Is Your Business the Rabbit or the Turtle?

Have you ever seen the cartoon where the turtle and the rabbit race each other?  The rabbit hurriedly moves along will poking fun at the slow, casual but consistent turtle.  All the while as the turtle keeps his steady pace towards the finish line he ends up beating the rabbit in the end…

The Rabbit
So many businesses jump in the race too quickly where they hurriedly do things and don’t always think things through before they launch a product, service etc.  They don’t stick to what their business is all about or they rush through things to beat the others without making sure all the ducks are in a row.  To these companies the most important thing is to be front and center.

The Turtle
Then you have the happy, go-lucky turtle company that starts their business off with what they believe is a great model and start to set sail.  They think through what they want others to think about their brand, they listen, they adapt while keeping a steady course to the finish line and end goal.  They make sure they cover everything and are thorough with their plan.  To them they want to finish strong, never take their eye off the goal but keep a steady pace.

How many businesses have you seen that start up and take off in the beginning but quickly deflate because of some issues they have or they didn’t quite think through?  And how many businesses have you seen that don’t necessarily stand out at first but as time goes by the word of mouth travels and they are all over the place with a great format and concept?  So this leads me to ask: “is your business the rabbit or the turtle?”