Happy New Year

A Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year in 2008. We are probably all full of turkey and all the trimmings but sure, that is what it is all about, celebrations, friends, good food, good wines and generally having a good time. As a person who is in to books I am delighted to say that I received some as presents this Christmas which was a change from the traditional socks, smellies, etc. If you want to get some good car books then go to http://www.autocruising.com/ and you will find an excellent selection to choose from, from normal car books to hot-rod to auto-racing to show-cars etc, they are all there.

I wish everyone a very good New Year and may you have all that you wish yourselves.

Why do you want to be perfect?

I recently attended a meeting with a group of people who were entrepreneurs in my local area, it really was a brain-storming exercise with the topic 'How to start a new business as quickly as possible'. I will not go into the finer detail of our discussions however the beauty of brain-storming exercises is that they can throw up some very interesting views and topics. The one topic that stood out and we all agreed it was something we all were guilty of was the fact that before we started a new business, we carried out a lot of research, went in to a lot of detail, talked to a lot of people, were put off by a lot of people who brought up all sorts of problems and issues as to why the business would not work, and the list went on of the pre-launch details, our main concern was, we wanted the business to be perfect from day one.
We all agreed that at times we had been swayed by the comments of others and had been put off. Trying to seek perfection from day one has killed a lot of new businesses so I am inclined now to look at start-ups in a slightly different way, I am not saying 'Don't research and don't listen or talk to others' but what I am saying is 'Don't get too deep and don't waste time listening to others who maybe through jealously or envy would rather that you just remained a little sheep'.
If I had implemented all the business ideas I have had over the years I would be a happy bunny but as with everyone else I was put off before everything was perfected.
I want to throw a suggestion at you which came out of our meeting and we agreed that it was maybe a better way to move forward in a lot of instances, obviously some companies MUST HAVE perfection. What I am talking about here is the type of business you can set up and let yourself go a little, to quote a saying 'Give it life instead of keeping it in the laboratory', give it freedom to grow, to learn. Yes, it means launching your project before it has been perfected and yes, there may be teething problems but hey, that is how we learn and learn quicker. Until you start to get feedback on your business you will not grow it, it means risks but calculated risks, it means being brave, you need the valuable feedback in a new business and you need to act on it.
Now you can work towards perfection, you can solve the issues as they surface, you can test your market and you just might find out that your customers view of perfection is not the same as yours. Go for it.

If you need to dress up your car why not check out my friends at www.autocruising.com , there is everything there from bodykits, wheels, exhausts, engine parts, sat-nav etc etc. That website is an example of what I am talking about here, it started from nothing, is successful and is gradually getting better every week.

This is what can happen to your alloy wheel when you have too much power under your right foot. The whole centre of this wheel was sheered out under race conditions but hey, needed a new set of wheels anyway. Got a new set of Buddy Club rims from http://www.autocruising.com/ and they look the dogs whatnots.

I suppose these wheels were designed for sunday afternoon casual driving, not 400bhp pedal to the metal type stuff.

The pic above is of my mates MG Metro 6R4 which is a full blown 500bhp rallycross car, won the British Rallycross Championship a few years ago with it and it's still as fit as the top cars now although the car is semi-retired.

That wee 6R4 can accelerate from 0 - 60mph in 2.2 secs which is mind-blowing stuff, fitted with a 2.5 Goodman engine she certainly blows the cobwebs away, top speed is not stupendous however it doesn't take it long to get up there which makes her ideal for rallycross or sprints. She has had a few scary moments in her time and has been upside down a few times as well, took it across to Barbados a couple of years ago and she set fastest time at the first rallycross event held on the island. Maybe the large intake of Rum had helped on that occasion. I like my Metro 6R4's, they are quick if properly tuned, they sound fantastic and there isn't too many about now. It would be nice to get my hands on a road-going version so if you know where there is one then let me know.

Just a brief note of interest to all of you who have an interest in modified cars, while searching for the traditional presents at this time of year, Happy Christmas by the way, I found a massive selection of motorbooks on a brilliant website www.autocruising.com . There is a lot of heavy gear there like bodykits, wheels and lots of goodies to dress up your car. My main interest is in cars, all sorts and shapes of cars from sportscars, modified and customised cars and all the bolt on goodies that are available today to make them look a bit different from the norm. It is not my intention to promo that company I mentioned earlier however for me http://www.autocruising.com/ pushes all the buttons and rings all my bells when it comes to looking for customising parts for my cars. It is not just them but all the various linked contacts they have, you are maybe looking for one thing and then suddenly you find another whole host of stuff, like an Aladdin's cave really. Well enough about that, have you the turkey and all the trimmings in for Christmas, all the fine wines and Brandy at the ready, all the presents bought and are you ready to spread good cheer. We get great happiness from giving a little to others less fortunate than ourselves each christmas, I suppose we should be doing that all through the year however it seems more apt at christmas, it really is a case of getting greater pleasure from Giving than receiving. If you do not already do that then give it a try, you will enjoy the experience. If you know of an old person who maybe hasn't got much then a wee box of groceries or a bunch of flowers with a christmas card can make a lot of difference to them, you really will enjoy the experience. Happy Christmas and a healthy and brilliant New Year to you.