00:00:00Surviving and Thriving in Cycling Industry
00:08:51Adapting to Increased Demand for Bicycles
00:16:17Revenue Streams and Event Business Evolution
00:27:36American Crit Cup and Rock Film
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
When a company is thriving, no one wants to think about potential roadblocks or dangers ahead. But when disaster strikes, the right response can be the difference between a business closing its doors or fueling future growth. Whether it’s a new competitor in the market, shifting consumer patterns or even a global pandemic, how can you quickly adapt to the unexpected?
Kicking off the first episode of season three of But Who’s Counting?, longtime host Dave Hartley is joined by his new co-host, Missy Kelley, for a conversation about grit and perseverance with Michael Weiss, owner of Big Shark Bicycle Company in St. Louis, Missouri.
This episode digs into how Michael took his business from chasing demand to creating it. He explains how his company took proactive steps to embrace the sudden surge in demand during the pandemic while still looking ahead to solve issues before they created roadblocks. The wide-ranging conversation also included:
- Why businesses should examine their relationship with demand: are you driving it or is it driving you?
- Weaknesses of big box retailers and how small retailers can differentiate themselves
- How Big Shark Bicycle Co. was able to take advantage of timing and luck to get ahead of consumer trends
- The importance of understanding your business’s vertical while also being instinctual to recognize opportunities
- The key to connecting community efforts to business goals
- How a passion for expanding outdoor culture turned into working on a festival-length film that celebrates American Criterium Racing
“If you’re just doing things at a zero-revenue model, you’re not valuing yourself, you’re not investing in the future of growing a business or growing the market.” - Michael Weiss
Resources to Count On
Want more insight into the conversation? Check out these resources to learn more:
- Connect with Michael Weiss on LinkedIn
- Check out Big Shark Bicycle Company’s website
- Learn more about We Are Rock n Roll from the official trailer
- View the American Criterium Cup’s 2024 Series Calendar
Make sure to never miss an episode by subscribing on Spotify, Pandora or Apple Podcasts and let us know what you think by rating and reviewing. Keep up with more Anders insights by visiting our website and following us on social media:
Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | Twitter
English
United States
SHOW NOTES 🔗
TRANSCRIPT 🔗
WEBVTT
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You're focused on making important decisions to take your company to the next level.
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But who's counting?
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We are Counting on trends and insight to move your business forward operationally and strategically, Focus on helping executives achieve their highest potential.
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But who's counting is a podcast shedding light on and breaking down critical issues and opportunities for businesses brought to you by Anders, CPAs and advisors.
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Today we're kicking off season three with a really interesting episode about grit, creativity and following your values, featuring Michael Weiss, owner of Big Shark Bicycle Company and founder and owner of Big Shark Event Services.
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A Washington University grad, michael started his bike business at 23, with nothing to lose and lucky timing going into the mountain bike boom of the 90s.
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My new co-host, missy Kelly, and I learned all about the bike business and important lessons that translate across industries.
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When COVID kickstarted demand for certain products, michael's business became the health club, vacation and therapy for people amidst the pandemic and had to adapt to demand and inventory issues.
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Michael shares how his business is creating demand, building relationships and inspiring future generations.
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Enjoy the episode.
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Welcome to season three of the but who's Counting podcast.
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I'm Dave Hartley and this season I'm excited to welcome a new co-host, missy Kelly.
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So, missy, welcome to the show.
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Thanks, dave, I'm excited to be here.
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So season three, we're going to specifically focus the theme on innovation in action.
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So we're going to talk with business owners and executives across industries, sharing how they're embracing the latest trends in AI and leveraging innovative concepts and technologies to grow and future-proof their companies.
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So that will be the theme for season three.
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And Missy, welcome to the show.
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Thank you.
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So today we are joined by Michael Weiss, owner of Big Shark Bicycle Company, which is a local independent bicycle dealer here in St Louis, missouri.
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Michael is also the founder and owner of the Big Shark Events Services, which operates, consults and rents equipment for competitive, recreational and charity events.
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Michael is a member manager at American Criterium Cup and a native St Louisan.
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He attended Washington University in St Louis.
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Welcome, michael, it's good to see you.
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It's great to see you guys.
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So we're going to dig into the business of cycling and the innovative ways you've survived the ebb and flow of retail over the past 30 years, with a pandemic sprinkled in.
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But let's start with you telling us how we got here, how did you choose this path and what kept you in it.
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You know that's an interesting topic because when you go to Washington University you know there's not really a program for independent retail.
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So those are the sorts of the jobs you have along the way while you're going through college and you don't look at them in the same regard as what your chosen degree might be.
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So I, you know, wanted to learn more about cycling.
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I was an injured athlete in college and I worked at a local bike shop my senior year and realized pretty quickly that I had a the sort of personality for retail which was not going to be really applicable in architecture, which was my degree, and I enjoyed the culture.
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So I mean, fast forward.
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I never really thought of myself as entrepreneurial, but I worked for a company that sort of was fraught with problems, and they were.
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You know, there's a life cycle to any business and they were at the end of theirs you know a very old, an older proprietor and family members that didn't want to continue as legacy, and so we saw an opportunity to kind of pick up where they had left off.
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So you mentioned in school that they didn't have, you know, necessarily a program for retail.
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Did they have the entrepreneurial like launch programs that they have now, and were you part of that?
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You know, if they did, I was not aware of them.
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You know, and you know, the program at Wash U that I was in was very much, you know, theory and design based, which I really enjoyed because it made you, you know, think creatively, solve problems without any limitations, and I think that actually applied itself to business more than I recognized.
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But there was nothing about.
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You know, this is how you negotiate a lease or deal with a vendor, and that was all unknown.
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So, michael, it's great to meet you.
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So the you know when I think about that, taking the leap to become an entrepreneur is a pretty big leap.
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So I guess, did you have role models or kind of, when you started?
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You know, we've got people that listen to the show, that are startups, entrepreneurs want to be entrepreneurs.
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So how did you make that decision?
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Did you have mentors, role models?
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Did you just have to fumble your way through for the first couple of years?
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Talk to us about that.
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I'll go with the fumble path.
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That was our strategy.
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I mean, I think about that because I started the business when I was 23.
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So very young.
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You don't have fear.
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When you're that young, like the world, you can make a mistake and re-correct and you have nothing to lose.
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You haven't built equity.
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We're starting small, so there's not a big investment.
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So I think a lot of the things that would challenge somebody, like who is going to do a career shift later, weren't problems for me and we probably.
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Optimism and naivete were a nice blend for us and I think we got lucky.
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I mean, we opened the store when mountain bikes were booming and so in the 80s there weren't mountain bikes.
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In the early 90s there were, and it was propelling the bike industry.
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So definitely not intentional, but we did time it pretty well.
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So tell us about the cycling industry and how in the 80s and early 90s, there were not really online retailers, so when did that kind of come into play for you and how did that affect your path?
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Prior to online retailers, there was always mail order, so that was something we all were aware of national brands that were in categories for retail, and those were, I think, what was the predecessor to the direct consumer model we have today, and so we still complained about it.
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We just complained differently.
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But cycling while we've been in business, there's been a technological revolution.
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There's been a proliferation of types of cycling, and a lot of technologies have become integrated into the product, and so we've seen 30 years of really dynamic change.
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And then obviously, like you mentioned, the distribution model has I hate the word omni-channel, but there's a path to market and I don't think people really care anymore how things arrive.
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What about the big box retailers?
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I think they're challenged too because they have to be all things to all people.
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They have to provide that in-store experience, but they also have to be extremely good at fulfillment, and what they lack is the ability to really attract great personnel and be specialists.
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So I think big box in our industry is very good for beginners in recreation, but not great when it comes to a few steps up that ladder.
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So, michael, I want to spend some time talking about the pandemic, because one of the things that I think everybody's heard the story.
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During the pandemic everything got locked down, so suddenly everybody wants a bicycle and you can't get one Because they're sold out everywhere, and supply chain issues and those types of things.
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So in my mind it seems like there was this huge rush that probably pulled forward demand by a couple of years and then now I imagine, things are settling back out again.
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So talk to us about that in terms of for a business owner that's dealing with challenges and things like that.
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Talk to us about your response to the pandemic, sort of what happened and sort of how your business has survived and thrived through that.
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Well, I think that everybody remembers the dislocation that happened in this first few weeks of March in 2020, and the products that they needed to get immediately.
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Everybody wanted hand sanitizer.
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Everybody wanted PPE masks toilet paper and a wheelchair, those were suddenly who knew that these things were going to be gold.
