Forum menu
Every time I don’t defend the brand I fail those who supported it.
But conversely, the first year of business is hard, stressful, tiring.
Some people are better at handling that, some people have wealth and investment to cushion the blow. For me and Tim, we are riders first and we really only started making bikes for ourselves then suddenly the demand came and the dream of owning a bike company was a reality.
Its a difficult business, it’s full of contradictions. But I think behind closed doors, certainly in the U.K. profit is very much behind the aim of just making good bikes.
the technicality and red tape is frequently belittled, the costs, they are astronomical. We spent 20% overall last year on research, testing and development, not of profit, of everything.
More months than not part of me and Tims salary from our day jobs, goes in to Sick.
Admittedly the part we would probably spend on bikes anyway. Oh yeah and we had to sell all our bikes. To do it. But that’s the price of entry to follow your dream.
Within 6 months (maybe less) we’ll have enough stock to send items next day and not have a wait, get a handle on warehousing and logistics.
Leave my day job and run this. Once again behind closed doors the industry itself is helping us. We’re learning, we’re listening.
Appreciate your post.
J
Thanks for the honest insight and I hope it works out for you.
Strange thread.
Don't see any hatred here. Do I have to read "in between the lines" here?
Cotic is around now for more than 10 years - is that right?
Why do we talk about the "first year of a start up" here? Cotic is well established in the bike business - or?
I hope I didn't piss anybody of with my bucks/kg stuff so. But - for me - this is exactly the core of the beauty of biking. The simplicity! Steel, aluminium, rubber and paint - and you add some engineering and testing and end up with a great fun machine - a bike!
But the core of the machine is steel, aluminium and rubber. That's it. To turn this into a bike is called engineering.
And an engineer likes to improve and play around with things all the time - means the engineer cranks out bikes every year. That's his job. Nothing wrong about this. To get rid of old stuff you start a "sale". All very normal.
Good bikes, good fun, good business.
Fun thread as well. But have the impression that some really get more relaxed if they would be in the woods with their mountain bike more often.
Cheers!
Strange thread.
Don’t see any hatred here.
Totally agree! Nor "hero worship"!
.. and no-one said I guess they do it because they love it, so ***k ’em.
Bizarre.
.. and no-one said I guess they do it because they love it, so ***k ’em.
Yes, they did. I said that 🙂 Of course it was an attempt at parody and maybe not a very good one.
Hmm, I was quoting you who appeared to be referring to something someone else had said/inferred. Never mind, its all good 😀
All is good then!
Happy about that. Started feeling already bad...
Biking is good.
Cheers!
People ask for no marketing or PC snowflake bullshit, then suddenly they are offended?
Your no bullshit approach is bound to upset people, but I'm sure for every person that finds it offensive there's a load more that aren't offended and find your straight talking quite refreshing.
Just carry on as you are, that way you'll appeal to the sort of people your business is obviously aimed at. I wish more companies would write things like this when they hit a problem.