Many of our tools were donated by those who visited us to work on their bike. We actually started with very few things and people brought us things as they saw how much we (didn't) have. Of course you'll get things you don't want - I suggest just accepting everything and figuring it out later.
For half of the important tools, you can get the at the swap meet/flea market - screwdrivers, adjustable wrenches, box wrenches, etc. You might even find allen wrenches there. As Dean said, you are allowing the public to use these things, buying top quality isn't the efficient way to go.
For bike specific stuff - buying a kit is cheaper than buying individual tools (usually by a lot of $). We started with a $150 kit that had everything from allens to cone wrenches. 2+ years later we are still using much of that set.
Brian SLO Bike Kitchen San Luis Obispo, CA www.slobikekitchen.org
On Mon, May 23, 2011 at 12:35, Dean FoGerty dean.fogerty@gmail.com wrote:
At Community Cycles in Boulder, we get a few donated tools and we purchase Park tools, but I wonder if Harbor Freight would not be a good place to get more generic tools as they are decent...decent quality (not Park), but as tools do wear out fast and disappear at times, perhaps Harbor Freight would be the way to go.
On Mon, May 23, 2011 at 11:41 AM, Clifford McCarten [B!KE] < director@communitybikeshop.org> wrote:
Hi Chris,
What is your organization's solution for Membership/Utilization
recordkeeping, database, etc...?
We eventually came around to using Quickbooks for tracking our memberships, sales and accounting. It takes a while (and someone with knowhow or patience) to set up, but makes things *enormously* easier when it comes time to print out a profit/loss statement or balance sheet or whatever. We currently offer use of the shop space / volunteer advice at $30/year or $5/hour. The annual memberships just receive a card. Of course there's always wiggle room for people who are really strapped, but we do that more case by case.
What surplus tools might you have?
My only advice would be to get a wholesale ordering account now, or find a friendly co-op/LBS who will bring some things in for you. And while Park stuff is nice, you can often get a complete metric wrench set at Home Depot for $10 instead of Park's $30-40. Start with one mega tool board and arrange the space so there is lots of easy access to it. If you have a low enough ceiling, hang bikes from tubes instead of dropping hundreds on the fancy stands.
What do you wish someone had told you when you were at the 'launch' stage
we currently find ourselves?
- *Bookkeeping*. We definitely would've saved ourselves some grief if
we had either hired a bookkeeper earlier on, or just got a few hours of intensive accounting mentorship. Our current bookkeeper works bills us ludicrously low rates (>$20/month) for keeping our Quickbooks up to date, and having all that stuff makes applying for quick one-off grants so much simpler. If nothing else, just keep all your bills/receipts/invoices/whatever in folders or shoeboxes, organized by month.
- *Grant writing / non-profit mentorship. *We were fortunate to have
this early on, and it was (and continues to be) an invaluable educational experience. It helped us build a really strong relationship with one of the major local NGOs, and without a doubt enabled us to sucessfully understand the grant writing climate.
- *Avoid burnout*. Still working on this one...but the key point is to
call on volunteers to help shoulder the load. There have been several lean years where B!KE was essentially my partner and I, and in retrospect we should've been building a volunteer core instead of always focusing on growth of services.
- *Seriously think about how the core of the organization will make
money*. This may be controversial on this list, but I don't think there is any way around it without having the most spectacular, innovative, and lifelong committed volunteer core conceivable. Perhaps that happens in other orgs, but that is not the case here. With over 600 members and thousands of drop-ins, B!KE has basically always been kept open by 1-2 people (even though 5-15 volunteers may be in the wings). No bike co-op will ever make anyone rich. But stressing about how best to provide and improve the core services the organization will always be more productive and less soul destroying than the eyebrow furrowing insomnia anxiety of "how will I keep the doors open?". Figure out a strategy for a core income stream - a renewable grant? a partnership with a local university/school funded by a student levy? selling bikes? I think the predominate model of non-profit granting agencies (at least around here) only funding new, fixed-term, measureable obsessed, project-based programs is a disempowering and energy-sucking endentureship that needs a widespread institutional restructuring. But that's another story. The point is we started out looking for big 1-2 year grants, and after getting them, have realized they're absolutely not what we need to stay strong and true to our purpose.
Like some of the others who have been doing this for a while, I feel like I could write a book about this now. Enough paternalism. The best advice we ever got when we were starting up is the same advice I always end off when chatting to people about this stuff: The best way to start is just by showing up, persistently, and working with people. Just find a space and set up with a multi tool for starts if it comes to it. The most important thing is just to be there, and keep being there.
And if it really gets to grind, permit me one cheesy quote here, ok? "Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race" Calvin Cooledge
Best of luck, Clifford
On Mon, May 23, 2011 at 9:40 AM, Chris Kelly cpeterkelly@gmail.comwrote:
Greetings from sunny St Petersburg, Florida, where we're hard at work hatching a Co-Op under the umbrella of the St Petersburg Shuffleboard Club. The Club sits in a historic landmark recreation complex downtown, owned by the City. One of the buildings located on that property, the Cue House, is being fitted out this month for a (hopefully) June opening.
We're on Facebookhttp://www.facebook.com/home.php#%21/pages/St-Pete-Bike-Co-Op/203048216389591here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/St-Pete-Bike-Co-Op/203048216389591
but figure website can wait. The goal is to get wrenches turning as soon as possible.
If list members are inclined, the following info would be very helpful and much appreciated:
- What is your organization's solution for Membership/Utilization
recordkeeping, database, etc...?
- What surplus tools might you have? We're willing to pay for
shipping on donations, and will purchase used tools offered at decent prices.
- and finally: What do you wish someone had told you when you were
at the 'launch' stage we currently find ourselves?
St Pete is a largely flat town, bathed in sunlight for more days of the year than most of the US, and has recently implemented millions of dollars worth of designated trail, lane, path and other infrastructurehttp://www.stpete.org/bicycle/. As the community responds to that investment/invitation, we hope to help keep them safely moving...
Excited at the possibilities, delighted with the community response thus far and thanking you for your kind response, I remain, yours,
Chris Kelly CPeterKelly@Gmail.com
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-- B!KE: The Peterborough Community Bike Shop 400 Wolfe St, Peterborough ON (705) 775-7227 communitybikeshop.org
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