Do you think the jockey who won last years Melbourne Cup would have won if he had hopped on a horse with a broken leg?

Of course not.

And it’s the same in business.

You are the jockey.

But if you’re on the wrong horse, you probably won’t move very fast.

For instance, I wrote a piece of sales copy once which flopped like a dead fish.

And based on my other successes with that company, I believe my success had more to do with the fact I got handed a product where I was so restricted in what I had to say, it was hard to get the horse moving.

Personally, I thought I did a good job as the jockey. And that the horse failed me.

And it can happen in so many other instances in business.

Think about it:

If you’re a salesperson selling to an unqualified customer, you can deliver the best presentation in the world. But you are delivering it to the wrong customer (horse) so you’re not going to hit a winner.

If you’re in a business where margins are low and you have massive amounts of competition, you could limit your ability to capitalise on your skills simply because the horse (business) you are riding is too old, grumpy and seen its best days.

If you’re trying to train salespeople, but you picked staff with a bad attitude, no matter how good of a trainer you are, you probably won’t win the race.

If you’re a consultant who gets a difficult client who refuses to follow your guidance, they are not going to progress because at the end of the day… you can lead a horse to water… but you can’t make it drink.

The bottom line to all this is:

Choose your horse carefully.

And think twice before taking on a client, going into business, hiring staff, or meeting with a potential customer.

If you’ve built your skills up, you probably know you are the right jockey.

So make sure you choose your horse carefully or you’ll never end up a winner.