Lesson #4: In Following Your Passion, You Become Your Own Best Customer

How were they able to devote themselves day and night to manufacturing their mighty machines? Why were they so hell bent on ensuring the highest standards of quality? And what drove them to dedicate themselves to the same business for the majority of their adult lives? William Harley and the Davidson brothers didn’t just make motorcycles – they lived and breathed them. They were, in fact, their own biggest fans. It was in pursuing the one thing they were passionate about that they were able to create such a classic tale of entrepreneurial success in America.

Since they were 15 year old boys experimenting with internal combustion in their backyard shed, William Harley and Arthur Davidson knew they shared a passion for motorcycles. They found that they were mechanically inclined and they spent as much free time as possible learning all they could about both bicycles and, later, motorcycles. Nobody was forcing them to read books about V-twin engines and overhead valves. They could have been out playing baseball with their friends, but instead, the two young friends were eager to master the mechanics of the motorcycle.

All four of the company’s young founders were avid motorcycle riders. William Harley, in particular, enjoyed the machine so much he began to ride in numerous endurance races. He wasn’t competing for the title or the recognition; Harley wanted to test out his own designs. Could his bike handle the speed? What could he improve in the next model that would lend itself to an even better bike for both himself and fellow riders around the world? These were the questions Harley wanted to answer through his own trial and error.

Harley and the Davidson brothers knew what the riding public wanted, because they knew what they themselves wanted. Since they each enjoyed riding so much, the four young men were willing, and in fact eager to be the guinea pigs for new designs. It was also for this reason that the company’s founders were insistent on maintaining the highest possible quality for their motorcycles. Harley and the Davidson’s wanted their bikes so well-designed and well-manufactured that they themselves could ride them – because, in fact, they were going to.

As the president of the Harley-Davidson Motor Co., Walter Davidson was fond of reminding his staff that their real employer was in effect the purchasing public. However, Davidson and his co-workers knew that they themselves were, in fact, a part of that purchasing public. And, what they wanted to see in their bikes was what they knew they should make.

It was also this love for their business that kept Harley and the Davidson brothers working even through the difficult times of the Great Depression. Whereas they could have given up in the face of plummeting sales, they instead decided to switch gears and focus on products that had better prospects, such as the Servi-Car.

From laboring meticulously on their bikes to racing them themselves, the Harley-Davidson Motor Co. achieved the success it did because it was the product of passion.



Lesson #4: In Following Your Passion, You Become Your Own Best Customer

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