♖ Your Business Is a Garden

Hi Friends,

I took the girls to Lake Conroe, Texas, last weekend.

I have a love affair with tiny homes.

On Saturday morning, we were having breakfast at a small café tucked next to a local garden. Coffee in hand, I watched a beautiful array of butterflies dance between the wildflowers.

My youngest, Leeana, spotted them and took off running, arms outstretched, trying to catch one.

Meanwhile, my oldest, Aleena, sat perfectly still at our table.

And that's when it happened. A butterfly landed right on top of Aleena’s head. It was a cool moment to capture.

There's something profound about stillness attracting what movement repels.

Sitting there in that garden, it reinforced what I'd been trying to explain to clients for years:

Your business is a garden.

Not a machine you optimize.
Not a war you fight.
Not a race you run.

A garden you tend.

The businesses that thrive aren't the ones chasing every opportunity with nets and desperation. They're the ones that create something so attractive that customers, talent, and opportunities come to them naturally.

They understand what every master gardener knows: you don't chase butterflies, you plant flowers.

Why Most Growth Feels Like Chasing

Here's what I see when I audit struggling businesses:

• Customer acquisition is getting harder

• Extremely hungry teams are burning out from constant prospecting

• Growth plateauing despite more activity

The problem: You're optimizing for chasing instead of attracting.

Most businesses focus on more leads, more touchpoints, more aggressive outreach.

Businesses that scale focus on becoming magnetic.

The Garden Order That Works

Most business advice tells you to "move fast and break things." But every master gardener knows: rush the foundation, kill the garden. After watching hundreds of companies, the ones that slow down to get the sequence right always outgrow the ones that sprint toward tactics.

There's a specific sequence that matters:

1. Test Your Soil First (Strategy)

In gardens: Rich soil grows anything. Poor soil kills everything. In business: Clear strategy is your foundation. Tattoo this: only is way better than better.

Ask: Can you explain why prospects should choose you in one sentence?

2. Choose Your Seeds (Offer)

Master gardeners pick 2-3 varieties that thrive in their conditions. Smart businesses focus on 1-3 core offers.

Ask: Are you scattered across many offers or focused on a few?

3. Water + Sunlight (Marketing + Sales)

Consistent water and sunlight grow healthy plants. Consistent relationship-building attracts ideal customers.

Ask: Do customers know you before they need you?

4. Attract Pollinators (Referrals)

Beautiful gardens attract bees that spread pollen naturally. Great customer results create advocates who refer new business.

Ask: What percentage of new business comes from referrals?

5. Pull Weeds (Say No)

Weeds steal nutrients from prize plants. Wrong-fit customers steal resources from your best work.

Ask: How often do you say no to opportunities that don't fit?

6. Show Your Blooms (Results)

Stunning flowers attract butterflies from miles away. Remarkable results attract more ideal customers.

Ask: Can customers easily find proof you deliver results?

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Takeaway

You can't force a sale, but you can create perfect conditions for customers to choose you.

The lesson from the garden:

The most beautiful gardens I've visited never advertise. They don't need to. Their beauty does all the talking.

Stop chasing. Start blooming.

I created this infographic on LinkedIn to put a bow on this issue.

See you next week,

Ali

P.S. Which part of your business garden needs the most attention? Hit reply and tell me. I read every response and your challenge might inspire next week's issue.

P.P.S. Thank you, Geoff, for posting this on LinkedIn. I was with my daughters on the lake when I read it. I showed it to Aleena to reinforce my street cred, and she said, “Wow, there is a guy in Australia who actually knows you?”

I responded humbly, “Damn right, Aleena, your dad is an international superstar.”

Well timed Geoff, well timed.

About Me: I’m Ali, I have a thing for tiny homes and the proud father of two girls. Also, a former tech exec who now advises growth-stage B2B companies on strategy & GTM execution.

Learn more about my story on LinkedIn.