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Amos Brumble – Brumble Bikes, Westerly, RI, and Head of Operations, Velo Tooler

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Saving the world one bike at a time.

Meet Amos Brumble.

Bike racer, coach, shop owner, and executive, Amos is leading out a specific type of retail. Sharing with us insights on delivering to your customers exactly what they want. Creating retail hours based on when your customers shop and going above the in-store visit to optimizing the customer interactions via dedicated newsletters. Always connecting on a personal level, the conversation covers everything from relationships with your brand reps to the value in making time to ride and following through on your statements around putting customers first. This is a must-listen.

Support the show

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Amos Brumble, Brumble Bikes

Tue, 3/2 10:26AM • 52:52

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

bikes, shop, people, customers, business, buying, bike shop, building, shop owners, sell, opened, listeners, cyclist, Amos, ride, emails, mechanics, questions, thinking, brand.

SPEAKERS

Heather Mason, Amos Brumble, NBDA

NBDA   00:10

You are listening to bicycle retail radio, brought to you by the National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Heather Mason  00:16

Welcome to another episode of bicycle retail radio brought to you by the NBDA. I’m Heather Mason. Thank you for listening. I’m so happy you’re here. If you’re a first-time listener, be sure to check out the previous episodes. Please do us a favor, leave a review. It helps members of our industry find our podcasts. And this podcast is designed specifically for the bicycle industry. We are dedicated to strengthening our retailers and cycling community. Today’s guest is Amos Bramble, a bike racer coach, owner of rumble bikes and westerly Rhode Island, head of operations at Velo Tooler, an all-around super great guy, and my personal friend. Welcome, Amos.

Amos Brumble  00:55

Nice to be here.

Heather Mason  00:57

Amos. We have been friends for many years, when I was thinking about you know what I wanted to ask you today? I was thinking about when our friendship began. And I want to say it happened when I was visiting you when I worked for mercs right?

Amos Brumble  01:10

Yeah, you came in. And you said that my shop had been recommended by a couple places to as a potential good fit for mercs. So, they weren’t?

Heather Mason  01:20

Yeah, so your shop is so unique. And we’ll get into that with describing that to our listeners, but I was instantly drawn to your shop and you as a person. And that’s why I wanted to have you on today, you have a great sense of, and I put into quotes, like the sense of your business. And I asked you in preparing for this to describe what you would say about your unique shop operations. And you said to me that you think of the shop, as more of a doctor’s office than an all you can eat buffet that’s open 24 hours, I love that. Tell me about that.

Amos Brumble  02:00

You know, what it is, is I think the business advice, it’s always been passed on to me is that, you know, you can’t be all things to all people. And I kind of take that to heart. And it basically means like, you know, like the idea that like you could go into like a buffet, and the chances are anybody could go in and there’ll be something that they’ll like, versus my personal attitude is that there are people that are going to like the things that I’m giving them. And so that’s what they’re gonna get, you know, and then there’s gonna be a lot of people that are gonna be like, I don’t like the way you do it. I don’t like the products that you sell, you know, a variety of things that are like kind of negative. And I honestly consider that to be positive reinforcement that I’m doing the right thing.

Heather Mason  02:47

I mean, I think you’re definitely doing the right thing. And I really want to explain more to our listeners about the doctor’s office feel of rumble bikes, your shop tagline is saving the world one bike at a time. And your business model is so unique. And I think it’s definitely one that could inspire a new breed of retail. So yeah, I’m just so excited to dive in with this. I think too often that we lose sight of taking care of ourselves. And I know that, you know, I know you’re a bike racer, and you try to get out often and ride and that you set your business up to still allow you to have that time and do that for yourself. And I think it’s so important that we take care of ourselves like that. So, we have so much to get into this episode, the norm of your shop hours, your coach, you’re the head of operations of Velo Tooler, everything here is going to be really great. Before we get started, I just want to give a call out to you might have seen on our social feeds recently, that bikeexchange is a new partner with the NBA bikeexchange is really unique. I had a call with Steve last week, and they’re offering platforms to retailers that allow you to have a broader audience with your old inventory. So, if you haven’t had a chance to check out bikeexchange take a look at the preferred partner page on the nba.com website. And he’s been so great and offering a discount to NBDA members. So, thanks, Steve and bikeexchange Okay, Amos. It’s been like a year since we saw each other right. I mean, a year?

Amos Brumble  04:16

Yes.

Heather Mason  04:18

I mean, we keep trying to make the plans, you know, throw the gear in the car, we’ll meet up we’ll snowshoe. Like, we’ll do whatever. Yeah, it’s just too busy. Right.

Amos Brumble  04:29

I should say. I think, you know, like, obviously, I have been set up so that given a little bit of time, you know, in certain days of the week, I know that I can just drop everything and go do something. You know, and that’s kind of I wouldn’t say necessarily that I have a lifestyle business, but I have a lifestyle business. Alright, so

Heather Mason  04:48

how did you end up in the bike industry? Amos, what brought you here?

