The 4 Seasons of Business

Welcome to Peaceful Growth, where you will find actionable tips to grow your agency to $10M (without working overtime).

Earlier this year, I flew to Vegas with my buddy Jeremy to attend ClickFunnels Live (an event about digital marketing).

10,000+ founders. Big energy. A lot of hype.

Then the lights dimmed.

The OG himself — Tony Robbins — came on stage.

This was my first time watching Tony live. And wow. He went off for 3 hours straight. Pure fire. Tactics, mindset, business, relationships — he touched it all.

But one idea stuck with me: The 4 Seasons of Life.

Tony said everything has a pattern and rhythm, just like nature’s four seasons.

We experience these same seasons in our personal and business lives.

Fast forward to this year — May 1st, 2025 — Multidots (my agency) turns 16. And if I’m being honest, last year (2024) has been… tough (a winter).

Leads were down. Growth was slow. Had to downsize the team. Lost a few big accounts.

Which is weird.

Because in the past, we’ve had wild years — like 489% growth in 2010, 87% in 2013, 66% in 2021.

So what’s different?

That’s when Tony’s "4 Seasons of Nature and Life" clicked for me.

I went back and studied all 16 years of my agency. The growth rates. The events. The decisions.

A pattern emerged.

And it made so much sense.

In this issue, I’m sharing:

• What the 4 Seasons are
• How they apply to business
• What to do in each season
• And some lessons I learned from Multidots’ 16-year ride

The 4 Seasons of Life

Here’s how Tony breaks it down:

🌸 Spring is for planting. New starts. Go Bold. High growth.

☀️ Summer is for Building. Testing. Refinining. Steady growth.

🍂 Fall is for harvesting. Optimizing. Reflecting. Realigning. Slow growth.

❄️ Winter is for Reset. Reinvent. Prepare. No growth.

At first glance, it sounds like life advice. But when I mapped it to business, it fit like a glove.

The 4 Seasons of My Agency

Over the past 16 years, Multidots has grown, evolved, and adapted — just like nature moves through seasons.

Here’s a look at how we’ve danced through every season — not once, but multiple times.

I looked at our agency’s income growth and grouped each year like this:

Spring – Epic growth (50%+)
Summer – High growth (30–50%)
Fall – Normal growth (10–30%)
Winter – Low/no growth (<10%)

And here’s what I found:

1. We had 5 Springs, 4 Summers, 4 Falls, and 3 Winters.
2. Our first Winter didn’t hit until Year 12.
3. We never had back-to-back Winters.
4. And every single Winter was followed by a stronger Spring — if I rolled up my sleeves and got involved.
5. In 2022, we went straight from Spring to Winter. Why? Because I got distracted chasing product dreams and ignored the basics.
6. Every time I focused on shiny objects, we slipped. Every time I focused on our core — clients, team, delivery — we rose.
7. Those three Fall years from 2017 to 2019 were expected. We were investing in the future—building a US office and refining our focus.
8. Looking at the average growth over each 4-year stretch shows how the seasons played out:
   2009–2012: 140.56% → Spring
   2013–2016: 58.05% → Spring
   2017–2020: 10.00% → Winter
   2021–2024: 22.42% → Fall
9. As your agency grows, you won’t see epic growth every year—but even a 20–30% increase is a strong sign of success.
10. Even with 3 Winters and 4 Falls, the 16-year average tells a different story: We were mostly in Spring — with an average growth rate of 65%.

And always — always — the basics saved us:

• Improving team productivity
• Reducing costs
• Founders get focused on growing the agency
• Strengthening lead-gen and marketing

Each Season has a Reason

In 2016, I toured a vineyard in Napa.

The winemaker said something odd:

“The best wines come from vines that struggle the most.”

He explained how they intentionally limit water. No pampering. No shortcuts.

Because when vines struggle, their roots grow deeper. Their fruit gets stronger. Their wine becomes richer.

That line stuck with me.

And over the last 16 years building my agency, I’ve seen the same thing play out.

Not in wine.

But in business.

The Seasons Explained (and What To Do)

🌸 Spring (High Growth – Rapid Emergence & Opportunity)

Mindset: Creation, curiosity, planting seeds.

Income Phase: Often includes big % jumps in revenue because you're starting from a lower base or launching something fresh with massive energy.

“Life doesn’t happen to you; it happens for you.” Spring is when you take bold action, learn quickly, and things start to click.

What to do in Spring:

• Expand into new countries — ride the momentum and open new doors
• Upgrade your tools (we once gave 100 teammates brand-new MacBooks in Spring)
• Hire big roles (co-pilots) — now’s the time to level up leadership and expertise
• Reward your team — bonuses, raises, or perks that show appreciation
• Add new services or offers — capture more value while the energy’s high

☀️ Summer (Moderate Growth – Testing, Building & Scaling)

Mindset: Discipline, focus, strengthening what works.

