When Europe was ruled by kings and queens, palaces became the center of power. But the most iconic of these palaces, built with the purpose of protecting the monarchy and situated usually near a body of water (for security reasons), would not be complete without its magnificent gardens. Attesting to the beauty of these beautiful gardens, royals made them a hub to free themselves of the pressures of the court.
True enough, some of these gardens took a lot of time to complete. For instance, the Park of Versailles, France took 40 years to finish but the long wait was certainly worth it with the beauty it reflects.
As an entrepreneur, tending to a garden may not appeal to you. You may dismiss it as a waste of time with all the tasks on your plate daily. But before you totally erase it from your routine, know gardening could be the hobby to make you a more effective business leader. To boot, the health benefits of gardening include promoting heart health and mental health, ideal conditions that escape most people who carry the entrepreneurial spirit.
What should capture your attention, however, is that gardening is actually teaching you the ropes to be successful in business. Like it or not, only the deserving few will reach the summit of success that most people walking the planet long for. And gardening can pave the way to your great start.
Good Seeds
Right from the get-go, your success in gardening will only go as far as the seeds you deploy. To attain raging success, you must utilize only the best seeds. Even when you carry the greenest of thumbs, you’d be programming yourself for failure if you don’t have better-than-average seeds.
Thus, when you start in business, making sure your enterprise attracts the best talent in town is wise. And that should mean like a good gardener, a good entrepreneur must master the art of spotting good recruits, growing them in the process.
Patience is a Virtue
It takes patience to grow plants. You really can’t force your tomatoes to speed things up and bear fruit in a click of a finger. As odd as it may seem, growing a business is a methodical process of building an enterprise step by step. And that means taking on key measures in the right way at the right time.
You really can’t overfertilize your plants or for that matter, over water them. If you do, you’ll be defeating your purpose. In business, you’ll have to equip your people right to help them become more productive. Without proper training and support, expecting your employees to succeed is wishful thinking.
Location, Location, Location
A garden accessible to everyone will benefit the whole family. That’s why like the magnificent gardens of European monarchs, a patio with a garden can be a most relaxing way to spend bonding time. Install sturdy insulated roof panels and you’d have a hub that’s accessible to you and your kin any time of day, in every possible weather.
By the same token, location plays a central role in business. If you’re putting up a brick-and-mortar store, you’d have to put it in a most strategic location where foot traffic is high. Additionally, your office should be well-located to be accessible to your employees. Plus, bear in mind that location is also about putting your talent where they’d shine most. Think of an extrovert guy doing accounting instead of sales when it should be the other way around. If you observe proper allocation of talent, you’d be able to come up with a better bottom line than ever.
Things that Don’t Kill Them Make Them Stronger
When you have a garden, you know that plants that survive a harsh winter are stronger. They’re bound to survive over a long period of time. In business, you only become better with time. As you gain experience, your ability to wither the storm strengthens. That’s because you will have learned the ropes and you know what works best in tight situations.
Be Organic
Gardening that’s organic is the best way to go. You’d reap more rewards that way than when you use technology-enhanced products such as harmful pesticides or GMOs which could have long-term ill effects on health.
And that can be applied in business too. When you grow your audience organically, you connect with them, you foster real relationships that show you care. You can do this by connecting via social media. That can certainly leave a better mark for your brand. However, you can also use paid ads (technical way) in social media. You find customers faster when you do Facebook Ads for instance. But if you don’t handle them well, treat them with sterling customer service, you’re bound to as easily lose them.
Relationship building is key. It’s the organic way to grow a business and create a business empire.
