The first car I owned after passing my driving test was an Innocenti Mini Cooper S. It was a great car, pillarbox red with a black roof, and I loved it.
Exhilarating to drive, and also very scary, it was so light and fast that it was all too easy to get into trouble. Luckily, because it was so nippy and responsive, it was also just as easy to get quickly out of harm’s way.
The old-style Mini was very low and close to the road, and the suspension was so tight that I felt every bump. As I sped along with only inches of metal between me and the tarmac, I definitely knew I was driving at speed! I felt every movement and nd I also felt very small and vulnerable as the big trucks sped past me. No safety cage, no airbags. Just me — and that tiny, racing steering wheel — between delight and disaster. As I drove, adrenalin pumping, I certainly felt alive.
Just like running a small business, then!
When you own your own business, you are always inches away from exhilaration — when you get the new contract, sign the new deal, get the order — or disappointment, as the contract falls through, the deal is called off, the order rejected, or your competitors go thundering past you.
As you meet each business challenge, often with adrenalin pumping, you’re vulnerable. There’s no protection to speak of, just you and the market, and if you don’t drive that business forward, with skill, flair and guts, you can come a nasty cropper.
You certainly know you’re alive! (Particularly in these interesting and testing times.)
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