BE PREPARED!

During the summer I treated myself to a new Can Am Spyder tourer. Besides being a very cool machine to ride, it has also extended my motorcycle riding season by a couple of months because I don’t have to face the danger of being on a 2 wheel bike on slick icy roads.

At the end of October, I rode with a group of friends down to the mountainous terrain of Pennsylvania which we love to ride, only to find that, not only was it brutally cold, but the backroads were also quite icy and slick. I use a heated vest under my Gortex rainproof riding suite, double layer thermal gloves that are also made of Gortex in case it rains and waterproof safety boots to keep me dry.

How riding a motorcycle helps to be prepared for business success. One of the riders, who despite being experienced, surprisingly did not have an electric vest nor did he have the appropriate gloves. Each time we stopped, we thought that he was suffering from hyperthermia. The poor guy was shivering uncontrollably. We warned him up by wrapping him up with additional layers of clothing and fed him hot soup to increase his core body temperature.

We eventually got him home safely but it was a scary experience both for him and his riding buddies.

 Not being prepared is not an option when riding motorcycles. Experiencing hyperthermia while riding is not only dangerous for the rider, it’s also dangerous for other bikers in the group who tend to focus on the rider who is in pain, rather than on their own safety.

Not being prepared is also not an option when operating a business

Business leaders need to have a solid understanding of their financial numbers, metrics and ratios so that they can be well prepared in the face of potential danger.

Ensure that everyone in the organization is aware of the financial impact of making decisions such as discounting, stepping up costs, product mix etc.

In the absence of understanding the full impact of their decisions, they could be heading for disaster without even knowing it.