“But Daddy, the flowers aren’t under the soil!”

My son was watering some flowers recently, and he was watering the buds and the leaves. I told him to poor the water onto the soil around the stem. That made no sense to him, so I tried to explain. But he’s five. And it still made sense to put the water on the petals. So that’s what he did. And then when he got bored and moved on, I watered the soil.

Isn’t business often similar? We focus on the pretty extremities – our logo, our social media presence, our PR coverage, our web site look and feel, our “branding” – and forget that what sustains the business and helps it endure is often “underground,” unseen. It’s easy to get distracted with the colorful petals, but they will shrivel and die if the roots aren’t watered.

The care we give to consistently providing a great product and enhancing it with great service to each customer we interact with, taking great care of the people on our team, making sure we have a handle on the financial side of the business, etc. These our the “roots” of any successful business, and we should give them daily attention to ensure they help the business blossom.

Wil