Yesterday was one of those “I’ll always remember where I was when I heard” days.  I was in the mountains of North Carolina with my son and his family, just a bit after 5:00 or so when the text came. “D, did you hear about Bruce…”

To say that the world of Harley Davidson and of biking in general shifted yesterday is an understatement. As much as anyone, Bruce Rossmeyer brought biking to this generation with his passion not only for the business of riding but for the people who ride them.   

A larger than life figure, Bruce was not just the father of Daytona’s Bike Week and Biketoberfest, he was a true visionary. He instinctively knew what we wanted and then set about giving it to us on a platter. Heck, you couldn’t swing a helmet anywhere in Central Florida without hitting a biker that had been touched by the man. 

Like most of us, his love affair with two wheels began in his youth where he bought his first bike, hiding it at his brother’s house so his dad wouldn’t know about it. Unfortunately, his dad saw him riding one day and confronted him whereupon Bruce had a decision to make…home or the bike. He chose home and his passion would wait a couple of decades before buying his first dealership in Daytona.

Already successful in the automobile business, the dealership began as somewhat of a hobby. But as Bruce told me, “my desire to hang out at the dealership quickly spilled over from the weekends into my workweek and it was then I knew it was time to leave the cars behind”.  And the rest, as they say, is history. 

But his legacy reaches beyond the festivals and the 2 story, 109,000 square ft. monument to biking, Destination Daytona,  he built a few years back. To Bruce it was all about the people. I had the privilege of getting to know Bruce over the years after interviewing him for a book I’m writing and during that interview his eyes lit up when talking about the ‘kids’. 

The ‘kids’ spoke to his passion for helping others, specifically Camp Boggy Creek for sick children. Along with the late Paul Newman and General Norman Schwarzkopf, Bruce helped to not only found the camp, but in true Bruce fashion, remained the driving force behind its development raising millions of dollars. 

At the end of our interview he made me promise that in return for his time, I’d participate in his upcoming Ride for the Kids and I did. I along with thousands of bikers met at his dealership for a ride through Old Florida to enjoy bar-b-que, listen to music and tour the facility. 

It was that day Bruce’s gentle touch showed me the true power we bikers possess when coming together for fellowship and a cause. Again, he knew that I’d leave part of my heart at Camp Boggy Creek, which in Bruce’s inimitable way, was the point to the day. 

Ride for the Kids

They say the measure of a man is the legacy he leaves behind and if so, Bruce Rossemeyer is truly the stuff of legend. Within the biking community his name is synonymous with one of the biggest brands on earth – Harley Davidson and within the rest of society; his name is synonymous with caring about and giving to others. Not many people, in or out of biking can make that claim.

Bruce, you were taken from us too soon as there was still much to be done – I guess God needed a wingman. 

Dwain – The BusinessBiker

As always – This is just my opinion, I could be wrong.  So, if you disagree or simply want to pile on, please do so either here on the BLOG or email me directly at Navigator@BikersGuidetoBusiness.Com  I look forward to hearing from you.

How many times have you heard someone say, “If I only knew then what I know now…”

My entire life I’ve been both blessed and cursed with a restless soul. It’s what drives me to achieve, as I’m rarely satisfied with the status quo. I’ve always looked to the future and have been able to figure out where it is I want and need to go. 

In the early days, it was simple survival and then, as I began to achieve a certain level of success, it became more complex. At each step, one side of my brain said “Take it easy” while the other side said “That’s done, what’s next?” And, to my great fortune, I’ve more often than not heeded the call of what’s next.

It’s served me well for one simple reason in that nothing remains stagnant in business. In always looking to the horizon, I’ve had to continually learn new things and explore new ways of applying old ones. It’s kept me focused, hungry and in fighting-shape to take on the new challenges of the day. 

This is why I don’t fear the new generation of business men and women entering the game today armed with their new technologies and wide-eyed wonder. Hell, I’m just as excited as they are, and in most cases, just as up to date on technology, but with more experience. In the case of business, at least, I am a twenty-something with a fifty-something’s knowledge and experience. 

So if you find yourself a bit off balance in these challenging times, all it takes is the right attitude and an insatiable appetite for learning. You just need to ask “Why?” and then set about finding the answers.

Because this new economic wave will only be a young person’s game if you let it.

