TSBS 2.0
Sometimes a business has to learn from popular music bands, some bands continue to make music for decades and some have only one hit. For me personally, I'd rather the bike shop have multiple decades of success rather than just one. Of course we're not going to change somethings, like great service or having a decent store. But in other ways we're making major changes. If a band made music that sounded the same and never changed, some people might like that, but after 34 identical songs other people may find it to move on, and this doesn't match exactly what I want to type. As a person, I don't want to do the same thing for the rest of my life. There are basic parameters I'd like to stick with, but something new and challenging is more fun and fulfilling. So for me, I want to get into production, and I'm working towards it. It's been difficult because despite my general savviness, I'm basically just the village idiot. Don't let that scare you, when it comes to repairing your bike I take it so serious that I have to be one of the best at it. Bicycle repair isn't rocket sciences, but it also isn't so basic that no one ever fails at it. Building bikes from stock tubing or whatever has been an interesting experience. In some ways I'm very prepared for it and others I smack a wall with my face not knowing what I just did. Well, it's not that dramatic. For most of my career in the bicycle world this was always the goal but yet it was never what I did. I started out riding bikes with no plan for the future but to find a job, I eventually worked in a bike shop and got a handle on how the service, sales and store aspects of it go. Then I started my own shop and dedicated my life to it until it became something. Now, I'm still doing the bike shop, but I'm trying to expand it to production. I also try and balance all this with life, I never wanted to be the person who works all the time or goes out and does it up all the time, not that I don't have respect for any of that, it's just not been my life goal. I feel like I'm getting closer to what I'm aiming for. I'm taking baby steps to make sure I don't ruin investments or waste materials. I'm also taking baby steps to make sure I know exactly what I'm doing. Not everything goes smooth, but in general progress is being made and as of now most times I accomplish things in the time tables set out. The frame in this picture is another step closer to the final product. Some things have to be changed, which requires changing other things, but I'm hoping by this summer we have models on the floor ready to go. One thing I can say is that I think our bike will be on par with others of it's class and I think there will even be some things that are better. I want to make sure that one thing is clear, I'm not promising that we're reinventing the wheel, or that our bike will be so great that money will fall from the sky while you ride it, but I don't think it won't fail and it will be fun.
