End of Season Report

End of Season Report

Test Rides: 73

Rentals: 

July 1, 2015 - Ohm #2 and EMS #1 ($102)
July 3, 2015 - Easy Motion Street #2 ($155)
July 6, 2015 - Easy Motion Street #4 and ? #6 ($70 - 30% discount)

July 7, 2015 - #5 Ohm (9:30 - 1, charge wasn't recorded - 30% discount)
July 13, 2015 - Em #1 and OHM #2 ($155?, not recorded, only time)
July 27, 2015 - Em #1 and #6 (#35/hour)
July 28, 2015 Ohm #2 and #5 (checked out at 11:30)
July 29, 2015 - no recording , 2 bikes rented
July 31, 2015 - Em #1 ($35/hour at 2 hours plus 1 hour free)
August 10, 2015 - La Pierre #3 and EM #4 ($70)

August 15, 2015 - Ohm #2 and Easy Motion Street #4 ($155)

August 25, 2015 - bikes ??, no staff signature, and rate not recorded

August 25, 2015 - La Pierre #3, 16" ($35 per hour)

September 26, 2015 - Ohm #5 and Easy Motion #? ($155)

September 27, 2015 - Lapierre 18" and Xeneon ($70)

Total Bikes Rented: 26+ (some rental forms did not include which bikes were rented or how many)

report says $300/month to the commons for August and September. Gina started July 26th at Commons
$1859.00 total income from rentals.Works out to be $206/week in profit.
Open for 8 weeks at the Commons and 1 week at Callahan's.

EM #1 - 4
OHM #2  = 5
La Pierre #3 = 3
EM #4 = 3
Ohm #5 = 3
Xeneon #6 = 2

unknown bikes - 6+ of them 

Sept 27 Gina

Doug and Greg rented for an hour. Doug is interested in purchasing so gave him a store coupon. Doug was on the LA Pierre and Greg was on the zenion.

Travis Davidson and Katie Asman rented a street and ohm.

September 22nd Bekah

I met with Brandi this afternoon to go over what wasn't quite right for her. She would appreciate more communication. Her personal number is (315) 237-1830.

This is how she found things and this set up does not work for the flow of The Commons.

On a separate note, the LaPierre was not securely locked.

The bikes are okay to stay during the week if they are stacked neatly and away from the Legos and big table. This door is not a fire exit and okay to block. See below.

The umbrella can be stored outside with the others. I labeled it "Seattle Electric Bike"

The totes and helmets may go upstairs in the office. 

Perpetual Manager's Meeting TO DO

Meeting notes from 11/6/2015
Stefan and Heidi say yes to rental business for next year. Open Friday - Sunday. close at 4 if no rentals. Start time is 11.

Next year we are only going to use Bosch's. No throttle's.

Contact Whidbey Mag. early to promote for 2016.

Did rentals to sales? Stefan said yes to some degree. Gina reminded that customers noted their positive experience with the rentals and as a result are saving to purchase. These folks are in our system so will get newsletter when sales are happening, etc.

 Our overhead expenses from Whidbey should be listed separately from Seattle expenses.

Rent
labor
insurance
postcards - one card ?
wear and tear on the bikes (loss of 20% if rental bikes are sold)
accessories
chamber of commerce - ask for only in the summer? Stefan will talk to them
damaged parts - parts replaced, getting bikes back to Seattle store ($200 in repairs)
paypal - Stefan will call paypal to see if our expenses are cut
business license fee - city of Langley
signage
misc. supplies - umbrella
office supplies

2 hour minimum is only for one free hour. Drew's list does not expired. Customers have to have seen drew's list but don't have to live on Island.

LEFT TO DO (HEIDI):
Find original insurance form that lists bikes numbers and serial numbers. Give form to Gina
Holiday cards - give to partners, thank them, update them. Heidi has in storage.
topic for email opt in on website

TASKS FOR NEXT YEAR
Work on Smart Waiver
Question for Stefan - Do we need to use credit card authorization form if we keep their card and license during rides?

Meeting notes from 10/19/15
Don't want to chip away about bike margin. Better to give away accessories like water bottles when promoting bikes.

Keep end goal in mind - SELLING BIKES and always being mindful of our local community! When people rent = a paid test ride.

