How To Grow Your Business Like A Weed

How To Grow Your Business Like A Weed

The W.E.E.D.S. (Weed-inspired Enterprise Expansion and Domination Strategies) Model?

Last week I had the opportunity to interview Stu Heinecke . Stu is the author of several books; he is also a Wall Street Journal cartoonist and was named the Father of Contact Marketing by the American Marketing Association. Stu's first book, How to Get a Meeting With Anyone is rated one of the top 64 best sales books of all time. I had the opportunity to speak with a legend and I could not be happier with the way the interview went. While Stu is the author of several books, his latest book How to Grow Your Business Like a Weed was our topic of discussion as it fits in nicely with the growth theme of this newsletter.

Full Video Interview Here:

Prior to reading Stu's book I wasn't sure what could be learned from studying weeds and how they could be applied to business. When I say this book opened my eyes it would be an understatement. The book goes into detail of what unstoppable weed-like strategy looks like in business and why it's important in order to remain competitive. Weeds win overwhelmingly and when you think about nature and look in your garden you can undoubtedly agree with that sentiment. Weeds are nature's ultimate disruptive force; they are successful because they are ruthlessly persistent. The ruthless persistence of weeds directly correlates to their growth rates. Weeds persist without permission, and they always find a way to thrive, regardless of the environment they are in. Weeds are also brutally urgent, show fearsome aggression and nimble adaptability. Anyone who has a garden or lawn knows exactly what it looks like when weeds take over. If you see one dandelion, you will soon see hundreds. They grow at incredible rates and take a lot of energy to remove and keep at bay.

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The lessons we can learn from weeds in business are far-reaching. Stu's book discusses businesses that have a weed-like strategy as well as how to develop one. Amazon, Tesla and Space-X are a few examples of companies that are continually changing and evolving and are very weed-like. Amazon for example, regularly seeks to expand their R&D efforts for ways to improve efficiency and customer experience. As a company, Amazon has taught us that it is possible to disrupt yourself. We all know that when Amazon started, they were an online bookstore, they have since disrupted themselves and evolved many times over. Today, Amazon owns the US ecommerce market share by leaps and bounds and is a preferred solution for many online consumers. During COVID when so many businesses lost revenue and market share Amazon went on to dominate. "Amazon saw a boost in revenue of 35% in the first three quarters of 2020" (Forbes, 2021). Amazon was quick to adapt to new circumstances which helped lead to domination. If we think about a weed in nature it sounds a bit like this doesn't it? When dandelion seeds blow in the wind those seeds get dispersed in many places, grow without apology and take over in a very short amount of time. Before you know it, you have a yard or garden absolutely full of them. Weeds are aggressive, ruthlessly persistent and do whatever they can to take over quickly.

In order to be successful in business it is important to take as many lessons as you can from weeds. If you are a business owner you need to understand how to grow, expand, dominate and defend like a weed or your competitors soon will own your market share. I strongly recommend taking a close examination of your business to determine how weed-like your strategy and model are. If you are not weed-like you will not reach your full potential and it won't be long before you lose revenue and relevancy. In order to stay ahead you must adopt weed-like attributes and persist without permission just like weeds in your garden. I hope anyone reading this newsletter that owns a business will take this into consideration and read this book. It is very likely that every chapter has something in it that will help improve your business for now and years to come.


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Like this newletter? Every week I write about topics centered around growth. Please share this newsletter with friends, family, neighbors and connections. Your support makes a world of difference. Thank you!        
Darnell Frazier, RFC?, CPRS?, CCFC, CFEI?

"Build A Personal Financial Foundation" | Financial Educator | Financial Coach | College Planning | Retirement Planning | AFC? Candidate.

2 年

The interview with Stu Heinecke was fascinating on the comparison of weeds and the growth of your business. The book lines up with your newsletter, Growth Is Good. I came away with many takeaways in comparing the persistence of weed growing in my yard to growing my business. Few takeaways: Like a weed, persistence in growing utilized persistence determines your growth rate. Collaboration is key to growth, having a disruptive change in your business in correlation to the economic environment, and adapting to change to embrace growth, such as embracing more video technology in my business. Finally, a weed mindset will find ways to grow and expand their business.

Kirsten Back (MBA, MA)

Helping personal brand business owners get clarity on their messaging, systems & strategies to write great content that grows visibility, impact & revenue | Copywriter & Brand Messaging Strategist | Corporate Dropout

2 年

I do like the acronym and flipping the perception of a weed on its head, giving it a positive connotation by pointing out its strengths. That in itself makes you curious about the title.

Shinika McKiever, PhD

Chief Creative Officer at The McKiever Group | Innovating Nonprofit & Leadership Growth with Actionable, Creative Strategies | Empowering Transformation ??

2 年
Tara LaFon Gooch, MBA, CVP ??

I Help Speakers, Authors & Thought Leaders Market & Brand Themselves To The Top 1% With Confidence | Creator of the GRASP Method? | International TEDx Speaker | CEO | 2X Best-Selling Author | Podcast Host

2 年
Kaylene Hardy

Making healthy living easy & affordable??Total wellness for people, pets, & the planet

2 年

Certainly is a catchy title!

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