Amos Brumble  04:52

I think what really brought me here was the local shop needed a mechanic and at that point, I was already tuned up bikes like in my basement, and you know, they needed somebody to work and, you know, I was like delivering newspapers and, and I was, you know, service and bikes, you know, for people I knew. And he wanted me because you’d heard good things about me. And I think I basically had a question like, you know, why do I want to work here. So then ended up kind of, I worked there for not that long, I got fired. Well, basically, what happened was, is that I was working that job, I was delivering newspapers, and then another local shop mystic cycle center had opened up and a friend of mine that I wrote with work there, or he was one of the managers, and he needed somebody to help build bikes. And I said, Okay, you know, and I don’t see a conflict of interest. And this will lead into the belly to a thing, but I never saw a conflict of interest. So, I was building bikes there. And, you know, basically said, Oh, we can get you like an employee purchase on a specialize. And I said, Yeah, sure. Now, the other shop that I’m working at, you know, I was still tuning bikes up at home, delivering newspapers working at the shop, so I ride up on all kinds of different bikes when I would go to work. And then he always asked me, well, whose bike is that? Was that whose bike is that? And now I got this specialized, like, Spike is so No, it’s mine. You know, I bought it. And he was furious. furious about it, you know, and fire as a, okay. Like, and then eventually, you know, I see, you know, doing the mechanical work on and off for a long time. And eventually, to me, I just shop came up the first shop where I really started doing group rides and going, and then that was sold after a couple years, and I opened mine in 2004. doing it ever since.

Heather Mason  06:45

So, Brownville bikes, so that name comes from your name is that it’s just like, tell us, you know, I

Amos Brumble  06:52

tried other stuff. And from a business perspective, you know, the main concern I had about using my own name is that if I ever came to a point where I was selling it, obviously, it’s my name. It’s the same problem with calling your name. You know, like I could say, it could have said it was westerly bikes. I mean, if you open up a location, and a second one, in the next town over, and it’s not westerly, it’s kind of doesn’t make any sense. So, I did a lot of back and forth with a business mentor of mine, a guy named Peter pacella, who’s actually he’s written multiple books. Pretty smart guy. And he just said, you should just use your, I see. Okay,

Heather Mason  07:29

yeah, and I spent some time on your website before and I had before, you know, when I was working with mercs, and you know, acting as a sales rep with for you. But it is it fits so well. rumble bikes because the shop is really you. I mean, you’re the mechanic, you’re the heart and soul in it. So, alright, so tell us about your business idea, like the vision give our listeners like an idea of what makes I’m saying it’s so unique, and we’re calling it you know, like a doctor’s office. Can you tell us about your vision and what makes rumble bikes so unique?

Amos Brumble  08:01

I’ve done like a couple things before I opened it. And it’s hard for me to say it’s unique because I you know, a lot of times, I’m like, it’s the thing that I do every day, so it doesn’t feel unique. But you know, when the last shop advantage, before I opened my own, I had basically surveyed all the customers. And I just said, Well, what do you want in the shop at currently? Yeah, you know, for you, what are the customers want. And they gave like a list of different things that they wanted. And at that shop was getting slightly, we just didn’t have the option of actually implementing the things that they wanted. So, when I opened mine, I said, Okay, well, what are these people want? You know, I know, it’s been a big trend for shops to have, say, like, a coffee bar, or out like a beer thing or some other type of business. But when I asked the really enthusiast customers, the ones that were spending the most money came into most often and recommended the business to other people. Those people specifically said that they did not want that. They wanted a bike shop. That was a bike shop. That’s it, nothing else. So, I said, Okay. And I knew that meant when it was going to be like that whether, you know, but not the one season, it would be really slow. And when it was busy, it’d be busy. So, I kind of built everything around that. And then the other thing I had asked people I said, Well, we want to see your store. And a lot of times it was the stuff that takes their bikes, spare parts that well invest my money in spare parts. So, when people come into my store, like they don’t see like a bunch of bikes, so like that service, my best customer like goes through every step of the business, like every area is affected by those decisions.

Heather Mason  09:50

Yeah, so you set your shop up based on data from the customers that you thought would be shopping, you know with you. That’s what makes total sense. So, do you have when you say you have a specific customer? Do you not sell kids bikes? Or do you not sell a mountain bike? Are you only focused on road give us an idea of who your general customer is?

Amos Brumble  10:11

General customers road rider, probably in their 50s to probably in their 70s. And maybe less than 5% of my sales would make up of kids bikes and mountain bike related product. Bike sales are not the biggest portion of the business, they never really happen. If a customer wants to buy a bike for me, I’ll get it with COVID you know that part of the model kind of went out the window. So, I mean, I had a year like, probably three years ago, I sold one hybrid the entire year.

Heather Mason  10:44

So, what is the biggest portion of your sales? And is it your service?

Amos Brumble  10:47

Yeah, service in the parks that are kind of related to that service?

Heather Mason  10:53

All right. Your shop is amazing corner location. I love your building. It’s definitely very, I’ve never seen another place like it. So, a big question that I’ve been often getting conversation with shop owners is renting or owning their location. So, I’m wondering, you know, tell us why you in your specific location are, you know, listeners, he is in this amazing corner spot. It’s like an old house, you know, totally Rhode Island Look, a feel to it. So, Amos, why did you choose that location? And do you rent Do you own tell us a little bit about your spot,