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Right, it was like the oil rush and we were next in line.
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And so when those sorts of demands just happened for those other types of products that were directly related to the surge and COVID, response bikes were next, and so if you look at what the graph of that demand might look like in those types of commodities, we became very much a commodity and we were on a parallel path.
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So we had to adjust at the same pace as demand, and I think the majority of people in outdoor retail or specialty retail had a wait-and-see approach and their wait-and-see approach was maybe 30 days or 60 days or 90 days, and it became apparent to us really quickly that this was going to be, this is going to go on for a year or more.
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And as it became a really turbulent press cycle and culture shift and a dislocation for everybody's activities, doing everything any time, that's where cycling became the health club and it became the vacation and it became your therapy.
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So we really became a lot of things to a lot of people.
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So how long did it take for you to see that dynamic take place?
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You've been in 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, like was there a day when it happened and then from that point on, it was just like unlimited demand for some period of time.
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Everything is sort of in our industry it's seasonal right.
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So if the pandemic is occurring, as spring is occurring, we're already in this acceleration, at least at our latitude in Missouri.
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So we were already gearing up and so we know what our numbers are.
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We go from literally dormant to awake, to alive, and we were just about to hit seasonal surging and buying.
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So we were already anticipating dramatic growth going from off to on.
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So we know our numbers.
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Like we knew at one of our locations, in a week we might sell 20 bikes, and the next week we'd expect 50.
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And the next week we can expect 75.
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And it will stabilize at sort of what is our scale in this market.
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And so we pretty quickly saw a normal week when it should have been abnormal.
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We don't know if we could stay open, we don't know if we're essential, and suddenly we're as busy as we ever were, so we're not even allowing customers in our store.
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We're trying to be as responsible as we felt we should be or needed to be.
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And in two weeks we were doing five times or six times the business that we typically do.
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And so we just did the math on that.
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We said, okay, if we're five times busier than everyone's, five times busier and we knew that the current inventory levels in the United States were not gonna be able to sustain that.
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And so that's when we I'd say reactively or actively went into a completely different strategy than we've ever had to use.
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And did you see that across, like with your competition, or were there others that maybe reacted differently and weren't as successful?
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I think we were probably more responsive than others in this market, and certainly there's other folks that have cycling enterprises around the country that also had the relationships in place and had the conversations in place with people that were seeing trends at a higher altitude A lot of our vendors.
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We have visibility.
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I mean, the tools and the instrumentation are so good so we can manage just-in-time delivery.
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We can look at if we see models going out, and even if a model goes out, sometimes they then would tell you when that next projected date would be.
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When are they gonna fulfill?
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And so we not only placed immediate orders everyone did but then we placed back orders and you had to be in line.
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And so it got to the point with us where we had a year or two years of product on order and we realized that if there were gonna be delays, that wasn't going to be fast enough, and so we then began to say, well, okay, we're doing everything the way we're through the proper channels.
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Are there other ways to get bikes out of Asia?
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And so that was something we pivoted to, where we started going outside of the B2B sites and outside of the sales reps and going directly to folks that could help us with manufacturing.
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So you had to pivot pretty quickly and if you're thinking about, like, talking to some of the younger entrepreneurs or people just starting out, what from the pandemic would you say is something that is useful to someone who is starting a business, or maybe even hitting one of those Evin flow cycles.
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That's difficult when you're first starting up.
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You know, I would say actually having an understanding of the business you're in is usually not.
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You know, we all have a sense of how it works.
00:15:10.042 --> 00:15:23.061
You know, you probably don't know where your appliance came from, right, you don't know how many component pieces are in that appliance, country of origin, what port it came through.
00:15:23.061 --> 00:15:38.985
So we got a crash course in for, like, the vertical nature of our industry and I think that's important for anybody in a business to know is you know, you should know, and for 28 years or 27 years we didn't.
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And then the other is being a little instinctual and being you know, being able to process what you're seeing.
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You know, and I think that could be true for success or failure.
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But we saw an opportunity and we felt like we couldn't make mistakes because the opportunity was so great and we were right.
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Until you know vaccine efficacy and the unknown of what post pandemic was gonna yield.
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So at what point this is kind of going back a little bit, but at what point did you start the other like kind of revenue streams, or like the event business, which is another revenue stream for you?
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Was that from the very beginning or is that something that you added as you went along?
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Because it seems like you've been created along the way that you in the pandemic you went direct you know, so you innovated in that way.
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Seems like the event business is also another way that you've innovated, so share with us about that.
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Well, I think that there's sort of some things that we all know on an unconscious level about activities.
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Like, we all make assumptions that there's always gonna be little league baseball or there's gonna be a 5K on the weekend or there's gonna be camps, you know.
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And so In the cycling industry, when I first got into it, I just assumed that there were people in our market that created programming.
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I also thought there were going to be people in our market by market I mean the St Louis area or the Midwest that had a vision, for let's think about what is here and then let's also think about what's not here.
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The first few years we were open, we just assumed that we were a bicycle store that was supporting demand that was already present.
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We didn't think about creating demand, but I was an athlete and I enjoyed going to events and competing.
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What I realized was that all of those people that I took for granted were getting older Just the coincidence of the specific scenarios here and as people would phase out of being engaged in the cycling community, be it recreation or charity or competition or triathlon whatever, or even advocacy that created an ever-thinning calendar of events in St Louis.
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Our first taste was carrying the torch of first some people that came before us and trying to understand and learn from them what they did, why they did it, and just try to maintain an equilibrium.
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We weren't adding to the calendar or the ecosystem, we were just trying to be a torch bearer for it.
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That was where we cut our teeth, outside of the walls of our store a little self-service, because I wanted things to do.
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Let's get involved.
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When did you realize the revenue opportunity that was there?
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Did you start doing a bunch of events right out of the gate?
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Did it take time?
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Did you just is this a gradual business that grew over the course of years, or how did things evolve and mature?
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Well, you know probably, though you know right there's a lot of people that are a professional, professional event management development, and they are putting money as one of their pillars, and I never did that Like I.
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I I initially, simply, you know, the motivation was to make sure that there's continuity and there's a calendar, and so, as we began to do these things that was kind of the revelation was oh, people are paying.
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You can not just break even, you can make money, and so, over time, what we've realized is, sometimes making money is breaking even, like there has to be.
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You know, if you're just doing things at a, you know a zero revenue, you know model, you're not paying, you're not valuing yourself, you're not, you're not investing in the future of growing a business or growing the market.
00:20:12.031 --> 00:20:22.890
So, in order to maintain, but also to improve, we had to build kind of event PNL's which could carry over money into the next year.
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There's two kind of two ways to do it.
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You could you can have a lot of events that make a little, or you can have a few events that make a lot, and we, we definitely spent several years having a lot of events that made nothing, and so we tried to, you know, just tune those models and all those micro events and that put us in position where we could begin to look at some, you know, large, larger prospects and trying to have a different view of St Louis or the region Cause then we began to say, okay, well, what's in Europe, what's on the coasts?
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We're in flyover country.
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You know, we don't want to be perceived as being, you know, state number 25 or 30 out of 50.
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We want to be a, you know, have a better, more confidence about what we do here.
00:21:18.251 --> 00:21:23.288
And yeah, and so that's been kind of the path we got on.
00:21:24.519 --> 00:21:27.747
And some of those events are not cycling correct.
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Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, when you're organizing an event, I mean it could be a bake sale, it could be a gala, it could be a bike race they all have the same you know sort of planning documents.
00:21:44.732 --> 00:21:51.608
They all have the same phases and certainly we have subject matter expertise in some areas.
00:21:51.608 --> 00:21:59.644
But you know, the seasonality of St Louis means that you're not always going to be riding your bike or swimming.
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You know that's.
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We wanted to expand the calendar to a 12 month, four season calendar and look at activities that people could do.
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So we have more outdoor culture here, not just cycling culture.
00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:14.924
And then what began to happen is we get?
00:22:14.924 --> 00:22:20.267
We began to get calls, and so a great example would be the Edward Jones company.
00:22:20.267 --> 00:22:34.391
They wanted to do an internal to their company fundraising effort over one of the regions which the US, for them, is in probably five regions.
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But they wanted to create a cycling program that followed the path of the Oregon Trail and the Santa Fe Trail and the original telegram.
00:22:42.667 --> 00:22:44.884
So that's not a local bike race.
00:22:44.884 --> 00:22:52.284
But you know we sat down with them and said, okay, well, how many markets, how many days, how many people?
