Short vs. Long

Whatever you do, if you focus on creating a results in the shortest amount of time, you do so at the expense of the future. Short term solutions are not solutions at all. They are unsustainable.

Take gardening or farming for example. It takes time for plants to grow. If they grow too fast they will fall over because the support for them hasn't grown yet. They tend to grow up and die, without ever having set seeds to reproduce themselves.

In this extremely challenging economic environment, everybody wants the pain and suffering to go away right now. Not tomorrow. Today.

Take newspapers for example. Many of them are dying because they opted for short term gains. They didn't adapt. You can blame the internet if you want, but the bottom line is they sought profitability first, which caused them to forget to do their job. Newspapers were originally set up as non-profit organizations because information, not profits, were the goal. You can read about that here.

In Part III from the link above, Stew Sallo states this:

Generally speaking, short-term solutions, while tempting in their simplicity and immediate impact, are not true solutions but, rather, are a bandage that treats the problem on a superficial level while failing to address its essential nature. The greatest danger of short-term solutions is that they are addictive in nature. Take a wrong turn down Temporary Remedy Road, and it’s unlikely you will ever find your way back to Permanent Solution Lane. And once you’ve awakened to the fact that you are on the wrong path, the problem will most likely have worsened, due to neglect.

Take the time to chew on the first sentence as it says everything you need to know. It should make you think "What is the essential nature of my business?" and "What is the essential nature of the challenges my business faces?"

For Meristem, our essential nature is to create results-oriented websites for people who may or may not know what their essential business is, nor how to get the most out of their website. I always fret that our clients aren't getting the most out of their site, and might be afraid to even enlist us in their plans.

Our essential business is to help people communicate with the public, their customers and anyone else who might be interested in what our clients do. We're interested mostly in business that have a future, or are actively involved in creating sustainable and resilient economic infrastructure.

Take Range Fuels for example: they're not corn ethanol. They're creating the energy of the future using wood chips. Glen Griscom at a Better Home Now is an excellent remodeler. Rather than create a new home, why not create a better home of the one you have now? Perhaps the most important client we have is Abbondanza Organic Seeds & Produce. It will sound odd, but eating locally grown organic food will clean your air, land, and water faster than any government regulation or initiative could ever hope for.

Meristem's essential business is to help those people communicate today via websites so that each of us has a better tomorrow.