Make good mistakes

Portrait by Amber Smith

Don’t let ‘perfect’ be the enemy of ‘good.’ It’s something garden centers tell their customers all the time — especially those new to caring for plants. Sometimes you win; sometimes you lose. Sometimes a new plant takes root and flourishes; sometimes it limps along and sometimes it ends up in the compost heap. It’s all part of the learning process, and in order to learn, you’re going to make some mistakes.

Just like it takes some trial and error to learn the ins and outs of new plants and gardening techniques, it takes a few missteps when testing out new technology. Trying new tech can be overwhelming and it’s hard to find time to make improvements on what you know. But the effort can also reap great rewards.

In our cover story this month, starting on page 20, you can read about three independent garden centers that took the leap to improve their point-of-sale systems. By doing their homework and taking chances, they’ve managed to improve their operations, better understand their sales and get a handle on what’s working (and what’s not).

And whether we like it or not, technology is going to keep evolving just as fast, if not faster, than it has over the past few years. Rather than be afraid of it or shy away from it, embracing it can lead to some exciting and innovating ways to better serve your customers. Lawson Thalmann, e-commerce manager at Chalet, shares some intriguing insights on the future of artificial intelligence when it comes to picking the right plants for your customers starting on page 26.

Speaking of sales, you can read about using social media not only to improve your brand, but also to drive customers to make more purchases directly on page 30. As younger generations continue to grow their buying power, it’s more important than ever to leverage social media platforms as new avenues for marketing and revenue.

So encourage your customers, your staff and yourselves to take chances. Sometimes you’ll succeed and sometimes you’ll fail but you’ll always be learning, no matter what the outcome.

And as long as you’re learning, it doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be good, and you can grow on your successes and failures if you’re willing to give it a try.