In the beginning there was, well, a plot of dirt with a box on it. That white container you see there is the first part of the shop.

The white container gets new paint!

The other half of the shop is getting picked up here. It will be placed beside the purple container...

...and gets new paint, too!

The foundation is put into place at the front of the shop.

Ah yes. A place to sit down and relax. Nice kit!

An awning gets installed to provide some relief from the booming sun.

Installing fixtures and storage inside the unit.

Storage inside the new shop.

Working on the shelves and clothing fixtures.

With donation bikes from our customers in Northern California, the shop is now open for business! Here, Tumi is fixing a flat for one of his new customers.

Tumi is very involved in the cycling community, both with recreational and competitive riders.In this photo, he is being awarded for completing UCI training.

The new hand-painted sign!

We’re proud to have another Sister Shop open and we feel lucky to have a dedicated guy like Tumi running the show.  With his involvement, we’re confident that more people in Lesotho will have a local shop they can count on for reliable and trustworthy service, making the bicycle a truly viable mode of transportation there.

(For a complete set of photos, visit our Flickr page.)

Rob Carle of Bicycle Recycle sent us a photo of one of the first customers at Jerry’s Bikes in Gaborone, Botswana. We think he experienced this exact phenomenon.

This old man was convinced that he needed a gold racing bike, despite our best efforts to convince him that a relaxed cruiser was the way to go. He liked the bike and wasn’t leaving without it.

As I said, my trip back to Bulawayo with the bikes was an epic adventure of sorts. I had initially hoped to leave Gabz early on Friday morning, but when I showed up to collect the truck and trailer we discovered that The Beast didn’t have a “blue book” (vehicle registration) and that it was still registered to its former owner who had long left Botswana.  At this point, we were really screwed! Then enter Jane; one of Rob’s finest in my humble opinion.. we quickly proceeded to misrepresent to the police and transport department (in the nicest and closest-to-legal way we could) that we had been sent at just that moment by the original owner to get a new blue book for her.  And I guess our combined awesomeness was proof enough that we weren’t a pair of crims up to something dodgy and they signed our affidavits etc. and sent us on our merry way; blue book in hand!!  Of course, it took most of the morning and a bit of the afternoon, but it was beter than the two alternatives (i.e. no trip or prison for presenting false info to the police).  The next step was easy; getting the vehicle cleared by the police for international travel. This took us about two hours and at promptly 15:30 we were ready to roll.

The driver (Washington) and I hooked the trailer to our trusty vehicle and proceeded to the filling station where we gave The Beast 76 litres of yummy diesel. This, as you would know, isn’t a problem if the car you are filling up has an actual diesel engine. The Beast, however, runs a 24 valve, 6 cyclinder petrol engine (clear proof that a tough manly exterior can be fueled by sweet fruity wines and ciders!!).  We only had to drive two hundred meters before the error of our ways was clearly apparent. The Beast began to lurch violently and belch out thick plumes of white smoke. I then rushed back to the filling station to ask for a spanner and extra containers so we could drain all the fuel and called Terry and Rob and Steve and Boz to let them know what had just happened. To my surprise, no one reacted as though something cataclysmic had happened. But  I was gutted. I had just wasted $100.00 of fuel , a few more dollars on the guys from the filling station who helped us out, nearly killed the car that Rob had freely lent to us, wasted Terry’s time and money on a mechanic (Terry came over with a mechanic to help us out and called a mechanic to make sure the car was fine) and wasted our own time all in one stroke. I spent much of the night mourning and obsessing over my careless mistake and mourning what it had cost.

Fortunately, the plug on all Toyotas is easy to find but unfortunately, if you’re not a regular hand, it takes a bit of time to unscrew and also involves a fuel shower. Needless to say, three hours were spent correcting this unfortunate misadventure and at around 20:00 I had washed all the diesel away and we were once again on our way towards Zimbabwe.

We drove steadily (read as very very slowly) because we knew we only needed to get to Francistown at 8 the next morning and we even stopped at 3am to catch some zzz’s. But at around five in the morning we had our first encounter with the police. We were stopped and promptly fined for driving a trailer without a registration disc. At the time, we must have been very very sleepy because we, too, looked for the disc but could not find it.  But it was in fact hidden under the tarp we’d put over the trailer. And so we paid a BWP100.00 fine and pressed on towards the border. We passed through the Francistown without incident even though we had to stop briefly to refuel and rest. Unfortunately, we left without having breakfast because we overestimated the efficiency of our customs officials. We arrived at the border and around 8:30 and whisked through the Botswana side. At the Zim side, however, we were immediately presented with three challenges.

1. They refused to clear the car for entry because I was a Zim resident and the car was Botswana registered.  This is despite the fact that we had stamped and certified letters giving me “authority and permission to use the vehicle anywhere in Botswana, Zimbabwe, south Africa and Namibia.”

