Summer is the season of wondrous harvests here in Connecticut and perhaps where you are as well. Local farmers have worked hard all spring to bring us the sweetest, freshest and most flavorful offerings. Native tomatoes are my personal favorite followed quickly by strawberries, blueberries and summer sweet corn roasted on the grill with smoked paprika butter. The farmer has no idea what each year's harvest will bring forth from the soil (or what we will do with it once in our possession.) Weather conditions, healthy bee populations and so much more go into the fruition of their efforts. But they do it anyway, faithfully plowing rows, sowing seeds, dependent on the rain, the sun and the bees.

When you are in business for yourself or for someone else, the way you conduct yourself can have a vital impact on your success now and down the road.

Sometimes it is hard to see, feel and even measure results. Our culture has become increasingly dependent on instant gratification. If immediate results are not apparent, we quickly get frustrated and abandon our efforts in pursuit of something seemingly more lucrative.

Success is not a destination and it is not something you achieve in a moment. Success is a series of good decisions, actions and usually a ton of hard work. Every time you meet someone, exchange business cards and offer information you are sowing a seed that may or may not sprout. You never really know the value of that moment until somewhere down the line when you are holding its blossom in your hand.

A good example is offering a free sample with purchase. So many teashops do this and with very good reason. The recipient may not be back the following week to provide the instant turnaround you had hoped for, but perhaps the good deed takes root in another way. Maybe they offered it to someone else who passed it to another party and eventually it lands in the hands of your future client. This person could be destined to become your regular client, your "Steady Eddie" who you know is good for by the cup and by the pound purchases weekly. But that might not bear fruit for you until months later. By then you will not even remember the sample that started it all.

Good habits yield good results. Smiling, welcoming, putting up with the same newbie questions over and over...it all pays off down the road. Be consistent, think long term and most of all...be patient.