00:22:52.284 --> 00:23:02.589
And then we just began to take what we, you know, our kind of template, and adjust it for a much more aspirational event.
00:23:02.589 --> 00:23:07.588
And then, of course, they were like well, what do you charge, edward Jones?
00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:18.490
You know they're sure not really a template for that from shifting to a 5k or a, you know a short race on the weekend to that.
00:23:18.490 --> 00:23:19.361
How long?
00:23:19.361 --> 00:23:20.603
How long like?
00:23:20.603 --> 00:23:23.609
Is that like a week long thing, or is that?
00:23:23.609 --> 00:23:25.252
Does it go beyond that?
00:23:26.122 --> 00:23:29.250
We did several iterations of that for them.
00:23:29.250 --> 00:23:31.682
They called it the tour de Ted and it was, you know.
00:23:31.682 --> 00:23:35.692
Basically, they're knowing nothing about financial institutions.
00:23:35.692 --> 00:23:41.512
I, they were the hometown, you know big hitter and their model.
00:23:41.512 --> 00:23:42.705
I didn't understand that.
00:23:42.705 --> 00:24:06.029
They're a small office, you know, embedded in all these communities, and they basically said that the two things that affect their client tell the most are cancer and Alzheimer's At the end of your life, whatever your portfolio is, you, you can make bad decisions or good decisions, but health decisions are the ones that really erode your family's stability in your portfolio.
00:24:06.029 --> 00:24:15.271
And so they felt like if they tried to do things in those areas, they were actually giving back to their clients and I believed it.
00:24:15.420 --> 00:24:20.922
I don't think that was a, so I thought that was a nice alignment of the principle and business.
00:24:20.922 --> 00:24:37.904
The events the first event they wanted to do was a two week event where they're in every market that had a financial institution along the path of the first telegram, so that was two weeks later on, they did an Alzheimer's event.
00:24:37.904 --> 00:24:53.971
That was 130 days, where they wanted to walk from the two oldest cities in the US back to St Louis to their headquarters, and so that was really Alzheimer's Association and they, you know, over all the events they probably raised three or four million dollars and we'd help them do it.
00:24:53.971 --> 00:24:54.961
We're proud of it.
00:24:54.961 --> 00:25:02.688
But yeah, nobody, they didn't do that for like accolades, they did it for their culture.
00:25:02.688 --> 00:25:09.048
And so you know who knew that that would be something we would do?
00:25:09.148 --> 00:25:14.625
and now we still do that for other charities.
00:25:15.559 --> 00:25:28.651
And doing like in different states, in that you're dealing with different municipalities and different you know local governments and that those are all things that take some experience and, I'm sure, different in different areas as well.
00:25:29.619 --> 00:25:47.845
Yeah, I mean, my first taste at a national footprint event was when Governor Nixon was looking at some like international cycling events that were in California and Georgia, and so he wanted to sort of explore how these states could attract Tour de France level events.
00:25:47.845 --> 00:26:00.549
And so he found my name, because that's what we were doing in Missouri was just, we were like probably the only name he could have called, and I went to the governor's office and they basically said, yeah, we want to do this.
00:26:00.549 --> 00:26:16.223
And so, you know, for three years 2006 through 2009, missouri had a international professional event, sort of like a Premier League soccer event that went around the state and did quite well.
00:26:16.223 --> 00:26:28.048
My exposure to that was, rather than trying to do something I was not qualified to do, I just called the best event.
00:26:28.180 --> 00:26:31.851
There's only one company in the United States that does international events like that.
00:26:31.851 --> 00:26:34.727
So I just called them and I said there's an opportunity here for you.
00:26:34.727 --> 00:26:43.250
I can't do this, you can, but I think we have the resources to partner with you.
00:26:43.250 --> 00:26:47.321
And so they said that's great, we're going to need to hire someone, how about you?
00:26:47.321 --> 00:26:59.711
And so I took a job for three or four years working while I had my business working in that event and it was like a great networking.
00:26:59.711 --> 00:27:04.327
I learned a lot how I apply that Pretty much to everything we touch.
00:27:08.280 --> 00:27:12.771
So we're visiting today with Michael Weiss, the owner of Big Shark Bicycle Company.
00:27:12.771 --> 00:27:23.692
Michael, one of the things I want to talk about is your involvement in Both the film and, I guess, criteria, criteria, the American Criterium Cup.
00:27:23.692 --> 00:27:24.773
Is that correct?
00:27:26.201 --> 00:27:27.028
Yeah, that is.
00:27:27.028 --> 00:27:28.819
That's our French word of the day.
00:27:29.962 --> 00:27:31.306
Okay, so how did you?
00:27:31.306 --> 00:27:36.284
You you've mentioned you sort of have been involved in this, you know Journey with cycling.
00:27:36.284 --> 00:27:38.170
So I guess, when did that come to be?
00:27:38.170 --> 00:27:38.951
What is it?
00:27:38.951 --> 00:27:44.407
Because I don't think probably the vast majority of our audience Really understands it, knows what it is.
00:27:44.407 --> 00:27:49.180
And then I guess there's a film that's debuting this spring that kind of highlights this sport.
00:27:49.180 --> 00:27:54.460
So can you educate us on what that is and and how it works and what the appeal of it is?
00:27:55.762 --> 00:28:01.920
Yeah, you know, I'll say there's, like, there's this polarity and and how people look at cycling as a sport.
00:28:01.920 --> 00:28:04.226
Like I always say, I don't want to be a toy store.
00:28:04.226 --> 00:28:13.945
You know, we could be transit or we could be sport, or we could be just health right, those are good topics Makes it seem more real.
00:28:13.945 --> 00:28:18.625
So, as the sport would go, biggest sporty event in the world is the Tour de France.
00:28:18.625 --> 00:28:31.755
You know it's bigger than Super Bowl, the, the stage for that has always been Europe, but we all are familiar with Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong and those stories.
00:28:31.755 --> 00:28:36.266
And so the question is you know, how did guys from the States get there?
00:28:36.266 --> 00:28:42.541
And you know the answer hopefully isn't drugs, but it's, you know, there's.
00:28:42.541 --> 00:28:47.688
They had to raise the states.
00:28:47.688 --> 00:28:54.154
What we realized is America is, you know, much, much larger than Europe.
00:28:54.154 --> 00:29:01.767
You know you can have these giant sporting events that showcase a country Tour de France, tour of Spain, trivially but you can't.
00:29:01.767 --> 00:29:03.451
America's too big to have tour of America.
00:29:05.641 --> 00:29:07.365
Our cities are constructed differently.
00:29:07.365 --> 00:29:11.819
We're on grids, wider streets, europe, tiny streets, ancient streets.
00:29:11.819 --> 00:29:13.708
Even the city centers are.
00:29:13.708 --> 00:29:43.451
You know, you can't, you can't have a super truck, and you know, in Paris, right, I mean, you need something tiny, and so all of the, the Architecture of the sport is different in the United States, and the sports fan is also different in the United States, and so the type of racing that the US is very, very, very good at is the sort of shorter course, very explosive, very aggressive, sort of short form of bike racing, and that's.
00:29:45.701 --> 00:30:10.839
You know, that is our, that is our sweet spot here in the US, and then what happens is, rather than you know, you'll have a million people on a mountain in the middle of Europe here we have a million people in our urban centers, and so it's a way to bring the best type of cyclists, the best type of best high-quality event to a market in the US.
00:30:11.040 --> 00:30:12.846
And so that's what the American Crit Cup is.
00:30:12.846 --> 00:30:33.833
It's the 10 biggest races in the United States, and Rather than wait for our governing body, which is part of the Olympic movement, to sort of professionalize it, all of us kind of got together to look out for our Our selves in the sport and sort of said we should take a leadership role in cultivating the sport.
00:30:33.833 --> 00:30:36.402
So here we are.
00:30:36.402 --> 00:30:41.903
You know, we have one of the top 10 races in the country, in st Louis, and it's still not.
00:30:41.903 --> 00:30:49.284
I don't feel we've broken through the consciousness of the sports fan in st Louis to understand that it's a.
00:30:49.284 --> 00:30:56.711
It is a opportunity to kind of galvanize community around One of the biggest events that we could attract.
00:30:59.621 --> 00:31:01.085
So how did the film come to be?
00:31:02.808 --> 00:31:15.250
well, it's funny because you know cycling does not involve a ball, you know, so we, that's your first challenge yeah.
00:31:17.480 --> 00:31:18.723
There's this sort of there.
