July of 2009 was an amazing month. Tom Watson nearly won the British Open, Lance Armstrong came in third in the Tour de France and Mark Buehrle pitched a perfect game. Of those achievements, only the perfect game will be remembered. But each provided lessons for business and life.

Tom Watson was nearing his 60th birthday when he lost the Open Championship (that's what the Brits call it) in a play-off. What was extraordinary was that he remained one of the leaders for all four days, bettering players who had not even been born when he won his first title. Granted, the younger players might have had greater strength, stamina and agility, but he had the benefit of experience - both on that course and in championship settings. The lesson for business? Age is only one of the factors that affects success. Skill and wisdom can often trump the energy of youth.

Lance Armstrong hadn't participated in the Tour de France for six years. He came out of retirement to lead one of the competing teams and demonstrate that with a bit more training he probably could have beaten the younger riders. What's interesting about the Tour is that it's a team competition with individual winners. All the riders work together to support each other through most of the daily races called stages. Like geese flying in formation, the lead rider has to meet the wind resistance head on. He's expending more energy than those who ride behind him and take advantage of his slipstream. So, like the geese, they take turns leading. They are all racing against the clock and they realize that if they work together they can all improve their times. But, cooperation can only take you so far. Each day's racing ends with a sprint to the finish line. In business, competing businesses see the advantage in working together for the common good. We join chambers and mainstreet merchant associations, we participate in networking groups and expos, we work together to fight the economic headwinds and level the playing field. We still compete for customers, but we leverage our collective strength to give everyone the opportunity to succeed - the final sprint each day.

Mark Buehrle did what only 17 other pitchers in the entire history of professional baseball have done, he faced and retired 27 batters in a row - no runs, no hits, no walks, and no errors. His performance seemed effortless, but he was dependent each inning on the other eight players on the field for his team. Each pitch was planned in advance with his catcher. When a batter made contact with the ball, he depended on the other fielders to make the catch and, if necessary, the throw to first base for the out. It was the extraordinary catch made by DeWayne Wise that prevented a fly ball from becoming a home run. Players on other teams were watching the game and cheering Mark's performance because they knew how special this moment was. On a much smaller stage the same things happen in business every day. Individuals perform at an extraordinary level, but without the support provided by those around them the results are never historic. It doesn't matter how many people are in the business, it still requires a team effort to achieve extraordinary results.

No matter the field of play, every day brings the opportunity to accomplish more than anyone thought possible.

In my role as a counselor at the SBDC, I was invited to take a marketing course through the FAMEE Foundation. It's an organization dedicated to teaching entrepreneurs about marketing and improving their results. The courses are free and so are the ebooks. For a small tax deductible contribution they will send you the books in hardcover. I've already taken away some new ideas for my clients and my own business. Check it out for yours.

One of my friends, Adam Citron of Nortic Consulting, does a seminar on Tekworking - networking using the social and business online resources. One of the things I've noticed about using these is that they can really suck up a lot of the hours that might be better spent meeting people face to face. It takes a lot of self discipline to resist constant tweeting and FaceBook updates. If these sites are part of your marketing plan, decide on how much time you can afford and then post accordingly. Think about having two profiles, one for your business and one for your personal activities. There are probably some people who really don't need to know what your friends have been doing.