Taking over the bike shop...

[HobbesOnTour]

I'm concentrating on getting work and once that's stabilised then I'll see about the rest.

Given your desire to find another job to supplement your income in your present post can I just point out that similar could occur if you take a job "while you figure things out".
That new job could well have relationships and clients that you will, in turn, find difficult to end.

I understand I'm pulling against the current here but I think it's important that there's at least one voice that says it's OK to look after yourself, first.

I have to point out what they achieve, and then stop them from discounting their achievements.

May I suggest taking your own advice

If a client came to you with a similar story - had done well, lots of opportunities but felt conflicted about leaving colleagues would you be advising the same course of action?

Sorry - just me being be on a Monday morning

 

[Andy in Germany]

Given your desire to find another job to supplement your income in your present post can I just point out that similar could occur if you take a job "while you figure things out".
That new job could well have relationships and clients that you will, in turn, find difficult to end.

This is always a danger, yes. On the other hand, if it's a two year contract as is often the case, then that problem is solved. Of course the question is if I want another two year contract.

May I suggest taking your own advice

If a client came to you with a similar story - had done well, lots of opportunities but felt conflicted about leaving colleagues would you be advising the same course of action?

I understand the point but my clients have no responsibility except turning up and hopefully gaining skills and confidence. In my opinion I have a responsibility to them, although I understand this has limits.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Today I cycled over to the Employment Agency to put in my official request for unemployment payments from next month. Half an hour after I got back the Boss came and offered me an extension to December.

His plan is to open the new shop in the town north of here, and move the bike workshop into the old shop. If this succeeds I'll be the manager of a larger and hopefully better equipped bike workshop supplying 2 large shops and 3 small shops, and I'd have a long term contract.

The other part is that I'd be the Flying Squad in the event of a staff shortage.

Now, I'd trust my boss; he wouldn't offer this if he wasn't sure he could achieve what he's setting out to do. He has a great deal of support from a lot of local politicians and business leaders. On the other hand, he doesn't have all the cards.

As things stand, we will discuss it next week sometime. I've said I'll still go to the two interviews next week. I think the boss was a little surprised at how many interviews I have, but he shouldn't have given me such a good reference if he didn't want that...

Advantages:

• Possible long term job doing what I love
• Location further away from Freiburg in a beautiful place with probably more opportunities for affordable apartments later on.
• Great opportunity to make this department how I would like it, and take on several more clients.
• Workshop will be where the bikes are donated so I have much more control of what bikes are kept and which are dismantled.
• This would at the moment be one of the best routes for the "long term plan" that I have.
• Still get to work, at least partly with the team I'm now part of, but with lots more independence.
• Slightly shorter journey to Stuttgart at weekend.

Trivial advantages:

• I'd be next door to the best equipped wood workshop in the organisation; and I'd probably get to organise that too...
• Black Forest one side, flat cycle friendly Rhine Valley on the other.

Negatives:

• It's a risk: I don't know if the boss can make this work.
• I can't move until I know if it's definite long term which means a 15k commute in winter.
• In March we built well over 20 bikes because I was making one a day and clients made perhaps one a week. Last month I worked 9 days, and we made nine bikes. I'm concerned that being the Flying Squad as well as fixing bikes is going to mean I'm too thinly stretched.
• As above but for clients: If I can't be consistently there, this can have a negative effect on client development.

Trivial negative:

• Having got used to the idea of leaving, I like the jobs I'm being interviewed for, and their locations. One would be another possible step to the "long term goal".

I'll be asking a few questions next week:

• How much will I be paid?
• If I'm getting crappy wages in the short term, what are the chances of a decent wage long term?
• How long is the contract after December in the best case scenario?

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Well, that seems to be good news, in any case.
There's a guy who seems to be trying a lot to keep you within the organisation. I do hope that idea is settling in for you!

the Boss came and offered me an extension to December.

Help a confuddled guy out. Is that on your usual rate of pay, or the recently introduced lower rate?
If it's the usual, it seems a no-brainer to me - a chance to prepare (better) for your departure while optimistically waiting to see see if you will leave or not.
If it's the lower then I'd be putting pressure on him to raise it. He's asking you to turn down other opportunities, he should be putting his money where his mouth is.

