A few years ago, I participated in the Amgen California Coast Classic. The bike ride began in San Francisco and ended in Los Angeles.   I know what you’re thinking! What sane person rides 525 miles in 8 days – on purpose?  Besides it being a fundraiser for the Arthritis Foundation, it was a fun and exciting personal challenge. Although I’m not Lance Armstrong, I did employ a technique used by professional cyclists to improve my performance – drafting.

Believe it or not, this is the same principle used to accelerate business growth. A strategic coach reduces drag, blocks the head winds of resistance, shares in the workload, and improves performance.  In fact, the faster your business is growing – or the faster you want to grow – the more important it is for you to engage a strategic coach with whom you can draft.

Wikipedia defines drafting as a “technique where moving objects align in a close group reducing the overall effect of drag.” Most commonly used in cycling, car racing, and speed skating, drafting is also found in nature as demonstrated by a flock of geese flying in “V” formation.  Besides significantly reducing the energy required to maintain a certain speed (some experts say as much as 40%), drafting actually pushes you forward.

It’s time for entrepreneurs to capitalize on what cyclist, speed skaters, and geese have known for some time –drafting improves performance.

Business is an entirely new and different skill foreign to most of those who launch and grow a business.

Most people come to the world of business skilled in their particular craft.  Be it photography, web design, automotive repair, chiropractor, or healthcare yet few come prepared with the unique skillfulness required to grow a successful business.

Just as going out for a run each day doesn’t make you a capable runner, owning a business doesn’t make you skilled in the art of running a business.  In fact, in many ways, not knowing – or being untrained – can actually be more damaging as one develops poor habits that ultimately create poor performance.

If you’re going to be a skilled business owner – having acquired mastery – you need to learn business with the same fervor with which you mastered the craft you are selling.

Think about it.