“Mind is the master weaver, both of the inner garment of character and the outer garment of circumstance.” - James Allen

When I first started my business, I had no idea how many different areas of expertise I would have to grow in. Just start, they said. It'll be great, they said. You'll pick it up as you go, they said... Boy, "they" were right, and ohhhhh so wrong!! Overall, there has been a huge learning curve. Mistakes have been made. Errors corrected. There have been big wins and hard losses. But when I get a chance to reflect, I can see a small glimpse of the tapestry that is being created.

As I continue to work in and on my business, I wanted to share a perspective that I think a lot of business owners miss in the everyday grind of running their businesses. And that is, your business is meant to teach you the Art of Weaving. What do I mean by that? Let me explain.

"95% of new businesses fail in the first 5 years due to lack of pioneering innovation and stalled funding." as reported by The Huffington Post. This means that only 5 business owners out of 100 create success in their business endeavors. Why is that? Partially because when you start a business, even with a great plan there are many variables that cannot be accounted for. Cultural shifts, economic factors, inflation, all can wreak havoc on a business plan. These factors among others can challenge even the most seasoned business owners. How does this relate to the Art of Weaving you say?

Consider this, there are key components to every business. Products, distribution, staffing, budgeting, sales, expenses, location, digital presence (websites, etc), benefits, and funding are all structural threads in the tapestry of your business. Plus the variables of your business, your customer base, target market, incidental events, and the myriad of other circumstances are woven into the key components of your tapestry.

Look at these beautifully woven tapestries! Every business is a masterpiece in progress, waiting to be discovered. Only when we apply our hands to the loom and continue to work, through any trial that may arise, will our vision come into focus.

Many businesses fail early on not because the problem they were out to solve was too big. It's because with a big vision comes the need to have more than just the two hands of the owner working on it. Big visions require others to take part in the vision. The saying "Many hands make light work" is true. One person will not have all the talents, perspective, and vision to effectively tackle the larger problems that businesses can solve.

Adding hands to the loom will effectively allow for the tapestry of your business to get to a place of stability faster. But what happens when those people you trusted to help you start leaving? This becomes a quandary for small businesses and leaves holes in their tapestry. Did you know that some of the most beautiful tapestries have inconsistencies and transitions that are so masterfully woven into them that no one ever sees?

Artfully building and leading a team through personal and business transitions, economic shifts, societal fickleness, etc. is a skill not often seen done well. And right out the gate, lets face it, you're probably going to suck at it. That doesn't mean its not a skill worth developing.

When you have a team at the loom all weaving the segments that they are most talented in together, the beauty created is incredible. So often incredible teams are dismantled, through the poaching of employees through benefit packages. Bigger companies know that many smaller companies don't offer benefit packages, and unfortunately, they consistently add hands to their looms through this technique.

So how can small and medium size businesses retain their weavers and still keep the rest of all their variables under control? By getting creative. And it is this creativity that adds to the beauty of the tapestry. It is this creativity that leads to innovation, and allows for businesses to retain their team.

It is this creativity, that is the Art of Weaving in business. Taking all the different variables and weaving them together to create something beautiful for all to see. Finding solutions to complex problems, stitching together the pieces that various team members have created through the years, all while taking care of a family, aging parents, and trying to make sure there's something to leave for your next generation is a lot.

Find your trusted circle of fellow weavers to be creative together. And watch, at the end of it all, the stitching together of all of your various tapestries will create a quilt of legacy that touched an entire community; employees and customers alike.