Heidi will write newsletter for our island partners - I will deliver to the partners. Will include a coupon updates, etc.

First weekend in March - work the whole show. Put on FB too.

Next summer - only open Fri, Sat. Sun (perfect job for one person). Heidi offered it to me. Stefan may want to be out here on Fridays which would free me up to do tours?? I said I am definitely interested AND we need to check in as we get closer to summer.

Heidi is going back to Hawaii on Nov. 11th. Maybe things I can help with (office, house, etc.). Heidi will let me know before she leaves.

Local lending meeting happening on oct. 21st from 5-6:30 bayview cash store (bloom's). purpose = building relationships with local people.


Put safety/rental checklist page and the return checklist from bike record spreadsheet in smart waver

Meeting notes from 10/8/2015
1. SEB blog - via settings in WIEBR blog, made me a reader (Received)

2. Considering best communication between rental site and shop (Heidi will let me us know what she decides)

3. Operations Manual - People need to be active

4. Go back to WILL (Whidbey Island Local Lending) meeting and report what happened our first year

5. Commons want us to come back. Stefan wants to do a weekly concert series in conjunction with the commons. If we sponsor, we can make an announcement.

6. Opening early didn't work. Start at 10 next season unless people make a reservation.

7. Make written document - people in charge at the commons with our staff contact info. - established protocol what to do if we need to reach each other.

8. make hard copy checklist for closing procedures for next year.

9. Stefan thinks we should do a weekly scheduled tour. Heidi thinks we should we should do both.

10. Use only Bosch mid drive for rentals.

11. Tips to purchase the best electric bike -- opti bike guy has one. People in store will work on it. This is what people get for subscribers.

12. Tours need to be run by an employee to be covered by company insurance. Heidi says Gina can build tours while hosting rental site when it is quiet.

13. Announce where we are going to be on FB, etc.

14. short term project for me - retail booth at March bike event. 5th and 6th, downtown seattle, football, qwest field, 10-5 on sat 10-4 on sun. Seattle Bike Seattle.

15. Gina needs two week notice before closing.Heidi said she would unless business needs to be closed down because policies are not being enforced.

16. Heidi can post in blog about Brian contacting me. I can put in WIEBR blog - ask Heidi to add to Seattle shop to do list.  Look at gmail calendar to see when Brian is in shop. For questions, contact:
Jonathan for technical/mechanical questions
Brian for admin stuff
David for rental bike Seattle shop interface

17. Can always have Jonathan and Stephan call customers if I don't know questions

18. Put in operation manual about completing all of forms. Put an X on parts that people need to sign/initial.


For Meeting on 10/8/2015

Farm Tour
-impressions of crowd at Bayview and Tilth

Going forward with tour service--next steps.

Other plans for next year and begin time-line; always align with SEB calendar, plans, and marketing approach

Add to Operations Manual that WIEBR employees should always be up-to-date with SEB by checking out the SEB facebook page and website, product offerings on the website as well as blog posts. Also WIEBR review SEB staff blog in blogger, so need to give access. (done, added by Gina to OP on 10/8/2015)


Meeting on 9/20/2015

Look at keys, locks, chargers log format for use-ability. Need more clarity than list on blog post from 9/20/2015

Review Operations Manual so far and next steps.

Review rental documents and evaluate use from this year.


Ideas for next year:
See farm tour blog post
Local raffle (win the use of a bike for a month - have rent me sign on it with our number) or big giveaway in auctions where lots of rich people attend (Whidbey Institute or Country Club)
Get someone prominent on the bike - Pam  Schell, Alina Frank or Penny Cabot - and advertise liberally. Asked Ross Chapin and Craig Weiner who said they will return
Take B and B on 6th up on their offer to have our bikes on their lawn.
Get fliers out to all the Air B and B's and VRBO's
Offer deal to Wild Women of Whidbey
Cut high end establishments with high end clientele a cut if their patrons buy a bike through exposure on their property

Meeting with Stefan:
Ask what topic to focus on for free document in exchange for their email
Gina recommends starting early (now) to prepare for spring

To do Gina:
Create spreadsheets for rest of bikes (done for 5, waiting to hear from Heidi for corresponding numbers, she recommended that I call the shop, I have left two messages)

move images into image folder under rentals (drive) (done)

Move key/lock/charger info . into a spreadsheet (done)

Enter info. from paper docs. into rental history spreadsheet (started)

Enter info. into light speed, tag as rental (done)

Right everything that happens in blog including names of people who rent and who tested with notes about their particulars. Only need names in blog, not what they rented. put this note in operations manual. (done)

End of Season report (this will help us record during the year) - many bikes rented, which ones, how many test rides   (done)

Keys, Batteries, Chargers: Tracking Log

I will update the master list on the drive and then this can be deleted.

