Sorry to read of the issues .
We are definitely on the backfoot at the moment due to a combination of reasons and we have had a real surge in growth in the past 4 months .
Coping with growth in a business generally is pretty tough , and unfortunately it doesnt come with a manual - so as owner Im first to admit were not where we want to be and were off the pace in many areas of the business .
- We lost several key and long serving members of staff a few months ago , and getting replacements up to speed has been a real challenge . Losing these key members and training replacements quickly has caused us some real headaches .
- At the same time we increased our order volume very significantly , with this came a large increase in customer service issues - returns / enquiries / phone calls etc etc - and whilst we are taking on new staff and training them up its a running battle at the moment to standstill . So apologies if the phone rings out - I can guarantee that all our staff without exception are working very hard , its not really good enough from a customer service standpoint but we are definitely trying . (We did debate last month whether to go to a Wiggle / chain reaction model of cutting out phone calls but decided against it)
- On the plus our despatch times on pick pack items are pretty much running to our target "all orders received before 3 despactched same day" and I can guarantee this is a vast improvement from the back in the day brant times .
- FTM going to Dalby - sorry that was my call . Sorry is all ive got , of course we can sweeten this up with some free clothing and a few upgrades .
- Helmet out of stock issue - well our "out of stocks" person should have offered an alternative and that should have been easily solved . Thats another lesson to re-enforce on monday .
- Acquisition and integration - Just as coping with some explosive growth and getting caught short on staffing levels , a major acquisition and integration also doesnt come with a manual .
The titus part has been a supreme challenge of our extremely limited skills - dealing with an array of upset vendors (who lost money to the old titus) inventory missing parts , and finally last week relocating our entire us operation to portland - not to mention a lost delivery of monarch shocks . Well lets just say if theres a next time for an acquisition weve learned a lot !
On the plus side weve hired a key person to run Titus in the states - Michael Golinski is the original founder of Spot , recent partner at Dekerf , and a pretty safe pair of hands and hes now starting to really get into the detail of whats needed stateside .
- The wheel issue is unfolding, we need until tuesday to get some definitive results . we are having some replacement wheels built and ready to go by next thursday (touch wood) should there be a need to replace some wheels . Dealing with potential product issues is a very important process and in this case any criticism is Id say a little harsh - a director has obligations and currently we have notified that there may be a potential issue with one or two types of on-one wheels , and we need to follow a correct process . Our success needs to be judged on how quickly and effectively we can firstly act , and secondly find a solution .
On the plus side - if anyone is in south yorkshire looking for employment , and wishing to get involved in the cycle industry we are actively hiring to plug our gaps . So please get in touch !!
Anybody getting frustrated and nowhere with us - email me and ill take the ownership
dave@planet-x-bikes.com
Monday is next ETA.
(and after their formal cut-off time)