00:31:18.723 --> 00:31:29.113
Right now in sport there's sort of two paths to, I Think, a bigger audience, and with that bigger audience comes acceptance or sponsorship or, you know, return.
00:31:29.113 --> 00:31:38.296
One is if you're on a major network, and If you're not on a major network, then the question is always like, well, where are you gonna be?
00:31:38.296 --> 00:31:39.921
And you know, and then that's.
00:31:39.921 --> 00:31:53.757
Then there's like all the layers of digital content, and so in the first year of the American Criterium Cup, there was a world championship event that was supposed to come to the United States and it did not.
00:31:53.757 --> 00:32:24.469
It got went to Italy and a local outside media group had all this money that they were gonna put into that and streaming it and video like video work and they diverted that money to us, and so we spent about a half million dollars in 2022 Screening every race three to four hours of live footage on the weekend here's the best racers in the US and what we found was that there is not a live audience, a remote live audience for it.
00:32:24.469 --> 00:32:44.576
So we could have spent two million dollars and our numbers would have been Just probably would have been disappointing, and so we felt like just watching the action live didn't connect people to the athlete Didn't tell like who are they, where are they from, why are they doing this?
00:32:44.576 --> 00:32:45.298
What are they doing?
00:32:45.298 --> 00:32:47.162
Like just a fixed camera angle Watching.
00:32:47.162 --> 00:32:50.519
You know people go through a corner in a blur.
00:32:50.519 --> 00:32:55.556
It's not the best way to capture what's happening.
00:32:55.556 --> 00:32:57.121
You need on in drones and you need on board cameras and you need A narrative.
00:32:57.182 --> 00:33:21.143
And so we hired a filmmaker To celebrate what's actually happening there, because the seeing one of these events live that's the secret sauce, like that's what people who show up fall in love with the sport and they have a great day in on their hometown.
00:33:21.143 --> 00:33:31.742
We wanted to come up with a digital product that not only delivered that same emotion but multiplied it.
00:33:31.742 --> 00:33:35.080
That's the film it's called we Are Rock and Roll.
00:33:35.080 --> 00:33:40.123
We found a filmmaker who made some pieces.
00:33:40.123 --> 00:33:44.096
We really inspired us, so we just cold called him.
00:33:44.096 --> 00:33:48.519
He took on the job.
00:33:49.795 --> 00:33:51.902
So what's the significance of the name the?
00:33:51.902 --> 00:33:52.744
We Are Rock and Roll.
00:33:52.744 --> 00:33:54.941
How does that connect what's?
00:33:55.949 --> 00:33:56.755
the impact of that.
00:33:56.755 --> 00:34:02.928
If you come see the film, one of the first quotes is from one of our announcers.
00:34:02.928 --> 00:34:15.219
He talks about his affection and excitement around the sport and he goes if you call European bike racing, if that's a symphony, come to America and we'll show you what rock and roll is.
00:34:16.076 --> 00:34:16.577
Oh, I love it.
00:34:16.577 --> 00:34:18.103
That's very cool.
00:34:18.103 --> 00:34:22.643
So, when does that release?
00:34:24.775 --> 00:34:25.416
Well it's.
00:34:25.416 --> 00:34:35.443
I don't know when this podcast airs, but it's going to be at the High Point Theater on February 15th this year.
00:34:36.746 --> 00:34:36.846
OK.
00:34:37.074 --> 00:34:38.117
And then after that day?
00:34:38.398 --> 00:34:39.824
yeah, will it be on streaming?
00:34:39.824 --> 00:34:41.139
Will it be in other theaters or?
00:34:42.362 --> 00:34:43.365
It's going to be at the High Point Theater.
00:34:43.365 --> 00:34:57.706
We're doing local shows, first in each host city, so they get the opportunity to create a private showing, and then on February 25th it will be on the American Crypt YouTube channel and just available for free, no paywall.
00:34:57.706 --> 00:34:59.070
Just enjoy it.
00:35:02.965 --> 00:35:07.965
Well, that sounds great, great way to align your passions with connecting and building your community.
00:35:07.965 --> 00:35:12.826
So we've been visiting today with Michael Weiss, the owner of Big Shark Bicycle Company.
00:35:12.826 --> 00:35:26.961
So, michael, one of the things that we do at the end of every episode is we do the make it count segment, and that's where we share one actionable takeaway that business leaders listening to this can count on and take away with them.
00:35:26.961 --> 00:35:35.123
So, as it relates to innovation, what are the things that you would say you know the actionable insight that you could share to our listeners for them to take action on?
00:35:36.735 --> 00:35:49.396
You know, one of the things I've learned is you're not entitled, and so I feel like, for our business to be successful, I have to figure out what is going to give the most value to my customers, and it's not going to be.
00:35:49.396 --> 00:35:58.601
You know, here's a great bike and a great price, or we can repair something, but what's the experience you want to have?
00:35:58.601 --> 00:36:12.242
And if you focus on something that's a little bit more important, like the experience, like I had a guy once say to me you know you go to a hardware store and you want to buy a drill, but that's not really what you want.
00:36:12.242 --> 00:36:13.277
You want a hole.
00:36:13.277 --> 00:36:30.697
And when I look at what I'm doing, I think I am creating demand, I'm building relationships, I'm inspiring a young kid to maybe do this later in life, which might turn into a car free life.
00:36:30.697 --> 00:36:36.525
So I like to think about all the downstream impacts of what we do.
00:36:36.525 --> 00:36:39.134
Great.
00:36:41.280 --> 00:36:43.005
Well, Michael, thank you for joining us.
00:36:43.005 --> 00:36:46.646
We appreciate you taking the time to share your insights with our audience.
00:36:48.077 --> 00:36:49.159
I appreciate you guys having me.
00:36:49.159 --> 00:36:49.940
Thank you, it's flattering.
00:36:51.262 --> 00:36:51.905
Thanks, Michael.
00:36:52.284 --> 00:36:53.367
Okay, thanks so much.
00:36:53.367 --> 00:36:56.322
Thank you for joining the but who's Counting podcast.
00:36:56.322 --> 00:37:02.141
Make sure to never miss an episode by subscribing on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and let us know what you think by rating and reviewing.
00:37:02.141 --> 00:37:08.338
Keep up with more Andrew CPAs and advisors' insights by following us on social media through the handles in the show notes.
00:37:08.338 --> 00:37:09.559
We'll see you next time.
00:00:00.521 --> 00:00:04.350
You're focused on making important decisions to take your company to the next level.
00:00:04.350 --> 00:00:06.064
But who's counting?
00:00:06.064 --> 00:00:16.967
We are Counting on trends and insight to move your business forward operationally and strategically, Focus on helping executives achieve their highest potential.
00:00:16.967 --> 00:00:26.829
But who's counting is a podcast shedding light on and breaking down critical issues and opportunities for businesses brought to you by Anders, CPAs and advisors.
00:00:27.960 --> 00:00:40.688
Today we're kicking off season three with a really interesting episode about grit, creativity and following your values, featuring Michael Weiss, owner of Big Shark Bicycle Company and founder and owner of Big Shark Event Services.
00:00:40.688 --> 00:00:49.869
A Washington University grad, michael started his bike business at 23, with nothing to lose and lucky timing going into the mountain bike boom of the 90s.
00:00:49.869 --> 00:00:56.606
My new co-host, missy Kelly, and I learned all about the bike business and important lessons that translate across industries.
00:00:56.606 --> 00:01:08.724
When COVID kickstarted demand for certain products, michael's business became the health club, vacation and therapy for people amidst the pandemic and had to adapt to demand and inventory issues.
00:01:08.724 --> 00:01:15.144
Michael shares how his business is creating demand, building relationships and inspiring future generations.
00:01:15.144 --> 00:01:16.402
Enjoy the episode.
00:01:16.402 --> 00:01:21.010
Welcome to season three of the but who's Counting podcast.
00:01:21.010 --> 00:01:26.990
I'm Dave Hartley and this season I'm excited to welcome a new co-host, missy Kelly.
00:01:26.990 --> 00:01:28.384
So, missy, welcome to the show.
00:01:28.786 --> 00:01:31.519
Thanks, dave, I'm excited to be here.
00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:37.992
So season three, we're going to specifically focus the theme on innovation in action.
00:01:37.992 --> 00:01:52.989
So we're going to talk with business owners and executives across industries, sharing how they're embracing the latest trends in AI and leveraging innovative concepts and technologies to grow and future-proof their companies.
00:01:52.989 --> 00:01:55.307
So that will be the theme for season three.
00:01:55.307 --> 00:01:57.465
And Missy, welcome to the show.
