Compiling a best practices survey...
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@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?
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.
Windows Live™: Keep your life in sync. http://windowslive.com/explore?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_t1_allup_explore_012009
well that IS an interesting problem. if you really WERE a regular bike
shop I'd say raise your prices. Since you're not I say you need to
prioritize. Maybe the first priority might be programs to train more
people to fix bikes. maybe you'll get more volunteers, maybe if you
have to turn people away for lack of bikes ready for sale you can
point them towards a build a bike program where they build one for
sale, and one for themselves.
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.Windows Live™: Keep your life in sync. Check it out.
_______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit: http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
I guess im looking to see if anyone has made the switch from selling to not selling. What happened what do i need to look out for?
We could be putting a thousand bikes on the street into the hands of those that need them, but sadly we just sell them off to rot and rust on campus.
From: mattface@gmail.com To: thethinktank@bikecollectives.org Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:13:56 -0500 Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Bike sales out of control.
well that IS an interesting problem. if you really WERE a regular bike shop I'd say raise your prices. Since you're not I say you need to prioritize. Maybe the first priority might be programs to train more people to fix bikes. maybe you'll get more volunteers, maybe if you have to turn people away for lack of bikes ready for sale you can point them towards a build a bike program where they build one for sale, and one for themselves.
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.
Windows Live™: Keep your life in sync. Check it out. _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit: http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
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We started, and continue with the concept not to fix bikes for sale. Instead people come in, pick a bike and we teach them how to fix it up. We then sell it to them at a reasonable price when it's done. It's nice because the person learns something and also has something invested in the bike. On the flip side, bikes take longer to get done and you'll need a good sized group of volunteers, sometimes almost one volunteer per person. --Ryan Bike Saviours, Tempe, AZ
On Sun, Jan 18, 2009 at 10:18 PM, Patrick VDT fivespeed_@hotmail.comwrote:
I guess im looking to see if anyone has made the switch from selling to not selling. What happened what do i need to look out for?
We could be putting a thousand bikes on the street into the hands of those that need them, but sadly we just sell them off to rot and rust on campus.
From: mattface@gmail.com To: thethinktank@bikecollectives.org Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:13:56 -0500 Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Bike sales out of control.
well that IS an interesting problem. if you really WERE a regular bike shop I'd say raise your prices. Since you're not I say you need to prioritize. Maybe the first priority might be programs to train more people to fix bikes. maybe you'll get more volunteers, maybe if you have to turn people away for lack of bikes ready for sale you can point them towards a build a bike program where they build one for sale, and one for themselves.
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.
Windows Live™: Keep your life in sync. Check it out.http://windowslive.com/explore?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_t1_allup_explore_012009 _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit:
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
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On 19-Jan-09, at 12:40 AM, Ryan Guzy wrote:
We started, and continue with the concept not to fix bikes for
sale. Instead people come in, pick a bike and we teach them how to
fix it up. We then sell it to them at a reasonable price when it's
done. It's nice because the person learns something and also has
something invested in the bike. On the flip side, bikes take longer
to get done and you'll need a good sized group of volunteers,
sometimes almost one volunteer per person.--Ryan Bike Saviours, Tempe, AZ
How do you keep track of all the bikes-in-progress? If someone
doesn't complete theirs in one shift does it just sit taking up space
waiting for them to return someday?
I take it the groups here that are not worried about selling bikes
pay their rent and expenses (if applicable) in some other ways...
Mark re-Cycles Bicycle Co-op http://re-cycles.ca
We have check sheets that go with each bike, as they work on the bike they check off what they've done and also record the date that they last worked on the bike. This helps the customer with an outline of what still needs to be done and shows the next volunteer what has been worked on already. We have a policy that if the bike isn't worked on for 60 days we'll make the bike available to other people. To facilitate this we usually only take money for the bike at the end of a build. --Ryan Bike Saviours, Tempe, AZ
On Sun, Jan 18, 2009 at 11:00 PM, Mark Rehder mark@drumbent.com wrote:
On 19-Jan-09, at 12:40 AM, Ryan Guzy wrote:
We started, and continue with the concept not to fix bikes for sale.
Instead people come in, pick a bike and we teach them how to fix it up. We then sell it to them at a reasonable price when it's done. It's nice because the person learns something and also has something invested in the bike. On the flip side, bikes take longer to get done and you'll need a good sized group of volunteers, sometimes almost one volunteer per person.
--Ryan Bike Saviours, Tempe, AZ
How do you keep track of all the bikes-in-progress? If someone doesn't complete theirs in one shift does it just sit taking up space waiting for them to return someday?
I take it the groups here that are not worried about selling bikes pay their rent and expenses (if applicable) in some other ways...
Mark re-Cycles Bicycle Co-op http://re-cycles.ca
Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit:
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
We had the same problem. We worked 18hr days to build bikes that rusted on campus. We raised our prices, built better bikes, and started selling fenders, baskets and tubes. There was much internal debate that it would make us a "real shop" but this move in fact covered our rent and funded program expansion.
