Does Money Grow On Trees?
"Money Doesn?t Grow On Trees."
Some of us even believe it. An orchard owner would say the statement is wrong.
His profits grow on trees?
As small business owners we are similar to tree farmers. We plant and nurture trees knowing that they will bear fruit. Some business owners grow trees with the idea of selling them when they start to produce fruit, but most of us build our orchards with the intention of selling the fruit.
In the early stages the trees require much tending. Later as the trees mature, they require less effort and produce more fruit.
How many trees are in your orchard?
My trees are designed to produce a constant stream of fruit with little oversight. This means once I have planted the tree I can move on to the next project.
Here?s an example. I write ebooks. These are simple, tightly written reports on specific subjects. People buy them and then download them to read them. Each ebook explains a solution to a problem or a outlines a method to accomplish something.
For example my eBay Consignment book explains consignment sales and includes material on finding consignors. There are also contracts, templates of ads, and inventory sheets. Basically everything is included a reader will need to successfully start an eBay Consignment business.
This simple ebook sells itself. Or rather, there is a small army of affiliates who promote it constantly. It took me thirty hours to write the book and about 20 hours to get the marketing push started. It still sells well and I still harvest the profits.
The eBay Consignment book is just one tree in my orchard. Every six to eight weeks I plant a new tree. Some trees die before bearing fruit, others are stunted and produce weak fruit, and a few trees produce large amounts of fruit.
Years ago I was focused on the big trees. In fact I was so focused on the big trees I would chop down any trees that did not produce spectacular results. I never really got anywhere. I made money, but constantly switched from one project to another abandoning them as I went along.
I never spent the time to nurture and grow my orchard. I actually abandoned projects that were producing thousands of dollars in monthly profits because I wanted something bigger.
Two years ago I saw the error of my ways. I looked back on the things I had dropped and realized that as a group I had a nice collection of income streams. The whole group as an orchard was a good thing to have.
You see, I had the common misperception of entrepreneurs. I suffered from the wage slave lottery mentality. I thought the only way to break out was with a big one. Kind of like the guy working at Wal-Mart. His only chance of getting anywhere is to win the lottery. I wanted the big one. The project with the huge payoff.
Anything less than spectacular was not good enough. My expectations were too high.
This is not how it works. You have to plant your trees - learn your craft, and hone your skills.
Many new businesses fail because owners do not spend the time to nurture them. Years ago, I read a book called Acres Of Diamonds by Russell H. Conwell. It is actually a motivational speech Conwell gave thousands of times.
Anyway, Conwell shares a story about a many who sells his land to go elsewhere and search for diamonds. The man was obsessed with finding diamonds and becoming rich. After traveling for years the man gives up and commits suicide. It turns out the land he had sold to go prospecting was filled with diamonds.
The man spent years looking for something that was right in front of him. Conwell goes on to share stories of people who found immense success right in front of them.
This is not uncommon. Many of us learn to look for success outside of ourselves. When it is standing right in front of us.
I have changed my attitude and now look at myself as an orchardist. I tend my orchard, planting new trees and nurturing the fruitful. As my orchard grows so does my income.
Plant your trees and nurture them.
Terry Gibbs
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