Time for pruning and trimming…
Remember my pole saw from last week?
Good thing I have power tools! I cut down the dead branches closest to my house a couple of weeks ago, just in time for the 2 tornado warnings last week.
I didn’t actually see a cyclone, but the winds did get up to 50 mph in my neighborhood. Dead limbs were everywhere, including on some roofs nearby.
But not at my place. Whew!
Great reminder to cut the dead out before it causes damage.
But what about pruning?
Pruning requires cutting a branch that had good growth on it. And pruning always makes me nervous.
I remember the first pepper plants I ever planted. I fussed over them for weeks. They finally had 6 or 8 leaves on one main stalk. I talk to my plants, so I cheered them on, telling them what a great job they were doing.
And the experts said, “cut the top off of that one stalk just above 4 leaves.” 😱
They promised if I cut the stalk there, it would stimulate the plant to generate bushy growth, so it would be full and less likely to fall over.
But those plants had taken forever to grow. They had cost me time and effort and attention and…counter space! On top of that, they were my friends!
The first year my heart was so full of doubt that I only cut 2 plants. Guess which ones produced the most peppers?
Yep. The ones I pruned.
Here’s a great video that demonstrates exactly what I’m talking about with a polka dot plant I recently pruned.
I confront the same doubt and trepidation in my business. It’s so difficult to let good growth go! Especially after I’ve fussed over it to make it happen in the first place.
And what if I prune too much?
Sometimes I’ve gotten it wrong. I’ve cut the good, and it doesn’t produce more. I’ve even killed a plant or two. But good is constantly coming my way. And if I operate as if good will always show up, I don’t have to worry if I make a mistake as I prune. Because more growth is just a season away.
Plus, gardening has taught me that healthy plants forgive and thrive in spite of less than ideal conditions.
And I believe the BEST clients for you have the same temperament. They forgive easily when things don’t go as expected.
If you want the fullest possible growth, you have to prune good to make way for great!
Wondering how to tell the difference between good and great? In the rest of this article, I share one key indicator in my business that it’s time for me to prune.
And when do you even prune good revenue anyway?
I always know it’s time to prune when a service is profitable, but it’s distracting me from what I do BEST.
Here’s the thing. There are services we offer that my team can handle in their sleep. And they keep perfecting the delivery of those services. And they deliver WITH EXCELLENCE!
My highest and best purpose = researching, writing, and testing ways to generate more web traffic and more conversions. We have a handful of clients that trust me to run with my ideas and do what I do best. And when I do, we make some magic happen (like recently ranking #1 in a nationwide search for a yoga keyword, leading to record new student signups).
That research, writing, and testing allows me to take those implementation learnings to other clients and create SOPs for delivering similar results to our clients across the board.
When we regularly deliver results that other website companies don’t, we grow.
So, key indicator for pruning good things…
When something continually pulls me away from what I do best, I know it might be time to prune it. Notice, I say continually because running a small business requires my attention to people and processes. But if something continually pulls me back into the daily operations, it’s a good indication it needs to go.
Here’s to finding the courage to remove the good to make way for all the GREAT that’s coming your way!
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