I was out with the dogs the other morning and I saw the harbinger of Tennessee spring – a prolific, off-green, tendril-like weed that somehow always shows up while other plants and fescue remain dormant. In years past, I’ve tried numerous methods of eradication, seemingly to no avail. I’m finally at a point, this year, of accepting the inevitable. Sort of. I know I can’t win against this one plant, so each time I take the dogs out, I pull a handful of it. If I can’t beat all of it, then I’ll at least thin out the crowd.
Weeds in our region of the country usually come in stages and each stage brings a different set that appear and behave differently. By the time the yard needs to be mowed, it’s too late to successfully eradicate any weeds without potentially harming the lawn or environment (I stopped spraying cancer-causing and pollinator-killing products a few years back). For several years I have struggled as to how to manage these thriving beastly banes. Then, last year, I realized something – they are weeds only to me.
For the pollinators, one of the first weeds of the season is a multi-tiered green meany that has tiny purple or red flowers and apparently is a source of food. I noticed two years ago (after not spraying for about three years) that honeybees were all over them like…well, bees in a hive. Huh. The more I watched, the more I realized these “weeds” as I called them were more akin to prolific and hearty native species that contributed to stages of the ecosystem as spring came and went, succumbing to summer with its own host of non-fescue greenery and pollinators. What in the hell had I been doing all these years?
Anymore, I pick the largest clumps of weeds in the backyard, but not all of them (I simply couldn’t if I tried) and I pick nothing outside of our rear fenced-in yard. The grass outside the fence has been supplanted via natural vegetation. The green-grass part of me really bristles at this; but then I see how many more pollinators are present, and how neat it is for our children, and I let my ego pat itself on the back.
In our inspection world, the change of seasons, and with it work volume, almost is a guarantee. We’re a people-based business and, as we know, people become more active when their brains signal a substantive change to warm from cold (I don’t understand people-brains up north…I mean…it gets warm for like 2 months). This time of year, often is filled with the inception of retooling choices made during the winter slowdown. It may not seem like it, but we’re picking weeds.
Now, you can run your business like the green grass variant – spending lots of money on fertilizer, seed, water, and de-weeder just to have a green lawn. Or, you can let your business grow at its own pace, pull the most obnoxious weeds in your line of sight, and then move on letting the yard run its course. Neither is a wrong choice.
We have an entire industry sprung up (ahem, note the metaphor…subtle, I know) to service home inspectors in relation to business philosophy and business motivation. No names need be given, but we’ve all seen the ads, the emails, the other digital ether. You don’t have to go broke to become more proactive as a business owner. And you need not hop on the train of “bigger, bigger, bigger” (seriously, The Lorax anyone…). You do, and should, however, make some conscientious choices each year regarding your business. Do you want to be the multi-inspector firm? Do you want to jam out 3 inspections six days a week? Do you want to do just one inspection a day and focus on value and service? Do you want to raise your prices? When was the last time you cleaned up your database, your contact list? When did you last refresh your brand, or run numbers on your advertising failures? As we get busier, it becomes harder for us to manage our businesses – much like waiting to pick weeds until your grass is 4 inches tall. If you wait too long, you may need to compromise your goals for another year until you once more have the time. And, if you are too focused on that green promenade, you might just find yourself investing in someone else’s dream of a weed-free greenery. The value of small business is you maintain the local feel and fabric of your community – there’s nothing wrong with big business, if that’s your jam. But, if you aren’t spending time in your yard looking at your designated weeds, you might overlook what turns out to be a gem of a business pollinator. Happy spring to all. cookeville.wini.com
