I see the value of diversification in running a successful business. It's about developing a reliable revenue stream. It's like tree trimmers that plow parking lots and driveways in the winter. Appeal to as many customer bases as possible, all in the hope of creating stable income flow. If it's off season for the retail nursery business, your main business, in August, then maybe a landscape architect and professional landscapers can provide a weekly service to home and business owners. And we all know that concrete statuary will draw people in. Who doesn't want a quarter scale concrete giraffe holding court near the children's swing set in one's backyard? And if not that, then maybe locally grown fruit and vegetables and ice cream and Amish fry pies will appeal to the masses.
But, and here's the hard part because it requires developing a lot of skill sets, you, as a business owner, need to do all of these side hustles to your main business really, really well.
We were visiting friends in Quincy who had lost a couple of trees due to an early August storm, because I had a couple of tree eating chainsaws to lend them, and on the way back home we felt a desire for ice cream. But it was a Sunday and our options were few. But this plant nursery advertised ice cream, so we thought why not.
Well, that ended up being a disappointment. We received two of the most amateurishly made chocolate malts we had ever seen. I will admit that they were cold and edible but in no way were they malteds.
And, as we waited, we got an eyeful of rotting peaches on a counter for sale, and watched the counter girl drop the lid of a container on the floor, reach down to retrieve it, and put the lid back on the container. All without washing the lid off.
Yeah, not coming back here. read more