Digging In The Dirt - Risky Business

Digging in the Dirt - Risky Business

WHEN YOU THINK about the business of gardening realistically, it’s amazing that anyone ever attempts to sow a single bean! Consider the top five reasons not to even try:

1. You could spend days behind a tiller turning up the soil, only to learn months later that the earth has been robbed of its nutrients.

2. You could invest hours planting those tiny seeds and covering them ever so carefully by hand, and then have a hard spring rain come the next day and wash them out in an hour.

3. You could pull the weeds, keep the bugs at bay, and pick at the optimum times, only to have the sun bake the new growth on the vine; there’s always a drought sometime in the growing season.

4. You could seed, weed, and pick vegetables all summer, only to find out that all of the conditions were just slightly less than favorable. Your crop—while it produces—will not sustain you. Man cannot live on green beans alone.

5. You could have a bumper crop and then be burdened with bags full of vegetables rotting on your back porch.

Oh, good grief! There are just too many things that could go wrong. Let’s forget about this garden business and just pick up some Del Monte at the Piggly Wiggly.

There are always reasons not to go into a business or invest in your existing trade. You can always find more negative scenarios to worry you than positive facts to comfort you. But thank heaven for the risk takers—or we’d be starving for fresh ideas and innovative concepts (not to mention green beans, corn, and tomatoes).

Gardening is about carefully calculating your risk and forecasting the worst-case scenario—and then being willing to live with it. This type of risk taking is also required to succeed in any business venture. But like the gardener, at some point you’re going to have to walk on faith . . . or be content to eat canned spinach. Yuck.

He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap. (Ecclesiastes 11:4, NASB)

Research and assess the possible downside or risk to starting a new business. Forecast what you’re willing to lose if a hard rain comes. Then be willing to accept it if the worst happens. But for goodness’ sake—at least walk around back and consider the bounty you could be enjoying!