Business (and Highway) 101: Everything I need to know about
by MARK GARDINER
So you��ve got an MBA. The last thing you probably want to hear is that instead of studying for years, preparing all those cases, and paying six figures to your alma mater, you could have learned all you needed to know cruising the highway on your Harley. (OK, maybe you��d want to take your Ducati to the odd track day, too; think of that as the equivalent of an advanced seminar.)
Here are ten vital business lessons you can learn from ten of the most influential entrepreneurs in the history of motorcycling.
1.) Soichiro Honda �C Lesson: Find your own way The son of a village blacksmith, Honda was exposed to bicycles when they were brought into his father��s shop for repair. He had only a primary school education, but showed a striking aptitude for both engineering and business. Before starting the Honda Motor Company to make motorized bicycles in postwar Japan, he had already built up two successful businesses, one supplying piston rings to Toyota, and another making propellers for the Japanese air force. Mr. Honda was anything but a typical Japanese businessman. A rugged individualist, he refused to participate in the ��keiretsu�� alliances between companies, which typically gave big banks a strong influence in business decisions. When virtually all Japanese motorbikes had noisy, smelly two-stroke motors he decided to make a four-stroke. That typified a willingness to plan and invest for long-term success even if it meant ignoring prevailing ��wisdom.�� One of the motorcycles that benefited from that insight was the Super Cub step-through. It was introduced in 1958 and is still produced almost unmodified today. Honda recently sold the 50 millionth Super Cub, making it the best selling vehicle of all time.
2.) George Hendee �C Lesson: You don��t need to know, you need to know what you need to know Hendee was one of the most successful bicycle racers in Massachusetts at the turn of the century �C at one point, he won 302 races out of 309! He started a company making his own bicycles, which sold well, thanks to his racing reputation.
Many of the very first motorcycles were ��pacers�� used to train bicycle racers. They were typically unreliable but Hendee noticed that Oscar Hedstrom��s ran very well. In 1901, Hendee approached Hedstrom and told him that his dream was to start a company devoted to making motorized bicycles. They called their company Indian, and in short order it was America��s leading motorcycle manufacturer. In 1912, Indian sold over 20,000 units.
3.) Arthur Davidson �C Lesson: Support your product after the sale While his friend Bill Harley and to a lesser extent the other Davidson brothers provided the technical know-how, the early business success of Harley-Davidson was largely due to Arthur Davidson. In 1910 he set out to enroll a national network of dealers. He also recognized the importance of factory-training for dealer service staff, and the importance of advertising if H-D was ever to surpass Indian in annual sales.
4.) Vaughn Beals �C Lesson: Quality-control rules By the mid-��70s after years of AMF mismanagement, Harley-Davidson had lost almost all customer loyalty and profits were in freefall. When a group of company executives led by Vaughn Beals offered to buy the division for $75 million, AMF quickly agreed.
After the 1981 leveraged buyout, Beals led an amazing corporate turnaround. He funded new product development and implemented world-class quality control. It��s impossible to know what would have happened to the H-D brand if Beals had not risen up to save it, but it��s certain that no one else could have done a better job at rehabilitating it.
5.) John Bloor �C Lesson: Never underestimate the value of your brand, never take it for granted Like Harley-Davidson, Triumph was a company that had fallen on hard times �C more than once. In the 1920s the company made an ill-fated move to produce cars as well and in 1936 an entrepreneur named Jack Sangster drove a hard bargain, acquiring the motorcycle business at a good price. Sangster��s business instincts nearly make him worthy of a place on this list, too. He hired the brilliant Edward Turner and after turning a handsome profit on sales, sold the company to BSA for another big payday in 1951.
From the mid-��70s through the mid-��80s Triumph died an agonizingly slow death. The brand would have vanished altogether had John Bloor, a real estate developer, not bought the old factory in Meriden. Against all advice, Bloor decided to build a new factory in nearby Hinckley. He spent millions designing new motorcycles that were unveiled at the Cologne Motorcycle Show in 1990. While those first ��new�� Triumphs got mixed reviews, the company has shown a remarkable willingness to go its own way, producing a line of unique machines that once again have earned it a devoted fan base.j
6.) Count Domenico Agusta �C Lesson: Follow your passion This Italian Count ran MV Agusta during its heyday between the end of WWII and the early ��70s. During that time, the company was really a helicopter manufacturer with a small motorcycle subsidiary. The road-going motorcycles they made would never warrant including the Count on this list, but thanks to his own fierce pride and competitive streak, the company also funded the greatest Grand Prix racing team of all time.
