I was doing some painted graphics last week on a cool hot rod. The car was very nice but lacked that personal touch meaning it needed my handiwork (www.mikeyspinstriping.com) real bad. The color on the car sorta killed the WOW factor. It was a boring gray color and needed visual help. So I did what I’ve been doing for the last 30+ years and added my touch.
While laying down the lines I got to thinking about all the cool cars I’ve toiled over - building, painting, restoring, customizing, personalizing…you know…making them my own to reflect my personality. The job I was doing on the little hot rod was enough to keep any “arteest” busy but my mind was striking references to how the hard work involved in building a cool car relates to starting and building a good business that you can call “yours”.
If you’ve never restored a classic, built a tire burning hot rod or massaged metal on a slinky custom with your bare hands then you won’t understand the hardships that goes with getting it done. It ain’t easy.
Build a Car… Then a Business
My 37 Chevy Sedan delivery. Going from nothing to cool takes lot’s of work, money, and lessons learned…the hard way.
I’ve had people ask me what it takes to be successful in business. I’ve put in nearly 35 years as an entrepreneur with more failures than successes. So there are no easy answers to that question. But I will tell them this for starters; go out and buy an old car and restore it from the ground up doing as much of the work as you can. Once you get it done and you drive it down the road, you’ll have some idea of what is involved in accomplishment.
Of course most wannabe entrepreneurs will say, “I know nothing about old cars. How can I do that?” My point exactly. Then I’ll ask themif they ever built a business. Most have not and have no clue what they are in for. The idea of doing the car sounds like a good idea once all the questions are asked and ansers revealed.
Building a car from the ground up is much like building a business from scratch. You have desire, or need, to own something that is all yours. You want it to look good, fulfill a passion and you want results.
Building a business is one of if not the most difficult things you can do in life. Not counting raising a family and marriage. Businesses are born of an idea, inspiration, dream just like that car you built. You decide on a plan of action, you get up the nerve to tackle it and then you go. Full speed ahead.
As with most car projects there will be problems that you have to figure out. Business has its probelms too. You gotta scratch your head, look at the issues squarely in the face and do whatever is necessary to make it right. After you’ve done that a few times you’ll soon get to know how to deal with those little monsters.
When I built a business or a car from scratch the lessons were tough but I persevered. That’s what you must have to build something from nothing into value and personal satisfaction.
I’ve done my share of cool rides and learned what not to do so I can do. I’ve endured many cold nights and hot days full of frustrations wondering if it will ever get done. I even did a 56 Chevy wagon in four (yes 4) months with the worst hemorrhoids ever losing 30 pounds in the process. YEEEOUCH!!!
There was one vehicle in particular that I was very passionate about. Back in 1995 I started building a rare but rusty 1965 Chevy Panel truck. While that wasn’t the ride of choice for many it was something I wanted to do. And I figured it would be the perfect advertising medium with my striping biz name painted on the sides.
I spent the better part of two years building that truck into a vehicle I could be proud of. The process was discouraging at times but I muddled my way through till the end of what was a hardcore lesson in finishing what you start.
I rebuilt the engine, installed the rear end, tranny, new suspension, converted old brakes system to power discs, installed new wiring, tilt steering, new gauges, weather-stripping, did all the metal body and paint, installed the glass, shaved all the barbs, new retro style rims. I wanted it to look like no other.
The proudest moment for me was when I cranked up that newly built high-performance small block 350 and heard it come to life with a roaring rumble through open headers. Man that was a sound I yearned for.
After I got it timed correctly and tuned, it was make or break. It started on the first try and and although there were no mufflers it was music to my ears and heart.
After more fine tuning, bleeding the brakes and other tweaks, I drove it down the road for a test drive. She ran great. Yep, you guessed right. I had a big smile on my face the whole time I was rolling down the road with no tags, no insurance, nothing but pride.
2 years of hard work pays off
It was tough to get it to look like the pic above, but guess what? I did it my way and that panel truck was all mine with my handiwork all over it. My style and the look I desired.
Your business too should reflect your style, your personality.
Much like starting a business, building a car involves lots of thought, time and money to get it the way you want. You have to wallow in the dirt and grease, bust knuckles and lay awake at night wondering if you’ll ever get to cruise down Main street in style.
If you have a good plan on how you want that vehicle to look and run and stick with it you may reach your goals. The same goes for business. A good but flexible plan is one of the stepping stones to success.
“If I fail, then I failed, But at least I know that I failed on my own and I didn’t fail by letting somebody else decide what my future was gonna be”
As all car guys know, hot rods and custom vehicles are really never fully done. They will need tweaks and adjustments to keep them running efficiently and trustworthy. But that’s the fun of the hobby; there’s always something to do with your car. Through all that time and effort you build a relationship with that vehicle.
Like building a car and all the hard times that goes with success, you’ll be lying in bed at 2am wondering why in the hell did you ever get involved in a business with so many challenges. Why? Because you are not like others who only want go through life earning a paycheck. Living the easy way out never striving for financial independence through hard work and maybe even getting filthy stinkin’ rich through it all!
Taking risks so you can be your own self is not for the timid. Anyone can work a job and live an easy pre-determined life. It takes guts to cut life up into scrappy pieces and try to put it all together again your way.
“Life is like a car…some people will obey the speed limit but some of us have to push the limits regardless of the consequences”
Starting, running, buying a business cannot be for everyone on this planet. Like a normal plain vanilla (I like vanilla ice cream) car, anyone can buy one, turn the key and drive away and there many customized, hot rodded and restored vehicles on the market for the right price. Anyone can do it that way - turn-key. But it takes real man or woman to lay out a good plan, have the desire to do good and get out there and bust ass to make it their own.
In the last 40 years I’ve probably built over 150 cars in some form or fashion on various levels. I’ve owned over 300 since the age of 15. Not all were full builds/restorations but most I did something to by changing the personality of the vehicle to fit me.
Does Bad Things to Good Cars
I’ve had many new vehicles that I did bad things to but my passion has always been the bad hot rods and cool customs. Like I said I’ve owned and built many so I do know something about what it takes to get it done. My way.
Through all the hardships and busted knuckles, along with unheard of cuss words thrown in, I learned the hard way that if you want something to be yours with your name on it – business, car, life, whatever, then you must get up off the excuse couch, figure out what it is you want to do and get in that hot rod and go man go.
Most people think all they have to do is come up with a cool idea, borrow some coin, hang a sign and people will beat the doors down giving dollars. No. Why? Because it ain’t gonna happen if you don’t get out there and hustle your ass off like there’s no tomorrow!
If you want to claim your life as your own, be the boss of the company, build that bad ass hot rod and burn some rubber then you have to quit sitting there just thinking about it. You have to pull yourself out of dark hole, put the key in the ignition, throw that somebitch in gear and smoke the tires. If you don’t then someone else will beat you to the winners circle.
Succeeding, or at least surviving business, is a tough life. Like a long and wonderful marriage (I’m still with my sweetie Rachel since ’76), making anything worthwhile work is worth all the frustration, disappointments and setbacks. Why? Because if you never suffer the bad shit how in the hell will you ever learn what not to do?
Hey, life was tough long before you ever came out of your mother. You fought for life in her womb all the way till daylight shone through and you sucked God-given oxygen in order to live a miserable life. Well, that little life lesson right there proves that it ain’t easy grabbing what makes you, you.
Now…get out there and mess something up.
Posted by MikeyCee 
