At home over the last couple of years we have allocated a small area of our garden to vegetable growing. This is mainly my husband’s domain but I must admit I have enjoyed the process more than I thought I would. I was in the garden the other day, thinking about how well the veggies were progressing when I thought of this comparison:
I realised that my business has grown rather in the same way that the veggies have!
Firstly I prepared the plot – this is a bit like doing all the ground work in getting the business off to a good start –writing a business plan, researching the market, deciding on a business name , a logo, sorting out insurance and paperwork, planning my marketing strategy etc.
Secondly we then planted the seeds – similar to beginning to market the business getting our name known locally through advertising, talking to people, and networking. Sending out information to prospective clients, setting up a website and generally making noise about what we are all about.
Then came the nurturing- so that the plants would shoot and grow. I compare this bit to constantly doing all the marketing activities I could to get myself known and gradually seeing things change. It is hard work to get any business off the ground and a lot of perseverance is needed. Rather like vegetables not growing overnight, neither does a business –it needs constant work to get the phone to start ringing with people wanting my services.
The vegetable plants flower and then the actual vegetables start to form. This is the really exciting bit! As you become more established in business you start to become more confident in your marketing activities bringing you good rewards. If you have developed good relationships with customers you may start to get referrals and word of mouth business as well.
Harvesting the vegetables –the fun part where you finally can reap what you sowed. In your business this is where you start to find you are making enough money from your business to improve your lifestyle in a way that you want to. You can start to enjoy some of the money that all your hard work has brought in.
Of course -the other thing about growing vegetables is that you need to keep on planting new seeds, and keep on feeding and watering the plants through the season as you use the vegetables up so that you get a constant supply of vegetables. This is the same with marketing your business –you need to keep on doing marketing activities regularly even when you are seeing rewards. That way you will not find your self without vegetables –sorry I mean work - once you have finished the jobs you are currently working on.
So this week I am making sure I am keeping up to date with marketing activities, as well as planning some different and new marketing ideas for after the holidays. This way hopefully when I have finished working on the projects that I am doing at the moment, there will be more work ready and waiting for me to get on with.
I realised that my business has grown rather in the same way that the veggies have!
Firstly I prepared the plot – this is a bit like doing all the ground work in getting the business off to a good start –writing a business plan, researching the market, deciding on a business name , a logo, sorting out insurance and paperwork, planning my marketing strategy etc.
Secondly we then planted the seeds – similar to beginning to market the business getting our name known locally through advertising, talking to people, and networking. Sending out information to prospective clients, setting up a website and generally making noise about what we are all about.
Then came the nurturing- so that the plants would shoot and grow. I compare this bit to constantly doing all the marketing activities I could to get myself known and gradually seeing things change. It is hard work to get any business off the ground and a lot of perseverance is needed. Rather like vegetables not growing overnight, neither does a business –it needs constant work to get the phone to start ringing with people wanting my services.
The vegetable plants flower and then the actual vegetables start to form. This is the really exciting bit! As you become more established in business you start to become more confident in your marketing activities bringing you good rewards. If you have developed good relationships with customers you may start to get referrals and word of mouth business as well.
Harvesting the vegetables –the fun part where you finally can reap what you sowed. In your business this is where you start to find you are making enough money from your business to improve your lifestyle in a way that you want to. You can start to enjoy some of the money that all your hard work has brought in.
Of course -the other thing about growing vegetables is that you need to keep on planting new seeds, and keep on feeding and watering the plants through the season as you use the vegetables up so that you get a constant supply of vegetables. This is the same with marketing your business –you need to keep on doing marketing activities regularly even when you are seeing rewards. That way you will not find your self without vegetables –sorry I mean work - once you have finished the jobs you are currently working on.
So this week I am making sure I am keeping up to date with marketing activities, as well as planning some different and new marketing ideas for after the holidays. This way hopefully when I have finished working on the projects that I am doing at the moment, there will be more work ready and waiting for me to get on with.
