Epic Seasons in Business

Epic Seasons happen when a business is in a transition of growth. What is an Epic Season?

Mankind has experienced them at monumental shifts which have allowed us to evolve from hunter & gatherers to the present day.

Man hunted and gathered everything he ate. It had to be in season and available. There was no way to store leftovers and waste wasn’t an option. As man transitioned to growing his own food, an Epic Season happened. Man had to rethink what to do with all the food he produced. Storage, curing meat, distribution of excess food all had to be addressed and issues solved. An epic season always required an intentional time of thinking new in order the solve the issues of the transition.

Transitioning To Present Day

Run this scenario all the way through to the present day. Most families have both parents working. No one is home to plan, shop, and cook meals. For a few decades families turned to fast food and restaurants to solve the issue, however, health issues with this solution have increased exponentially.

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” ~~ Hippocrates

An Epic Season is occurring right now in the transition from unhealthy restaurant eating to finding solutions for eating healthy, homemade food at home around the dinner table once again. Thinking new has created a whole new industry of “Meal Kits” delivered to your doorstep.

What is a meal kit, you might be wondering?

Companies like Hello Fresh and Blue Apron formed to meet the need of busy professionals balancing work with a desire to eat fresh, healthy meals prepared at home for the family to be able to enjoy together. They operate from membership based subscribers who receive weekly shipments of meals in a box delivered at the doorstep. Menus are planned and even include recipe cards and pre measured ingredients. The ingredients are packed individually and even include seasonings. The family member who cooks, can put an entire meal together in a short amount of time and ring the dinner bell (if they have one) to call the family together for a beautiful gourmet healthy meal. They come in a box at your doorstep, packed for freshness and have become one of the fastest growing food based industry in America.

The first meal kit company started in 2012. In 2015, revenue for the industry was $1 Billion and is projected to rise to $10 Billion by 2020.

Why is this all important? An Epic Season is occurring as restaurants and supermarkets are experiencing huge declines in business because of the home meal kit phenomenon. Kits have an incredible low cost of $5-6.00 per person with no waste to speak of. Amazon is joining the movement and gearing up with a potentially incredibly large investment in home meal kit delivery options. Expect to see more businesses rethink their business models in order to cash in on this new wave of eating.

How It Relates To Your Business

This is the first in a series about the power of “Visioning” for your life and business. This past January, I hosted a “Vision Board Workshop” with a group of women. We created Vision Boards guided by a Coach. I really had never done this before and really didn’t know what to expect.

I gathered my supplies and dug out a kit I had ordered online years ago, but never even opened the box. “Great job” you might think…a Business/LIfe Coach who doesn’t follow through. I’m not unlike anyone else. We all need a coach to hold us accountable for the things we want to accomplish…and timing is everything. It wasn’t time and I wasn’t ready….until now.

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” ~~ Buddha

It’s amazing how that works. I knew I wanted to do a vision board and when the time was right, not only did the teacher appear, but I already had the resources for what I needed to actually accomplish it. I put no pre thought into what would be on my board. It was blank, but I wasn’t. My experiences and my walk with God were clear. I knew inside where I was headed, I just hadn’t put it in visual form yet.

My blog in January, was all about how I spend time with God in prayer and how to prepare myself for the journey into the new year. I had words from that, just no images for the words.

That is where I began…

First…I found words for my vision board, then I began to find images which expressed the words. The images for my life and business on my vision board will require new thinking. I find myself in an Epic Season in order for me to move into the new things God has planned and shown me. Old thinking is not sufficient for me to move into the new ways my business is growing. I have to think new to keep up with it and not be overwhelmed by the changes.