TheThinkTank January 2009

thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org

52 participants
33 discussions

Killradio.org hacked! listen to biketalk! at killradio.org:8000
by bike talk 23 Jan '09

23 Jan '09

listen 10am-noon at www.killradio.org:8000; the regular site's messed up, but we'll be there tomorrow interviewing guests. call in! -- please let me know if you want to be taken off this list. See Bike Talk! on kpfk: http://www.kpfk.org/programs/170-bike-talk.html

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Collective Insight
by Chloé Rose 22 Jan '09

22 Jan '09

Hi everybody. At the Community Bicycle Network (Toronto) we're looking at moving from a top-down management model (one co-ordinator, three paid staff) to a more collective-based model. Question is, who among you are collectives? How are you structured and organized? What advice would you have for me? Thanks Chloé

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Re: [TheThinkTank] sales out of control.
by Bruce Lien 22 Jan '09

22 Jan '09

The problem with this sell,sell,sell approach is that it can put you in clear "competition" with bike shops. We want/must be friendly with the local bike shops. Additionally, unless you have a large account with the wholesalers, your account will be shut down. (I know, mine was under this sell philosphy.) --- On Tue, 1/20/09, BovineOaks(a)aol.com <BovineOaks(a)aol.com> wrote: From: BovineOaks(a)aol.com <BovineOaks(a)aol.com> Subject: [TheThinkTank] sales out of control. To: thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org Date: Tuesday, January 20, 2009, 4:45 PM Mechanics will fight this note tooth and nail. They do not believe that the knowledge they have earned makes them worthy of professional benefits. Sell sell sell if you are afraid of selling hire a sales person, Sell bikes, sell classes, sell parts, so you can afford rent, healthcare, salaries, and afford to give back to the community more than you take from it. You are not in business to get broke, you are there to give the community a resource. Earning a Bike is different than undervaluing your bike building/ repair services. If someone is give you their time you can give them a discount on your professional services. Sell your service for top dollar, give back to your volunteers and pay your employees. YOU ARE IN BUSINESS Non for Profit is not a go broke fast scheme. If you are broke all the time how can you give to the community when you are sick or injured? How can you afford to get the tools or the training you need for your staff? How can you afford to take your youth or adults on events or programs outside the shop? You are Worth a lot, charge for it, respect those that volunteer and promote volunteerism for its discounts if you feel the need to give away cheap bikes. SELL SELL SELL you are worth it. Christopher Wallace Chicago P.S. I love selling classes, it is a great way to find inspired volunteers. Adult students can become Mechanics, educators, promoters, lawyers, mentors, shippers, government liaisons, and more than you can even dream of. SELL Classes Inauguration '09: Get complete coverage from the nation's capital. -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave(a)bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit: http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.…

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sales out of control.
by BovineOaks＠aol.com 21 Jan '09

21 Jan '09

Mechanics will fight this note tooth and nail. They do not believe that the knowledge they have earned makes them worthy of professional benefits. Sell sell sell if you are afraid of selling hire a sales person, Sell bikes, sell classes, sell parts, so you can afford rent, healthcare, salaries, and afford to give back to the community more than you take from it. You are not in business to get broke, you are there to give the community a resource. Earning a Bike is different than undervaluing your bike building/ repair services. If someone is give you their time you can give them a discount on your professional services. Sell your service for top dollar, give back to your volunteers and pay your employees. YOU ARE IN BUSINESS Non for Profit is not a go broke fast scheme. If you are broke all the time how can you give to the community when you are sick or injured? How can you afford to get the tools or the training you need for your staff? How can you afford to take your youth or adults on events or programs outside the shop? You are Worth a lot, charge for it, respect those that volunteer and promote volunteerism for its discounts if you feel the need to give away cheap bikes. SELL SELL SELL you are worth it. Christopher Wallace Chicago P.S. I love selling classes, it is a great way to find inspired volunteers. Adult students can become Mechanics, educators, promoters, lawyers, mentors, shippers, government liaisons, and more than you can even dream of. SELL Classes **************Inauguration '09: Get complete coverage from the nation's capital. (http://news.aol.com/main/politics/inauguration?ncid=emlcntusnews00000003)

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What to do about kids' bikes
by Carl Voss 20 Jan '09