00:01:58.608 --> 00:01:59.069
Thank you.
00:01:59.069 --> 00:02:07.649
So today we are joined by Michael Weiss, owner of Big Shark Bicycle Company, which is a local independent bicycle dealer here in St Louis, missouri.
00:02:07.649 --> 00:02:17.469
Michael is also the founder and owner of the Big Shark Events Services, which operates, consults and rents equipment for competitive, recreational and charity events.
00:02:17.469 --> 00:02:22.751
Michael is a member manager at American Criterium Cup and a native St Louisan.
00:02:22.751 --> 00:02:25.304
He attended Washington University in St Louis.
00:02:25.304 --> 00:02:27.490
Welcome, michael, it's good to see you.
00:02:28.599 --> 00:02:30.299
It's great to see you guys.
00:02:30.379 --> 00:02:39.491
So we're going to dig into the business of cycling and the innovative ways you've survived the ebb and flow of retail over the past 30 years, with a pandemic sprinkled in.
00:02:39.491 --> 00:02:45.186
But let's start with you telling us how we got here, how did you choose this path and what kept you in it.
00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:55.348
You know that's an interesting topic because when you go to Washington University you know there's not really a program for independent retail.
00:02:55.348 --> 00:03:07.772
So those are the sorts of the jobs you have along the way while you're going through college and you don't look at them in the same regard as what your chosen degree might be.
00:03:07.772 --> 00:03:11.229
So I, you know, wanted to learn more about cycling.
00:03:11.229 --> 00:03:30.625
I was an injured athlete in college and I worked at a local bike shop my senior year and realized pretty quickly that I had a the sort of personality for retail which was not going to be really applicable in architecture, which was my degree, and I enjoyed the culture.
00:03:30.625 --> 00:03:36.250
So I mean, fast forward.
00:03:36.250 --> 00:03:44.443
I never really thought of myself as entrepreneurial, but I worked for a company that sort of was fraught with problems, and they were.
00:03:44.443 --> 00:03:58.808
You know, there's a life cycle to any business and they were at the end of theirs you know a very old, an older proprietor and family members that didn't want to continue as legacy, and so we saw an opportunity to kind of pick up where they had left off.
00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:05.131
So you mentioned in school that they didn't have, you know, necessarily a program for retail.
00:04:05.131 --> 00:04:11.623
Did they have the entrepreneurial like launch programs that they have now, and were you part of that?
00:04:12.599 --> 00:04:15.706
You know, if they did, I was not aware of them.
00:04:15.706 --> 00:04:34.031
You know, and you know, the program at Wash U that I was in was very much, you know, theory and design based, which I really enjoyed because it made you, you know, think creatively, solve problems without any limitations, and I think that actually applied itself to business more than I recognized.
00:04:34.031 --> 00:04:36.062
But there was nothing about.
00:04:36.062 --> 00:04:41.882
You know, this is how you negotiate a lease or deal with a vendor, and that was all unknown.
00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:46.865
So, michael, it's great to meet you.
00:04:46.865 --> 00:04:52.865
So the you know when I think about that, taking the leap to become an entrepreneur is a pretty big leap.
00:04:52.865 --> 00:04:56.334
So I guess, did you have role models or kind of, when you started?
00:04:56.334 --> 00:05:01.872
You know, we've got people that listen to the show, that are startups, entrepreneurs want to be entrepreneurs.
00:05:01.872 --> 00:05:03.446
So how did you make that decision?
00:05:03.446 --> 00:05:05.425
Did you have mentors, role models?
00:05:05.425 --> 00:05:08.622
Did you just have to fumble your way through for the first couple of years?
00:05:08.622 --> 00:05:09.843
Talk to us about that.
00:05:11.387 --> 00:05:12.992
I'll go with the fumble path.
00:05:12.992 --> 00:05:13.995
That was our strategy.
00:05:13.995 --> 00:05:19.117
I mean, I think about that because I started the business when I was 23.
00:05:19.117 --> 00:05:20.889
So very young.
00:05:20.889 --> 00:05:23.288
You don't have fear.
00:05:23.288 --> 00:05:29.997
When you're that young, like the world, you can make a mistake and re-correct and you have nothing to lose.
00:05:29.997 --> 00:05:31.149
You haven't built equity.
00:05:31.149 --> 00:05:34.353
We're starting small, so there's not a big investment.
00:05:34.353 --> 00:05:46.406
So I think a lot of the things that would challenge somebody, like who is going to do a career shift later, weren't problems for me and we probably.
00:05:46.406 --> 00:05:53.478
Optimism and naivete were a nice blend for us and I think we got lucky.
00:05:53.478 --> 00:05:59.829
I mean, we opened the store when mountain bikes were booming and so in the 80s there weren't mountain bikes.
00:05:59.829 --> 00:06:03.391
In the early 90s there were, and it was propelling the bike industry.
00:06:03.391 --> 00:06:09.435
So definitely not intentional, but we did time it pretty well.
00:06:10.845 --> 00:06:24.168
So tell us about the cycling industry and how in the 80s and early 90s, there were not really online retailers, so when did that kind of come into play for you and how did that affect your path?
00:06:26.125 --> 00:06:46.973
Prior to online retailers, there was always mail order, so that was something we all were aware of national brands that were in categories for retail, and those were, I think, what was the predecessor to the direct consumer model we have today, and so we still complained about it.
00:06:46.973 --> 00:06:48.168
We just complained differently.
00:06:48.168 --> 00:06:57.458
But cycling while we've been in business, there's been a technological revolution.
00:06:57.458 --> 00:07:09.396
There's been a proliferation of types of cycling, and a lot of technologies have become integrated into the product, and so we've seen 30 years of really dynamic change.
00:07:09.396 --> 00:07:24.713
And then obviously, like you mentioned, the distribution model has I hate the word omni-channel, but there's a path to market and I don't think people really care anymore how things arrive.
00:07:26.444 --> 00:07:27.869
What about the big box retailers?
00:07:30.545 --> 00:07:35.916
I think they're challenged too because they have to be all things to all people.
00:07:35.916 --> 00:07:52.019
They have to provide that in-store experience, but they also have to be extremely good at fulfillment, and what they lack is the ability to really attract great personnel and be specialists.
00:07:52.019 --> 00:08:04.392
So I think big box in our industry is very good for beginners in recreation, but not great when it comes to a few steps up that ladder.
00:08:08.964 --> 00:08:14.949
So, michael, I want to spend some time talking about the pandemic, because one of the things that I think everybody's heard the story.
00:08:14.949 --> 00:08:25.516
During the pandemic everything got locked down, so suddenly everybody wants a bicycle and you can't get one Because they're sold out everywhere, and supply chain issues and those types of things.
00:08:25.516 --> 00:08:34.913
So in my mind it seems like there was this huge rush that probably pulled forward demand by a couple of years and then now I imagine, things are settling back out again.
00:08:34.913 --> 00:08:41.626
So talk to us about that in terms of for a business owner that's dealing with challenges and things like that.
00:08:41.626 --> 00:08:49.975
Talk to us about your response to the pandemic, sort of what happened and sort of how your business has survived and thrived through that.
00:08:51.847 --> 00:09:03.316
Well, I think that everybody remembers the dislocation that happened in this first few weeks of March in 2020, and the products that they needed to get immediately.
00:09:03.316 --> 00:09:05.587
Everybody wanted hand sanitizer.
00:09:05.807 --> 00:09:16.192
Everybody wanted PPE masks toilet paper and a wheelchair, those were suddenly who knew that these things were going to be gold.
00:09:16.211 --> 00:09:22.970
Right, it was like the oil rush and we were next in line.
00:09:22.970 --> 00:09:53.696
And so when those sorts of demands just happened for those other types of products that were directly related to the surge and COVID, response bikes were next, and so if you look at what the graph of that demand might look like in those types of commodities, we became very much a commodity and we were on a parallel path.
00:09:53.696 --> 00:10:20.548
So we had to adjust at the same pace as demand, and I think the majority of people in outdoor retail or specialty retail had a wait-and-see approach and their wait-and-see approach was maybe 30 days or 60 days or 90 days, and it became apparent to us really quickly that this was going to be, this is going to go on for a year or more.
00:10:20.548 --> 00:10:43.975
And as it became a really turbulent press cycle and culture shift and a dislocation for everybody's activities, doing everything any time, that's where cycling became the health club and it became the vacation and it became your therapy.
00:10:43.975 --> 00:10:47.730
So we really became a lot of things to a lot of people.