Amos Brumble  11:28

I own the location, one of the things I have looked at is things like traffic counts, and weird a cyclist bride as another one. And I also wanted a mixed residential commercial building, that way I could live. So that would reduce them. So, if I stay with the original business plan when it’s slow, it’s really slow. So, I needed a way to like cut the overhead. And I kind of always liked that idea of the shop owner, like being the shop owner, like they’re just there. So, you know, I wanted to mix residential commercial building. And I looked at a few. And I mean, initially, I didn’t have the money to actually do this, I would have never rented ever. But that wasn’t an option. I didn’t have the finances, you know, to start off by buying a building. So, I rented, but the truth be told, like, my rent that I was paying at my previous location is actually the same as my mortgage. So, I actually bought this building from a person who was a customer. They come in my store like a few times, and you know, husband died, the wife hated the building. painted it with a passion. You know, and basically, I had talked to the realtor, you know, I had some people that give me advice about making an offer on a building. And basically, I went back and forth with a realtor just kind of over the phone. Like they gave me the keys the building and said here, take the keys, you know, check it out. I brought in the building inspector, I brought in the fire marshal, I brought in zoning. So, I brought in all the people from the town to make sure that what I wanted to do was going to be okay. And made the offer which was accepted. And then I got an SBA loan, which is special use loan because I said owner occupied buildings. So, there’s like a special category for that type of loan. And that took eight months to go through. It took forever. I needed so much help with that. You know, I had a bookkeeper, count lawyer. I’m like, I just want to buy a building. Such a production, but it took a while but eventually went through.

Heather Mason  13:51

Yeah, what I hear the consensus is from shop owners is that owning instead of renting is definitely the way to go. I think it probably depends, but that seems to be the consensus that I’m hearing. And yeah, the SBA loan. That’s a great point that you brought us up Amos, like for people who are considering starting a shop looking at those sources that are available. I’m sure there’s some of our listeners and bike shop owners are thinking hours 12 to five, like, how is that feasible? No weekends. I mean, aim is what your Monday through Friday, what tell us how you’re doing this.

Amos Brumble  14:25

So, I mean, I’ll preface this with my shop made a profit year one. So, it’s always made a profit every year since I opened. Maybe not a lot, but I’ve always made money. So, one of the things I’ve had an electronic point of sale since I opened the store, I have switch point of sale systems, my original one to lightspeed but I would use that system to track what time were purchases made and on what date and actually a lot of credit card processors will just send you this kind of stuff on Automatically, so I use square in the shop as a credit card processor. And they’ll tell you like, here’s your peak day, here’s your peak times. But you know, well, before that I looked at when people came in, they don’t come in in the morning, you know, they come in the afternoon, part of me is like, how do you get people get your three o’clock, I mean, but that’s when they were coming. And I said, Well, I want to be able to ride my bike. And I need to be able to run the store alone. You know, so everything is based on the idea that I would have no help at all. I do have, you know, four employees. So, my situation is maybe a little bit different. But I want to say last week, I think out of the five days I was here, I think I was alone on four of them. So, you know, built around the idea that the store could be run by a single person. So that means I come in early, or stay late? Or both? It kind of depends. And everybody told me it wouldn’t work. Right?

Heather Mason  15:59

Yeah, people like to tell you, it won’t work. But when you’re looking at data, and you’re making decisions based on data, and also decisions to keep you sane, you know, being the sole person there. Sounds like it will work.

Amos Brumble  16:11

I guess it’s 16 years in, I’m gonna say that it works. You know, I mean, I’m not saying there aren’t sacrifices that I’ve made, I have made a purchase of was to get a large box, one of those, like storage boxes, like a locker. So, you know, my customers can drop a bike off 24 hours a day if they want.

Heather Mason  16:31

Will you have a locker outside for your customers, so drop off or pick up? Outside hours? even smarter? I love that idea.

Amos Brumble  16:41

It’ll fit two bikes.

Heather Mason  16:42

Okay.

Amos Brumble  16:43

You know, tell people like yeah, you know, put it in there. There’s a lock on the key, I’m in the door, you know, leave me a message. Once in a locker. Oh, go get it do the work.

Heather Mason  16:55

I actually when we first met, I was so it just intrigued by your shop operations that I you know how I’m very personal, right. So, I told another shop owner friend who you know, sole proprietor was there pretty much day, you know, from 10am to 7pm, Monday through Friday, and on Saturday at his shop, like the only person. I was like, you should just close on Mondays. He’s like, I can’t do that. I can’t do that. And so, I finally convinced them to based on what I was like. So, let me tell me about my friend Amos, right. And so, he did. And a couple years later, he said it’s the best he didn’t lose any business. People just came other days. And he’s been able to go ride and like reconnect with the sport, you know. So, it’s really, I like the way that you’re saying its database. And it’s, you know, the way that you’ve made it work for you. And I think other shop owners could learn from that too. And take a look at those hours and fine tune them. You know, where necessary. Yeah, I

Amos Brumble  17:51

mean, I do a lot of appointments. So, if my customers need to come in early, or they need to come late, you know, I tell him me, as long as I have a little bit of warning, I can reschedule my day to make it work.

Heather Mason  18:04

Amos with COVID this past year, did you have to do anything different at the shop?

Amos Brumble  18:08

No, I actually didn’t change any at all. No, there was no changes.

Heather Mason  18:13

So, what brands do you sell? Are you still carrying marks? I think you are right.

Amos Brumble  18:18

Yeah, still carry marks. Cannondale is really my main line in right now there’s just no product to talk about pinarello Look, Niner. And I want to say when it really comes down to it, if somebody wants a bike, and it’s like a weird brand, I’ll try and get my point of view is that if a customer comes in, and they’re asking about a certain bike, they’re already sold. So yeah, maybe I might make a couple more margin points, if I sell them a brand that I already deal with, or I might lose the sale. So, you know, I’ll make the inquiries with the brand, you know, see if they want to sell a single bike? And the answer is yes. And I can make it all work. Then I did it for

Heather Mason  19:01

so, as I know, a few of the brands that you mentioned, do he ride bikes? Are you seeing any movement there? Have you sold a few of those?

