Come for the Ride!

As an avid automobile enthusiast, as well as entrepeneaur, it’s always interesting to find a parallel between my hobbies and my businesses. Such is the case when I got this month’s copy of SportsCar magazine. SportsCar magazine is the official club magazine of the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America). This month, an article by Randy Pobst (a well known professional racer) caught my attention in his column. “Planning Your Races” (as he calls this article) talks all about “reducing” risk over the course of the race in order to finish as well as possible. Consistant high finishes are key when you’re chasing a racing championship. This is very similar to trying to become the market leader in a given market. Making high cost, high risk moves can give you a huge payout, but more often times than not you will “end up next to the other guy in the gravel trap”, as Randy puts it.

One of the more important concepts in the article deals with the concept of watching your competitors (for a few laps) to determine what their strengths and weaknesses are. If you go in with your hair on fire trying to make passes without knowing your competitor, you might inadvertently subject yourself to risk that might be avoided by a lap or two of research. Watching, listening and planning is key. Obviously at some point you have to take the leap to make the pass, but learning your opponent’s weaknesses is key to minimizing risk.

Another form of this research comes through race engineers. They work with you before and during the race (over the radio) to tell you what opponent will do or is doing during the race. They are knowledgeable about other races on the track with you. They know who’s fast, who’s a hot-head, which cars are prone to breaking and which cars are going to be the main competition. They are complimentary to an advisory board, people in the industry who have been through the early stages of where you are and have “made it”. They are benevolent souls who aren’t in the “driver’s seat” anymore, but want to help the next generation make their mark and, again, minimize their risk by directing them towards actions that will maximize their goals and minimize their failures.

Though it may seem cliche, running a business is akin to driving a race car. Every week is another race and constantly finishing well will put your business high in the rankings. Making impatient, rash moves may put you ahead one week and behind the next. A few weeks of poor finishes can lead to frustration that snowballs. Planning and thinking ahead is an ongoing and evolving process while racing or in business. You have to constantly reassess yourself to make sure you’re decisions are taking you to your goal. As Randy ends the article, “To continue pounding this into your head, planning means planning to finish. All the crying and blaming and finger-pointing in the world will not unbend that suspension and get you back on track. Planning means using your head, not just your heart, or your hormones.”