00:10:51.325 --> 00:10:55.375
So how long did it take for you to see that dynamic take place?
00:10:55.375 --> 00:11:03.594
You've been in 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, like was there a day when it happened and then from that point on, it was just like unlimited demand for some period of time.
00:11:05.445 --> 00:11:09.296
Everything is sort of in our industry it's seasonal right.
00:11:09.296 --> 00:11:18.971
So if the pandemic is occurring, as spring is occurring, we're already in this acceleration, at least at our latitude in Missouri.
00:11:18.971 --> 00:11:23.150
So we were already gearing up and so we know what our numbers are.
00:11:23.150 --> 00:11:34.216
We go from literally dormant to awake, to alive, and we were just about to hit seasonal surging and buying.
00:11:34.216 --> 00:11:43.216
So we were already anticipating dramatic growth going from off to on.
00:11:43.216 --> 00:11:45.320
So we know our numbers.
00:11:45.320 --> 00:11:50.431
Like we knew at one of our locations, in a week we might sell 20 bikes, and the next week we'd expect 50.
00:11:50.431 --> 00:11:52.552
And the next week we can expect 75.
00:11:52.552 --> 00:11:57.315
And it will stabilize at sort of what is our scale in this market.
00:11:58.804 --> 00:12:03.897
And so we pretty quickly saw a normal week when it should have been abnormal.
00:12:03.897 --> 00:12:11.773
We don't know if we could stay open, we don't know if we're essential, and suddenly we're as busy as we ever were, so we're not even allowing customers in our store.
00:12:11.773 --> 00:12:17.277
We're trying to be as responsible as we felt we should be or needed to be.
00:12:17.277 --> 00:12:23.610
And in two weeks we were doing five times or six times the business that we typically do.
00:12:23.610 --> 00:12:26.523
And so we just did the math on that.
00:12:26.523 --> 00:12:38.143
We said, okay, if we're five times busier than everyone's, five times busier and we knew that the current inventory levels in the United States were not gonna be able to sustain that.
00:12:38.143 --> 00:12:50.124
And so that's when we I'd say reactively or actively went into a completely different strategy than we've ever had to use.
00:12:52.398 --> 00:12:59.522
And did you see that across, like with your competition, or were there others that maybe reacted differently and weren't as successful?
00:13:01.096 --> 00:13:25.278
I think we were probably more responsive than others in this market, and certainly there's other folks that have cycling enterprises around the country that also had the relationships in place and had the conversations in place with people that were seeing trends at a higher altitude A lot of our vendors.
00:13:25.278 --> 00:13:27.163
We have visibility.
00:13:27.163 --> 00:13:32.522
I mean, the tools and the instrumentation are so good so we can manage just-in-time delivery.
00:13:32.522 --> 00:13:43.663
We can look at if we see models going out, and even if a model goes out, sometimes they then would tell you when that next projected date would be.
00:13:43.663 --> 00:13:44.839
When are they gonna fulfill?
00:13:46.174 --> 00:13:56.200
And so we not only placed immediate orders everyone did but then we placed back orders and you had to be in line.
00:13:56.200 --> 00:14:16.519
And so it got to the point with us where we had a year or two years of product on order and we realized that if there were gonna be delays, that wasn't going to be fast enough, and so we then began to say, well, okay, we're doing everything the way we're through the proper channels.
00:14:16.519 --> 00:14:22.225
Are there other ways to get bikes out of Asia?
00:14:22.225 --> 00:14:36.043
And so that was something we pivoted to, where we started going outside of the B2B sites and outside of the sales reps and going directly to folks that could help us with manufacturing.
00:14:38.335 --> 00:14:57.384
So you had to pivot pretty quickly and if you're thinking about, like, talking to some of the younger entrepreneurs or people just starting out, what from the pandemic would you say is something that is useful to someone who is starting a business, or maybe even hitting one of those Evin flow cycles.
00:14:57.384 --> 00:14:59.381
That's difficult when you're first starting up.
00:15:01.315 --> 00:15:07.062
You know, I would say actually having an understanding of the business you're in is usually not.
00:15:07.062 --> 00:15:10.042
You know, we all have a sense of how it works.
00:15:10.042 --> 00:15:23.061
You know, you probably don't know where your appliance came from, right, you don't know how many component pieces are in that appliance, country of origin, what port it came through.
00:15:23.061 --> 00:15:38.985
So we got a crash course in for, like, the vertical nature of our industry and I think that's important for anybody in a business to know is you know, you should know, and for 28 years or 27 years we didn't.
00:15:38.985 --> 00:15:50.798
And then the other is being a little instinctual and being you know, being able to process what you're seeing.
00:15:50.798 --> 00:15:53.621
You know, and I think that could be true for success or failure.
00:15:53.621 --> 00:16:05.999
But we saw an opportunity and we felt like we couldn't make mistakes because the opportunity was so great and we were right.
00:16:05.999 --> 00:16:12.666
Until you know vaccine efficacy and the unknown of what post pandemic was gonna yield.
00:16:17.034 --> 00:16:28.363
So at what point this is kind of going back a little bit, but at what point did you start the other like kind of revenue streams, or like the event business, which is another revenue stream for you?
00:16:28.363 --> 00:16:33.381
Was that from the very beginning or is that something that you added as you went along?
00:16:34.274 --> 00:16:43.760
Because it seems like you've been created along the way that you in the pandemic you went direct you know, so you innovated in that way.
00:16:43.760 --> 00:16:49.602
Seems like the event business is also another way that you've innovated, so share with us about that.
00:16:51.554 --> 00:16:56.924
Well, I think that there's sort of some things that we all know on an unconscious level about activities.
00:16:56.924 --> 00:17:06.242
Like, we all make assumptions that there's always gonna be little league baseball or there's gonna be a 5K on the weekend or there's gonna be camps, you know.
00:17:06.242 --> 00:17:14.336
And so In the cycling industry, when I first got into it, I just assumed that there were people in our market that created programming.
00:17:14.336 --> 00:17:30.678
I also thought there were going to be people in our market by market I mean the St Louis area or the Midwest that had a vision, for let's think about what is here and then let's also think about what's not here.
00:17:30.678 --> 00:17:40.894
The first few years we were open, we just assumed that we were a bicycle store that was supporting demand that was already present.
00:17:41.265 --> 00:17:50.178
We didn't think about creating demand, but I was an athlete and I enjoyed going to events and competing.
00:17:50.178 --> 00:18:25.417
What I realized was that all of those people that I took for granted were getting older Just the coincidence of the specific scenarios here and as people would phase out of being engaged in the cycling community, be it recreation or charity or competition or triathlon whatever, or even advocacy that created an ever-thinning calendar of events in St Louis.
00:18:25.417 --> 00:18:41.536
Our first taste was carrying the torch of first some people that came before us and trying to understand and learn from them what they did, why they did it, and just try to maintain an equilibrium.
00:18:41.536 --> 00:18:48.353
We weren't adding to the calendar or the ecosystem, we were just trying to be a torch bearer for it.
00:18:48.353 --> 00:18:58.893
That was where we cut our teeth, outside of the walls of our store a little self-service, because I wanted things to do.
00:18:58.893 --> 00:19:03.272
Let's get involved.
00:19:05.548 --> 00:19:08.056
When did you realize the revenue opportunity that was there?
00:19:08.056 --> 00:19:11.666
Did you start doing a bunch of events right out of the gate?
00:19:11.666 --> 00:19:13.030
Did it take time?
00:19:13.030 --> 00:19:18.105
Did you just is this a gradual business that grew over the course of years, or how did things evolve and mature?
00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:31.340
Well, you know probably, though you know right there's a lot of people that are a professional, professional event management development, and they are putting money as one of their pillars, and I never did that Like I.
00:19:31.340 --> 00:19:44.125
I I initially, simply, you know, the motivation was to make sure that there's continuity and there's a calendar, and so, as we began to do these things that was kind of the revelation was oh, people are paying.
00:19:44.125 --> 00:19:57.462
You can not just break even, you can make money, and so, over time, what we've realized is, sometimes making money is breaking even, like there has to be.
00:19:57.462 --> 00:20:12.031
You know, if you're just doing things at a, you know a zero revenue, you know model, you're not paying, you're not valuing yourself, you're not, you're not investing in the future of growing a business or growing the market.
00:20:12.031 --> 00:20:22.890
So, in order to maintain, but also to improve, we had to build kind of event PNL's which could carry over money into the next year.
00:20:26.288 --> 00:20:27.791
There's two kind of two ways to do it.
