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.

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