The chance of a lifetime: You are asked to start a bike shop. How should it be done?

[Scorp]

If the jacket fits, wear it sunshine

It doesn't fit

Do a check of what successful means

[Robert Taylor]

All very well saying this now, a better idea would have been to say the same thing (well not all of it) to the customer before he got pissed off.

Saying it now looks like an excuse, "its not my fault its someone else"
Saying it before would still be an excuse but would be taken a lot better by the customer. At least he has some upfront information and can make a decision accordingly. He probably had a customer breathing down his neck who now thinks he is useless. Who has told his friends.
Lack of communication seems to be one of the biggest problems.
Simple thing like email the courier ticket # when you send something
A simple thing like that can nip so many potential problems in the bud before they escalate to "stick it, I want my money back"

Lack of communication, especially when things arent looking good, is a result of pride, people not wanting to look bad, hoping the problem will go away or sort it self out before the SHTF
You didnt want to admit Ohlins had a problem with supply because you think it makes you look bad. Not at all, Ohlins looks bad, and if a damper were to actually turn up you would look good.
Not saying anything has ended up with you looking bad. Even if a damper turned up you still wouldnt have looked great, you were too slow.
Not having a go at your business, just using this example.

The reality is we were not in receipt of the true and full story from Ohlins until very much after the event, that is the COLD HARD reality. And Ohlins themselves were clearly just as frustrated. Its all too easy to say what you have said after the event and quote out of the ''this is the way it should have been handled'' textbook. We were given new etas from Ohlins which we kept passing on to our customers, and those etas kept being put back. We had to keep passing on the only information that they were telling us.
The reality is this happens from time to time with all manufacturers, if the goods are not ready ( for whatever reasons ) then they are just not ready! Many consumers have little idea of the trials and tribulations that occur in manufacturing, lead times in sourcing material, co-ordination of subcontractors, scheduling production runs, forward orders from distributors etc. Rejection of parts from subcontractors, as continually occured in this case.
And then its amazing, theres a brand new bike from a manufacturer that requires a whole new raft of aftermarket parts specific to it. And its expected that aftermarket parts will be available at the same time as the bike is released!!! It kind of overlooks that the aftermarket manufacturer has to access a bike ( not always so easy ) design and build prototype parts, exhaustively test / develop it ( at least in te case of quality manufacturers ) and then committ to the logistics of supply of raw materials, contracts with subcontractors to build sub parts and then co-ordinate it all into production.
And in the end event manufacturers will only build what they want to build, if the numbers or returns arent there they wont build it! And it makes a lot of sense to slightly undersupply so that excess stock doesnt have to be offloaded at firesale prices at the end of tghe season, negatively impacting on your balance sheet.
No excuses, cold hard reality.

[T.W.R]

It doesn't fit

I could understand the issue if it was a jersey...... can't pull the collar over your head

Do a check of what successful means

maybe you should too.......doesn't say a thing about PROFIT

[onearmedbandit]

I think most peoples definition of a 'successful business' would be one that serves it's customers well and makes a profit. No sense serving them well if you're making a trading loss. In fact I just did a trusty ol' google search on 'definition of a successful business', each response I looked at stated primarily that either profit or a healthy return (profit by another name) was what defines a successful business.

[Scorp]

maybe you should too.......doesn't say a thing about PROFIT

Yeah, you're missing the point again. Your dug up aphorism said: "Arrogance is the shortfall to failure." But I'm not failing. I'm succeeding. That's what I meant by the jacket not fitting.

BTW: some sad has actually given me a red rep just for pointing out the bleeding obvious about profitability.... ha-ha! Hilarious that anyone reading anything I've said should take it so personally as to dish reds. What a baby. Wasn't you was it?

[imdying]

Because of same there will often be a longer lead time to answer especially the more complex e-mails. Its not like selling fine cystal, theres often a lot of detail and whys and wherefores required in our typical e-mail replies.

Yes but, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed, you always post/pm and presumably email, a short note that says I acknowledge your request and it'll take me some time to give it the attention it deserves so sit tight. The 20 seconds you take to do that seemingly small thing is customer service gold.

[R-Soul]

All you've done is take a tact of running around in a circle and choosing to see what you want to see and turn to selective arguement attacks sunshine

so you're working for the Girl Guides or the Salvation Army huh
figures though as your business ideals are sounding thoroughly designed from business educational styles of the 70s

You're the one who wants to work for no profit. He is making a profit while working for charities. Because he is running a BUSINESS, not a CHARITY or NON PROFIT ORGANISATION.

This thread started a quest for a business (i.e. for profit) model that would improve on the current ones. Not a quest to provide handouts and shelter to bikers...

[R-Soul]

I could understand the issue if it was a jersey...... can't pull the collar over your head

maybe you should too.......doesn't say a thing about PROFIT

So why dont you define "success" (in a business sense) for us?

Because while you have denigrated the ideals of profit in a business (the only "reason for being" for most businesses), you have not said what your alternatives are?

[T.W.R]

Yeah, you're missing the point again. Your dug up aphorism said: "Arrogance is the shortfall to failure." But I'm not failing. I'm succeeding. That's what I meant by the jacket not fitting.

