Business & Bonsai Trees

With business, I'm continuing to learn that it has so many similarities to cultivation practices of bonsai trees.

Like a newly planted tree, a new business has many rough edges. Its roots haven't settled to their resting place and the foundation is unstable. Although adding new price plans or new features to the software plays an important role in the evolution of your business, most of the time is spent trimming off things that aren't needed or refining things that aren't quite perfect yet.

While we trim, we have a mental vision of how things should be, but that vision changes over time, so we trim more. We rotate the tree and try to look at the business through the eyes of our customers or from different angles. We continue to trim. It feels good to take some of the branches off - the tree begins to take shape. Others may have an opinion on where they think more pieces need to get added or taken off and we learn that it's ok to say "no" so that our core vision stays on course.

Running your business can be a delicate cultivation practice. It's important to listen to others' opinions all while staying true to your own vision. We're always trimming in hopes of achieving successful harmony.