Invest in your future

While no one person or entity can predict the future with absolute certainty, conducting research, gathering data, and talking to experts and peers in the industry can help you make more informed plans to guarantee your businesses’ success and strengthen the greenhouse industry’s future. This month, as is customary in our October issue, we focus on the big picture and the overall state of the greenhouse industry.

This year, in addition to the research results and analysis that we share on an annual basis, we had the opportunity to speak with some of the growers who answered our survey. From Missouri to Ontario to Alaska, these growers had some interesting insights into the market — and how to support the industry and their businesses’ futures.

While most of the conversations focused on the nuts and bolts of the industry — labor, customer demographics and the economy, for example — Barry Ritter, owner of Ritter Perennials in St. Louis, Mo. reminded us of the importance of taking care of yourself as well as your business. “Find times, two or three times a year, to get rested,” Ritter says. “If you don’t rest your brain and body, you’re going to lose your passion. If you lose your passion, you might as well close your doors.”

While it may be difficult to take time off when you own your own business and are passionate about what you do, it’s beneficial to take a step back once in a while to clear your mind and gain some new perspective. Take the time to visit with family, travel to local (or not-so-local) gardens to renew your passion for plants, go fishing or do whatever else you’ve had the desire, but not the time, to do this year.

Once you’ve had that chance to hit the reset button and invest some time in your personal well-being, you’ll be ready to hit the ground running and prepare your business for a successful 2017. Learn more about how the greenhouse industry is doing, what else is on the minds of fellow growers, and what the future of the market looks like in the 2016 State of the Industry Report.

Cheers,

Karen E. Varga, Editor

kvarga@gie.net

216-393-0290 | Twitter: @Karen_GIE