Taking over the bike shop...

[Andy in Germany]

Ah people. Strange things. Most are grateful for help but some just want to dump their problems on you for you to fix. And will complain if you don't. Will be volunteering at my local charity again later today and can guarantee, I will have a least one of the "you sort it" brigade. They will be told as politely as possible what the steps are to sort it themselves. We have the catchy term of "empowering the client" - or in practical terms FRO.

Had an Iraqi in one day with a HO/RT1 from the local police - aka a 'producer'. He was driving a taxi without a licence and therefore invalid insurance. Could I have a word with the local police to sort it? Perhaps in Iraq that was possible, but explained this is not the way here. Explained what to do when he went to court and how to plead his case to get the minimum fine/points.

Bosses though as more difficult to sort as some want to save everyone. We get a grant every 6 months for ad-hoc problems that need a small amount of cash to sort e.g. £300 for a washing machine. Problem is that this winter's grant and part of next spring's grant has already been promised as the boss can't say no.

Perhaps your client and your boss need empowered.

We see the same, most need a bit of help and then go and make a success of it, some can't for various health related reasons, some think they're 'too old' because in their home country they would be considered old, and should be allowed to retire, but have a good 20 years to go in a German context; and a few just think that the state is "rich" and should pay for their lifestyle. The last is as common among Germans as migrants, to be fair.

I remember one client who got a speeding ticket in north Germany coming with a similar request; he wanted a Lawyer to fight it, but was firmly told to pay the fine.

Thankfully my colleagues have enough training and/or experience to know we can't save everyone, and not should we; we provide opportunities for people to sort themselves out. Germany has a strong cultural expectation that people take responsibility for themselves; this in our context is "empowerment", because if we do anything we make the client dependent on us. My boss is especially good at this, and is probably the strictest of all of us...

 

[Andy in Germany]

The Boss came today; there's a meeting tomorrow afternoon (Wednesday) with The Boss, Deputy Boss, and the manager of the shop the bike workshop is based in.

I know one of the items is that i'm "not making enough bikes" according to the Deputy Boss; they're still comparing me with the Previous Mechanic, who could, indeed turn bikes around in half an hour or so. Part of this is than I'm a perfectionist (especially when it comes to bikes not killing people) and I know our bikes take longer because we're making them work very well; however, I think the company was pretty lucky not to have been sued if the bikes I saw on my first day were the accepted norm.

I will also be very clearly making the point that the Previous Mechanic was just fixing bikes, whereas I have a lot of other duties, in the social care and documentation and also supporting other areas of the shop. one question is if I should split my time as 80% in the bike shop and 20% supporting the staff in the rest of the store, or if we can go 'up' to 75/25% or even 50/50%. I've been documenting my time and I think I'm currently at 20% bike shop/ 80% other areas, partly because we're so short staffed.

I know The Boss is seriously considering moving us into move into another building (where the council delivers used bikes to) so this may come up. To be honest I'm a bit ambivalent about the whole process; we'll see if I'll be looking for a new job tomorrow evening or not...

 

[Jameshow]

The Boss came today; there's a meeting tomorrow afternoon (Wednesday) with The Boss, Deputy Boss, and the manager of the shop the bike workshop is based in.

I know one of the items is that i'm "not making enough bikes" according to the Deputy Boss; they're still comparing me with the Previous Mechanic, who could, indeed turn bikes around in half an hour or so. Part of this is than I'm a perfectionist (especially when it comes to bikes not killing people) and I know our bikes take longer because we're making them work very well; however, I think the company was pretty lucky not to have been sued if the bikes I saw on my first day were the accepted norm.

I will also be very clearly making the point that the Previous Mechanic was just fixing bikes, whereas I have a lot of other duties, in the social care and documentation and also supporting other areas of the shop. one question is if I should split my time as 80% in the bike shop and 20% supporting the staff in the rest of the store, or if we can go 'up' to 75/25% or even 50/50%. I've been documenting my time and I think I'm currently at 20% bike shop/ 80% other areas, partly because we're so short staffed.

I know The Boss is seriously considering moving us into move into another building (where the council delivers used bikes to) so this may come up. To be honest I'm a bit ambivalent about the whole process; we'll see if I'll be looking for a new job tomorrow evening or not...

It's always feels worse than it is!

Usually a path through is found!

Most of the time it's a fudge or something like that.

 

[Emanresu]

Sounds strangely familiar. Charities have to be nimble - but it can be hell of a confusing in terms of working out what you are attempting to do.

An equivalent operation to your LBS close to me, has changed it's approach this year. They are now offering repair services in competition with other LBS as their nearest LBS has closed. It's 3 miles to the next one. Pricing of bike servicing sits about 20% below the average for the area.

They also have an "earn a bike" project where if you put in the hours to fettle a donated bike (under supervision) you can ride it away. It's an interesting concept of training, self-quality control, and a potential volunteer for later.

Also Key workers can get subsidised bikes but I can't understand the economics of this. Fixing bikes is a cost and when you sell them you need to cover your costs so a KW either gets a very basic bike or one that might not be as roadworthy as it could be. Having just had a family member fall off their bike at the weekend and spend two nights in hospital, I'm all for quality standards - especially when it comes down to the dreadful state of some of our roads in the area.

