What Makes a Business Successful?

In the course of helping organize a local movement to save one of the last remaining mom and pops in my town of Malibu, California, I have been given the opportunity to reflect upon what defines a business as "successful."

Generally, we look at numbers: Inflows, outflows, accounts receivable and assets; the bottom line is examined in black and white, plusses and minuses that produce a figure that either offers reassurance or creates cause for concern.

But of course there's more to the story of whether a business has succeeded or failed, and in the two weeks that I've found myself involved with two other local women in an effort to save our beloved Trancas Nursery, I've been blown away by what I've discovered.

Our local garden center has existed for 30 years. Over that time, the property has become a literal oasis for the community, where people not only come to nourish their gardens, but to be nourished themselves. In a sense, it is a community center that makes money while offering a place of respite, connection and rejuvenation.

Fountains, benches, play equipment and a petting zoo provide settings for children to play or chase the chickens. Neighbors show up to shop and end up hanging around, sharing news with Debbi and Shelby who have worked there for decades. Elderly folks come to rest on a bench and find companionship in the midst of the color and beauty.

Special education kids come weekly from the local school to help with the bunnies. Locals come to buy fresh eggs, get advice on native landscaping, or simply rest for a while after work. Teens come to volunteer or just hang out; at least one can attribute his veterinary career path directly to working at the nursery as a youngster.

In the course of speaking with patrons this week at the nursery, I've discovered something about what makes a business a success, and why numbers can be so deceptive. While the garden center has turned a healthy profit for 30 years, it will never compete with an upscale, trendy nursery like something you'd find in Napa or the Hamptons, or a chain like Armstrong's or Home Depot.

But it has amassed such a loyal following that in only 10 days, over a thousand people--10 percent of our local population -- has signed a petition, with hundreds more writing letters and joining our Facebook fan and group page, and a steady stream have been coming to the nursery in sorrow and outrage -- ironically, being comforted by the very managers who have been threatened with eviction.

Because on April 1st, the new developers -- including Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie --issued a 30 day notice to vacate to Carlos Cabrera, the nursery owner who bought it in October after working there (starting as a laborer) for 27 years.

Because of the outcry from our community (who were consistently promised that the nursery would stay when the developers presented their plans) that eviction will not happen ... today. Our efforts have galvanized even our city council members to unilaterally go on record as saying that they want the nursery to remain as and where it is, stating that they unequivocally recall the promise made by the developers to include it in the new shopping center as the cherished community hub that it is.

Tomorrow -- May 1st -- we are holding a rally outside of the nursery to show our support, and to take a stand on behalf of this business -- and the thousands across the country -- who have been threatened with eviction because their "success" doesn't translate into an ability to pay triple or even more exorbitant rents to satisfy landlords who define success strictly by the numbers.

The Trancas Canyon Nursery is one of the most successful businesses I've ever encountered. It doesn't rake in millions a year, offers no stock options or franchises, and is only now putting together a website.

But ask the members of my community if it matters whether Carlos, Debbi and Shelby stay or go, and they will tell you not only that they cannot imagine it disappearing, but that without its presence, the landlords will have a heck of a time convincing locals to shop at whatever other businesses they try to put into their new development.

Vanity Fair recently reported that 1 percent of the people in our country take in nearly 25 percent of the income generated every year. While Carlos Cabrera is not, like the Waltons, in that number, he owns a home and has helped two of his children buy their own. He and the other long-time managers of the nursery have been involved in running a viable nursery for decades.

But of greatest importance is that he, Debbi and Shelby -- along with Caytlyn who runs the Sea Lily florist shop on the premises -- are beloved in our town, and have succeeded in creating a sanctuary for their community that is unique and irreplaceable.

In my work as a therapist here, I have been fortunate to find out -- first hand -- that success has very little to do with ones bank account. I have worked with wonderful people who happen to have a few planes and houses, but over and over I have heard -- in the confines of my office, where secrets are shared -- that the most miserable people are often the ones who bought the notion that success was strictly a matter of dollars and cents.

I hope the new developers realize what a tremendous asset they have in the Trancas Nursery, and that they come to understand what a success their own venture will be if they demonstrate goodwill toward the golden enterprise they were gifted when they acquired this property.

And I am thankful to the members of my community -- from the wealthiest to the ones just scraping by -- who have reminded me of what Antoine de Saint-Exupery so beautifully said: "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye."

I continue to discover that what is essential is invisible, but we can make it visible by recognizing it when it is in our midst.

 

 

 

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