Amos Brumble  19:10

I sold a couple pinarello was the diode Oh, I actually sold one of the gravel bikes and one of the road bikes. There’s a lot of resistance from my customers, because I want to say that they want to feel like that the reason that they’re willing to buy an E road bike is because they can’t keep up anymore. And so therefore, then they’re gonna buy it. So, a lot of them it’s actually a future purchase, I think for a lot of people.

Heather Mason  19:39

Right? I agree with that. Do you sell us bikes at all? at the shop? I know a bunch of retailers are thinking about that. Now the inventory levels I didn’t know if that’s something that you had thought about or offer.

Amos Brumble  19:52

It’s kind of off and on. I mean, I’ve taken trade ins once in a while and pretty much all those like got sold last year, but You know, from a lot of conversations with people that had come into the store, it was really apparent that their threshold for buying a used bike was $200. And basically, because I want to say, Walmart is their comparison-shopping point, and their bikes are usually going to be around $200. So that was a lot of people just don’t want to go past it.

Heather Mason  20:24

So, you said you have that storage locker outside, but I know you have your really cool rumble van. So, you do pickup and delivery, right? Is that something that you do at the shop? Yeah. Are you feeling like this past year with COVID? You did more of that? Or

Amos Brumble  20:38

did you focus on I did do more of that? But I think that one of the reasons was, is that some people, they just don’t have a ramp to transport the fight. So, it wasn’t necessarily COVID directly. It was an indirect thing. You know, they started riding again, but they had no way to get the bike here.

Heather Mason  20:52

Yeah, yeah. Right. They started riding again, but they couldn’t get the bike. Yeah, that makes total sense. Okay, so back to supplier relations that we wrote last year. And it was amazing. We went on this like night ride with our fat bikes, our Cannondale fat bikes, and it was amazing. How important do you think it is that shop owners ride with their reps? And like, how can we a big thing right now is communication and how shops can, you know, let their reps know what they need? And you think that writing is important any tips for communication for shop and supplier relationships?

Amos Brumble  21:30

Well, I mean, usually the rep is going to be the most direct communication that I’m going to have with whatever brands that I deal with, whether it be an outside rap, or an inside Rep. So, I think that communication thing is like pretty critical. I mean, my preference is, you know, phone calls or emails. And again, very similar my customers, as long as we can schedule a visit, then I’ll make that work. And this stuff I’m looking to be, obviously, I want to know about your product, I’m also looking to know about where the brand itself is going. You know, I know a lot of brands are going to keep future models and direction, kind of Hush Hush. But, you know, I kind of need to know, like, Hey, we’re gonna phase out that product in six months. All right, well, I should get rid of what I’ve got be really careful about buying more of it. And that leads to a better long-term relationship with a brand rather than having say, no information, buying too many products and then having to discount it, like at some future date. Like, yeah, I don’t want that.

Heather Mason  22:33

Yeah, you know, just thinking it’s, you know, too often, I think reps our job, right, or their job is to sell, but it’s also to communicate and to help the shop sell. And to be a true partner. I mean, I feel like when we you know, riding or going out and grabbing a coffee or whatever allows those conversations to kind of come about that just elevates the partnership. Right. And you it’s more than just selling Oh, my god that ride. Amos. You are so fast. I was barely keeping up with you. But I know it’s because you race, right. I think you’ve been on. Is it the CC B team? Since like, 2000. Right?

Amos Brumble  23:10

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I enjoy competition. I never recommend it to people. But yeah, no, don’t do it.

Heather Mason  23:18

You don’t recommend racing? But I mean, do you feel like because you do ride, and you do race? Do you feel like it helps your business?

Amos Brumble  23:26

I mean, I make it helped my business, is what I would say I think most shops could get away with, you know, there’s enough business where the person doesn’t care. How confident of a cyclist that you are just doesn’t matter. The fact is you have a bike shop. So therefore, you’re confident, I think, with the products that I sell, and the people that I concentrate on me being able to ride at the level that they’re capable of writing AP, is very important. You know, and you know, basically, I think a lot of it is that the customers want to aspire to be like the people they deal with when you’re dealing with people that are like enthusiast customers.

Heather Mason  24:10

Yeah, I mean, I would also think that it qualifies you to be extremely knowledgeable on the suggestions that you’re giving, you know, when you recommend a shoe or a helmet or a component group, they’re probably having more faith in you because they see that you’re out there actually, on the weekend using those items, right, I would imagine.

Amos Brumble  24:30

Yeah, a big part of, you know, at least in my own opinion is that I have actual experience with using the products that I sell. I had a call from nearby here for a customer that was looking for a CD wire shoe that would fit the speedplay soul they don’t make it anymore. I have the shoe. It’s a $500 shoe. I told the guy do not buy it in the most distinct way possible because I said, Well, I have the shoe, and it doesn’t work very well. You know, it’s not the shoe itself, the, the interface between the pedal and shoe. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. And, you know, it was a surprisingly long conversation to talk to somebody and say, I know that you want XYZ. But having actually used it, I don’t recommend it, this is a better solution.

