As we decide what we want the next few years to look like at the farm, taking into account our long-term goals, our available resources (and how COVID might affect them), and our time limitations, we have to make choices about what areas of our business to develop. When I’m having trouble making a decision, the following process really helps me: First, I acknowledge that there simply isn’t enough time to do everything I want to do. Second I remind myself that because there are only 24 hours in a day…saying YES to anything means saying NO to something else (and vice versa). Then I make myself actively assess. “If I say yes to this, what am I willing to say no to so that I also have time to rest, care for myself, and think?” (Quick Q: Are there other enneagram 3’s out there who have to schedule time to stop and just think?!) This method is so simple, and certainly not original with me, but it’s a formula I go back to over and over again.

Here’s a real life example: Earlier this year, we made the tough decision not to book any more weddings through 2022 with @triplewrenweddings. This was SUCH a hard call for us, because collaborating with our awesome team and making our amazing brides’ wedding days BLOOM brings huge amounts of joy. It’s fulfilling, it’s profitable, it’s fun, we have a great team, and it provides fantastic social media material! So why would we choose to not grow this branch of our business?! Despite all the “pros” to doing weddings, there are some significant “cons” that tipped the scales: Weekly weddings mean we can’t make other family plans on weekends, and we struggle to find balanced, dedicated family time as it is. Our kids won’t be at home forever, and we choose to spend more time with them while they’re still here. Also, while weddings are profitable, after globally assessing our business, we know they’re not the most profitable. So we are choosing to invest our time into the “best” returns instead of the “good” returns.

Is diversification important? Yes, definitely. Is limiting our business scary? Also yes! But we choose to embrace this risk and intentionally focus our growth, saying YES to the best paths to reach our goals.