Kind Blog
April 3, 2009
Well, today, we did it. We took a big step in trying to move this business forward. We posted our business plan online in a public forum for all to see.
There are a few reasons for doing this. The first is to expand our reach to potential investors out there.
The second is that we have been looking at this thing for so long that it can’t hurt to get a few extra sets of eyes on it, maybe to expose some weaknesses in the plan or the presentation itself.
Third, maybe a stretch, but maybe someone can use our ideas as inspiration within the bike industry or something they are passionate about. And lastly, open up the conversation about opensourcing business plans.
Regarding the presentation – we do know it is wordy and involved and a long read, but we figure if someone is going to pony up 80k, we better make sure most of their questions are answered.
We will be posting a PowerPoint presentation within the next week that basically encompasses the summary for an easier/quicker lead in.
After kicking around an opensource BP for a few months, we got a message from a friend linking us to blogmaverick.com – that really sealed it for us, we were gojng to make it public, but where?
On Mr. Cuban’s blog, he listed specific rules that at first seemed impossible for us to consider – specifically to be cash flow positive in 60 days and profitable within 90 days. He even acknowledged that it would be difficult for a start-up to meet his criteria. And given our large upfront expenses to pay vendors, 30 day delivery time from Asia and retailers expecting 45 – 60 day terms, we knew it would be impossible for us to meet this criteria.
BUT….we knew that selling on-line direct-to-consumer was going to be at least a part of our sales plan. So we started to monkey around with numbers and dates and got close. Further refining and choosing the right product to start launch with, got us there.
We have already posted our link to slideshare on Twitter and Linkedin and will be posting to blogmaverick this weekend, hoping its not too late and hoping to catch Mr. Cuban’s attention.
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April 3, 2009
Later today we will be publishing our business plan on-line. There are a few reasons for doing so, mainly that we have not secured financing for our first production run. But why public? We feel we have a good idea and the experience to execute it. We feel that if the public think it is a dog based on feedback, we will re-tool. What we are proposing is nothing new in the industry, its just that no one in the industry has attempted to put it all together, so exposing our plan isn’t risky from a business sense. In fact we would love for others to join us, it would make our path easier.
It has been a long two years since the idea came together. We became a LLC on April 4th 2007. The first eight months were spent figuring out target market, bikes spec’s and courting investors. It all went pretty quickly and we were successful in nailing all three by Christmas ’07. We cut our first purchase order on January 19th, 2008. In sixty days we were in business. Not bad we figured, a one year turnaround for a line of bikes was pretty good considering the industry norms.
Lots of hits on our site, lots of interest via email – then trouble hit – our bikes were delayed and an investor pulled out in March. Scaling back, we pulled it together again and got production back on track for late May. Then we experienced production delays and then another loss of financing by July.
As we were retooling, again, all hell broke loose in the credit markets by late summer. Surely it couldn’t get worse? Knocking on doors used to at least get us in, but now, no one was answering. By Interbike, we shelved the plan waiting to see where the credit markets, bike sales and the economy were going. It got worse, much worse. On hold ‘till about Christmas, we decided to dust off the old bizplan and take another look and what was happening in the industry. We changed course a little.
The high end market, while cool and fun for us, just wasn’t where we needed to be as a company. Our goal is to sell as many bikes as possible so people can just get around easy breezy. By focusing on the high end, we were limiting our reach. So the decision was made to bring bike shop quality bikes that make sense in an urban setting at affordable prices.
What does affordable mean? About $150 – $600.
75% of all bikes sold are less than $600. 95% of all mass bikes sell for less than $200. So that’s where we are going to be. Stay tuned to see how we think we can do it.
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December 1, 2008
We will be migrating away from collecting email addresses for updates. We will post short updates and interesting Kind or bike related ramblings on Twitter.
Bandwagon jumping or whatever you want to call it – we think it is a great way to spread the word and keep the inboxes of the world litter free.
And we promise that we won’t tell you what kind of syrup we had on our french toast this morning.
twitter.com/kindbike
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December 1, 2008
Yes, this was taken in 2008, on one of the most beautiful stretches of road anywhere in the US (in our opinion), Hwy 128 in Utah, north of Moab. kindnewhq.JPG
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November 1, 2008
Check this cool article that showed up in Madison Magazine in September.
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