Heather Mason  25:25

I feel like that customer is going to call you every time they’re thinking about buying something new. And now they’re gonna be like, amen. I think sometimes if

Amos Brumble  25:33

he was like, halfway across the country, so I hope he doesn’t call too much, but.

Heather Mason  25:38

But that’s the type of service, you know, that I think is critical. And it really sets you apart, you know, and you’re not just saying, Yeah, I can get that for you that you’re actually taking an interest in helping the person become a more engaged better cyclist and really appreciate what they buy. Yeah. And if you’re out there, and you’re, you’re using the product, have you heard of P two groups and wonder what they are? p two stands for the profitability project. And while profitability is at the focus of everything we do, we do so much more p to group members share their expertise and their insights, they ask questions, and they exchange resources to make sure every member is profitable and successful in every aspect of bike shop ownership, reach out today, so we can tell you more. I know you coach right? And so is coaching part of the business, you know, is that part of rumble bikes, too.

Amos Brumble  26:39

I mean, it is I mean now, you know, just because things have been pretty busy. And I want to say, without competitive cycling, being like, kind of like a thing at this point. I don’t have to do that much of it anymore. Most of the stuff would be an individual will come in, and they would have some questions for me. And a lot of times, I’m just answering them for free. You know, it’s not a financial relationship or anything like that. I mean, I will say that I’ve coached a number of people and those customers, their lifetime customer value is very high, really high. So, I mean, I don’t live in a wealthy area. So, these are, you know, people that have maybe a professional job, you know, they’re teachers or they’re a small business owner. They’re not wealthy, but it’s not unusual for them to spend five or $10,000 a year on pipe stuff.

Heather Mason  27:34

I feel like the coaching is lets you connect on a different level, right. And it’s more personable, and yeah, establishing longtime customers. It’s a great way to do that. Okay, but let’s switch gears because I could talk to you forever. Let’s talk about Velo Tooler. For our listeners who don’t know Valle Tula is a software that connects bike brands, cyclists and fleets with local insured bicycle mechanics and bike stores to deliver service at the consumer’s home. You’re the Operations Manager. And so, what I just said was what I got off the website, but can you tell us in your words, so we might understand better what Velo Tooler is?

Amos Brumble  28:16

Yeah, I mean, essentially, what’s happening is that there’s a need for a way to connect, like skilled mechanics, shops, mobile shops, to people that need the skills. Now, the average person might go on and do a search of some kind, you know, for a bicycle shop, or something like that. But a lot of times were coming in a lot earlier in the process, you know, probably when they’re buying a bike, because right away, they need help, you know, and they’ll say to the brand, hey, you know, I’m buying my bike, and, you know, I don’t have any mechanical skills, or I don’t want to do this, what am I options, so a lot of brands, cold call, shops, you know, whoever they can find, to try and get the work done. village was just looking to smooth that process out, you know, so that customers, you know, when they have a need for service, that there’s a more direct way to get something that’s a little more automated. I think it’s not an entirely unique idea. But in the bike industry, combining everything is the real challenge.

Heather Mason  29:26

So, you’re super busy. You’re running a shop, and I think what five years ago, you became involved with Velo Tooler. How did that happen?

Amos Brumble  29:34

Initially, I was brought in to help with like, there’s a quiz at the, you know, when a potential service provider is signing up, they have a 10-question kind of like randomized quiz that they have to answer. It’s multiple choice. So, I was brought in to add some questions to that mix. And then when we went to start filling out, you know, like a particular service Then there was like some Excel worksheets where you would describe the service, estimate how long it would take, what tools would be required, and just a few other pointers. And then a lot of the data from that was used to develop things like tool lists, and, you know, approximate times and pricing for a variety of jobs.

Heather Mason  30:24

So, you’re helping was like the backside of like, all the mechanics and like the question you should be asking, and how to really qualify and certify the shops or mechanics, that would be taking part.

Amos Brumble  30:36

Yeah, I mean, you know, for us, I mean, we want obviously people that are qualified to do the work. And ideally, we would have a lot more shops at the platform to tell you the truth, as

Heather Mason  30:47

well as I want to ask about that because we are the MBTA. So, is this good for shops? Is this a revenue booster? Is this something shops should be looking into?

Amos Brumble  30:59

My answer is yes. Because I think there’s a couple things that are like at play, a lot of customers that are buying direct from a brand, I always tell people, those people have a few options when it comes to the mechanical part of things. And, you know, the first one is, and everybody really likes this one, they would ask for help, and they would hire somebody. I tell people, they really have two other choices. They do it themselves, or they don’t do it at all. And, you know, my personal opinion is, is that the reason that we have so many bikes to fix around like in bike shops this year that people brought out a basement is that they broke, and they didn’t have anybody fix it. It just sat on a hook. So, I tell people, it’s like if you can provide an easy way for these people to form a relationship with, you know, somebody to provide the service, the chances are, they’re going to keep going there.

Heather Mason  32:02

So, I’m a bike shop owner, like let’s say, I was like, I’m not anymore, but let’s say I was how do I get signed up? What do I have to do?