There's no need for this to be an all-or-nothing situation. No reason why you can't return at some future date when they finally get their act together.

His plan is to.......

It would be totally reasonable to lay down specific benchmarks in terms of timing with your boss. Ask for, or figure out what the steps are in the process, ask for, or estimate the timing of each one and if you stay working there monitor them. If progress is on schedule all is good. If not, plan B is activated.
Specifically, would you be in your new workshop by December?

The other part is that I'd be the Flying Squad in the event of a staff shortage.

Maybe it's my confusion but is that in your present store or the new one which is some distance from where you live?

I'd be very focused on this, on what it involves and how often it would take me from my "core" job.
I get that variety is the spice of life and that you have seemed to enjoy your participation elsewhere but when the chips are down and fate delivers clients that are more demanding of attention than others what happens?
With your increased independence comes increased responsibility - and perhaps less visibility.
Again, in discussion with the boss I'd be looking to hammer out these things. Especially in terms of the maximum number of occasions this role would be required.

You trust your boss and they seem very keen to keep you.
What would happen if your boss moved on?

he shouldn't have given me such a good reference if he didn't want that...

Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but the reference is about you. It's you that's getting the interviews, not the reference. I don't think it's a work of fiction, is it?

Trivial negative:

• Having got used to the idea of leaving, I like the jobs I'm being interviewed for, and their locations. One would be another possible step to the "long term goal".

I'm slightly bemused that this is labelled a "trivial negative".
You've had a shock, poked your head out into the world of job hunting, discovered that it's not barren or filled with dangerous creatures. In fact, there's quite a few friendly folk who want you and there's at least one "yellow brick road" that might just bring you to where you want to go. And that's pretty much on a first glance. There may well be more that a bit of time or exploration will reveal.

i understand why it's on the negative side of the equation (not being a mathematician I'd give it a category all of its own ) but I wouldn't consider it trivial.
Being "in demand" is a fact, not an illusion created by some magic writing. A fact is a fact, but the feelings and strength generated by that fact shouldn't be downplayed. We all need, every now and then, to tap into those feelings.
In your shoes, whatever happens, I would be feeding ravenously on this.

Best of luck to you and I do hope that despite the stress, confusion and probably some worry that a little part of you is actually enjoying the process. Even climbing up the steepest of hills in the worst conditions there's something to be enjoyed - we just have to keep our eyes open.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Well, that seems to be good news, in any case.
There's a guy who seems to be trying a lot to keep you within the organisation. I do hope that idea is settling in for you!

He wants to keep his team in tact, which does include me. There aren't many people who can fix bikes and deal with our clients.

Help a confuddled guy out. Is that on your usual rate of pay, or the recently introduced lower rate?

You are seeing the potential nub of the problem; I don't know that yet.

If it's the usual, it seems a no-brainer to me - a chance to prepare (better) for your departure while optimistically waiting to see see if you will leave or not.
If it's the lower then I'd be putting pressure on him to raise it. He's asking you to turn down other opportunities, he should be putting his money where his mouth is.

Agreed on the first point, unless something really cracking comes in with these interviews.

The Boss's reaction to my interviews was interesting; he reacted particularly when I mentioned the local one, which is in a very large psychiatric hospital. This is because psychiatric hospitals are funded differently and he knows they'll pay the going rate.

If he still wants me to work for less, I'll probably try for a compromise so that if I have to take a hit it's at least less of one.

Of course the flip side is that the more I earn, the more pressure I'm under to flip bikes for sale.

It would be totally reasonable to lay down specific benchmarks in terms of timing with your boss. Ask for, or figure out what the steps are in the process, ask for, or estimate the timing of each one and if you stay working there monitor them. If progress is on schedule all is good. If not, plan B is activated.
Specifically, would you be in your new workshop by December?

I wondered about this too, and maybe an agreement that I'm only out of the workshop a certain number of days per month, but I suspect that the answer would be that if someone is off sick for a week, someone has to cover.

Working for less, doing less of what I want, and more running about covering other people's sick days is a worse case scenario.

Maybe it's my confusion but is that in your present store or the new one which is some distance from where you live?

That's the medium sized shop in the building the organisation actually owns. It's where I used to work, about 15k north of where I am now.

