A Grower Perspective

When we launched our blog, our intent was to share our insight as a nursery in every realm of our business. Sure our goal is to promote Pleasant Hill Nursery but our blog is also intended to inspire those who follow us and to share some of what we've learned along the way.

I came to this business with a marketing background. I've had my own marketing consulting business for years and have had incredible learning experiences from a broad spectrum of amazing clients. I have learned so much from these people and their businesses. I've have always been an advocate for the notion that none of us has all the answers. We are at our best and create the most winning outcomes when we work

collaboratively and open ourselves to learning from others. One of the first things I always do when working with a new client is to interview as many people within a company as I can at every level. One thing I know for sure is that some of the best suggestions and ideas have come from the most unexpected places.

Reading a lot has also added to my knowledge arsenal. There are some seasoned experts and idea generators out there just waiting to share their insight and expertise. The internet offers up an infinite number of possibilities for learning and improving your business and marketing acumen. Blogs offer a wealth of experts. The key is to find some that resonate with you and to start following them. It does require an invest of time but I believe you will find the return immense.

One expert that I've been following for awhile is Sid Raisch. I follow him on Twitter (sidraisch) and I subscribe to his blog Horticultural Advantage. Sid is an independent garden center consultant in the realm of business planning, strategy development, training, marketing and so on. Sid has written many insightful blog posts but one in particular recently was especially enlightening. This piece, Open Letter to Independent Garden Centers , offers really solid thoughts about and tips on surviving (and hopefully flourishing) in this economic downturn. As I read this post, my first thought was that it is not only relevant for independent garden centers but for the whole nursery industry. In fact anyone in business today could benefit from reading this post. I will warn that the Howard Davidowitz video clip Sid posts here is a serious slap of reality that's not easy to watch when you're in the trenches trying to survive in these times but it’s critically important to hear his message.  No head in the sand.

So I encourage you to read Sid's post. Think about the very tangible recommendations he is making. Whether your business is in the nursery industry or not, I believe you can find some inspiration here. Certainly we can all use a little inspiration about now, don't you think?