Taking over the bike shop...

[Andy in Germany]

It might be an idea to ask someone who knows next to nothing about bikes and the operation to go in as a type of "mystery shopper" and then give you feedback on the whole process from display, interactions, selling technique etc.
(Sorry, it's not clear to me if you're the "main man" and solely responsible for sales. If you are, then ask a friend to send in a friend who you don't know.)

I wish I knew that, sometimes. I'm supposed to be taking over but I have a couple of people who for various psychological reasons, are trying to hold onto what they perceive as "their" turf, be it physical or technical. I've seen this a lot when working with people who have various difficulties; some people try and carve out a territory and fight against anyone they see as a threat to their very small space of artificial "expertise", so the boss and the manager and I have to gradually take their "territory" back and build the team so the workshop can function again.

 

[All uphill]

I wish I knew that, sometimes. I'm supposed to be taking over but I have a couple of people who for various psychological reasons, are trying to hold onto what they perceive as "their" turf, be it physical or technical. I've seen this a lot when working with people who have various difficulties; they try and carve out a territory and fight against anyone they see as a threat to their very small space of artificial "expertise", so the boss and the manager and I have to gradually take their "territory" back and build the team so the workshop can function again.

That's very familiar to me from some voluntary work I did a few years ago in a centre for homeless people; I particularly remember the person who became very controlling and directive in the kitchen and successfully drove away four or five flexible volunteers.

The person's overwhelming need to own and control something was understandable but not acceptable.

Interesting challenges, but I guess you are used to that.

 

[Andy in Germany]

We had the town cycling Sunday today: roads closed to cars, and shops allowed to open, so I was at a small shop in the town centre to sell a few bikes.

I'd taken a stand and some tools, largely my own, with me because on the experience of the last few days I suspected the "bikes ready for sale" wouldn't be. I was right; of the fifteen or so bikes there I managed to fix three on the spot as they were just problems with adjustment, but I had to put seven back in store because I hadn't got the tools/parts to fix them. One or two had been test ridden by customers who had obviously rejected them.

Fortunately the Boss came along; to his credit the boss always turns up on special days, takes time to talk to everyone, and often brings cake. I explained why the bikes were packed away or on the bike stand with examples. The bike stand also chose that moment to fall over, demonstrating that they are also rubbish, so he agreed that we can change those too in the long term.

Tomorrow is the meeting with the clients and my "official" introduction as a team leader.

Should be fun...

 

[CharlesF]

Good luck!

 

[Andy in Germany]

Good luck!

Thanks. It's going to be an interesting meeting: I'll be officially put in place as a team leader, which the last TL explicitly said I wasn't, and then all the returns from today will arrive. And it was me that rejected them...

 

[classic33]

Thanks. It's going to be an interesting meeting: I'll be officially put in place as a team leader, which the last TL explicitly said I wasn't, and then all the returns from today will arrive. And it was me that rejected them...

You causing yourself trouble before you've even started!!

 

[Andy in Germany]

You causing yourself trouble before you've even started!!

It seems to be my fate.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Many thanks again for the advice and support, it's extremely encouraging.

I'm still trying to tidy up. One frustrating aspect is the catch 22 situation: the backlog of donated bikes is growing, but the workshop is still in a state of chaos, so finding parts and tools is difficult, which means I have to keep tidying and organising before I can really get to grips with repairs.

The boss found a checklist of sorts, but it will need to change soon, because it only covers "additional" work, not the essential things like "set brakes so they actually stop the bike". I'm working on this.

On the other hand, in accordance with advice here, I contacted a local shop doing the same as us in Freiburg. They are keen to work with us and the boss is keen to work with them, so we're visitng them together next week, which should be interesting.

 

[CharlesF]

A big mountain to climb, but once conquered you’ll have everything just so. It’s great that you have support from other shops, steal with pride!

 

[Andy in Germany]

A big mountain to climb, but once conquered you’ll have everything just so. It’s great that you have support from other shops, steal with pride!

It's going to be interesting; as far as I can work out they are a bike shop with lots of repair expertise that takes on clients with the same background as ours. We're a large non-profit that looks after people with various difficulties that just happens to run a bike shop.

We're approaching from different directions which is very good for the exchange of ideas and experience.

 

[Andy in Germany]

On the basis I'll always wonder´if I don't, I've called the local technical college to see if I can get an apprenticeship as a bike mechanic; normally this would be a two year course, mostly at work but with theory at the local college. As I've done the state accredited cabinet makers apprenticeship I don't have to do the "general" subjects like German, history, et c which should speed things up.

The likely sticking point is that the company needs to have a master mechanic, which they don't have, but it's worth asking.

Meanwhile tidying up continues and I'm working out how to improve the sales area. This is in a foyer at ground level whereas the rest of the shop is on the first floor. The area is unsupervised so the bikes have to be locked. I've already made the first change; the locks are now labelled with colours and numbers so we know which key of the seventeen on the ring fits which of the six locks...

 

[Andy in Germany]

On the basis I'll always wonder´if I don't, I've called the local technical college to see if I can get an apprenticeship as a bike mechanic; normally this would be a two year course, mostly at work but with theory at the local college. As I've done the state accredited cabinet makers apprenticeship I don't have to do the "general" subjects like German, history, et c which should speed things up.

The likely sticking point is that the company needs to have a master mechanic, which they don't have, but it's worth asking.

Turns out I can't unless I work 50% of the time for two years and go and work somewhere else with a master bike mechanic for the other half of the time. It was worth asking.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Cleared the desk of the Mechanics junk and Hifi; these are now carefully labelled and in storage. Tomorrow I'm sending the Laptop to the tech department for "maintenance".

This won't make me popular but I think we need to make it clear this is a place to work and not a hobby room.

 

[annedonnelly]

It's the simple things like labelling the locks and keys which can save so much time and aggravation. And which need a fresh pair of eyes to spot. Just too obvious for anyone else to realise

I'm enjoying the updates on your progress.

 

[Andy in Germany]

It's the simple things like labelling the locks and keys which can save so much time and aggravation. And which need a fresh pair of eyes to spot. Just too obvious for anyone else to realise

I'm enjoying the updates on your progress.

I suspect it's also because no-one was in charge of the department, so the person on the till would get frustrated at the mess of keys, go back to the till and quite reasonably forget about it because they were doing their job.

Quite why no-one on the bike team actually took ten minutes to sort it out is another question...