00:20:27.791 --> 00:21:02.449
You could you can have a lot of events that make a little, or you can have a few events that make a lot, and we, we definitely spent several years having a lot of events that made nothing, and so we tried to, you know, just tune those models and all those micro events and that put us in position where we could begin to look at some, you know, large, larger prospects and trying to have a different view of St Louis or the region Cause then we began to say, okay, well, what's in Europe, what's on the coasts?
00:21:02.449 --> 00:21:05.022
We're in flyover country.
00:21:05.022 --> 00:21:11.809
You know, we don't want to be perceived as being, you know, state number 25 or 30 out of 50.
00:21:11.809 --> 00:21:18.251
We want to be a, you know, have a better, more confidence about what we do here.
00:21:18.251 --> 00:21:23.288
And yeah, and so that's been kind of the path we got on.
00:21:24.519 --> 00:21:27.747
And some of those events are not cycling correct.
00:21:30.212 --> 00:21:44.732
Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, when you're organizing an event, I mean it could be a bake sale, it could be a gala, it could be a bike race they all have the same you know sort of planning documents.
00:21:44.732 --> 00:21:51.608
They all have the same phases and certainly we have subject matter expertise in some areas.
00:21:51.608 --> 00:21:59.644
But you know, the seasonality of St Louis means that you're not always going to be riding your bike or swimming.
00:21:59.644 --> 00:22:00.348
You know that's.
00:22:00.348 --> 00:22:08.093
We wanted to expand the calendar to a 12 month, four season calendar and look at activities that people could do.
00:22:08.093 --> 00:22:10.746
So we have more outdoor culture here, not just cycling culture.
00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:14.924
And then what began to happen is we get?
00:22:14.924 --> 00:22:20.267
We began to get calls, and so a great example would be the Edward Jones company.
00:22:20.267 --> 00:22:34.391
They wanted to do an internal to their company fundraising effort over one of the regions which the US, for them, is in probably five regions.
00:22:34.391 --> 00:22:42.667
But they wanted to create a cycling program that followed the path of the Oregon Trail and the Santa Fe Trail and the original telegram.
00:22:42.667 --> 00:22:44.884
So that's not a local bike race.
00:22:44.884 --> 00:22:52.284
But you know we sat down with them and said, okay, well, how many markets, how many days, how many people?
00:22:52.284 --> 00:23:02.589
And then we just began to take what we, you know, our kind of template, and adjust it for a much more aspirational event.
00:23:02.589 --> 00:23:07.588
And then, of course, they were like well, what do you charge, edward Jones?
00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:18.490
You know they're sure not really a template for that from shifting to a 5k or a, you know a short race on the weekend to that.
00:23:18.490 --> 00:23:19.361
How long?
00:23:19.361 --> 00:23:20.603
How long like?
00:23:20.603 --> 00:23:23.609
Is that like a week long thing, or is that?
00:23:23.609 --> 00:23:25.252
Does it go beyond that?
00:23:26.122 --> 00:23:29.250
We did several iterations of that for them.
00:23:29.250 --> 00:23:31.682
They called it the tour de Ted and it was, you know.
00:23:31.682 --> 00:23:35.692
Basically, they're knowing nothing about financial institutions.
00:23:35.692 --> 00:23:41.512
I, they were the hometown, you know big hitter and their model.
00:23:41.512 --> 00:23:42.705
I didn't understand that.
00:23:42.705 --> 00:24:06.029
They're a small office, you know, embedded in all these communities, and they basically said that the two things that affect their client tell the most are cancer and Alzheimer's At the end of your life, whatever your portfolio is, you, you can make bad decisions or good decisions, but health decisions are the ones that really erode your family's stability in your portfolio.
00:24:06.029 --> 00:24:15.271
And so they felt like if they tried to do things in those areas, they were actually giving back to their clients and I believed it.
00:24:15.420 --> 00:24:20.922
I don't think that was a, so I thought that was a nice alignment of the principle and business.
00:24:20.922 --> 00:24:37.904
The events the first event they wanted to do was a two week event where they're in every market that had a financial institution along the path of the first telegram, so that was two weeks later on, they did an Alzheimer's event.
00:24:37.904 --> 00:24:53.971
That was 130 days, where they wanted to walk from the two oldest cities in the US back to St Louis to their headquarters, and so that was really Alzheimer's Association and they, you know, over all the events they probably raised three or four million dollars and we'd help them do it.
00:24:53.971 --> 00:24:54.961
We're proud of it.
00:24:54.961 --> 00:25:02.688
But yeah, nobody, they didn't do that for like accolades, they did it for their culture.
00:25:02.688 --> 00:25:09.048
And so you know who knew that that would be something we would do?
00:25:09.148 --> 00:25:14.625
and now we still do that for other charities.
00:25:15.559 --> 00:25:28.651
And doing like in different states, in that you're dealing with different municipalities and different you know local governments and that those are all things that take some experience and, I'm sure, different in different areas as well.
00:25:29.619 --> 00:25:47.845
Yeah, I mean, my first taste at a national footprint event was when Governor Nixon was looking at some like international cycling events that were in California and Georgia, and so he wanted to sort of explore how these states could attract Tour de France level events.
00:25:47.845 --> 00:26:00.549
And so he found my name, because that's what we were doing in Missouri was just, we were like probably the only name he could have called, and I went to the governor's office and they basically said, yeah, we want to do this.
00:26:00.549 --> 00:26:16.223
And so, you know, for three years 2006 through 2009, missouri had a international professional event, sort of like a Premier League soccer event that went around the state and did quite well.
00:26:16.223 --> 00:26:28.048
My exposure to that was, rather than trying to do something I was not qualified to do, I just called the best event.
00:26:28.180 --> 00:26:31.851
There's only one company in the United States that does international events like that.
00:26:31.851 --> 00:26:34.727
So I just called them and I said there's an opportunity here for you.
00:26:34.727 --> 00:26:43.250
I can't do this, you can, but I think we have the resources to partner with you.
00:26:43.250 --> 00:26:47.321
And so they said that's great, we're going to need to hire someone, how about you?
00:26:47.321 --> 00:26:59.711
And so I took a job for three or four years working while I had my business working in that event and it was like a great networking.
00:26:59.711 --> 00:27:04.327
I learned a lot how I apply that Pretty much to everything we touch.
00:27:08.280 --> 00:27:12.771
So we're visiting today with Michael Weiss, the owner of Big Shark Bicycle Company.
00:27:12.771 --> 00:27:23.692
Michael, one of the things I want to talk about is your involvement in Both the film and, I guess, criteria, criteria, the American Criterium Cup.
00:27:23.692 --> 00:27:24.773
Is that correct?
00:27:26.201 --> 00:27:27.028
Yeah, that is.
00:27:27.028 --> 00:27:28.819
That's our French word of the day.
00:27:29.962 --> 00:27:31.306
Okay, so how did you?
00:27:31.306 --> 00:27:36.284
You you've mentioned you sort of have been involved in this, you know Journey with cycling.
00:27:36.284 --> 00:27:38.170
So I guess, when did that come to be?
00:27:38.170 --> 00:27:38.951
What is it?
00:27:38.951 --> 00:27:44.407
Because I don't think probably the vast majority of our audience Really understands it, knows what it is.
00:27:44.407 --> 00:27:49.180
And then I guess there's a film that's debuting this spring that kind of highlights this sport.
00:27:49.180 --> 00:27:54.460
So can you educate us on what that is and and how it works and what the appeal of it is?
00:27:55.762 --> 00:28:01.920
Yeah, you know, I'll say there's, like, there's this polarity and and how people look at cycling as a sport.
00:28:01.920 --> 00:28:04.226
Like I always say, I don't want to be a toy store.
00:28:04.226 --> 00:28:13.945
You know, we could be transit or we could be sport, or we could be just health right, those are good topics Makes it seem more real.
00:28:13.945 --> 00:28:18.625
So, as the sport would go, biggest sporty event in the world is the Tour de France.
00:28:18.625 --> 00:28:31.755
You know it's bigger than Super Bowl, the, the stage for that has always been Europe, but we all are familiar with Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong and those stories.
00:28:31.755 --> 00:28:36.266
And so the question is you know, how did guys from the States get there?
00:28:36.266 --> 00:28:42.541
And you know the answer hopefully isn't drugs, but it's, you know, there's.
00:28:42.541 --> 00:28:47.688
They had to raise the states.
00:28:47.688 --> 00:28:54.154
What we realized is America is, you know, much, much larger than Europe.
00:28:54.154 --> 00:29:01.767
You know you can have these giant sporting events that showcase a country Tour de France, tour of Spain, trivially but you can't.
