When it comes to gardening and growing a business there are plenty of parallels. Whether your plant of choice is beans or tomatoes, each one needs the right conditions to grow, as well as plenty of nurturing. When you’re starting – or developing – a business there are similar challenges to tackle. However, the main difference is that the seedlings of business rarely come with a set of instructions, as no two are alike.

Planting your ‘bean’

If you ever took part in a school gardening project then you’ll remember that feeling of being given some cress seeds, tomato seeds or a bean and being told that, with the right conditions, you could create something much bigger and better from the tiny bean or seed in the palm of your hand. Your teacher might have shown you how to start off the process in wet cotton wool or a plant pot, helped you to transfer the growing seedling into soil and then nurture it to allow it to grow.

Growing something from it

Even something as simple as growing a plant from a seed or bean shows just how much effort is required to maintain growth and keep something thriving. Plants need just the right amount of water, sunlight, space and nutrients – and businesses require a similar combination of input and effort to produce something more from that initial seedling of an idea. The botanical analogy works well in this context:

  • Seeds/the bean – this is often the idea or experience that business owners have that starts off the process of setting up an enterprise. It may come from years of working in a particular field and gaining specialist expertise or it could be the result of an enthusiasm for a topic, whether that’s fashion or food. It’s from this starting point that every business owner begins.
  • Growing conditions – unlike at school there is no teacher to provide a set of instructions on how to turn that bean into a beanstalk. As many business owners soon discover it’s often difficult to achieve the right conditions for growth and you may not even know what is required until it’s too late. For example, while plants require water, sunshine and nutrients from the earth, a business may need strong leadership, excellent sales and marketing and a forward thinking accounting and financial team. If any of those elements are missing that business ‘bean’ may simply not begin to grow.

The nurturing process

Many business owners go it alone today when it comes to nurturing that initial concept or idea and that can lead to failure. The failure of a business can be life altering – much more serious than the loss of the beanstalk at school – so what can be done to enable better growth? Just like the teacher at school was able to provide expert knowledge and guidance on how to achieve the next level of growth, a coach can be the same supportive and insightful partner to a business owner. A coach understands what a business needs to thrive, and has helped many others to do so – it’s the business equivalent of a botanist or gardening specialist that every owner needs to understand how to make that beanstalk thrive.