Though I catch myself using it all too often, I’m not a fan of the phrase ‘don’t sh*t where you eat.’ As a tao, I think it celebrates a bare minimum of decent behaviour. Preservation of the status quo rather than creating value by paying it forward. Instead of just not bad-mouthing the competing shop around the corner, or across town, celebrate what they excel at.
The guys at Lynn Valley Bikes ride year-round in the most brutal weather conditions and stock the gear to do it. Experiencing discomfort or even pain on your drop-bar bike? Try the neutral, natural, road bike fit experience that Matt at Obsession brings to their dedicated bike-fit area. Chaz at Cove Bikes has come through clutch to help track down more than one impossible-to-find part this year. I can play the example game all day.
And, when I’m standing in the shop talking to a rider with a need I simply can’t fulfill in a timely manner, I think nothing of referring that rider to a shop that I think will be able to help them out at the moment. And, I recognize enough referrals from other shops that it’s obvious who’s working together on the Shore to create value for everyone on either side of the bike shop sales counter. As with supporting local trail builders – one way or another – supporting your competition (or more specifically, supporting riders by engaging your competition) requires seeing beyond your short-term bottom line and contributing to something larger.
It’s nice going the extra mile to get someone sorted when you can. It’s nice doing favours to help other bike industry folks, or the shops they own or work at, get ahead. It’s nice working in a North Shore bicycle retail community that largely looks after each other – from the old groms like myself to the most professional of sales reps.
I’m under no illusions as to where my balance sits with any number of my fellow folks working in bikes, most especially – like most anyone trying to get something done in a bike shop in North Van – the number of “can I borrow your brain for a minute” moments that I owe to my friend Pope Jimmy at SuspensionWerx. Thank you, Jimmy. There’s a reason when James needs help moving something, needs a part for this bike, needs a bike, or whatever there is no shortage of volunteers from the ranks of his suppliers, shop partners, and customers. As there should be.
As there should be because as nice as it is to do a favour there’s something essentially sacred about recognizing when a favour is done for you. It’s that private reminder that there are no “self-made” people and something as simple as a customer referred can have an effect on how your business tracks long term. It’s a carrot, not a stick, but without food, in the winter you starve. I think, this year and every year, to run a bicycle business it’s important to have a larder stocked with goodwill.
It’s a small, small mountain bike world on the North Shore and if you own or work in a shop – old or brand new – and haven’t taken stock of who’s helped fill you up for a while then here’s a maybe-not-that gentle reminder that the Ides Of March is only a couple weeks away.