A good friend of mine had recently pivoted their career, from growth marketing in tech to the culinary arts. In their exploration, they’d realized they didn’t want to work as a chef or start a restaurant.
Instead, they introduced their dishes through self-initiated supper clubs. They found their first customers by inviting friends and their friends, as well as publishing images and videos on social media. They, then, introduced a new experience, a pasta making class that groups of friends could join.
As we talked through their work, they said they felt good about the process. While they’d tapped out of their network of friends, they were still finding new customers.
Moreover, they still hadn’t experienced virality yet. The audience was growing slowly and steadily, and so was word of mouth. They didn’t need to go viral; they did the math, and they knew if they could fill a few dozen spots once a week, they could make the business model work.
It’s worth emphasizing how clear and attainable his plan was. For example, he didn’t need hundreds of customers to make the business profitable; maybe just 30 a week, each paying, hypothetically, $100 for an experience. He needed only a very small percentage of his network to buy.
On top of that, there were more possibilities to consider—condo communities might want to invite chefs to bring residents together, and companies or leaders might want to invite private chefs—all on the horizon.
The business didn’t need miraculous growth to happen. It just needed good old fashioned elbow grease; making new friends, introducing new experiences, and continued publishing on social media.
The more they reflected on it, the more they realized that the growth happened very organically. They set an intention, focused on it—without too much planning or thrash, and opportunities started happening.
While this frustratingly vague, Taoist, approach is difficult to articulate, it’s also fertile ground for the seeds of possibility.
If you water a plant, and it gets enough sunlight and nutrients, it’s going to grow. It is a miracle, in the sense that all life is a miracle, and yet its growth is also very much within your control—not particularly miraculous at all.