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A Business Lesson from Riding a Motorcycle

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: May 5, 2009; Category: Blogging, Business, Marketing; Tags: Blogging, Business, Change; No Comments

Almost every motorcyclist who’s been riding for a while knows that being either too bold or too cautious can get them killed. On a bike, surviving or thriving in traffic is best accomplished by being aware of what’s happening around you and acting—and sometimes reacting—appropriately.

I doubt it’s necessary to explain how being too bold or aggressive can lead to bad things happening (I’m sure you’ve seen a few stupid stunts by riders who are too bold), but how can being too cautious be dangerous? If you ride according to predetermined notions of caution, you can invite trouble into your pathway. For instance, let’s assume you come up behind a driver talking on his cell phone who, in his distracted state, can’t seem to pick a reasonably steady speed and weaves from one side of his lane to the other. You can sit behind him and maybe be present when something bad happens. Or you can flash your lights to get his attention and go around him, leaving what ever bad stuff might happen behind you.

Business is a little like that. The economic downturn is making things a difficult for most businesses right now, and most seem to have the idea that this might not be a good time to get too bold. In most cases, I’m sure that’s a good thing. But it’s possible to kill your business by being too timid or cautious, as well. This is not a good time to hunker down and try to survive, focusing on nothing but reducing costs. If costs are an issue, then clearly you need to reduce costs, but you can’t "save" your way into prosperity, or even survival. What makes far more sense is looking for greatest return on the money you must spend to operate your business.

This is a good time to look at your marketing practices and strategies and look for greater return. Honestly and seriously compare costs and results, and I’m guessing you’re going to arrive at the conclusion that you need to change or update your marketing approach, and that changes to your website, and perhaps your entry into blogging or social media, are in order. Why? Because that’s what works, and the cost is much lower than for other forms of media and marketing strategies.

Less money out, more money in. Isn’t that how businesses thrive?

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