Don't be afraid of the "real shop" syndrome. If you can diversify your rent strategy beyond bike sales and build working programs, who cares how you did it?
Joshua bike city recyclery fayetteville, ar
On 1/19/09, Ryan Guzy ryanguzy@gmail.com wrote:
We have check sheets that go with each bike, as they work on the bike they check off what they've done and also record the date that they last worked on the bike. This helps the customer with an outline of what still needs to be done and shows the next volunteer what has been worked on already. We have a policy that if the bike isn't worked on for 60 days we'll make the bike available to other people. To facilitate this we usually only take money for the bike at the end of a build. --Ryan Bike Saviours, Tempe, AZ
On Sun, Jan 18, 2009 at 11:00 PM, Mark Rehder mark@drumbent.com wrote:
On 19-Jan-09, at 12:40 AM, Ryan Guzy wrote:
We started, and continue with the concept not to fix bikes for sale.
Instead people come in, pick a bike and we teach them how to fix it up. We then sell it to them at a reasonable price when it's done. It's nice because the person learns something and also has something invested in the bike. On the flip side, bikes take longer to get done and you'll need a good sized group of volunteers, sometimes almost one volunteer per person.
--Ryan Bike Saviours, Tempe, AZ
How do you keep track of all the bikes-in-progress? If someone doesn't complete theirs in one shift does it just sit taking up space waiting for them to return someday?
I take it the groups here that are not worried about selling bikes pay their rent and expenses (if applicable) in some other ways...
Mark re-Cycles Bicycle Co-op http://re-cycles.ca
Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit:
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
create a bike share group with all your charities. Get with your riders and know them, grow your community cycling scene.
On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 7:38 AM, Bike City bikecityrecyclery@gmail.comwrote:
We had the same problem. We worked 18hr days to build bikes that rusted on campus. We raised our prices, built better bikes, and started selling fenders, baskets and tubes. There was much internal debate that it would make us a "real shop" but this move in fact covered our rent and funded program expansion.
Don't be afraid of the "real shop" syndrome. If you can diversify your rent strategy beyond bike sales and build working programs, who cares how you did it?
Joshua bike city recyclery fayetteville, ar
On 1/19/09, Ryan Guzy ryanguzy@gmail.com wrote:
We have check sheets that go with each bike, as they work on the bike
they
check off what they've done and also record the date that they last
worked
on the bike. This helps the customer with an outline of what still needs
to
be done and shows the next volunteer what has been worked on already. We have a policy that if the bike isn't worked on for 60 days we'll make the bike available to other people. To facilitate this we usually only take money for the bike at the end of a build. --Ryan Bike Saviours, Tempe, AZ
On Sun, Jan 18, 2009 at 11:00 PM, Mark Rehder mark@drumbent.com wrote:
On 19-Jan-09, at 12:40 AM, Ryan Guzy wrote:
We started, and continue with the concept not to fix bikes for sale.
Instead people come in, pick a bike and we teach them how to fix it up. We then sell it to them at a reasonable price when it's done. It's nice because the person learns something and also has something invested in the
bike.
On the flip side, bikes take longer to get done and you'll need a good
sized
group of volunteers, sometimes almost one volunteer per person.
--Ryan Bike Saviours, Tempe, AZ
How do you keep track of all the bikes-in-progress? If someone doesn't complete theirs in one shift does it just sit taking up space waiting
for
them to return someday?
I take it the groups here that are not worried about selling bikes pay their rent and expenses (if applicable) in some other ways...
Mark re-Cycles Bicycle Co-op http://re-cycles.ca
Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit:
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
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Why not hire someone to just do sales, and when the coop is open for sales---it's just open for sales and vice versa with programs----then you open up your volunteers to do what they want to do ( helping people learn) and you still make profit, creating thereby a substainable business/non-profit numberMoBo
On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 11:46 AM, Geoffrey B vous.je@gmail.com wrote:
create a bike share group with all your charities. Get with your riders and know them, grow your community cycling scene.
On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 7:38 AM, Bike City bikecityrecyclery@gmail.comwrote:
We had the same problem. We worked 18hr days to build bikes that rusted on campus. We raised our prices, built better bikes, and started selling fenders, baskets and tubes. There was much internal debate that it would make us a "real shop" but this move in fact covered our rent and funded program expansion.
Don't be afraid of the "real shop" syndrome. If you can diversify your rent strategy beyond bike sales and build working programs, who cares how you did it?
Joshua bike city recyclery fayetteville, ar
On 1/19/09, Ryan Guzy ryanguzy@gmail.com wrote:
We have check sheets that go with each bike, as they work on the bike
they
check off what they've done and also record the date that they last
worked
on the bike. This helps the customer with an outline of what still needs
to
be done and shows the next volunteer what has been worked on already. We have a policy that if the bike isn't worked on for 60 days we'll make
the
bike available to other people. To facilitate this we usually only take money for the bike at the end of a build. --Ryan Bike Saviours, Tempe, AZ
On Sun, Jan 18, 2009 at 11:00 PM, Mark Rehder mark@drumbent.com
wrote:
On 19-Jan-09, at 12:40 AM, Ryan Guzy wrote:
We started, and continue with the concept not to fix bikes for sale.
