Planning a strategy

Plan for success, not failure

By setting up your own gardening business you will be taking yourself on one of the most life-changing journeys imaginable. Give yourself the best possible future by deciding to plan for success, not failure. Take the time to carry out your initial research in terms of:

• Who are your customers?
• Who is your competition?
• What are the going rates?
• How much is providing your service going to cost?
• What will make customers want to use you as opposed to your competitors?

Don’t be put off by doom and gloom statistics. Business experts seem to like nothing better than reminding would-be entrepreneurs, people like you, that two out of every three new businesses fail within six months, and of those that survive, only a small percentage last beyond three years. This need not be you.

Two vital strategies

• First plan to survive.
• Then plan to succeed.

Survival planning

Being able to get by and live through those initial and often difficult days or months is a task in itself. So accept that there are challenges ahead. Be prepared for some hard work. Certainly in the early days, when you’re striving to establish your business, things don’t always look too rosy. But don’t be put off by this.

Imagine your business is a young plant, or a seedling. Before it can grow into a healthy, mature plant it will have to overcome some fairly tough obstacles. Anything from trying to break through ground as hard as concrete to coping with the elements. Eventually, however, most break free and grow into something truly magnificent, just as your business will.

Planning for success

Success is where you achieve your dreams and ambitions. These could be:

• To earn enough money to pay off a debt.
• To pay for the children’s school fees, a holiday, or home improvements.
• A life changing experience, where you break free from whatever hell you’re in now and become truly independent running your own business.

When I started my first goal was to be able to earn enough money to pay my bills. But my vision for success went far beyond this. My criteria for success were relatively simple. I wanted to:

• have a successful, profitable business
• have fun
• enjoy each day as opposed to dreading the next
• create beautiful gardens that inspire.

Success to me in those first crucial months was not about earning huge sums of money or taking lots of time off, but surviving, managing to earn enough money to pay my bills.

While surviving can be considered success in itself, I believe that it is dangerous to rely solely on earning just enough to pay your way. You will need to want more.

Earning little or no money and working long hours can lead to resentment and before you know it you’ll end up like poor John. So, make it your goal to survive first and then succeed thereafter. Believe me, it’s a lot less frustrating, far more achievable than living in cloud cuckoo land and hoping your new business will deliver all your dreams in its first month or year.

What does success mean to you?

Before moving on to writing your business plan, write a few lines on what success will mean to you. Then when you’re happy with what you’ve written put it somewhere you can see it every day. You’ll be surprised how quickly you will achieve your ambitions.