Is Your Business a Machine or a Garden? Watch Bradley’s video training on how to manage and grow your business effectively above, or keep reading…
“I WANT MY BUSINESS TO RUN LIKE A WELL-OILED MACHINE.”
Have you wished your business is a machine? Many owners like this concept. A machine is predictable: You know exactly what will happen when you push a button or pull a lever. But most importantly, repairs are straightforward. For example, when a screw gets loose, you tighten it. Or if a part breaks, you can order the same part to replace it. All of this is very attractive when your time, energy, and income are all determined by the machine.
However, expecting your business to behave like a machine is unreasonable for one simple fact: People are not machines.

PEOPLE AREN’T MACHINES
Your business relies on people. All businesses do! And fortunately, people can never become machines. They have original ideas, emotions, perceptions, and needs. Business machines are simply printers, computers, calculators, etc. They are created to do one job, and they will only ever do that job. However, people can be developed for new roles and responsibilities. If you’re committed to growing your team and hiring A-Players, then you know your team is more than a machine. You likely hired them to handle changing demands while performing to the best of their abilities. And while many people fear developing their team and then losing them, I’d like to offer a different perspective.
You are better with a team that is growing and developing than with a team that is stunted for fear of turnover. Is there a risk that someone will recruit a strong team member from your business? Yes. But consider the cost of a missed opportunity when you keep your team from growing into A-Players. You’ll accomplish so much more as a team if you invest in your team’s growth and development, whether or not they stay with you for their entire career.

HOW TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS LIKE A GARDEN
If your business can’t be a machine, then it needs to be a garden. Think about the way a garden grows and changes. When you are consistently giving your garden attention through things like pulling weeds, watering, and fertilizing, it will grow and produce. However, if you plant a bunch of seeds, water them, and then forget about them for a month, you’ll come back to weeds. And what do weeds do? They steal nutrients and water from the plants you intended to grow. Without consistent attention, your garden won’t produce the right things.
If you’ve ever ignored the operations of your business, forgotten to check your numbers, and slacked on team communication and development, your business likely produced “weeds.” Those weeds look like decreased or negative profits, team turnover, and stagnation. However, when you treat your business like a garden that needs consistency, you’ll see great returns.
MORE RESOURCES TO GO FROM MECHANIC TO GARDENER

IFR stands for Instrumental Flight Rules. IFR-rated pilots can fly very fast in extreme weather conditions by looking only at the instrument panel. They fly confidently, because they know exactly how to use their flight instruments. Learn how to use your business’ “instruments” to weather any storm. Keep reading…

EMPOWER YOUR TEAM THROUGH SOPs
When you architect your business through SOPs, you can build a business that will thrive while giving you the freedom to work when and where you want. If you’re ready to have a well-trained team who gets things done, we’d like to show you how SOPs will empower your team. Keep Reading…

Have you ever noticed that some aspects of your business feel like they pull you in? Emails, phone calls, small tasks, and other activities that come with a business are often in that category. But have you ever stopped to think about whether or not they’re truly moving the needle in your business? We call this business gravity, and Bradley shared how to recognize it in this video. Keep Reading…