The garage door lifts up. There in the hot hazy summer air, it sits.

A 1949 Harley-Davidson FL Hydra-Glide. Muscular and gleaming. Chrome reflections dance all around the space as the afternoon sun strikes the metal.

Badass.

Getting one of these rare finds is a miracle of a lifetime.

But you own it. In fact, for a few years now.

At the time you just had to have it.

Your other friends are jealous, up to the point when you open your mouth.

“Nah, I don’t ride it. Never learned. Just never found the time.”

Huh?

Nobody can believe it.

Why would you buy such an incredible piece of machinery and not want to blow the doors off your neighbors as you rumble down the street?

“I can’t drive it. It’s too complicated, and frankly, it scares me a little. I just never worked up a plan to learn.”

It just sits there, never used.

Sound ridiculous?

Do You Have a “Motorcycle” Sitting Unused in Your Shop?

No, I don’t mean that Harley.

I’m pointing to that DTG printer, polybagger, cylindrical press, embroidery sample machine, heat press, vinyl cutter or sublimation printer.

You know that chunk of hardware that you “had to have” a short time ago. It was going to solve all of your problems, remember?

The cost of that awesomeness was burning a hole in your pocket. Delivery day was like Christmas.

Now it just sits there, the silent ringmaster of the dust bunny circus.

You once had big dreams and high hopes for that stuff. But you never really learned to use it to it’s best advantage.

Maybe you were too busy.

It could have been a procrastination issue. Hey, that strikes down the best of them.

So now it sits there in the metaphorical garage until you decide whether to put it on the used equipment market or not.

Raise Your Hand

Raise your hand if that describes something in your shop!

I know, it’s kind of embarrassing.

Don’t forget that, it could even be something intangible like your website redevelopment, social media marketing initiative, or getting going with InkSoft.

It’s ok.

Because it’s not too late.

Today is the day we are going to work up a plan to breathe new life into that idea. It made a lot of sense once, and it can again.

Ready?

Don’t Let Guilty Feelings Enter Into the Discussion

The first point I want to make is that you can’t beat yourself up because somewhere along the way, that great idea got lost.

Starting over is hard enough without hamstringing the process. We all stub our toe.

Remember, that change is hard. Starting something new requires effort. Often, it means conquering your schedule and making time for it.

Instead, focus on what the end state might look like and paint that picture for yourself.

Can you visualize your shop using that software or equipment and making money? Will you enjoy the value that it will bring to your business?

Of course.

Now, let’s get started and work out a plan. We need to learn how to ride that “motorcycle”.

Get that sucker out of the garage!

10 Point Plan to Go Beyond “Never Used”

Regardless of what your “motorcycle” may be in your shop, below is a simple ten point plan guideline to push you in the right direction.

You can do this!

1) Understand the Value

The first step is to understand the value of getting that “motorcycle” in the business operational. You started that journey once.

What made you make the purchase originally? Was it going to make something easier, create more sales, or finish production faster?

• Making something easier might have required you to learn a new skill. Like riding the motorcycle, if you never start, you’ll never ride.
• Maybe it was sales oriented. It’s easy to dream of a bank account exploding with cash. What might be a short term or long term realistic goal for sales? How will that help your shop’s bottom line?
• If it was production oriented, think about how much faster or better your orders will be produced. Think about the problems it might solve.

The point here is for you to focus on the value that the “motorcycle” could bring to you.

Visualize that value actually happening. Can you jot down some loosely targeted goals?

This will help later with planning.

2) Research

What do you need to make it work?

For a new motorcycle owner, that might mean just scheduling some lessons and a trip to the DMV since a new license is required.

If you’ve never driven a motorcycle before it can be intimidating. Like anything new, it is scary to start.

More than likely finding someone to show you the ropes is a great place to kick-off the work.

Especially if they are experienced in teaching beginners with best industry practices and concepts. Why struggle when you can get an expert to hand you the answers to the test?

Who is available for that?

Are there any research tools that you can use to obtain pertinent information?

For example, at InkSoft we put together a free e-book on running highly profitable online stores for companies, schools, and non-profits. Not to mention, we have an entire staff dedicated to helping our customers achieve their goals.

What do you need to know to get going on your “learn to ride the motorcycle” project?

Make a list.

3) Ask Questions

This starts with being honest, but not with blaming anyone.

• What went wrong initially?
• Can you sort out what you need to get back on track?
• Is there something that’s keeping from using the machine or technology right at this moment?
• Do you have the right people in place?
• Is everything functioning? Are there any parts you need to replace or accounts you need to set up? Solve what’s missing to make it work.

If your project failed originally due to time, ask yourself how you are going to budget your time differently this time around?

