Having fun with the granddaughter at Lake Tahoe
There are so many things that occupy any given workday at the nursery. Paperwork, paying bills, answering the phone, writing the next newsletter, watering, weeding, pest control, talking with customers, talking with vendor reps, etc. At times, especially in spring it can be all so overwhelming and stressful that its easy to forget the one thing thats should be most important on my to-do list. Have fun!
To truly be successful involves so much more than monetary gains. Sure, the cash flow can make a huge difference in my ability to have fun. There are just so many different things that can affect our business to the down side that it could get you in a real funk. Economy great, weather bad. Weather great, economy bad. The instances of weather great and economy great are just so infrequent its not worth waiting around for. "Boy, next year if the weather will cooperate we can really have a good spring and make lots of money." It seems that the fabled "perfect year" is really an illusion. Thats why its so importnat to have fun everyday.
We are a small business and as such our moods affect the entire atmosphere of the store. My ex-partner didn't know how to have fun. Just seeing his car parked in the driveway brought everyone down. He thought the business too important not to be serious. I think the business is too important not to have fun. I find that the business is such a part of my life that by having fun keeps me from getting "burned out". Burn out is easy when you have been doing the same thing year after year waiting for the big payoff.
Thats why I blog, it's fun. When I started blogging it would have been hard to justify it as a money making project for the store. I just found it a fun exercise and want to take it wherever it takes me. If it improves the bottom line for the nursery, then great. If it doesn't I will keep doing it anyway because its fun. Same goes for our Creekside Festival or Fall Festival. Everyone has fun and are quick to tell us they look forward to the next years events.
Customers having fun!
We are on our third year here and its just impossible for me to eliminate the un-fun things this early. Until then I try to get those things done before or after work so that when we are open I can have fun, and help spread that feeling to others. Besides, I find it fun to imagine me not doing the un-fun things.