I'd be very focused on this, on what it involves and how often it would take me from my "core" job.
I get that variety is the spice of life and that you have seemed to enjoy your participation elsewhere but when the chips are down and fate delivers clients that are more demanding of attention than others what happens?
With your increased independence comes increased responsibility - and perhaps less visibility.
Again, in discussion with the boss I'd be looking to hammer out these things. Especially in terms of the maximum number of occasions this role would be required.

You trust your boss and they seem very keen to keep you.
What would happen if your boss moved on?

This is my main concern, I don't want to end up under pressure because I'm effectively trying to do two jobs at once. I've experienced this before and no matter how hard you try, the clients feel the tension and interpret it according to the day/mood/medications.

You couldn't get my boss out of this organisation with a crowbar; he's a fixture until he retires. I guess that's part of the problem; he's very similar to me in that he loves his job and believes passionately in what he's doing.

Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but the reference is about you. It's you that's getting the interviews, not the reference. I don't think it's a work of fiction, is it?

Fair comment, thanks.

I'm slightly bemused that this is labelled a "trivial negative".
You've had a shock, poked your head out into the world of job hunting, discovered that it's not barren or filled with dangerous creatures. In fact, there's quite a few friendly folk who want you and there's at least one "yellow brick road" that might just bring you to where you want to go. And that's pretty much on a first glance. There may well be more that a bit of time or exploration will reveal.

To be honest it took a lot of work just to find these, and several were luck or through contacts suggesting them; they don't tend to advertise. I don't know if I can keep finding more possibilities at the same rate.

That said, I still feel the Boss is a bit surprised that I'm getting this number of possibilities. (my profession is still a bit unusual in this area; we used to be work exclusively with people with mental disabilities), and I will certainly try and use this in next week's discussions.

i understand why it's on the negative side of the equation (not being a mathematician I'd give it a category all of its own ) but I wouldn't consider it trivial.
Being "in demand" is a fact, not an illusion created by some magic writing. A fact is a fact, but the feelings and strength generated by that fact shouldn't be downplayed. We all need, every now and then, to tap into those feelings.
In your shoes, whatever happens, I would be feeding ravenously on this.

Best of luck to you and I do hope that despite the stress, confusion and probably some worry that a little part of you is actually enjoying the process. Even climbing up the steepest of hills in the worst conditions there's something to be enjoyed - we just have to keep our eyes open.

It's certainly good to realise that I am in demand. My feeling is that whatever happens I'll have something fairly soon that I can at least live with while I look for another job.

Thanks again for the response...

 

[Andy in Germany]

The showroom was looking decidedly empty this morning but thankfully we got a couple of "stuck" bikes finished...

And this was delivered into my storeroom after lunch. As the important bits like tyres, brakes, lights and gears work, I turned it around as fast as possible. This will become a "95 Euro" bike which means it's sold "as seen"; I don't test ride it, and we don't offer a free tune up after six months. It's quite a good bike so someone will be getting a bargain.

 

[Jameshow]

View attachment 688792

The showroom was looking decidedly empty this morning but thankfully we got a couple of "stuck" bikes finished...

View attachment 688793

And this was delivered into my storeroom after lunch. As the important bits like tyres, brakes, lights and gears work, I turned it around as fast as possible. This will become a "95 Euro" bike which means it's sold "as seen"; I don't test ride it, and we don't offer a free tune up after six months. It's quite a good bike so someone will be getting a bargain.

Surprised you don't test ride it and are allowed to sell it as sold as seen?

I would expect it to be functional and not dangerous, and some sort of trading responsibility?

Perhaps the Germans are laxer than here in UK?!🤔🤔🤔

 

[Oldhippy]

No it's just that common sense firmly applied everything works as it should you would gain nothing from a test ride.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Surprised you don't test ride it and are allowed to sell it as sold as seen?

I would expect it to be functional and not dangerous, and some sort of trading responsibility?

Perhaps the Germans are laxer than here in UK?!🤔🤔🤔

It's checked: the brakes are functional, the gears are functional, and the lights work. Nothing wobbles, the bearings are intact and all the screws are tight. There's no obvious rust on the cables and the brake blocks are in good condition. I replaced the missing valve caps, pumped the tyres to 4 bar and there were no obvious cracks.