Today's battery keys:
EM4
#X
LAP

Nothing for the ohm.194. Can someone locate this?

Lock keys
1 key to master lock
2 keys to u lock #1
1 unknown u lock key

Battery chargers
One ohm
One Bosch
One EM

Can one more be brought up?

September 20 Gina

Spoke to Chris Williams about farm tour. WE WOULD LIKE TO MEET TO CREATE A WEB PAGE WITH UNUSUAL THINGS TO DO ON WHIDBEY. Collaborative effort to highlight bikes and beyond. Your thoughts?

TO DO Notes for Saturday 9/19/2015

Good Morning, Gina!

Expect some rentals (see below about Expectation! :)--it's Djangofest starting next Wednesday, and a few more events next weekend attracting folks to the island. I heard today that the Friday Farmers Market goes for 2 more weeks. We might have to consider closing sooner than planned if we don't get some more business this month. :( Sad but happy we have had a good and educational first year :)

Bike storage
I think we'll just have to move the bikes unless we can find a secure, enclosed storage garage in Langley. I'll come at 4:15 Sunday so we can load bikes. Next Friday, Stefan can bring the bikes to you. Next Sunday I'll be gone and he'll probably be in the shop, so you'll have to lock them up at SWC, and he'll come get them on Monday or Tuesday morning. Please let Brandi know this for next week.

OK!

Battery Keys and locks/keys
Please inventory all battery keys and lock keys on a regular basis. We always "Expect" to have customers! We always want to practice "Expectancy" by being ready (we don't want to have to scramble to find the things the customers need for their ride).

A list to inventory bike battery keys was done once before but it was not very useful because it referenced "bike #1, etc.", and we need more information in order to track down missing keys, or find homes for spares. See below for ideas on how to identify bikes/keys.

For now, make a list of which bikes we have that do or do not have battery keys, and if they do have keys, how many are there. Separate out the keys that do not go to anything. I tried to do this today but not sure I got them all.

I know you have one-only U-lock, and I found another key to match that lock, in one of the bike bag pockets, and put it together with the key we had. We should number locks as L1, L2, etc, and not try to match them to a bike--just make sure each bike has one.
I hope to find the missing u-locks in the shop this weekend.

Chargers should also just be labelled by brand: OHM or Bosch or EM.
And inventory them regularly as well to make sure we have enough for each bike, or at least one for each battery type.

For batteries, we should change our labeling system to the make/model name and add numbers when we have more than one. So for now list the bikes as OHM LS, EM Xenion, EM Street, LaP 16" (the 16" is frame size since that is the only difference between it and the other LaPierre, which may come back to rentals). Then we only have to add numbered labels to the bikes that are duplicates.

We should have thought of this before when we realized we would not be using just EM Street models for rentals. Hindsight is 20/20, as they say.

Also please make sure our current lists reflect the bikes on the site by serial number. The insurance form, and a master list in docs that we can update.

The master list should show when bikes are added to the rental site--by make/model and SN#--and then when they are removed. We would need to have a really accurate record system to make any kind of insurance claim.

The SN# is the only way we have to be entirely sure which bike we are talking about. And that is the way we track them in LS. I am trying to have everyone in the shop update LS to reflect whether the bike is at rentals or the shop as well. So we'll have it in LS and on our master rental list.

We should also track the key numbers if they have one, and double-check this regularly, and at least every time a bike leaves and comes back, since sometimes batteries get switched! If a battery gets switched, we should always get the original back--unless Stefan makes the switch official.

You might make a note as to how to identify keys as I was showing you today--OHM keys are the BionX battery and they are solid silver; Bosch keys have AXA on them or something like that; ABUS is a lock manufacturer; EM keys have the little brown tag with numbers on it (heaven forbid the tag should get separated!). The thing to remember is that Bosch keys can be on models made by several brands--Easy Motion Xenion, all Felt and LaPierre models, and our new CUBE bikes coming in 2016.

