The Success Series: A place to dream about

Nearly a year ago I began describing to our readers about how I could look past the obvious business day-to-day tasks to see into the future, figuratively anyway. What I saw was a market ripe with opportunities—provided we take the right steps to realize them.

Then, month by month, I described tactics to follow, case studies to review and strategies to consider—basically, all the things I've done to make my store, The Garden Gates, a better business. Rather than spend the next 500 words recapping a year-long lesson, I would rather leave you pondering or dreaming of your own possibilities.

I believe it's very important to work every day to become a visionary for your own business, creating trends that you believe in, trends that you can follow through with, rather than mirroring someone else's ideals and/or goals. And this is the perfect time to formulate and implement these plans, as the turbulent economic environment has most likely made your competitors timid. While they play cowardly lion, you should take every resource, each buried treasure (even your kids' cookie jars, if need be) to help gain market share in your own backyard.
 

Start like this: Daydream about what you would do if you won the business lottery. The business lottery would be winnings that could be spent only on making your business better. Then dream away, making a list of things that would be awesome and then things that would just improve your business.
 

Here is an example: Recently one of our landscape architects, Jesse Edmondson, said in the office during morning chatter, "We need a train that the kids can ride on while their parents are shopping." Within minutes we had bought one. Why? This was a great business lottery dream.

When my boys were younger, they loved trains. I figured that kids would stand in line waiting to ride the train because they were already in the store and this would provide a fun diversion. Well, our $5,000 investment actually has parents bringing their children over to the store just to ride the train. Meanwhile, they shop. We did a little math, and in four weeks we will have recovered our investment. In four more, we will have made some pretty good money.
 

Here is another example: One of my fondest memories of living in Birmingham, Mich., was cross-country skiing through the streets right after a fresh snowfall. In New Orleans, kids don't ever get to experience anything like this, except once in a blue moon. So, we bought snow machines similar to the ones they use in movies and cranked them up during the holiday so the kids can play (and the parents can shop). This investment was roughly $1,200, which was recovered in just one Saturday afternoon. And, trust me on this one, it paid big dividends down the road.

The Garden Gates Brand is a dream of mine that I share with my wife Beth and our two sons Aiden and Ashton. Collectively, as a family we spend a lot of time dreaming—or maybe a better word is planning—the perfect business that will attract people from around the world. We dream about what we would want to experience as customers. We dream about the day when The Garden Gates Brand is a household name. We dream about what it will be like 10 years, 20 years and even 30 years from now. More importantly, we act everyday towards turning these dreams into reality.

Now one of my dreams is that you're dreaming, as well. Thanks for spending the year with me. I wish each of you great success in the future.