I also put out a Trek MTB today and a Giant city bike: both have been extensively repaired, tested and in some cases upgraded, and they come in at over 250€ each. I have to bear in mind that many customers are immigrants or refugees and just need to be mobile for the absolute minimum cost; many have got their first job and can't afford a bus ticket or want to cycle to the railway station.

When a cheap or elderly bike comes in which is in good condition and needs only a few minutes to do the above, then I take the opportunity to do so. Unfortunately this means compromising because time really is money when I'm fixing a bike and we need to at least break even, and this is as far as I've been willing to compromise.

 

[classic33]

View attachment 688792

The showroom was looking decidedly empty this morning but thankfully we got a couple of "stuck" bikes finished...

View attachment 688793

And this was delivered into my storeroom after lunch. As the important bits like tyres, brakes, lights and gears work, I turned it around as fast as possible. This will become a "95 Euro" bike which means it's sold "as seen"; I don't test ride it, and we don't offer a free tune up after six months. It's quite a good bike so someone will be getting a bargain.

Is "PUKY" electric?

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Sorry. I'm going to be that guy.
What if there is a structural fault, for example a crack somewhere on the frame?
Perhaps it's different in Germany, but I wouldn't like to be the manager who had to answer questions after a nasty accident. I'd expect a certain amount of "weight" to be applied to the quality/safety control process, especially with donated bikes whose provenance is unknown.

I do recall way back at the start of the thread talk of building up a network or a community of customers.
A 3 month, 6 month checkup (or whatever time frame) is the perfect way of generating feedback which is good for the store but also the clients - even if it isn't always good news.
I appreciate there is a cost to that, in terms of labour time and possibly components. However, another way to look at it is not as a cost but as an investment. Thinking about ways to maximise that investment would be worthwhile.

It's also worth remembering that a happy client will tell possibly 2 or 3 people but an unhappy client will tell at least 10.

I appreciate that you don't have a lot of time but something missed because the basic components work well could prove to be very costly.

Apologies for the negativity.

 

[Jameshow]

No it's just that common sense firmly applied everything works as it should you would gain nothing from a test ride.

I find that sometimes a bike will shift on the stand but when under pressure won't. A quick ride helps to sort stuff like that out.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Sorry. I'm going to be that guy.
What if there is a structural fault, for example a crack somewhere on the frame?
Perhaps it's different in Germany, but I wouldn't like to be the manager who had to answer questions after a nasty accident. I'd expect a certain amount of "weight" to be applied to the quality/safety control process, especially with donated bikes whose provenance is unknown.

I do recall way back at the start of the thread talk of building up a network or a community of customers.
A 3 month, 6 month checkup (or whatever time frame) is the perfect way of generating feedback which is good for the store but also the clients - even if it isn't always good news.
I appreciate there is a cost to that, in terms of labour time and possibly components. However, another way to look at it is not as a cost but as an investment. Thinking about ways to maximise that investment would be worthwhile.

It's also worth remembering that a happy client will tell possibly 2 or 3 people but an unhappy client will tell at least 10.

I appreciate that you don't have a lot of time but something missed because the basic components work well could prove to be very costly.

Apologies for the negativity.

To be honest, I'm with you on that; I've been under pressure to relax my standards overall, which I refuse to do. This is a compromise, on the understanding that it's only specific bikes and my manager and the boss take responsibility if these bikes don't work as well as intended.

If I end up staying here I'm working on an agreement with the local psychiatric hospital bike workshop that we sell their bikes in our "low cost" range. Being a therapy workshop they are under no commercial pressure but their bikes are still turned out to the same standard as mine; I'm hoping that will be a long term solution to the very problems you describe and get the pressure off me.

ETA: I also make very sure the customer knows why this bike is only 95€, and that they know exactly what they are buying. I also make it clear that if they want a bike that has been fully checked and test ridden, and which can be brought back for a free checkup in six months, then those are available.

 

[Andy in Germany]

I find that sometimes a bike will shift on the stand but when under pressure won't. A quick ride helps to sort stuff like that out.

This is true, which is why I will generally only do this with a bike that has a hub gear system, and under the agreement shown above.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Is "PUKY" electric?

No. So far I've refused to touch electric bikes and E-scooters on the basis I'm not qualified so I can't be sure they'll go, stop or refrain from combusting spontaneously. PUKY toys are very high quality though.