"Everything that is the most important ..."

Every year in December, I spend hours and hours dedicated to analyzing my agency ... looking at our strengths and weaknesses, industry trends, and goals for the future. This year, as I put together my annual business plan, I came across a piece of wisdom from a very unlikely source that I'd like to share with you.

I recently had the pleasure of watching a documentary about our nation's food production system: Food, Inc. At one point in the film, an American farmer named Joel Salatin is interviewed about his highly unconventional, holistic, and sustainable approach to animal husbandry. As he spoke about the food industry's failures and the business model his own farm runs on, I was surprised to hear something that has changed my view of my own business:

"I have no desire to scale up or get bigger. As soon as you grasp for that growth, you're gonna view your customer differently, you're gonna view your product differently, you're gonna view your business differently. Everything that is the most important - you're going to view that differently."

Can you imagine? A farmer talking about the dangers of focusing on growth? But how wonderful the image of a trained professional (be it a farmer, a hair stylist, or even an insurance agent) who is more concerned about doing good business, the right way, every time ... than they are about growing their business.

Perhaps this prompts another take on the issue of 'sustainability':

Can a small business owner hope to operate a profitable, sustainable business doing what they do well, ... absent a die-hard focus on growth and 'more, more, more'?

More specifically ... Can *MY* business not only endure, but succeed, without endlessly devoting our energies and efforts towards finding more clients?

This month marks my eleventh year in business ... and I want to thank you for your help in making my answer to both of the above questions a YES.

Working hard to earn your continued trust and support is, to me ... "everything that is the most important."

All the best,