Who is it that decided what plants are weeds and what are 'good' plants?
Some weeds are very pretty, with flowers that brighten up the garden. Some weeds smell good, look good and are hardy so thrive where other plants need lots of care. Sometimes a weed is just a 'good plant' that's growing in the wrong place...
But if you know what you want your garden to look like, you don’t want weeds there.
Of course there are the obvious weeds—the brambles, and the choking ivy, and the stinging nettles we definitely don't want in the garden. And you’ll definitely see the need to get rid of these or take measures to prevent them in the first place. But it’s the sneaky weeds that you don’t notice straight away that can creep in and take over... and all of a sudden your garden isn’t a lovely place to be.
So imagine your business as a garden—that (if you’re smart) you’ve planned out—maybe even had some help designing it and you know exactly what you do and don’t want to be growing in it. You know the purpose and style of your garden/business and you know what will make it perfect for you.
So check to see if you have any weeds... these will show up in your business as non-ideal clients, as projects and events you don’t really want to do, stuff that you’re good at (not the Thing that you’re brilliant at), team members that don’t fit, products and services you offer because you thought you should, instead of only offering what you love to.
You can see the sort of weeds that can grow in a business, and very often (just like the real weeds) they can drift in by accident... you might offer something ‘bespoke’ once and it creeps onto your menu... you hire someone to do a specific task and then their job description creeps to include more bits and pieces... you follow a few bright shiny objects and work on projects and products that aren’t really (if you REALLY think about it) your Thing.
So one day you take a step back and look at your business (or garden) and think—"Whoa—this doesn’t look like I want it to". And if you’ve let it grow for some time then it can look like a big job to fix it. But just like the weeds grew up over time, you can take your time cutting them out. Or you can just have a ‘blitz day’ and take out everything in your business that isn’t by design.
When you have a clear plan for your business, when you know EXACTLY what your Thing is, when you have a super-clear checklist for an ideal client, it’s easy and quick to keep your weeds under control. Your business (or garden) always looks like you want it to (or if not, it’s a quick job to right it again) and you’ve created a great space to be in.
So whether you’ve let your business turn into a bramble patch, or you just have a few good plants in the wrong place, get on those gloves and start weeding out what you don’t want.
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