Amos Brumble  32:08

It’s pretty straightforward. You know, you go to the site, which is just Vela Tula calm. And there’s a thing where you can basically, I want to be a mechanic, in terms of like on the back end, there is probably going to be an all in the not-too-distant future a way to say something, we’re essentially your bike shop right away, you know, change the process a little bit. But when a shop signs up, they’re essentially signing up, you know, as a mechanic, and the only real difference is in the shop is that you are going to have one of your mechanics go. And there is a way to communicate through the app with a customer. And you know, the only thing we’ll say is, well, you know, your mechanic john is going to go, you know, have john send them a headshot of what it looks like in his car, whatever, it’s going to be driving to the location, and then communicate with the customer. All the financial stuff is going to happen to the shop Rep.

Heather Mason  33:03

Hmm. I feel like when you’re going to a customer’s house, and I was talking about this earlier today, it was someone who was doing a fit on a peloton bike, that’s another way that shops are making extra revenue right now, fitting peloton bikes. But when you’re going to someone’s house, either do a mechanic service or to you know, do a fit the relationship that you’re establishing, and that trust level is huge, right? Someone’s letting you in their home. And it’s a great opportunity to talk about, you know, other items answer any questions, and I love that I think I can’t see why shops wouldn’t get signed up to have one of their mechanics take part in valence Euler sounds like a no brainer to me.

Amos Brumble  33:40

I mean, it sounds like a no brainer. I mean, I think it’s important that I’ve talked to a lot of shops and individual mechanics, you know, because one of the things that I do is interview mechanics. It’s part of the signup process, you know, for bellow tour, is a phone interview. And so yeah, there’s definitely going to be pushback, I think, you know, like shops are going to be concerned about how much money the job is going to bring in. One of the things I say is, you know, if it’s not going to pay enough money Don’t go. We don’t penalize the shop, or an individual mechanic, if they don’t go to a job that’s in the work area that they have defined. Maybe they’re too busy. You know, maybe it doesn’t pay enough, we understand that. But you know, if a customer needs a bike assembled, you know, and it’s close enough by or there’s a fleet service that’s in your neighborhood, you might really want to think hard about not doing that thing and do it instead. Just go for it.

Heather Mason  34:34

Sounds like you’re super busy as with every like day in and day out between shop operations and interviewing potential mechanics. I would love to sit in on some of those interviews, but I’m sure you’ve had some good one.

Amos Brumble  34:47

Really good. You know, I think a lot of people initially, you know, there’s a lot of people that are very critical of anything that Delatour has done. I think they do spend a lot of time playing devil’s advocate, which I, I get it, I understand a lot of people want to tell you that something’s not gonna work or it’s not right. And I’ve had a lot of those conversations, sometimes, you know, the person can maybe look at it a different way and, and they join the platform. And sometimes it’s just, you know, it’s not a good fit for them. And they don’t join them, you know, that’s okay. Yeah.

Heather Mason  35:24

Okay, I’m gonna switch it off on you again, right now, one of the things I look forward to are your emails through rumble bikes, you have a blog, or I would call it maybe a newsletter more, in which I’m a subscriber, I read everyone, and I’m a huge fan. And once I was in the shop, and I think you had told me that, you can see who opens them or not. So, like, I make it a priority to read everyone. But the content is so great. It’s clearly written by you. And I feel like you kind of adapt it to fit the needs of your business, this content that you deliver, I mean, it must pay dividends. So, I was wondering if you could help other bike shop owners get a sense of like, what you do with this and how they could create something similar? I mean, do you use a certain platform, I feel like your newsletters are what, once or twice a week, like, talk to me about this.

Amos Brumble  36:19

So, I started by looking for somebody that did should probably back it up. I mean, before I opened my own store, I needed help with like sales. So, I found somebody that had a cassette course, like cassette tapes in a book. And I bought that and tried to absorb the information. And then when I opened up my own store, I knew marketing was going to be important. And since I was already in that space, where I was like, yeah, you know, I want to learn somebody that’s doing it, I found somebody that was doing direct marketing, like, I want to say like a newsletter, you know, kind of thing that you could sign up for, like a paid monthly thing. And I signed up for that. It was Ryan Lee is actually in Connecticut. So, he had like a couple, you know, like big seminars, we invite everybody in, I went to a few of those, they’re really good. And, you know, I took a lot of the recommendations that I would say from somebody that’s successful at using email marketing, to build the business. And that meant emailing regularly. So, I email, like a lot,

Heather Mason  37:25

but surprisingly, not too much, because your content is so it’s not like I’m going to open up and get the same. I mean, I always want to open it up, maybe it’s your topics, maybe it’s the words that you choose to use, but it’s so good that it’s never too much.

Amos Brumble  37:43

Well, I mean, I think the basics are build an email list, choose a good, like, you know, subject line, that way they open it, and then content is king. So, you know, write good stuff. And then basically, I give people like a call to action, like maybe, you know, every three or four emails will be something that this is something that’s here, you can buy it, most of my emails are meant to build, like top of the mind awareness, which was a big push, like in a lot of newspapers and radio advertising. And I actually have gone to some of their seminars that they were trying to push that that method to you as a as somebody would be a potential advertiser in their product. And so, I think a lot of shops and brands would be well served by being in their customers radar, even if they don’t have something to sell them. And when you have permission-based marketing, email marketing, a customer has said, I want to get information from you. And then you give it to them. And I can tell people, I’ve had emails where I said, blah, blah, blah, and like people bought it that death the road to the store to get Yes, Rob sales.

Heather Mason  39:03

Yeah, your emails, it could just be about like you’re going racing this weekend, or it could be like a group ride you’re organizing, or it could be like, we’re gonna run out of trainers get down here and buy them. Or it could be like, we have a special offer from scratch that, you know, that could be some, it’s always different content. And it’s, it’s you and you’re just talking as a friend. And it works.