Instead people come in, pick a bike and we teach them how to fix it
up.
We then sell it to them at a reasonable price when it's done. It's nice because the person learns something and also has something invested in the
bike.
On the flip side, bikes take longer to get done and you'll need a good
sized
group of volunteers, sometimes almost one volunteer per person.
--Ryan Bike Saviours, Tempe, AZ
How do you keep track of all the bikes-in-progress? If someone doesn't complete theirs in one shift does it just sit taking up space waiting
for
them to return someday?
I take it the groups here that are not worried about selling bikes pay their rent and expenses (if applicable) in some other ways...
Mark re-Cycles Bicycle Co-op http://re-cycles.ca
Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit:
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
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-- Geoffrey B
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We have a similar system. The main difference is that in order to participate in the "build-a-bike" program, the "customer" needs to become a paid member first ($25 for Students, $40 for Others... for 1 year). The member then has two weeks to complete the bike. Once the bike is completed, we charge them a very fair price for the bike based on what they did with it. Prices tend to be low since the member/customer did all the labor.
We have a log sheet where the members can right down everything they did on the bike. Some are better at keeping up with it than others. We also put tags on each bike with the members contact info and the start date of the build. This helps the volunteer staff quickly scan and see if the bike has gone beyond its two-week window.
If a bike is beyond that window, the bike is fair game for others to take over. As with any system... there are exceptions... and that's part of the reason we keep the member's contact info on the tag. We can quickly call the member to find out what's up.
As an aside, the one-year membership also gives the member access to the workshop during any staffed hours. Volunteering time gives a few more privileges.
--sam
Sam Santos Volunteer The Bike Project Urbana, IL
On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 12:44 AM, Ryan Guzy ryanguzy@gmail.com wrote:
We have check sheets that go with each bike, as they work on the bike they check off what they've done and also record the date that they last worked on the bike. This helps the customer with an outline of what still needs to be done and shows the next volunteer what has been worked on already. We have a policy that if the bike isn't worked on for 60 days we'll make the bike available to other people. To facilitate this we usually only take money for the bike at the end of a build. --Ryan Bike Saviours, Tempe, AZ
On Sun, Jan 18, 2009 at 11:00 PM, Mark Rehder mark@drumbent.com wrote:
On 19-Jan-09, at 12:40 AM, Ryan Guzy wrote:
We started, and continue with the concept not to fix bikes for sale.
Instead people come in, pick a bike and we teach them how to fix it up. We then sell it to them at a reasonable price when it's done. It's nice because the person learns something and also has something invested in the bike. On the flip side, bikes take longer to get done and you'll need a good sized group of volunteers, sometimes almost one volunteer per person.
--Ryan Bike Saviours, Tempe, AZ
How do you keep track of all the bikes-in-progress? If someone doesn't complete theirs in one shift does it just sit taking up space waiting for them to return someday?
I take it the groups here that are not worried about selling bikes pay their rent and expenses (if applicable) in some other ways...
Mark re-Cycles Bicycle Co-op http://re-cycles.ca
Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit:
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
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instead of selling bikes outright, what about having them available for trade? the trade being time spent by a "customer" running a program, or working in the shop? some kind of system that still allows the public to come in and get a bike, but also one which nets your organization something other than cash.
if it makes you feel any better, pretty much every non-profit organization--bike related or otherwise--struggles with the balance between two things:
- doing their mission perfectly. if money was no object, this may or may
not involve giving away goods or services. most non-profits who focus on solely this and ignore number 2 often find themselves with burned out staff, no money to pay bills or rent, and often must close their doors.
- raising money to accomplish number 1. some NP's work so hard at raising
money to cover the expense of doing their mission that they lose sight of the mission itself.
finding the balance between the two can often be harder than just doing either one by itself, but will pay off in the end.
good luck.
On Sun, Jan 18, 2009 at 10:13 PM, Matt mattface@gmail.com wrote:
well that IS an interesting problem. if you really WERE a regular bike shop I'd say raise your prices. Since you're not I say you need to prioritize. Maybe the first priority might be programs to train more people to fix bikes. maybe you'll get more volunteers, maybe if you have to turn people away for lack of bikes ready for sale you can point them towards a build a bike program where they build one for sale, and one for themselves.
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.
Windows Live™: Keep your life in sync. Check it out.http://windowslive.com/explore?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_t1_allup_explore_012009 _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit:
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participants (10)
-
Bike City -
Cycles of Change APC -
Geoffrey B -
Mark Rehder -
Matt -
MoBo Bicycle Co-op -
Patrick VDT -
Ryan Guzy -
Sam Santos -
veganboyjosh＠gmail.com