I was flipping through the channels recently and ran across an interesting show on MTV. Funny, I am actually old enough to remember when MTV showed music videos. Imagine that – I must be maturing. The name of the show was Pimp My Ride. For the uneducated, they take a horrible looking car and modify the exterior and interior with all of the latest and coolest gadgets. They called the gadgets “bling-bling” and other terms that I had never heard before. I have never even considered that you would need a microwave and blender in a car.
As I was watching the show, I kept thinking of my first car. I was the proud owner of a 1974 Vega in 1980 that I purchased for the grand total of $400. The car was two-tone, rust and bondo. When it rained water poured through a rust hole at the top of the windshield. It did have both a cassette and an 8-track player which I thought was cool at the time. Cassettes and 8-tracks do not seem as cool 30 years later.
In the year that I owned the car I put over $400 in motor oil in the car. There is a very good reason why you do not see ANY Vega's on the road today. The last time I saw the car it was sitting on the side of the Interstate with the keys laying on the hood.
I could not help but wonder what it would have been like to “pimp” my Vega just like they were doing on the show. They were taking old clunker cars and making them look great without touching the engine or structure of the car. Or at least they did not show anyone doing work on the chassis or engine. If I had done the same thing to my Vega, I would have had a nice looking car that used 2 quarts of motor oil per tank of gas.
Many of us have attempted to do the same thing with our business. We have a clunker business but instead of doing a major engine overhaul we try to add some “bling-bling” and hope that people do not see the white smoke billowing out of the exhaust pipe. I do not mean to offend by calling a business a clunker, but there are times when we spend time working on accessories and bling when we need to be getting our hands dirty working under the hood. Or we may even need to just cut our losses, sell the clunker or shut it down and move on to the next business vehicle.
With my Vega, I had a car that would get me around most of the time, but I did not have a high performance vehicle that I could depend on. After a year it was an easy decision to cut my losses and get a new vehicle. Or at least something that was new to me. As painful as it may seem, it may be best to do the same in business also.
It is so easy to spend time and money accessorizing our business with the latest gadgets such as advertising, sales, SEO, marketing, branding, social media, PPC, automated systems and techniques when our basic foundational business focus is unclear.
It may not be easy to analyze what makes your business special and unique compared to your competition. Or to evaluate the structure and systems that exist in your business to determine if you really have a business that will scale to a larger level and travel on the interstates instead of the dirt roads.
In business, it is critical that you ask yourself the tough questions so that you are not wasting time and money with a project that may look nice but not be dependable.
What is the foundation of your business?
Does it have a solid chassis and engine that can withstand rough roads and high speeds?
Does the engine need an overhaul or even need replacing so that the business can grow and flourish?
Are you wasting time and energy on accessories and bling when the foundation of the business needs work?
Are you confident that you have a unique selling proposition that separates your vehicle from others on the road?
Do you stay focused on what you do and why you are unique or do you get distracted by shiny objects?
Don’t be stranded by a highly accessorized business that has a weak engine. And definitely never drive a Vega.
As I was watching the show, I kept thinking of my first car. I was the proud owner of a 1974 Vega in 1980 that I purchased for the grand total of $400. The car was two-tone, rust and bondo. When it rained water poured through a rust hole at the top of the windshield. It did have both a cassette and an 8-track player which I thought was cool at the time. Cassettes and 8-tracks do not seem as cool 30 years later.
In the year that I owned the car I put over $400 in motor oil in the car. There is a very good reason why you do not see ANY Vega's on the road today. The last time I saw the car it was sitting on the side of the Interstate with the keys laying on the hood.
I could not help but wonder what it would have been like to “pimp” my Vega just like they were doing on the show. They were taking old clunker cars and making them look great without touching the engine or structure of the car. Or at least they did not show anyone doing work on the chassis or engine. If I had done the same thing to my Vega, I would have had a nice looking car that used 2 quarts of motor oil per tank of gas.
Many of us have attempted to do the same thing with our business. We have a clunker business but instead of doing a major engine overhaul we try to add some “bling-bling” and hope that people do not see the white smoke billowing out of the exhaust pipe. I do not mean to offend by calling a business a clunker, but there are times when we spend time working on accessories and bling when we need to be getting our hands dirty working under the hood. Or we may even need to just cut our losses, sell the clunker or shut it down and move on to the next business vehicle.
With my Vega, I had a car that would get me around most of the time, but I did not have a high performance vehicle that I could depend on. After a year it was an easy decision to cut my losses and get a new vehicle. Or at least something that was new to me. As painful as it may seem, it may be best to do the same in business also.
It is so easy to spend time and money accessorizing our business with the latest gadgets such as advertising, sales, SEO, marketing, branding, social media, PPC, automated systems and techniques when our basic foundational business focus is unclear.
It may not be easy to analyze what makes your business special and unique compared to your competition. Or to evaluate the structure and systems that exist in your business to determine if you really have a business that will scale to a larger level and travel on the interstates instead of the dirt roads.
In business, it is critical that you ask yourself the tough questions so that you are not wasting time and money with a project that may look nice but not be dependable.
What is the foundation of your business?
Does it have a solid chassis and engine that can withstand rough roads and high speeds?
Does the engine need an overhaul or even need replacing so that the business can grow and flourish?
Are you wasting time and energy on accessories and bling when the foundation of the business needs work?
Are you confident that you have a unique selling proposition that separates your vehicle from others on the road?
Do you stay focused on what you do and why you are unique or do you get distracted by shiny objects?
Don’t be stranded by a highly accessorized business that has a weak engine. And definitely never drive a Vega.
Tim Winders has over 25 years experience as a business owner, entrepreneur, coach and consultant. He founded Accelerate Growth NOW to provide business owners with the training, coaching and resources to double, triple and 10X their business. To learn more and to claim your FREE business growth resources, visit AccelerateGrowthNOW.com.
