idea what your brand stands for, and how you want your target market to perceive it you can move on to the next step. Your brand is very much like growing grass. It’s not a one size fits all. Your brand should be yours, unique and identify who you are, what you offer etc. Your brand needs to be grown, looked after along the way so to speak. Check how the brand is being discovered, if people remember your brand. Very much like checking on the grass seeds growth.
  • Regular growth means regular work. Owning a small business does include doing all the work involved. Such as checking if your website is up to date, uploads properly, and if your target market can find your web site. There are many more things involved with growing a business, just the same as growing grass.

In order for your business to succeed you do need clients, revenue, and of course regular growth.

The Other Side is Not Greener

When you get to know other business owners and build trusted relationships you will know for sure that the “other side” is not greener than your side. The people you aspire to be, the success they have grown,  has taken hard work and perseverance.

Yes, of course you can cross to the other side, the other field, so to speak. But what does this bring you? If you decide to change the way you do business that’s OK as long as you know you can actually do the things needed. For instance. if I were a financial person and I decided to copy the way another financial person did business it might not work out because…

  • My competitor only uses cold calling to gain his clients.
  • The marketing is only established online.

The above two examples of why you should not try to emulate other businesses for fast growth are simple and to the point. Everyone sells in a different way. Not everyone wants or needs to use online resources. Some people use both online and cold calling via the phone, as an example.

Grow Your Business by Doing The Work 

Grow your business by doing the work, it is simple and it works. The “easy’ way always seems temping when we are starting out and especially if we are struggling to make ends meet. But, long term, building strong foundations is the way to go, for sustained growth.

If you still think the grass is greener on the other side, go and see for yourself, I would love if you could let me know how it works out.