FEATURE
isn’t just about hiring talent, it’s about maintaining the right culture. One of the fastest ways to demotivate your top performers is to tolerate mediocrity. If someone isn’t delivering, dragging others down, or simply not pulling their weight, you have to act decisively. It might feel uncomfortable in the short term, but the long-term damage of inaction is far greater. Once the team is in place, you need a strategy. Clear targets, realistic budgets, a vision that people can get behind. It’s like preparing for a stage race. You don’t just show up on the start line and hope for the best. You study the course, understand the conditions, and plan your tactics accordingly.
Of course, things change. In fact, they always do.
Forecasts shift, supply chain issues arise, or consumer confidence wobbles. But agility is your friend. If your plan’s not working, don’t stick with it out of stubbornness. Re-evaluate. Adapt. Pivot. Those who succeed are the ones who can shift gears quickly and keep moving forward, not the ones who cling to yesterday’s roadmap.
Standing still, in this industry, is the same as going backwards. The pace of change, whether in retail, distribution, product trends or consumer behaviour means you have to constantly evolve. Ask yourself: are we doing this because it’s still the best way, or just because it’s what we’ve always done? Use your data to answer that question. Look at the numbers and really look. What’s selling, what’s stagnating, what’s costing you margin? Good data should inform your decisions, but don’t discount your instinct either. Experience counts. You often know when something feels
www.bikebiz.com (Top) The Madison Team at iceBike. (Above) Dominic during the iceBike panel
off, even before the numbers confirm it. Equally, when something is clearly working, like a product line, a service offering, a marketing approach, don’t be afraid to back it. Support it, scale it, and push it further. Get behind the winners in your business. Give them the visibility and support they need to thrive, whether that’s prime shelf space, front-of-website banners, or simply making sure you’re well stocked. This point on stock is crucial. If something’s flying off the shelves, don’t get caught short. Hand-to-mouth ordering is risky, especially in a sector like ours with long lead times. If you’re not planning properly and forecasting accurately, you’ll lose sales, simple as that and when you’re out of stock, customers don’t wait, they go
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