Income Phase: Consistent growth year after year, though not as flashy as Spring.

“Repetition is the mother of skill.” Summer is where you sharpen your tools and scale responsibly.

What to do in Summer:

• Optimize your processes
• Add new lead channels (but don’t get wild)
• Invest in brand and long-term growth — think sponsorships, podcasts, content
• Visit clients in person — ask for referrals, testimonials, and intros

🍂 Fall (Slowing Growth – Harvest & Reflection)

Mindset: Reaping the harvest of earlier work, evaluating what to keep and what to shed.

Income Phase: Growth is present, but modest; sometimes it's flat. You’re focusing more on quality than quantity.

“Success leaves clues.” In Fall, you reflect, optimize, and prepare for deeper impact — not just more.

What to do in Fall:

• Reevaluate your big bets
• Founders and leaders should drop everything else and prioritize to avoid the Winter
• Cut the distractions (yes, all those shiny objects and “we should” projects)
• Double down on account expansion — there’s gold in your current clients
• Push to close deals in the pipeline — offer flexibility, better pricing, or custom terms

❄️ Winter (Low or Negative Growth – Pause, Realign, Prepare)

Everything feels hard. Leads stop. Big clients pause. You start questioning everything.

Mindset: Wisdom, reinvention, healing, setting the stage for the next Spring.

Income Phase: Growth is negative or flat — but essential shifts are happening under the surface.

“Winter is not a failure; it’s a reset.” It’s when true leaders are forged, values are revisited, and vision is renewed.

What to do in Winter:

• Do a full cost audit every 3 months — look at tools, vendors, everything
• Cut or pause appraisals, bonuses, and perks like co-working allowances
• Double down on sales and client retention — this is priority #1
• Push to close deals in the pipeline — offer flexibility, better pricing, or custom terms
• Ask existing clients for more work — upsells, add-ons, new projects
• Use your underutilized team to build tools that boost productivity or lead gen
• Partner up with other agencies to utilize extra capacity
• Be transparent with your leadership team — don't carry it all alone
• Call fellow founders, even competitors — swap notes, share what’s working, get perspective

Final Thought

Here’s what I’ve come to believe:

Sometimes, you can’t avoid the seasons. But you can prepare for them.

Each Winter forces you to pause and reflect. Each Spring rewards you for what you planted months ago.

The goal isn’t to always be in Spring. It’s to move through the seasons with awareness. That’s Peaceful Growth.

So if you’re sitting there wondering:

“What season am I in right now?”

Ask yourself that. Then act accordingly.

Spring? Go big. Summer? Lock things in. Fall? Clean house. Winter? Stay calm. Show up.

Because the next season is coming. And how you show up now?

That decides everything.

[On a totally different note, here’s something I’m excited to share to help you sharpen your copywriting skill as a founder in 2025]

One Skill Every Founder Should Sharpen in 2025

When CD Baby sent a quirky order confirmation email (“...placed on a satin pillow and carried to our private jet…”), customers loved it.
They shared it. It went viral.
That one email helped the small store sell over $100M in music.

Great copy builds trust, creates experiences, and drives sales.
And it’s not just CD Baby—companies like Groupon and Basecamp used writing as their secret weapon.

As founders, we write every day. If our words don’t connect, we lose opportunities.

The good news? Writing is a skill—you can learn it.
If you learn just one skill this year, make it copywriting.

I recommend CopyThat—a 10-day email course that takes just 30 mins a day. It’s worth it.

That’s all for now—see you in the next issue!

— Anil Gupta

Did you enjoy this newsletter? Check out my other stuffs too:

• Subscribe to Learn + Grow for tips on leadership, health, and productivity to keep you at your best
• Subscribe to WP for Enterprises to learn how billion-dollar brands use WordPress
• Listen to Peaceful Growth Podcast for insights on how to grow your agency
• Hire Multidots to build or migrate your website in WordPress
• Try Google Docs style collaboration in WordPress with Multicollab
• Checkout collection of premium WooCommerce Plugins
• Feel stuck? Try 1:1 founder-to-founder mentoring. Ask anything: sales, marketing, people, growth. Pay only if I help. Schedule a free 15-min intro.

Follow me on Twitter/X: @guptaanilg
​Connect with me on LinkedIn: @guptaanilg

Someone forwarded this message? Subscribe here.

One More Thing...

A lot of you have asked about the tools I use to stay productive and grow my agency.

So, I put them all in one place—organized by category:

• Writing Tools ✍️
• Productivity Apps ⏳
• Skills and Courses for Founders 🎓

And more.

You can check them out here .

Hope it helps! 🚀