Amos Brumble  39:27

It’s really engaging. It’s the style that I was, I guess taught, it was, you know, you write like you’re talking to one person that’s in front of you. So that’s how I write I want to say, you know, any shop that starts this, you know, there are certainly going to be customers that are going to whip out their writing handbook and tell you that you should use that comment, or you know, comment here or there, you know, you’re sending structures like no good. And you got to get over that. You’re gonna get critiqued, it’s just part of that kind of relationship. I mean, you know, your writing will get better, and people will get used to the style.

Heather Mason  40:04

So, are you collecting email addresses, like on your website? Or when people come in the shop? Or both? How are you adding to this list?

Amos Brumble  40:11

You know, it’s on the website is a forum, you can sign up, it’s on my store Facebook page. And then you know, if I talk to somebody, and especially if we’re having a good conversation, you know, I’ll just casually say, do you want to be on the shop email list? If they’re like, yes, I’m like, great. And I take their name, just their first and last name, and their email address, and put it into the system. And then basically, just ask them to, you know, confirm that they want to get emails from me. And then that’s it.

Heather Mason  40:42

So, I’m hearing a theme through our chat tonight, it’s, you know, when you were opening your business, you sought help from a professional, you know, that when you were thinking about marketing, you went into some seminars? So, it sounds like you’re really an advocate of that. And would you suggest other business owners look to those avenues to help when they, you know, instead of like, maybe thinking they could just do it themselves? Like, it seems like you got value out of those relationships, and you know, those things you attended,

Amos Brumble  41:09

I’ve always been of the mindset that I have things to learn, and other people can teach me. And I’m not embarrassed to ask questions that other people might think are somewhat obvious. And so, I started, like, before I opened my business, I went to a score, you know, which is like, you know, retired executives, to get advice on what I should do. And they were like, you know, you should have an account, you should have a lawyer, you should have, you know, a contact with the bank. These are critical. I said, Okay, I went off and did those things. So, act, like, look for people that are, you know, I had a business coach guy, his name is Bob Hoffman, he owned a local business, I would come in at like, 630 in the morning, to sit down with them, and talk about business. And I was paying him, you know, I paid these people money to help.

Heather Mason  42:03

get it paid off, right? I mean, it paid dividends, right? Sometimes you gotta invest right? In yourself to Yeah. Okay, so inventory is running really low right now, right, with bicycles, and, you know, components, accessories, any creative tips for bike shop owners looking to make a little extra revenue right now, any words of advice,

Amos Brumble  42:25

what I did, or what I am doing for my store, as I looked at, I mean, my story isn’t necessarily based 100% on buying or selling bikes, it’s important part of the business. But if I sold zero bikes, I would make it. So, I looked at like other categories that I do well in, and also categories that are likely to be out of stock. And I said, all right, well, that’s where I’m going to spend the money. I mean, to tell you the truth, I probably, if I could have gotten bikes, it may have been the year that I would have invested more in that. But it was really obvious that it wasn’t going to work with my business model of I want to get the right bike for the customer in terms of the size, the model, the color, everything, and was really obvious, no brand was going to be able to do that. So, I said, Well, I do well, with repairs, I’m going to buy service parts. A lot of people are going to be buying bikes, they ran out of helmets, I bought a lot of helmets. You know, a lot of people that get into right are like fitness minded. So, I’ve been investing more money in Garmin, including like the watch, it’s like fitness watches, like, you know, fashion watches.

Heather Mason  43:35

It’s a really nice.

Amos Brumble  43:38

Yeah, I mean, I think the stuff looks good. And maybe, you know, I brought in some of the Garmin Lily watches. I wrote about it in my emails. And I posted it on my Facebook page. And I sold tool.

Heather Mason  43:51

Yeah, that is exactly. It’s not just when you bring in like a new product, you can’t just bring it into the shop and put it on the shelf. Right? That’s like bringing it full circle, share it in an email message, take some pictures, put it on social media, and then yeah, you are gonna see a few of those move any other retail tips that you want to share? Or maybe you’ve gotten over the years and that you think are really good and worthwhile sharing with our listeners,

Amos Brumble  44:16

I think it pays to look at building your business, like you’re going to sell it like right from day one. So, you know, I tell people like, you know, you got to market the business or the mechanical part. But you know, at the end of the day, what would you sell? So, you’re selling the business processes, you’re selling your email list, your customer list, I mean, that’s the value of the business. It’s not the product inside, or hopefully not even the particular employees. You know, I tell people that work for me, the best thing that can happen is people come in and they don’t ask for because they know that anybody in the store is going to give them good service and helping.

Heather Mason  44:56

just as good service. Yes, yeah. Yeah, okay, so what is someone’s thinking about opening up a shop, any tips you have for someone considering getting into this industry,

Amos Brumble  45:07

that was really hard. As much as I love the bike industry, and I love my job, and I think about it 24 hours a day, if somebody’s going to get into it, then they’re going to want to make sure that what the business can provide, can give them the lifestyle that they and the people that are also stakeholders are going to be happy with. So, it seems like in my experience, and a rather large number of people in the bike industry, are not the major bread earners in their family situation. So, it definitely would, my suggestion would be that they would want to talk over what was about happened with anybody that was gonna matter. And then also realize, like, yeah, this could affect things like in their future.

