Will it make my business go faster?.

Anyone who knows me knows that before business, my first love was sport, and I’m still passionate about the value sporting skills and principles in other areas of life.

So, when I came across a book called ‘Will It Make The Boat Go Faster?’ by Olympic gold medalist Ben Hunt-Davis and executive coach Harriet Beveridge, I was intrigued to read it.

Inspirational reading

The book uses the British rowing team’s journey to winning gold at the Sydney Olympics as a framework to explore performance strategies for business and illustrates how the question in the title is applicable to any business in any sector. Whether it’s making your boat go faster to win gold, or creating a business model that delivers industry redefining efficiency and agility, constantly asking yourself whether the actions you’re taking will help you achieve your core goal is critical.

Perhaps you’ve also read the book? It’s a best seller with five-star reviews, so I’m not sharing a best kept secret here. But different readers will have their own take on the insights that resonated for them, and for me it struck a chord because of how closely it aligns with why we started the Catapult business.

The book maps the British Olympic team’s trajectory from under performance to becoming the best in the world. They didn’t just want to improve and rise a few steps in the ranking; they wanted to win gold. Some might have shied away from that as an unattainable goal. Some might have called it a ridiculous ambition. But they went ahead, dreamed big and went home with the win.

When we started out at Catapult, perhaps people thought we were crazy to set up a brand new business from a standing start in a sector that already had 2,500 players in the USA. Perhaps we were naïve to think we could have an impact as a fresh fish in a big pond. But our combination of total belief that there was a better way of doing things, and total commitment to doing things differently have driven us to win big too – building our customer base, establishing an enviable reputation and transforming expectations in our sector.

Success with intent

For us, there was no point in turning up as another average business. We could have coasted and been no better or worse than the next guy, but that space had already been taken. Instead, we were completely focused on creating something unique and intent on disrupting an industry that had become complacent, with those who could afford it buying businesses for their order book to enable growth, rather than investing in being the best. 

As we’ve seen recently, basing your business strategy on buying up EBITDAR growth is risky, with some companies as much as 10 times leveraged. In that scenario, it’s actually the lenders who decide how the business is run, rather than the passionate business owner who understands what customers want strives everyday to deliver it. 

Will It Make The Boat Go Faster explains how the British Olympic rowing team examined everything they did – training, diet, mental strength – and explored how they could improve it to be the best. Reading the book not only reminded me why we started the business, but also why it’s so important to understand customers’ needs and have a business that’s built to deliver what they need every single day. 

That’s still what drives us, week in, week out, at Catapult, as we continue to take cost out, drive even shorter lead times, achieve the highest quality standards and deliver the best customer service in our sector. It’s a whole team passion – from the janitor to the CEO.

That whole business, complete dedication to excellence makes me extremely proud of the business we’ve created. Our investment in technology, automation, systems, data, and now AI has enabled us to achieve industry-leading levels of efficiency, and ensures we consistently deliver on quality, service, lead-times, and price. 

Long-term commitment

But of course, we’re not in it to win a medal and go home to a hero’s welcome – we in it for the long term. Which means we’re still working harder than ever to improve and deliver on the promises we make. Continued success relies on remaining passionate about what you do – even when you’ve reached your original goal, there are always ways to improve. 

The book helps me stay focused on those values. Complacency is the death knell to success, and at Catapult we are never complacent. This year, we’re achieving:

• 98.8 % of jobs delivered on time and in full
• 99.2 % quality rating
• 4.1 day average overall lead time
• 1800 jobs turnaround in less than 8 hours 

We’ve built a business that is always ready to deliver. It’s not a fairy tale with an unhappy ending; we’re hitting the gold standard every day. It hasn’t all been plain sailing – just like the Olympic rowers, we’ve had our fair share of challenging times. But the old adage, ‘what doesn’t break you makes you stronger’ has definitely been true at Catapult, and we’re channeling that strength into the next phase of our growth.