20 Jan '09

Here in chilly Iowa, we're nine months into our first year of operating the Des Moines Bicycle Collective. It seems that every time we turn around, we're tripping over another stack of heavy, Magna-quality kids' bikes (12 and 16" wheels; some 24"). Most are in such pathetic shape (neglect or abuse) that the scrap yard appears to be the only solution. Our board can't seem to reach consensus on the best way to get our arms around this and still be the good guys that keep bikes out of the land fill. I'm confident several of you will offer some first-hand solutions so we can be more productive. *It seems a shame to waste volunteer time stripping the bikes of rubber so we can take them to the scrapyard. We got $10 for our last truckload of 20 bikes. *It doesn't make sense to spend much effort tuning up a kids' bike for a $10 used sale when Walmart sells a new bike for $25-$30. *Some of us are of the mind that any decent kids' bike should be given away through Boys and Girls Clubs or similar. We currently aren't suggesting a donation to drop off any bike (youth or adult), although that may change soon if we can get a policy passed for a $10 suggested donation. Carl carlvoss(a)mac.com Mobile: 515-210-0237

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You're Invited!
by Jonathan Morrison 20 Jan '09

20 Jan '09

Jonathan Morrison has sent you an invitation to 'Volunteer Bike Mechanics' -- click here to view the invitation and submit your response: http://www.usaservice.org/page/event/detail/4vzt4 --- For more information visit: http://www.slcbikecollective.org/

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Compiling a best practices survey...
by Cycles of Change APC 19 Jan '09

19 Jan '09

Hi all,My name is Barry and I'm the site director for a non-profit bike shop in the city of Alameda in the San Francisco Bay Area. We operate a full service recycled community bike shop that is just over 2.5 years old. I was wondering if you would be willing to contribute some info about your org around strategic development that we can use, and that can be shared by all users of this e-group. Thanks, to Bikes not Bombs for the suggestion to post here! If you can answer any or all of them, that'd be great. And if you have any questions, feel free to email me/us directly at bikeshop(a)apcollaborative.org Take care in these crazy times, Barry www.myspace.com/cyclesapc Here's the questions... > What has been your biggest challenge? > How did you develop a long-term plan? > What do you believe are some of your best practices? > What is your mission statement? > What services do you offer? > What are your plans for growth? > What are your current / prior threats and how did you address them? > How do you balance revenue generation versus services provided? > What are your most successful hours? When are your biggest sales? > What / who is your core market? Where are the best prospects for focusing > growth? > What are your staffing levels? What is your overall budget and staffing > budget? > What was your history of growth (financially and staffing wise) > What was the "critical mass" to become successful? > Do you consider yourself successful? How do you define the success of > your shop? > How do you see the growth of the industry? Where are the biggest > opportunities? > Are you situated to take advantage of these opportunities? > What is your commitment to community involvement? > How much funding is from sales vs other sources and how does that affect > your shop? -- Cycles of Change APC (510) 898-7830 www.apcollaborative.org/cycles.htm www.myspace.com/cyclesapc

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Bike sales out of control.
by an undercover cop 19 Jan '09

19 Jan '09

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 i don't really have a solution for you, other than to shut down sales or limit them to very specific hours. do just enough to meet your needs. if you sell out, you sell out, and so be it. whatever you do, don't get sucked into selling for sales' sake. working bikes in chicago is just now recovering (afaik) from a bunch of years of being overwhelmed by the demand for their bikes. i remember the shop opening at noon and being empty by 2.30 pm. - -ben > On Jan 19, 2009, at 12:08 AM, Patrick VDT wrote: > >> So we have an interesting problem. >> We have become so engrossed with raising money that 95% of our time >> is spent selling off what was donated to us. >> We are seriously putting in 100 hours a week building and selling >> but only 2-4 hours on programs. >> >> Im so fed up with it im going to start giving away all the bikes >> that would have been sold to other charities in town. >> >> Money is not an issue for a at least two years. . . . >> >> Ideas >> >> Please help, we are turning into a real shop that sells only to >> college students with $100 shoes. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iEYEARECAAYFAkl0Dx4ACgkQSfGaTCxqHXEf2wCdH1LdxrqGlsMqsswVOzl3ardA OnIAn0x5NjdJ+X2WgRipjp8J4BwWBL4z =Zexm -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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A good bike for maintenance classes
by Carl Voss 19 Jan '09

19 Jan '09

We're just about to roll out a 4-part series of bike mechanic classes (two-hour sessions). Do any of you offer a general bike repair book as part of the fee or have a recommended bike repair book that you stock? Suggested soft cover bikes include *Anybody's Bike Book (updated version that includes indexed shifters) *Bicycling magazine's Complete Guide to Bicycle Maintenance and Repair *Park Tool School student manual (140+ pages, spiral bound) Carl carlvoss(a)mac.com Mobile: 515-210-0237

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Exploded Diagrams
by Genevieve Luikart 18 Jan '09

18 Jan '09

Greetings! Bike Saviours in AZ is looking for any good renderings you have of exploded bicycle part diagrams. We've been looking in books on our own, but we figure that many of you have already done the work for us, and if your willing to share, we could help pass on some great information. We're most interested in jpgs and or tiff files that you already have access to, and can either send or link to. Thanks for your time, Genevieve Luikart

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TheThinkTank January 2009