Cucumbers

For many years my wife and I have had a vegetable garden. We’ve had varying degrees of success. It seems that every year we have to fight some new malady—too much rain, not enough rain, white flies, etc. We were never satisfied, and for good reason.

But we have kept at it. We’ve tried different varieties, planted at different times. We’ve modified our watering and fertilizing. In short, we’ve modified our plans as we learn more.

We now have a bounty of cucumbers on the vine. In fact, we now fear that we may have to throw some away.

Cucumbers are like a paint contracting business. (I don’t mean that our business is green and prickly.) Our business needs to be nurtured and fed. It needs planning and pruning. Like cucumbers, business has a particular nature, and that nature determines what type of nutrients and conditions will lead to success.

Spraying a herbicide on a cucumber plant will ultimately lead to its demise. Neglecting to water and fertilize the vine will undermine its vitality. In other words, if we don’t give the plant what it needs it will not grow and produce.

The same with our business. If we do not give it what it needs it will not thrive. It we don’t supply our business with capital we cannot purchase the nutrients it needs. If we don’t create leads we cannot produce the results we seek.

It is possible to grow cucumbers despite neglect. You might get lucky and receive enough rain. It’s one thing to take such a chance with cucumbers—the consequences of failure are pretty minor. But why take a similar chance with your business?

© BEP Enterprises Incorporated 2008