The models could change for next year, depending which models we use for rentals and tours, but clearly we will need better systems for organizing and tracking keys for batteries and locks. And anyone working at the rental sites should familiarize themselves with the bikes and the style of batteries, and battery keys.

So some of this will be more relevant when we start up next year and we can save the information in the operations manual.

SOUNDS GOOD.

Please note
The bikes were not actually locked up after you left. You forgot to attach the end without the lock to anything! I just hid that end since I think you had the lock key. Please double-check this always when you leave. Do we have a spare key for that lock? If not, we should get one, or get a lock that has a pair. Please let me know. Thanks.

MY APOLOGIES. No spare key.

And thanks, Gina, for all your work always! Have a great day!

August 18 gina

Spoke to brandy about keeping the bikes in the commons all week. Only problem she sees is Thursdays from 1-4. She is willing to give it a try. Worst case is I come down and move the bikes outside during this time.

Farm Tour INQUIRIES

Tom,206-419-8685, has his own ebike, left a message requesting e.mail for future tour details, quoted him half oruce=$60

360-385-0134-Bob Weber, saw on mailchimp, wants details.of distances and all stops, etc other number be is 206-330-1826

Becky Moats -mailchimp, owns own ebikes, beckym1948@hotmal.com, inquired about ferry cost. Wants friends to rent from us so go along with them.

Questions from gina

Put in manual:
Who can ride - in FAQ
Can pregnant women ride. Yes, as long as they sign disclosure and feel good about decision.

Does rental cost applied to purchase expire. No

Sept 10 gina

As of today we have:
2 La Pierre's
2 xenon
2 streets
1 ohm

If any go in for service this needs to be recorded.

Renters were very happy. The
Stefan gave them a quote on LA Pierre with a discount cuzip it has been rented.

Sept 10 Bekah

FYI...one of the bikes was not locked up over night. Please let me know if you'd like me to show you how to stack them side by side so they take up the least amount of space and can be locked together most easily. David had the LaPierr next to the outlet and they four white bike together and they works really well. There are seven bikes here now so it will be essential to stack them tonight at close. I think it should look orderly when we leave the bikes for the day.

Bob Weber has called a couple of times regarding the Farm Tour. If he calls again, please direct him to Heidi and her personal cell (206) 617-5622. There has been confusion in communication and it would be best if one person continues the conversation with him.

It was not clear in my communication with Stefan which bike was not to be used if we could help it. It is not the one with the price tag but rather the Xenion without the number on it. Stefan would like the EastMotion charged but we do not have a charger for them.  I would encourage more communication when rentals are taken or show up. It seems like there were a lot of changes while I was gone this week me and there are no notes about it in the blog or in the WIEBR binder. 

The PayPal card reader is missing...was it there yesterday when the tablet was plugged in? Stefan had an extra he was able to lend.

From GINA- STAFF WERE HAVING A MEETING IN THE BACK ROOM WHEN I LEFT SO the bikes were left in the space they weren't occupyong.

Yes to third paragraph.

Pay pal card reader is here. In key box.

Sept 9 Bekah

360-385-0134

Bob Weber

He received the email about the farm tour. He want to see a map of the island and more info about  distances, side trips, etc. His contact info has been sent to Heidi who will call him back. 

Stefan says that the bike with the price tag should not be used unless we don't have other bikes to use. 

Sept 8th EOD Bekah

I created a Facebook event for the farm tour this weekend on the WIEBR Facebook page. 

Fred Good called about rescheduling his rental. They would like to go out on Ohms or LaPierre's as that is what they are looking at purchasing. I will send an email with that information as well.

Sept 2 Gina

Cathy said review board couldn't approve our new sign because it was just a sketch and didn't include details (color, ect.) She highly recommended that we go for early approval by making the sign in advance and putting it forward with her help- she thinks it will be approved or attend the meeting on the 15th.

We will probably be asked to take down the sign we have.

Bike tour info is on both our websites.

Sept 1 & 2

This show many rack cards we have left. 

Heidi and Stefan checked in this morning. I called Sharon and left a message with her employee letting her know that Heidi will be sending changes for the postcard later this morning. I am available for promotional support in the mornings before Langley wakes up.

EM# 1