00:29:01.767 --> 00:29:03.451
America's too big to have tour of America.
00:29:05.641 --> 00:29:07.365
Our cities are constructed differently.
00:29:07.365 --> 00:29:11.819
We're on grids, wider streets, europe, tiny streets, ancient streets.
00:29:11.819 --> 00:29:13.708
Even the city centers are.
00:29:13.708 --> 00:29:43.451
You know, you can't, you can't have a super truck, and you know, in Paris, right, I mean, you need something tiny, and so all of the, the Architecture of the sport is different in the United States, and the sports fan is also different in the United States, and so the type of racing that the US is very, very, very good at is the sort of shorter course, very explosive, very aggressive, sort of short form of bike racing, and that's.
00:29:45.701 --> 00:30:10.839
You know, that is our, that is our sweet spot here in the US, and then what happens is, rather than you know, you'll have a million people on a mountain in the middle of Europe here we have a million people in our urban centers, and so it's a way to bring the best type of cyclists, the best type of best high-quality event to a market in the US.
00:30:11.040 --> 00:30:12.846
And so that's what the American Crit Cup is.
00:30:12.846 --> 00:30:33.833
It's the 10 biggest races in the United States, and Rather than wait for our governing body, which is part of the Olympic movement, to sort of professionalize it, all of us kind of got together to look out for our Our selves in the sport and sort of said we should take a leadership role in cultivating the sport.
00:30:33.833 --> 00:30:36.402
So here we are.
00:30:36.402 --> 00:30:41.903
You know, we have one of the top 10 races in the country, in st Louis, and it's still not.
00:30:41.903 --> 00:30:49.284
I don't feel we've broken through the consciousness of the sports fan in st Louis to understand that it's a.
00:30:49.284 --> 00:30:56.711
It is a opportunity to kind of galvanize community around One of the biggest events that we could attract.
00:30:59.621 --> 00:31:01.085
So how did the film come to be?
00:31:02.808 --> 00:31:15.250
well, it's funny because you know cycling does not involve a ball, you know, so we, that's your first challenge yeah.
00:31:17.480 --> 00:31:18.723
There's this sort of there.
00:31:18.723 --> 00:31:29.113
Right now in sport there's sort of two paths to, I Think, a bigger audience, and with that bigger audience comes acceptance or sponsorship or, you know, return.
00:31:29.113 --> 00:31:38.296
One is if you're on a major network, and If you're not on a major network, then the question is always like, well, where are you gonna be?
00:31:38.296 --> 00:31:39.921
And you know, and then that's.
00:31:39.921 --> 00:31:53.757
Then there's like all the layers of digital content, and so in the first year of the American Criterium Cup, there was a world championship event that was supposed to come to the United States and it did not.
00:31:53.757 --> 00:32:24.469
It got went to Italy and a local outside media group had all this money that they were gonna put into that and streaming it and video like video work and they diverted that money to us, and so we spent about a half million dollars in 2022 Screening every race three to four hours of live footage on the weekend here's the best racers in the US and what we found was that there is not a live audience, a remote live audience for it.
00:32:24.469 --> 00:32:44.576
So we could have spent two million dollars and our numbers would have been Just probably would have been disappointing, and so we felt like just watching the action live didn't connect people to the athlete Didn't tell like who are they, where are they from, why are they doing this?
00:32:44.576 --> 00:32:45.298
What are they doing?
00:32:45.298 --> 00:32:47.162
Like just a fixed camera angle Watching.
00:32:47.162 --> 00:32:50.519
You know people go through a corner in a blur.
00:32:50.519 --> 00:32:55.556
It's not the best way to capture what's happening.
00:32:55.556 --> 00:32:57.121
You need on in drones and you need on board cameras and you need A narrative.
00:32:57.182 --> 00:33:21.143
And so we hired a filmmaker To celebrate what's actually happening there, because the seeing one of these events live that's the secret sauce, like that's what people who show up fall in love with the sport and they have a great day in on their hometown.
00:33:21.143 --> 00:33:31.742
We wanted to come up with a digital product that not only delivered that same emotion but multiplied it.
00:33:31.742 --> 00:33:35.080
That's the film it's called we Are Rock and Roll.
00:33:35.080 --> 00:33:40.123
We found a filmmaker who made some pieces.
00:33:40.123 --> 00:33:44.096
We really inspired us, so we just cold called him.
00:33:44.096 --> 00:33:48.519
He took on the job.
00:33:49.795 --> 00:33:51.902
So what's the significance of the name the?
00:33:51.902 --> 00:33:52.744
We Are Rock and Roll.
00:33:52.744 --> 00:33:54.941
How does that connect what's?
00:33:55.949 --> 00:33:56.755
the impact of that.
00:33:56.755 --> 00:34:02.928
If you come see the film, one of the first quotes is from one of our announcers.
00:34:02.928 --> 00:34:15.219
He talks about his affection and excitement around the sport and he goes if you call European bike racing, if that's a symphony, come to America and we'll show you what rock and roll is.
00:34:16.076 --> 00:34:16.577
Oh, I love it.
00:34:16.577 --> 00:34:18.103
That's very cool.
00:34:18.103 --> 00:34:22.643
So, when does that release?
00:34:24.775 --> 00:34:25.416
Well it's.
00:34:25.416 --> 00:34:35.443
I don't know when this podcast airs, but it's going to be at the High Point Theater on February 15th this year.
00:34:36.746 --> 00:34:36.846
OK.
00:34:37.074 --> 00:34:38.117
And then after that day?
00:34:38.398 --> 00:34:39.824
yeah, will it be on streaming?
00:34:39.824 --> 00:34:41.139
Will it be in other theaters or?
00:34:42.362 --> 00:34:43.365
It's going to be at the High Point Theater.
00:34:43.365 --> 00:34:57.706
We're doing local shows, first in each host city, so they get the opportunity to create a private showing, and then on February 25th it will be on the American Crypt YouTube channel and just available for free, no paywall.
00:34:57.706 --> 00:34:59.070
Just enjoy it.
00:35:02.965 --> 00:35:07.965
Well, that sounds great, great way to align your passions with connecting and building your community.
00:35:07.965 --> 00:35:12.826
So we've been visiting today with Michael Weiss, the owner of Big Shark Bicycle Company.
00:35:12.826 --> 00:35:26.961
So, michael, one of the things that we do at the end of every episode is we do the make it count segment, and that's where we share one actionable takeaway that business leaders listening to this can count on and take away with them.
00:35:26.961 --> 00:35:35.123
So, as it relates to innovation, what are the things that you would say you know the actionable insight that you could share to our listeners for them to take action on?
00:35:36.735 --> 00:35:49.396
You know, one of the things I've learned is you're not entitled, and so I feel like, for our business to be successful, I have to figure out what is going to give the most value to my customers, and it's not going to be.
00:35:49.396 --> 00:35:58.601
You know, here's a great bike and a great price, or we can repair something, but what's the experience you want to have?
00:35:58.601 --> 00:36:12.242
And if you focus on something that's a little bit more important, like the experience, like I had a guy once say to me you know you go to a hardware store and you want to buy a drill, but that's not really what you want.
00:36:12.242 --> 00:36:13.277
You want a hole.
00:36:13.277 --> 00:36:30.697
And when I look at what I'm doing, I think I am creating demand, I'm building relationships, I'm inspiring a young kid to maybe do this later in life, which might turn into a car free life.
00:36:30.697 --> 00:36:36.525
So I like to think about all the downstream impacts of what we do.
00:36:36.525 --> 00:36:39.134
Great.
00:36:41.280 --> 00:36:43.005
Well, Michael, thank you for joining us.
00:36:43.005 --> 00:36:46.646
We appreciate you taking the time to share your insights with our audience.
00:36:48.077 --> 00:36:49.159
I appreciate you guys having me.
00:36:49.159 --> 00:36:49.940
Thank you, it's flattering.
00:36:51.262 --> 00:36:51.905
Thanks, Michael.
00:36:52.284 --> 00:36:53.367
Okay, thanks so much.
00:36:53.367 --> 00:36:56.322
Thank you for joining the but who's Counting podcast.
00:36:56.322 --> 00:37:02.141
Make sure to never miss an episode by subscribing on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and let us know what you think by rating and reviewing.
00:37:02.141 --> 00:37:08.338
Keep up with more Andrew CPAs and advisors' insights by following us on social media through the handles in the show notes.
00:37:08.338 --> 00:37:09.559
We'll see you next time.
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