(The Twelfth) Soliloquy
As quickly as the idea came to mind, there were bikes in the stand and more than lucky, we felt grateful.
One very dirty XC ride later…
2021: We failed often. We failed a lot.
It’s a struggle for us to fall short, but as a mantra - whoever you attribute it to - failing fast is important. Einstein, Jobs and Jordan all talked about making mistakes in pursuit of learning. Silicon Valley exudes it and I like to believe I brought some of that back - that it’s more important how you bounce back than the setback itself. I’m holding this brand to high, exacting standards because I believe exceptional success is possible if we chase it.
Out of nowhere, I seemingly started a bike (work)shop during a pandemic - New Year's Day 2021 Twelfth City Cyclery was open for business. What has in reality felt - albeit with stress and anxiety beyond anything I’ve felt before - somewhat organic we’re over a year old and as of February 2022 I am proud, surprised and encouraged to say that's our first year done.
Rethinking bar-width on the flat bit
As with every new business we have had the typical long days, sleepless nights, and plenty “What the Hell am I doing?” moments. It is my desire to have every bike that comes through the workshop repaired to the highest standard whether that’s driven by our education and experience alone or I seek help from peers.
The energy and the effort put into each bike is as constant as we can make it, but we do admit some bikes escape us. Our job is to keep that number - that sigma - to as few as possible. We know that some bikes just don't play along. Experience will afford us the best opportunity to develop in the workshop and I want to be there forging along to provide the best service we are capable of.
The easy bikes, the dirty bikes, and the frustrating bikes were all worked on with the best intentions. We developed values for Twelfth City which revolved heavily around integrity and empowerment.
I will always love a semi-private back road
We set goals in 2021
…and we achieved them:
Serve 100 customers - exceeded!
Repeat customer - exceeded!
Team sponsor - achieved and hoping to develop further still.
Three good reviews - exceeded, flattered, and absolutely thankful.
Did we make any money? Not yet. Did we offer something positive to the community? We tried to. Did we educate and bring someone new into the sport? We hope so.
A sticker job is something to take seriously
Lessons learned
We can't grow if we don't make time to understand the lessons we’re offered.
Workshop time is a fraction of that required to run a workshop-dominant shop.
We can't please every customer, every time but we can keep the shop running to the ethics on which it is founded
2021 Struggles
We've seen more bikes with deeper issues than we ever thought we would - I definitely forgot how rough our region is on most bikes - we're more confident than ever that even an easy clean can work wonders.
Exacerbated by, or maybe ignited by parts shortages (which we’re certain everyone is also sick of), time management has been our biggest frustration. We don’t want bikes here, we want bikes under riders.
In no way did we expect to be spending so much time behind the computer screen or on the phone with general admin, design, management, communications, ordering, sourcing, planning.
Much needed shade at maybe 60% to the top
What’s coming in 2022
More frequent and consistent communication from the workstand, whether great or less-than-brilliant news.
A leaner workshop environment. I want to see us create a more structured workplace to develop more efficient work.
Branded shirts to increase awareness of the brand as well as offer new ways to support Twelfth City’s goals.
More time off - and using it to ride.
A motto within Twelfth City is that we don't just talk about this life, we are about this life, and that life includes riding.
Orange bit, orange bit, orange bit
Long-term
Provide more than just bike goods, from brands we believe in with first-hand experience.
Become a stronger member of the community through active involvement and education.
Attend more events as technical support, advisory members and as smile-focused racers.
We have to be more present on social media and learn how we can influence positively.
Educate ourselves in a greater business capacity because, bluntly, we want to be around for a while.
As with all our beloved young ‘uns, we have our eyes on someday moving out.
Network with our peers and neighbours.
We are not supporters of the us versus them culture, we want to support an us and them peer-to-peer culture.
I want the brand to develop improved equity and better support positive diversity in cycling.
Feeling out some new rubber
The call to action for every customer is to simply keep talking to us. We benefit through our independence in being able to communicate more freely and directly. Customers are quite literally our greatest asset.
Each of our customers knows something or knows somebody who knows something. We have customers who are social workers, for example, who know kids that want to be taught to repair bikes - fulfilling our desire to educate our community. We have customers who are investors who can direct us where to look to buy or rent a property - fulfilling our desire to provide more than we do currently to more than we are currently. We have customers who run local cycling clubs that would benefit from event support - fulfilling our desire to help customers be the cyclist they wish to be. We have customers who are accountants and business professionals who can tell us how to make this thing work - fulfilling our desire to be here for a while yet.
I can’t say if I’ve ever felt huge benefits of a koozie, but when it looks this good…
The road ahead
Rephrasing haste, naivety, and (business-) inexperience to come over as enthusiasm, excitement and potential we're incredibly grateful to be here, able to do this. We can do this because of the team here, customers who work with us and suppliers who facilitate us. For all of us, you and them, I personally am incredibly grateful. Thank you.
Here’s to 2022, cheers,