You Can't Harvest Crop In Winter

If you’re a business owner or leader, you probably know your busy periods.

And you also know your slow ones.

What you don't always know is what to do with each.

Think about farming.

Summer is harvest. You reap what you've grown.
Autumn and spring are cultivation and nurturing. You protect and prepare.
Winter is when you plant seeds.

Each season has a job.

And if you try to harvest in winter, two things happen:

First, there's nothing to harvest.

And second, because you weren't planting, the next summer will have less to offer too.

Business works the same way.

Your busy season is summer. Revenue is flowing, momentum is high, the business is producing.

Your slow season is winter. And most business owners and leaders waste it.

They spend it frustrated that things are quiet.

Stressed that the harvest isn't coming.
Pushing harder in the wrong direction.

When winter is actually your most valuable season.

It's when you build the foundations.

Develop your culture.

Do the business development work.

Plant the seeds that summer will eventually harvest.

This applies beyond the annual cycle too.

Every four or five years, most businesses move through a macro season. A few years of strong growth followed by a few years of real pressure.

The businesses that survive the pressure and come out stronger are the ones who plant seeds during it.

So the question to ask isn't "why is it slow right now?"

The question to ask is "what seeds can I plant right now that future me will be grateful for?"

Identify your season.

Then do the work that season requires.

If you know someone who would benefit from reading this, please forward it to them. It may change the trajectory of their life for the better, and the catalyst could be you.