Dwain – The BusinessBiker

As always – This is just my opinion, I could be wrong.  So, if you disagree or simply want to pile on, please do so either here on the BLOG or email me directly at Navigator@BikersGuidetoBusiness.Com  I look forward to hearing from you.

There are few industries out there not touched by today’s economy. One of the significant issues as I see it is the age of those affected. If you’re mid 40 and above things are seriously messing with your head…especially the farther north you are of 50.

What was once our five-year plan for either retirement or slowing down has now become a 10 year plan, or worse yet, no longer doable. The market has shrunk more than revenues; has also shrunk our ability to dream and plan. 

Every conversation is tinged with optimism – “There’s still money to be made out there!” Or “It’s just the New Normal and we have to adjust”. Both are accurate, yet simplistic and beg the question, not whether you can do it…but will you?

Entrepreneurs tend to look back on our successes romantically, remembering the struggles as great triumphs of accomplishment but forgetting the details. And those details more than anything else are what we must focus on in order to truly adjust to this new landscape. We need to remember the late nights that led to long weeks not just as dues paid, but what they were to us at the time…no big deal. 

In the early days we reveled in the long days because while chasing our dream, we were exploring, learning new things and creating something new. We didn’t know what we didn’t know, but were hell bent to learn it. We simply didn’t know any better.

Unfortunately, with experience and time, we now do know better…or do we?

I submit that in order to succeed in today’s economy, we must forget most of what made us successful and completely re-tool our brains. As we look forward it’s imperative that we erase our learned frame of reference in order to recapture that feeling of wide-eyed wonder. Naïveté is now the new black. 

There’s an entire generation of “twentysomethings” out there entering the game who don’t know any better, putting in those late nights and blissfully figuring it out as they go along. And if we don’t join them, we’re destined to be nothing more than a speed bump along their road to success.

Dwain – The BusinessBiker

As always – This is just my opinion, I could be wrong.  So, if you disagree or simply want to pile on, please do so either here on the BLOG or email me directly at Navigator@BikersGuidetoBusiness.Com  I look forward to hearing from you.

I read over the weekend where Victory Motorcycle sales are off 49% and we all know about Harley’s woes.  I also had breakfast this weekend with a close friend and biker who said his business was actually off about 90% so far this year!

It’s definitely a new game out there and in order to, (as I said in my last blog) ‘Take it TO the Street’ you must first take a step back. But one of the hardest things to do in a turn-around situation is to personally look at your business with a new set of eyes. This isn’t easy to do as you have those ties and that history with the company and the people inside it.  It’s much easier to fall into the trap of thinking that you’ve been successful doing it a certain way all these years and damn, if things just broke for you, that old way would work again.  Unfortunately, this time it won’t. 

To be sure, there are certain fundamentals to your business that will never change, but your approach to the market has to.  My friend and I spent breakfast brainstorming an entirely new way of approaching his market and he came up with an innovative approach that has tremendous promise.  Will it work?  Only time will tell, but at least he’s staring reality in the face and trying something new.

I suggest you reach out to five or six of the most respected entrepreneurs you know with no ties to your organization and ask them to apply a new set of eyes to your business.  I say five or six because it’s easy to overlook feedback from one or two, but if most agree on a certain course of action, you’ll have to take notice. 

Ask them to look at your organization as if they are a new investor and give you their unabashed opinion as to what to do. You want them to hold nothing back and to answer the following questions:

What is still the most attractive aspect to being in this business? 

What are the current market trends?

Where would their money and energies go? 

And most importantly, what would they cut or shift (beyond people)? 

You’ll end up with a valuable discussion focused solely on your business and collect some of the key ingredients needed to regain sound footing.  Then it’s just a matter of having the balls to do what’s necessary. 

Dwain – The BusinessBiker

As always – This is just my opinion, I could be wrong.  So, if you disagree or simply want to pile on, please do so either here on the BLOG or email me directly at Navigator@BikersGuidetoBusiness.Com  I look forward to hearing from you.

Are you thinking as big today as you did a year or so ago?  If you’re like most entrepreneurs, the answer is no.  This ‘new normal’ has scaled down people’s vision from the goals of tomorrow to surviving today. I now want to challenge you that where the game has changed, your attitude and outlook shouldn’t. 

I’m often told by new riders how they much prefer the casual nature of the open back roads to riding the super slabs.  Hell, what biker doesn’t.  But once in a while, in order to get to your ultimate destination it’s necessary to ride where the cagers and 18 wheelers rule and where the game gets more complex. 