BTW: some sad has actually given me a red rep just for pointing out the bleeding obvious about profitability.... ha-ha! Hilarious that anyone reading anything I've said should take it so personally as to dish reds. What a baby. Wasn't you was it?

:slap: Sucessful : adjective of Success....... 1) favourable achievement, 2) good fortune

Arrogance: insolently proud

babies cry out loud about getting a red rep

All you've done is try to make this post below a statement of don't make a profit

OK so if things aren't doing well you're going to keep your profit margins up :slap: A successful business will always cut it's profit margin when things are looking grim so they can keep afloat in order to survive.....a successful business is continually adjusting to the economic enviroment

you've got a pretty narrow focus view and inability to understand what it says, and for the life of me I can't see any part of that saying don't make a profit

[R-Soul]

Yeah, you're missing the point again. Your dug up aphorism said: "Arrogance is the shortfall to failure." But I'm not failing. I'm succeeding. That's what I meant by the jacket not fitting.

BTW: some sad has actually given me a red rep just for pointing out the bleeding obvious about profitability.... ha-ha! Hilarious that anyone reading anything I've said should take it so personally as to dish reds. What a baby. Wasn't you was it?

Yeah I got one red rep too for highlighting his deluded thinking (if he is capable of any at all!). Tosser...

[T.W.R]

You're the one who wants to work for no profit.
This thread started a quest for a business (i.e. for profit) model that would improve on the current ones. Not a quest to provide handouts and shelter to bikers...

You're as amusing as your mate

[T.W.R]

Yeah I got one red rep too for highlighting his deluded thinking (if he is capable of any at all!). Tosser...

cry me a river

[Scorp]

OK so if things aren't doing well you're going to keep your profit margins up A successful business will always cut it's profit margin when things are looking grim so they can keep afloat in order to survive.....a successful business is continually adjusting to the economic enviroment ....

you've got a pretty narrow focus view and inability to understand what it says, and for the life of me I can't see any part of that saying don't make a profit

Ahh, but you see, I never said that any part of your statement above equals "don't make a profit." You're just putting up another straw man argument. I haven't accused you of 'not wanting to make a profit'. All I've done, time and time again, till it's boring everyone including myself, is to state the blatantly obvious fact that profitability is the single most important priority for any successful business.

On the other hand your statement above does seem exceedingly self-contradictory, because it says:

Firstly:

"OK so if things aren't doing well you're going to keep your profit margins up"

Then:

"A successful business will always cut it's profit margin when things are looking grim so they can keep afloat in order to survive"

Which do you actually mean - increase or cut?

[T.W.R]

Ahh, but you see, I never said that any part of your statement above equals "don't make a profit." You're just putting up another straw man argument. I haven't accused you of 'not wanting to make a profit'. All I've done, time and time again, till it's boring everyone including myself, is to state the blatantly obvious fact that profitability is the single most important priority for any successful business.

On the other hand your statement above does seem exceedingly self-contradictory, because it says:

Firstly:
Then:

Which do you actually mean - increase or cut?

FFS you're either blind or have an inability to comprehend?

there I've added a question mark to that so it's rather clear

Maybe the first piece of what your wanting to know I should have added a question mark so you comprehend the question

The second piece again selective reading as you lack understanding of what you're quoting and conveniently have left out the last part of the statement.

A rather smug form of arrogance on your behalf

[Scorp]

Maybe the first piece of what your wanting to know I should have added a question mark so you comprehend the question

Yes, actually using grammar does help in the comprehension of written English. That's why it exists. You see, from where I'm sitting, I can't actually hear the inflection in your typing.

So it seems that you meant to ask:

"If things aren't doing well, are you're going to keep your profit margins up?"

To this question, I would answer: yes, most definitely. Hold your margins if you can. Slashing margin will only create a downward spiraling price war with your competitors, and more importantly, may result in you working twice as hard for half the reward.

The second piece again selective reading as you lack understanding of what you're quoting and conveniently have left out the last part of the statement.

Quite the reverse. I understood perfectly. It's just I happen to know that what you said is wrong.

You said: "A successful business will always cut it's profit margin when things are looking grim so they can keep afloat in order to survive.....a successful business is continually adjusting to the economic environment."

The highlighted part of this statement is simply not true. A successful business will try to hold it's margin during tough times. It may add value in the form of promotional offers, it may try to find or establish new markets, it may increase advertising spend in order to capitalize on the drop in spending of others, but a truly successful business will try to resist the temptation to compromise on price and/or margin. Check out the companies that are posting healthy profits at the moment - they're the successful ones.

P.S. I forgot to mention earlier that return-on-investment (i.e. profitability) is also the greatest imperative for Non-Profit orgs. Because if it costs more to run their operations than the amount of funds they raise, then they'll have no money for their beneficiaries.

One of my clients has operating costs of just 3% of it's gross fundraising income. In other words they raise 32 times more money than they spend. Effectively an operating profit of 97%! All of which goes to needy children. If they placed less priority on return-on-investment (profit), then they'd have less money for the children they help. And would be less effective at achieving their stated mission.

Same goes for the commercial world too.