Dig in and get those questions asked and answered.

4) Write an Outline

This part is crucial.

Jot down all of your ideas, needs, and initial plans on starting.

• People might not be trained, but they can be. You just have to plan on scheduling that activity.
• Parts might not be ordered, you just have to determine what you need and handle that task.
• Coaches are available, but they need to be found.

Start a brief outline of what you need. What can you delegate to your staff members?

Use a calendar, and put down some dates on when activities should happen or are due.

5) Involve Your Team

Next, you need to involve your team and present your rough plan outline.

What do they think?

Do they have any questions? Here’s where you should hear all of their objections, challenges or thoughts so you can identify, discuss and solve them.

This activity is handled together, so there is buy-in with the rough draft.

Resolve your initial feedback challenges here.

Remember, your “motorcycle” will be repositioned from never used to always used. But you need your staff to play key roles in that process.

Their opinion and thoughts count.

6) Write Your Operations or Business Plan

Here’s the nitty gritty work.

Spend some quality time and write final operations or business plans for your “motorcycle”.

“Here’s what we are going to do”.

Include SMART goals to help define your objectives. Remember a SMART goal is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.

Review this plan with your team one last time. It should be detailed.

• Staff members should have assignments with due dates.
• Training should be coordinated with regular duty coverage and positioned with dates and times on a calendar.
• You should have those SMART goals written out.

Remember, a goal without a plan is a wish.

Make it happen.

Operations Planning

A good operation plan is essentially five ideas. For this project, think about why it didn’t work out and how working on these issues could resolve that challenge.

• Who Should Be Working on What? – This details your people and who needs to be involved.
• What Resources Are Needed? Resources can be supplies, but also time, money, or training.
• Examine the Risks – Thing can go south. What are the most common problems? Do you understand them?
• Preventing the Risks – How are you going to stop these from happening?
• Strategic Plan – Once you’ve outlined the four areas above, write a strategic plan in a SMART goal format.

Operational planning is all about creating a positive direction and establishing accountability.

What do you need to do, and who is doing it?

Business Planning

It is not uncommon to have a master business plan for the entire business, and also one for just a single segment. There is a wonderful free template at the Small Business Administration that I have been recommending for years.

Use it.

A basic outline of what you’ll need to focus on are these areas:

• Executive Summary – Snapshot of your business and a brief outline of key goals.
• Company Description – Information on what you do, what differentiates your business from others, and the markets you serve.
• Market Analysis – Overview of the research into your business market, customers, and competitors.
• Organization and Management – Detail on how everything runs in your shop.
• Service or Product Line – What are you selling? How will it benefit your customers?
• Marketing and Sales – How do you plan to market your business? What is your sales strategy? Outline your pricing strategy.
• Funding – Do you need more capital to get going or to grow?
• Financial Projections – P&L, Breakeven Analysis and more.
• Appendix – All of your documentation.

One of the areas that people have problems with is that they make a big purchase to solve a problem, but don’t outline a roadmap on how they are going to do it. A business plan can provide a compass for you to make good decisions.

7) Execute

You don’t need a perfect plan, just one that gives you direction. Action always works better than waiting on perfect.

I’m not advocating for doing anything half-way, but a lot of folks get hung up in the planning stages. Sometimes “good enough” will work.

Get going and be open for feedback and learning what’s not working. Don’t be afraid of failure, as that’s where the real learning happens.

There won’t be a foolproof time to get started.

You just “gotta go”.

8) Tweak

There will be problems. Herein lies your opportunity to change your plans and strengthen them.

Remember, shoot bullets not cannonballs. Test your tweaks.

Also, make sure you listen to the troops on the ground. They are the ones doing the work, so if you involve them in the process consistently they will usually have the best ideas.

What do they need to make it better? Is anything a pain in the butt in the process?

Are there problems with how your customers react, buy, or feel about your initiative?

Solve the pain points.

9) Change

Once your tweaks to the plan are working, implement them into your overall strategy.

Make sure you train your staff on the improvements and discuss what wasn’t working and why you made the switch.

Communication is always critical.

A great way to do this isn’t for your leaders to make the presentation or training, but instead, involve the staff actually doing the work. It’s a huge morale booster to have regular employees involved at that level. People support what they help create.

Keep everyone involved.

10) Rinse & Repeat

If things are humming along nicely, just keep going.

Any problems that show up can be resolved.

Identify.

Discuss.

Solve.

Be sure to review your process constantly.

That “motorcycle” sure is more fun when it is thundering down the road, isn’t it?

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“Without continual progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” – Benjamin Franklin

“We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” – Benjamin Franklin

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin