5 Entrepreneurial Lessons Learned in the Garden This Summer

For years, I wanted to have a successful garden.

My definition of a successful garden is actually having tomatoes grow to full term and pulling off enough zucchini to make my Grandpa H's famous baked stuffed squash recipe.

I planted in plots of dirt in my parents yard.

Later I bought pots- big ones- and created the cutest apartment balcony garden.

Then I moved - another balcony garden in another apartment.

In each garden it was the same: it started out well, but there was little to no harvest.

I wasn't sure what I was doing wrong because I followed everything Grandma H. told me.  Grandma and Grandpa had gardens that could rival the cover of Better Homes & Gardens magazine. And they had a succulent harvest to boot. Every. Single. Year.

This year everything changed for me. I have a garden and it's growing! It's not quite like Grandma and Grandpa's garden buy I think they would approve of my gradual growth. Their garden was manicured and orderly. My garden looks like it'd part of a natural jungle with thick overgrowth hiding all sorts of critters. Nonetheless, it's happening.

What did I do different this year?

I'm not entirely sure, but I think I did what Grandma and Grandpa did.

I used good dirt.

I did deep watering.

I talked to the plants and even occasionally sang.

And I have help.

It's not really "my" garden.  I'm growing it with Mark and Angel, my bro and sis-in-law and their three cute young Jedi warriors.  Together, we make sure the garden gets watered every day, moderately weeded and attended to just like Grandma and Grandpa used to team up together.

This morning I had a few extra minutes to run out back and say hello to the garden (and the bees) before I started work.

As I wrestled with the tomato plant I thought of how growing a garden contains a lot of lessons for the entrepreneurial life.

1. Starting is exciting but that feeling wears off.

If I relied on the excitement of starting a garden to sustain my efforts, my garden wouldn't make it.

I have to keep the vision of what the garden is going to be eventually. If I lose the vision and the continual watering, weeding, and attention a fruitful garden needs, I may become forgetful or grow restless and move on to something else.

Same thing for entrepreneurial side hustles. It's not exciting to come home after the day job and work on a novel or send queries for speaking engagements. I don't rely on the excitement, I'm more concerned about the end result and the realistic work it will take to get there.

2. It takes day in and day out consistency to grow a garden and grow a side hustle.

The first few months of a garden aren't terribly exciting. It's mostly a lot of work.

Watering (but not too much).

Protecting the plants from the dog. And the nephews.

Helping the plants grow. The green beans and tomatoes need to be propped up. The pumpkin vines need to be separated so they don't strangle the zucchini plants.

But there isn't any results.

Any decent side is the same way. It's continual hustle -and a good amount of it- before we begin to see results.

3. Not everything makes it in the garden.

Unfortunately, I missed a big tomato hiding under a branch. The big guy rotted on the vine because I didn't see him.

I've missed opportunities because I wasn't prepared or couldn't see them for what they were. I've been at conferences and hidden in corners. I got scared and didn't take up the offer for a writing assignment or I just plain missed something.

There are other tomatoes on the vine; there will be more opportunities to advance my side hustle.

It's important not to get hung up on what we've missed; like Martha Stewart said, "Opportunities are like a bus. There is always another one coming."

4. The outcomes are sometimes hidden from us- in the garden and in our entrepreneurial adventures.

This morning I found eight plump, gorgeous tomatoes. They are red and beautiful and perfect.

Not a single one was hanging where I could see it. I had to pull up the tomato vines and look under the hanging branches. The more I wrestled with the plants, the more tomatoes I found.

Entrepreneurial side hustles can be like that too. Sometimes we are seeing a harvest; it's just not where we thought it was going to be. We have to dig around a bit. We lift up a "branch" and realize we are positioned and skilled for a different opportunity- one we can take right here and now.

This happened to me recently as I was working on a book on burn out. I was writing it to a general audience but the mastermind I am participating in suggested I become very specific with a people group I wanted to serve. It was a quick pivot and they were right- I've been able to tap into a people group with a specific pain point dealing with burn out.

5. The fun of having a garden is the entire process of planting to harvest.

I start a garden anticipating the giant zucchini, plump tomatoes, hanging green beans, the stalks of corn and the big, fat pumpkins.

But the real delight is the daily experience of being in the garden.

The scent of tomato plants on my hands.

The orderliness that comes after the weeds are pulled.

The fun of searching for new pumpkins and melons.

The daily ritual of watering.

Watching the bees collect the pollen from the giant zucchini blooms.

Teaching the littlest nephew when a tomato is ripe and how to pick it.

Likewise, many entrepreneurs and side hustlers say, "the joy is in the journey." So true. I'm looking forward to meeting certain goals, but the entire journey thus far has been an adventure with wonderful people and significant shifts and growth.  I wouldn't change a thing.

How about you? Do you have a garden?  Any life lessons you've gleaned from working in nature?