After the efforts you have made to define your harvest, plan for the harvest, and then planted the necessary seed to reap your defined harvest, you may think the work is over. No, this is the time to cultivate the growth of your expected harvest by labor and attention. In regards to growing plants, Dictionary.com defines cultivate as: to promote or improve the growth of (a plant, crop, etc.) by labor and attention.
The question then is what are the keys to cultivating? Michael Gerber, in the best-selling book, The E-Myth Revisited, named this idea of cultivating the Business Development Process. Michael wrote that the Business Development Process is based on the foundation of the following “three distinct yet thoroughly integrated activities: Innovation, Quantification, and Orchestration.”
Innovation: Something new or different introduced or the act of innovating; introduction of new things or methods.
Quantification: To determine the impact the innovation has made, both tangible and intangible.
Orchestration: The elimination of discretion, or choice, at the operating level of your business.
What we know is that even with the defined harvest, a well thought-out and prepared plan, and planting the necessary seed to reap the harvest you have defined, things will come along and mess with your potential harvest - not enough rain, too much rain, bugs, disease, too high or too cold temperatures, etc. What you can absolutely plan on is that there will be challenges that will disrupt your plan and threaten your harvest. This is where the cultivating, the Business Development Process, is so very important.
The Business Development Process is the labor and attention needed for you to promote or improve your expected harvest no matter the unexpected challenges that arise. Don’t be afraid to try something new or different, make sure to track the results and if the result is in line with the harvest you are expecting, orchestrate the change. This is an ongoing process and one that will serve your business in reaching the harvest you have defined.
By cultivating using the Business Development Process of Innovation, Quantification, and Orchestration, you will be using the process that Michael defined as, “the backbone of every extraordinary business” and you will be promoting and improving your harvest.
