23 Nov
2012
23 Nov
'12
3:03 p.m.
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*http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=108240115897167&v=info&ref=...* The Community Bike Collective mission is to create a collaboration between the community based bicycle organizations spr inging up Nationally in the United States and Urban Centers near SPOKES Chapters.
It is our goal that through resource sharing and collaborative organizing, to mobilize the greening of our communities by promoting the reduction of our individual and regional carbon footprint, increasing community health, encouraging a collective social movement, and liberating our region from the disconnect and the addictions created by oil dependency through cycling.
More....
https://sites.google.com/a/richmondspokes.org/about/cbc
http://spokeshopanniversary-eorg.eventbrite.com/ Brian Drayton Executive Director SPOKES National , Richmond 322 Harbour Way #5 Richmond, Ca 94801 brian@richmondspokes.org Google voice (510) 545-2243 http://www.richmondspokes.org FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/richmond.spokes Join our mailing list and get a subscription to our monthly news letter (SPOKE ~N~WORD ) *http://tinyurl.com/sp0ke-n-w0rd*
Why re-invent the wheel ...when you can tighten the spokes?
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On Fri, Nov 23, 2012 at 6:59 AM, Vincenzo loco <wormsign@gmail.com> wrote:
> I was going to say not having paid staff, at least for the first while,
> will make self sufficiency much more affordable. It really helps to have a
> strong core of volunteers. If I were to start something in the winter I
> wouldn't expect to make much money but you may be able to get more
> donations and train a core of volunteers. You'd need a space and tools but
> not necessarily a store front yet. Spend the winter seeking out donated
> bikes/ parts, spend the time stripping or rebuilding bikes so you can have
> a base of used parts available. Get volunteers to work on this and maybe
> offer weekly repair classes to get the word out and get more community
> members involve as well as getting them more proficient in bike repair.
> I would also add that I'd lean strongly to a decentralized model of
> decision making. This gives volunteers more of a feeling of responsibility
> for the success of the space, helps split up tasks that need to get done,
> and helps the space to develop into a part of the community.
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 20, 2012 at 1:37 PM, John Brown <johnsbrown@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> 24 months is wholly realistic.
>>
>> The Bikerowave gets the bulk of its revenue from the sale of parts (new
>> tires, tubes, bar wrap, chains, etc., and a variety of used components),
>> with stand time being the next biggest revenue generator. We don't have
>> access to a regular supply of used bikes, so that's a fairly minimal source
>> of revenue.
>>
>> We're lucky enough to have a storefront on a main road with a bike lane,
>> and we're in L.A., which has a large social cycling / DIY co-op community,
>> which has made things easier.
>>
>> Winter is obviously the slow season for cycling, especially in the NE, so
>> unless you can convince your future landlord to give you free rent for the
>> winter, I'd target opening in the spring.
>>
>> Start planning now, and talking to the bike part distributors (QBP is
>> the big one, but also SBS, J&B, Sinclair, etc.) to see what you need to do
>> to get things sorted out.
>>
>> There are a variety of business models (501(c)(3) non-profit, not for
>> profit, for profit, etc.).
>>
>> One of the key factors in determining the viability of your co-op is the
>> number of hours you're able to keep the shop open and staffed, as unless
>> you've got people donating money through paypal or the mail, it's fairly
>> hard to generate revenue when the shop is closed. This means you've got to
>> get a reasonably decent number of volunteers. (At the Bikerowave, we ask
>> volunteers to commit to one 3-3.5hr shift a week, and we try to have at
>> least 2-3 volunteer wrenches on a given shift. Our volunteer body seems to
>> be about 30 odd people at any given time, and that allows us to keep the
>> shop open 23 hours a week.)
>>
>> It can be fairly easy to get overwhelmed, so if you can start putting
>> together a team of people now, that will make it a lot easier.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Nov 20, 2012 at 1:10 PM, Matthew VanSlyke <
>> vanslyke.matthew@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I have been exploring the feasibility of opening a community bike shop
>>> in my small-ish Northeast city. It looks like there's some opportunity
>>> here. As I search for start-up funding I want to be able to confidently
>>> tell funders that we'll become self-sustaining in a reasonable amount of
>>> time. My most promising lead likes to let go of the leash in 24 months. I'm
>>> anticipating most revenue to come from the sale of repurposed bikes out of
>>> the storefront, with some other special events, fundraisers, donations and
>>> memberships.
>>>
>>> What can you tell me about your experience? Is this realistic?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Matt
>>>
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>>
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>
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