The business owner & the beanstalk
Photo by Daniel Hjalmarsson on Unsplash
Having completed an intensive week training in business coaching, it really got me thinking of just how delicate the process is when it comes to growing a business and keeping it thriving. It took my mind back to a memory of a school project where we planted a little kidney bean in a pot of wet cotton wool and had to nurture it to grow into a stalk before planting it into soil.
All the little bean needed to get started was a little water and a suitable base to grow from. Once it sprouted, I transferred it to soil and the challenge then became harder as the requirements for conditions multiplied. The little stalk continuously needed the right amount of space, sunlight, nutrients and water at minimum to keep growing. How did I know this? Well only because I had a teacher giving me the knowledge and skills to the beanstalk survive.
This simplified process can be applied directly to starting and growing a business. Many business owners come to be from a place of passion, which represents the ‘bean.’ Be it food, art, tech or animals for example, a hobby or interest allows them to easily acquire a high level of knowledge in their area and then start a career or business based on that passion. They acquired the ‘water’ and the ‘base’ to get the business started. Many then soon come to realise that there are some key elements of business that didn’t form part of their original passion, and the requirements to keep the business going have multiplied. For example elements like accounting, sales & marketing, team building and leadership are all vital requirements for any business to survive, yet few have achieved the level of knowledge and skill to execute these areas effectively. Why? Well they were never taught how to, nor did they learn through passion alone.
It’s no surprise then that the vast majority of new businesses fail within the first few years. According to the office of national statistics (ONS), London had the highest birth rate of new businesses at 17.5% and the highest death rate of businesses at 14% during 2015-2016. And while the loss of beloved beanstalk may not constitute a crisis, the death of a business can be devastating to an owner and their family.
So what can be done?
Well if you were real working hard and still struggling to keep your beanstalk alive and growing, and your life depended on it, what would you do? Call a botanist or gardener or beanstalk specialist of course!
At ActionCOACH, our mission is ‘World abundance through business re-education.’ That’s right, re-education. We help business owners create more time for themselves, improve the results generated by their teams, and ultimately generate more profit in their business than they ever thought was possible. There’s no magic involved (though it may feel like it to the owners), we simply leverage a tried and tested system that has already helped thousands of business owners over 25 years grow their businesses to huge success. Not only do we have countless testimonials, we are so confident in our results that we guarantee we will generate more profit than our fee within the first 6 months, or we refund the difference.
To find out more or to book a free business health check, click here
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