My grass is turning green again, isn’t nature amazing! It encapsulates all the things we talk about in businesses, and life, to be successful. Words like resilient, re-energise and grow, develop, recover and thrive, spring to mind. The lessons for success are right there in front of us every day when we look out of the window.
In our business we have had times where the climate has not suited our growth, where the economy has shrunk and contracts have disappeared, overnight, and this has caused stress, frustration and worry, but we still carried on. Founded in 2001, we are a young company still, but we could have easily given up many times. 2007 was not great and the recovery was slow. Equity was used from our home, just to survive and live, belts were tightened and holidays were forgotten, it wasn’t great.
Sleepless nights worrying about bills and keeping our heads above the water, constantly juggling cash flow to keep people happy (which ironically costs more to do). It’s a minefield and there are times to tread carefully.
Anyone running their own business will have gone through all of this too, we are not alone with this experience, it’s not unique to us. If you are a small business you have the joy of owning yourself but also the risk that it can all fall apart, depending on the ‘weather’.
The skill is to prepare for the times when there is no rain, too much sun and the wind is blowing the wrong direction. Contingency plans and those ‘just in case’ reserves that may be needed. More effort at times, concentrated focus most of the time and a plan to sustain or grow, depending on the long term goal.
CV-19 taught us a lot. Another example of something out of our control that directly affected millions of people and their livelihood (Not even thinking of the deaths and health related problems!). As with any disaster there is growth and repair that comes along, naturally, just like the seasons. There will be rain, sun, wind and maybe snow at times but it’s how you adapt that matters.
I love that quote (above) and, as tough as it has been, at times, there is some truth about change and adaptability that the pandemic really focussed on. To succeed we have to dig deep, think out of the box and collaborate more. Building alliances to build strength, reach out for support and help those in trouble. Ask for help when needed.
There are loads of students who have received their grades recently and not all of them are going to be great. It will feel like the world has ended for a few of them, but these things do not define them, it’s how they ‘set their sail’ that will define them!