 

[Andy in Germany]

we'll see if I'll be looking for a new job tomorrow evening or not...

They want to keep me; they like my work, They really like how I deal with clients, and have apparently found some change behind the sofa cushions.

The number of bikes being produced barely came up at all.

 

[Dogtrousers]

They want to keep me; they like my work, like how I deal with clients a lot, and have apparently found some change behind the sofa cushions.

And the boss says "By the way, I'm getting a kind of squeaky clicky noise on my bike, you couldn't take a look at it could you?"

 

[Andy in Germany]

And the boss says "By the way, I'm getting a kind of squeaky clicky noise on my bike, you couldn't take a look at it could you?"

He's just taken one home that I'd fixed: It was his son's much loved MTB and they didn't think it would be fixable.

I asked about the contract in the same email where I told them it was ready, which scored a few brownie points.

 

[All uphill]

And the boss says "By the way, I'm getting a kind of squeaky clicky noise on my bike, you couldn't take a look at it could you?"

Congratulations!

I'm sure no one on here is surprised.

 

[Andy in Germany]

I'm sure no one on here is surprised.

Thank you. Their actual comment was that they like how I work but I should relax and accept that they trust me to do the job.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Jeez, Andy, I don't know how you do it!

They want to keep me; they like my work, They really like how I deal with clients, and have apparently found some change behind the sofa cushions.

It can not be pleasant to be working in a situation where a dark, mysterious cloud threatens to smother you on a regular basis. This isn't the first time that you've worried about the future only for the cloud to be dispersed in a moment. The relief, afterwards, I'm sure, is great. But what of the worry and anxiety before?

Their actual comment was that they like how I work but I should relax and accept that they trust me to do the job.

I think you should pay a whole lot of attention to that suggestion.

It may be no harm to go over this whole scenario in a bit of detail and try to figure out where the doubt started to come from.
Perhaps it's you taking a comment out of context and thinking the worst?
Perhaps it's a colleague/manager stirring the pot, deliberately or not?
Perhaps it's just clumsy, possibly inept, management?

If I was brought in to run the bike shop (and all the attendant parts of dealing with those clients) and I found myself spending 80% of my time away from the bike shop I would want written instructions from the management that this was what was required. I might even ask for a revised job spec to reflect this. A nod and a wink and a pat on the shoulder now may be perfectly fine but a new manager might not respect old understandings or priorities. If that sounds too formal, I would, at the very least, chase down any "mixed messages" that might be transmitted by different managers.

I appreciate very much that the traits that make an effective "Andy in Germany" are possibly not the more assertive traits that might be needed in these types of situations. However, I don't think I'm wrong to assert that to be as effective as possible in your type of work (and professionally satisfied) you need to be comfortable, secure and happy.

As always, the very best of luck to you.

PS

They want to keep me; they like my work, They really like how I deal with clients, and have apparently found some change behind the sofa cushions.

Congratulations!! That is some seriously good feedback!

 

[Andy in Germany]

Working on the "Being more confident" thing, I'm doing something I've been putting off for ages and making a display in the shop.

We needed to make something quickly so I grabbed a load of palletts and asked one of the clients to help me set them up in an interesting manner we can put bikes on.

After some discussion we came up with this, and I put massive screws through the pallets until they stopped wobbling:

This was achieved yesterday and today was mostly spent making a top for the upright pallets, because the manager turned up and said "we need to put a bike right on the top".

She also produced a set of pictures of professionally made bike shop displays and said "we should make something like that". Not for the first time I realise that people who haven't many practical skills tend to underestimate how easy things like carpentry are, or how quickly they can be achieved.

 

[albion]

If you need to increase sales, for many pricing and reliability of 2nd hand bikes can be offputting.
Including event support in the bike might be fruititous. Most likely that would involve fixing a puncture while they watch and learn, or two if you include 2 oncoming problem events.

Lots of niggly events are down to lack of user experience, which is also why people buy new.

 

[Andy in Germany]

If you need to increase sales, for many pricing and reliability of 2nd hand bikes can be offputting.
Including event support in the bike might be fruititous. Most likely that would involve fixing a puncture while they watch and learn, or two if you include 2 oncoming problem events.

Lots of niggly events are down to lack of user experience, which is also why people buy new.

For bikes over 100€ we offer a free checkup after six months. This seems to help people feel a bit more confident, although strangely not that many take advantage of this.

I'd like to offer workshops but I'm short on time.

 

[albion]

For bikes over 100€ we offer a free checkup after six months. This seems to help people feel a bit more confident, although strangely not that many take advantage of this.

I'd like to offer workshops but I'm short on time.

I think I got offered that at Recyke y'bike but short term problems were my main concern. And I am almost competent.

 

[Emanresu]

One on the bike charities in London put the better donated bikes on Ebay to generate income for themselves. Also works as advertising for the charity to get more donations. The downside though is the quality of the remainder is diluted but it will depend on the level of "stock" you think you need.