Heather Mason  46:05

It’s definitely a labor of love the bicycle industry, for sure. So, I love this question. So, I’m gonna ask you it, but I’m not gonna pose it, I think in a personal way more of a business standpoint, I talk to Michelle, about, you know, the theory that like every five years, right, or we might be in a different spot, or we might be stronger than we were, and we don’t even know it. It’s almost like we’ve almost reinvent ourselves every five years. So, like, your business is 16 years, I want to say you said 16, right? 16 years. So, something in the past, like five years, or something you’ve done to make the business stronger that, you know, maybe you would never have saw at once. But looking back now you can say like, Oh, that was a monumental change.

Amos Brumble  46:47

Is there anything on metal chain?

Heather Mason  46:51

There’s something you did that, yeah, made the business stronger, that maybe at the time, you didn’t realize what an impact it would have. But now looking back, you’re like, wow, I’m really glad I did that, because it helped the business succeed in this way,

Amos Brumble  47:07

trying to think about any one thing, that’s tough, because buying the building made a massive difference. It was such a huge change, you know, but that was like eight years ago. So, I was like, Alright, well falls out of our window.

Heather Mason  47:19

We can extend, let’s break the rules, we can extend.

Amos Brumble  47:23

buying the real estate was the biggest long term, like change that I can see. It’s not a new idea. But getting into position to do that was very difficult. I mean, I would tell people, it’s like, yeah, you know, before I bought the building, I had no credit history at all. Nothing. I bought a car. That’s it. That’s it, like two years before I bought the building, I bought a car. That’s it. There’s nothing else. So, buying real estate was incredibly difficult in that scenario. And that’s what made such a huge impact. Because it a lot of times like financially, it smooths out, like how much am I going to spend. So, your taxes don’t change much, you know, your monthly payments, they don’t change much. And the fact is, is over time, those payments are saying the same. So, in relative terms, running the business keeps getting easier, at least from a financial standpoint. I mean, outside of that the only things that I think are made like a really big impact was really just the marketing to the customers. I mean, I’ve been doing that for a long time. But in the last year or so I’ve done a lot more in terms of like social media advertising, specifically Facebook, and then the radio, have a long-term relationship with the radio on a local radio stations and was a definite if I do more marketing in general sales go up?

Heather Mason  48:52

Well, I love that you talk about having a connection with your local radio station, because I know that, you know, I used to do that at my shop. And I’ve talked to some shop owners who are like, Oh, no, we see no return on that. So maybe it’s geographically but it’s definitely an interesting point that you brought up. So, do you advertise regularly with one certain station then? Yeah, I

Amos Brumble  49:12

do advertise on one station pretty regularly. You know, I looked at demographics. Hey, did my customers have this old? You know, like, do you have customers, you know, what’s your demographic like? So that’s how I picked the station. I do have another one. That’s a classical station that I usually advertise on just a few times a year. But I will tell you, those customers will tell you that they heard your ad.

Heather Mason  49:37

Nice to get that feedback, right? You see that? It’s working. You’re hearing and it’s working. Yeah, you get the feedback. So, I was listening to chat about how you know, deciding to purchase the building was one of the biggest things that made a biggest difference, and I’m sure it must have been a super stressful time for you. I’m sure it maybe I mean, I’m imagining that you were here you go. Probably having purchased a car before and this level of capacity right now we’re buying a building and there’s a lot of different things coming together. I take those moments of like, those biggest moments of growth, right, like professionally and personally, right? I can only imagine what you were experiencing them.

Amos Brumble  50:17

Or, you know, I like to tell everybody, I had to borrow the money to get the down payment. I mean, I look back on it. I don’t know what the bank was thinking. I mean, I mean, I came this close to just not be able to make the payments. I mean, it was so much money to actually get into the building in terms of the renovations that needed to be done. Not even to make it pretty, but just to meet code, like fire codes. Part of me thinks that the bank was crazy.

Heather Mason  50:47

Here you are, like 16 years later, saving the world one bike at a time, I can’t even begin to imagine how many cyclists you’ve created. How many cyclists you’ve increased their journey increase their pleasure, their experience? I mean, you’re great. You’re incredible. Thank you for coming and chatting with me and for sharing openly about yourself and your shop and, and your role. Velo Tooler, you know, personally, thank you for being my friend. I love our dinners. We got to put one on the calendar. I know you’re a member of the NBDA. So, thank you for that too. And if our listeners want to ask you more questions or learn more about the topics we touched on tonight in this episode, is it okay if they contact you? I’m going to give away your website.

Amos Brumble  51:37

I’m sure. My emails on there, you know, this obviously goes by phone. Some people if they want to specifically contact me about Velo Tooler, it’s just a mess at Bella tour calm is the store Facebook page, you know, a fairly responsive, they’re so happy to help.

Heather Mason  51:53

Thank you, Amos. You’re welcome. All right. So that is it. I invite you to connect with me and come on bicycle retail radio and share your story like a message tonight with our listeners. I invite you to contribute to our outspoken blog, become a feature on our member spotlight or Lita webinar. If you’d like to support the show. Don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify or Apple podcasts. Share your favorite episode with friends and on social media. I’ll be sharing this one Amos. appreciate your support of The MBTI and thank you for listening. And wait this week. Oh,

NBDA   52:28

this has been bicycle retail radio by the National bicycle Dealers Association. For more information on membership and member benefits, join us at nbda.com.

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The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

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