The Four Seasons of Business

Did you know that your business has four seasons? Well, it does! And in today’s episode, we’re going to look at them in a big picture view to introduce this concept and mini-series.

Each of these seasons allows us to develop a different aspect of our business and provide a healthy balance to our business. While living in, for example, a summer season might be fun for a “beachy” person, if our business was always in that season, we’d find other areas lacking.

What are the Four (business) Seasons?

Winter - Off-season

Our “off-season.” This is the rest-and-grow season; a time for personal development and introspection and rest. It is crucial to experience this because otherwise, we’re going business as usual 24/7 and in serious danger of burnout!

Spring - Leads

Our time for sowing! A time for lead generation, making new contacts, and networking. This is the time to plant seeds to nurture that will grow and blossom into something beautiful down the road. This is also a time for personal sowing…so don’t forget yourself in the mix!

Summer - Selling

This is a time for sales and conversion. A time for building and nurturing what we’ve planted; a time for follow-through from the spring. Some of us are really uncomfortable with this season because it requires us to “ask for the sale.”

Fall - Delivering

During the fall, we get to reap in the fullness of what has been sown. This season is marked by delivering to our clients and customers as a result of a conversation we started in another season, or a relationship we established earlier in this cycle. We are finally getting to do what our hearts are about and what we want our business to be about.

Now, think about them in light of your own business and ask yourself these questions:

Which one of these seasons do I really NOT like?

Why is that?

Which season do I spend most of my time in, and why?

What’s my favorite season, and why?

How do I feel about the other ones? (And as always, why?)

In this episode, I talk a little bit about what your business might look like if your seasons are out of balance. I also introduce the concept of the orchard model in your business. The beauty of this model is that, unlike in “real life,” these seasons are flexible and can run concurrently.

Seriously, if you want a vision of what this can look like, forward to 7:35 - and claim it for yourself!

(Also, you'll learn how to offset these seasons in our business so that we have a balance of effort and results.)

Intrigued? Curious? Want to learn how to implement this in your business?

In the coming episodes, I’ll be discussing practical ways to implement these seasons so that you can reap the best of what each one has to offer. Together, we can work through these so that you can craft authentic strategies tailored just for you.

Your next step

So spend some time this week thinking about the questions above and how the answers are reflected in your business right now.

And until then, focus on some winter this week: rest and reflection so we can get started next week well-rested, because…

good rest fuels great work!