Most inexperienced riders tend to a couple of things that will get them into trouble.  First, they get nervous and lose some confidence because things are flying by at a much faster pace and/or they ride the slab like on a back country road…meaning doing 55-60 mph while those around you are screaming by at 70. 

With either of those approaches, one of two things is bound to happen…your nervousness will cause you to make a mistake or riding as if on a back road will flat get your butt run over. 

It’s the same in business.  Certainly things are a bit screwy right now, but hey, now’s the time for guts and to continue to dream…to go for it.  Or as I read recently “A recession is a time when wealth transfers from the meek to the bold.”

When the rules of the road change you’ve got no choice but to be bold!

Dwain - The BusinessBiker

As always – This is just my opinion, I could be wrong.  So, if you disagree or simply want to pile on, please do so either here on the BLOG or email me directly at Navigator@BikersGuidetoBusiness.Com  I look forward to hearing from you.

In my last blog I showed you how I divide up my list of ‘must do’s’ in half.  One half are things I love to do and the other are things that must be done but not by me because I hate doing them.  So, now it’s time to delegate. 

Even though you’ve identified something as needing to be done by someone else it’s extremely difficult to actually let them have it.  That’s because we know how important this task is and that no one can or will do it as well as we do.  And that’s where my three fast and simple rules of delegation come in. 

Rule 1 – Nobody can do it as good as you – Who cares? It’s not a matter of their being able to do the task as well as you (because that’s impossible); it’s whether or not they can do it in an acceptable fashion.  In other words, achieve a successful result. 

Rule 2 – Make sure they love it – Is this something that the recipient loves to do?  If so, they will take it on and accomplish it with creativity and gusto.  If not, they will fail miserably…just like you would if you kept it.

Rule 3 – You still have to follow-up – Even though they are passionate about the task you’ve given them, they probably have more than one thing on their plate.  If you don’t follow-up with them you leave it up to their discretion as to which tasks on their plate will be done first.  In other words, help them to prioritize.  By following up you are also ensuring that they remain on track and that the creativity they bring to the task is acceptable to you. 

If you adhere to these three fast and simple rules, your own plate will remain clean(er), your stress level will decrease and you’ll get a ton more done.  And as an added bonus your people will continue to grow and along with it your company.

Dwain

The BusinessBiker

As always – This is just my opinion, I could be wrong.  So, if you disagree or simply want to pile on, please do so either here on the BLOG or email me directly at Navigator@BikersGuidetoBusiness.Com  I look forward to hearing from you.

In my last blog, I spoke of the need to get away from it all – no phone, email or companions – in order to clear your head and figure out what it is you need to do in order to achieve your goals.  Once you’ve done this and have made your list, the next step is to sift through it to determine who will carry out the steps.  Because trying to do it all is what got you into this mess to begin with.   

As I describe in my book, The Biker’s Guide to Business, The best way I’ve found to sift through the list is to put a check mark next to those things that are a ‘must do’ and put an X next to those that are simply ‘nice to do’.  Then flip to a clean sheet of paper and create a good old fashioned ‘T Account’ where you begin to bisect your list of ‘must do’s.  On the left, list those ‘must do’ tasks that you personally LOVE to do and are good at, and on the right list those tasks that you really don’t want to do or you are not good at and need to delegate. 

Ex:

                        Mine                                       Not Mine

                 Strategic Direction                     Accounting

                 Client Services                           Accounts Payable

                 Business Development               Human  Resources

Now, the key is figuring out whether or not you really love something.  My litmus test is if I wake up with a 101 degree fever and would still do them, then I love them.  If not, then I’m obviously not passionate about it and it needs to be delegated to someone within my organization who is in order to get done promptly and well. 

You know the tasks I’m talking about…they are the one’s that tend to live on your “to do” list day after day, constantly being bumped by more important things (like a root canal).  These are the ones you know need to be delegated, but don’t because no one will do them as well as you do – which is wrong. 

In my next blog I’ll let you know the best way I’ve found to delegate.  So build your list and I’ll show you how to make it happen.

Dwain, The Business Biker

As always – This is just my opinion, I could be wrong.  So, if you disagree or simply want to pile on, please do so either here on the BLOG or email me directly at Navigator@BikersGuidetoBusiness.Com  I look forward to hearing from you.