Growing a Business Takes Time

“Some people think that as soon as you plant a tree, it must bear fruit. We must allow it to grow a bit.” – Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Politician

In our travels, we often meet people who are taking steps to follow their passions by starting their own business.

Some are striving to do consulting work.

Others want to launch non-profits that can serve at-risk young people, abused women and children, or others in need.

And others have a technological invention or other product to market and sell.

But whoever these entrepreneurial people are, it seems that at one point or another they always come to the same place: The place of impatience.

They want success, and they want it now.

This feeling is understandable. After all, many of the people we meet are taking significant financial risks. Others are investing a great deal of time, when they have little time to spare. And they want to see results for their sacrifices.

And while we appreciate their eagerness, we also try to remind them that a new venture often takes time. It takes time and thought to figure out who you are and what you have to offer the world. And it takes even longer to build the right connections, to put together a solid business plan and to begin moving forward.

It is not surprising, of course, that we are so impatient. Today, we can often achieve instant gratification. If we want to watch a movie, read a book or hear a song, we can simply download it in a matter of seconds. Many of us live in places where, if we have a particular food craving, we can have that food prepared and in front of us within minutes. We don’t like to wait. It’s almost a foreign concept.

But as the quote above indicates, there’s a lot we can learn from farmers: They know that picking fruit before it’s ready can be a foolish endeavor. Fruit needs time to mature and grow. And so do our own business and social endeavors.

Be patient. If you are doing what you need to do to grow your effort and constantly reevaluating, your business is likely to be maturing. Celebrate the small successes, and know that the big ones will come.