A Bike Mechanic's Purpose
As I wrote in The Rayobyte Story, finding my life’s purpose is one of the most important things to me. I obsess over it, to a fault, really. I think it’s human, though. We want to feel that when we part from this Earth that we have done something special in some small or big way. For me, I’m finding a lot of joy lately putting my time towards things I enjoy doing - how ironic, right?!
Today, I had a bike fitting for a new road bike I bought. The mechanic, a small business owner, has his shop in a kind of alley in an industrial warehouse area. There were welding companies, storage buildings, and more, all surrounding his space. Not particularly a flashy storefront, but hey, I’d give it a chance. The first time I went there was maybe a month ago to get my triathlon bike race-ready by getting a much needed tune-up. A month later, impressed with the job and the cost of doing the tune-up, I returned for a bike fitting of my new bike.
When I walked in today, he immediately greeted me: “Hey Neil, how’s it going?”. I don’t speak Dutch, but he accommodated my lacking. Here’s a man that probably talks to 10-20 people a day, and he remembered my name after only two previous, short, encounters, and after a month-long hiatus. I felt… special!
What was that feeling?
As we began the bike fitting process, he made me feel right at home. He offered a cup of tea, talked to me about my goals, shared about his story, and eased into it. What could have easily been a crammed 1 hour to ‘get me in, and get me out’, turned into a 2 hour friendly chat about life.
As he shared his life’s story, I found great resonance in one particular moment. He’s always been a biker, and has always worked in bike mechanic shops. He worked for Trek for a long time until, as he said, they became too corporate and instituted a priority where policies and profits were put over treating the customer right. That caught my attention… it sounded very familiar to my Rayobyte Story and the Sprious 3.0 launch.
He then went on to share that he used to have a very successful bike shop with 5 employees in a small town. Business was good…too good, in fact. He quickly realized he was having to become a businessman, instead of a bike mechanic. And in a moment’s time, he decided to sell the shop and find his purpose again.
Years later, an opportunity arose to buy a small shop. He knew this was it. He bought it and committed to himself to keep it small and lean, and focus on the customer experience he personally provides to people. No more scaling. No more outsourcing. He wanted to do it himself. He had found his purpose: to serve his customers honorably and to be sure they walked away feeling heard and respected. That was me today. I will pay whatever this man’s invoice has on it - he’s earned every penny of it, and more.
His shop is filled with probably 30 bikes scattered around the floor - some for sale, others for repairs. I smiled at the chaotic nature of the space, but one thing I was certain of: if there was one guy I would trust to handle my bike, it would be him.
I’ll be thinking about this lesson often in my business - to choose people, good service, and a passion for what I do over profits - and I have him to thank for that inspiration 👏