2. An internet-based Zimra entity known as “The System” was working in sporadic stops and starts and so the clearing agent could not register our documentation. This is especially funny because the Facebook on all the computers at the border seemed to be working just fine

3. The staff at the border (clearing agents especially) aren’t the brightest of stars.

We immediately set upon solving the only problems we could. We asked Terry to send us new versions of the letters of authority for the vehicle and proceeded to print and sign them on his behalf. And we also encouraged our clearing agent and Zimra staff to hurry up with a combination of smiles, threats, and long moments of time to let them work on our stuff.  It may seem as though these are solutions which are easy to implement, but the fruits of our labour only materialized at 21:30 hours, when at last we got our paperwork and left the border for Zimbabwe. We were both totally famished at this stage, but mercifully we made it to Bulawayo a little after midnight (we were delayed at each of the three roadblocks by police hoping that the bikes had either been stolen or smuggled into the country).

Having learnt from our first batch of bikes, I thought that I’d spend Monday doing inventory and catching up on MK Cycles news. I also thought I’d send my documents ahead so all the unnecessary delays could take place BEFORE we got there.

And so we set off for Francistown  on Tuesday morning to pick up our second batch of bikes and were twice stopped and fined for faulty brake lights on the trailer.  We also stopped as we passed through the border to make sure our clearing agents received our paperwork. “I’ve been working on it,” the (silly) man said. When we got to F-town, there was driving rain and somehow one of the wipers on the car had packed up.  And also, our contact had taken a road trip somewhere and it would be at least an hour and a half before he got back.  So we passed away the time by having a healthy lunch and praying the rain away. As is the custom in Africa, our guy showed up two hours later and we spent a further 45 minutes packing the bikes.  We arrived at the Bots border at around 18:00 and spent thirty minutes sorting ourselves out there and then proceeded to the Zim side where disappointment galore lay in wait.  Not only had our clearing agent done very little, but he’d also gone home for the night and refused to come back and get our papers done. In a fit of rage, I promptly found another clearing agent who promised that he would work on our stuff quickly and charged us to be at the border at 08:00 the next morning.  I left him my papers and the trailer at the border.

The next morning, we were at the border looking for our shiny new clearing agent.  We found him lounging around in his office. He then told us how he hadn’t worked on our documents because he was afraid of our old clearing agent.  After I’d told him very roundly that if he said he’d do it and that I’d be unpleasant to both of them if he didn’t get himself into gear, he went to contend with our old foe; The System.  He managed to tell The System that MK Cycles was at the border but he didn’t tell it that we were income tax registered (this error cost us $65.00 and cost him $50.00).  At the sheer weight of his announcement, the system collapsed and the internet was rendered good for nothing other than Facebook.  It returned at around 16:00 and finally we were told we were “free to leave” at 17:30-ish, but Zimra had questions for us first.  For the next thirty minutes we were quizzed about why we bought second-hand bikes, why they cost so little, and finally, why the fonts on our last two invoices were different. They seemed satisfied and set to let us go, but them they had yet another question; “are you sure you have just 41 bikes in that trailer??????”

By this time, all I wanted to do was do a Genghis Khan and fill a mass-grave with clearing agents and Zimra guys.  But instead, Washington and I unpacked the trailer, counted the bikes and then reloaded them. This time we left the border at 22:30 and after the customary police stops, we were in bed at around 1 in the morning.

Fortunately, The Beast braved this ordeal nearly as well as we did and only needed minor repairs, coolant, oil and regular drinks of the correct fuel. We returned him in one piece on Thursday…..

So there it is, how I got all the bikes to the shop.  Between now and the next time, I hope something changes to make it quicker and less costly.

The first component of this gift was an entire 40′ shipping container full of parts, accessories, and riding gear that was loaded up at Specialized’s Salt Lake City warehouse. This was container #12 that we have shipped to Africa, and it was sent directly to our new distribution center Bicycle Recycle in Gaborone, Botswana. This sorely-needed equipment will be spread throughout our Sister Shops to help keep existing bikes running, help refurbish used donation bikes, and to help enable the local population to ride in greater safety and comfort.

Having been familiar with our Africa Sister Shop program for some time, Specialized determined the most effective bike to donate considering the conditions in these developing communities would be a light cargo bike. When we agreed with this premise they shocked us by committing to donate no less than 100 of these bikes, brand-spakin’-new! The cargo bikes joined our customers’ donation bikes to fill Container #13, which was loaded at our warehouse in San Rafael.

We could not be more thankful to have a partner in Specialized that not only produces the best bikes in the world for us to provide to our customers, but who also shares our belief in the power of the bicycle to make life better for those in need.

In addition, Milton has formed a cycling club to get some of the local youth involved in the sport, and he has spoken with the Zimbabwe Cycling Association about getting some of these guys hooked up with the national team.  If you remember from last year, we met two of his local racers, PK and Nkulumo.  Nkulumo has replaced PK as the local fast guy, and has gained so much notoriety that he has been lured away to another team.  Milton is certain he can get him back…

After getting the overall report, our first question was whether “Precious” ever got his bike.  (Precious was our favorite Bulawayo police officer – find out more by reading back to the Zimbabwe posts from last year.)  Milton confirmed that Precious had indeed finally saved up enough cash, and is currently the proud owner of a sweet new ride.  All the other cast of characters are doing well – Big Mike is still helping out Milton with the more difficult repairs, and Milton his returning the favor by supplying him with spare parts.  The Joiner did finally finish the shop and while we are still waiting for pictures, we hear it looks great.

MK Cycles has done so well, in fact, that Milton came to us with a proposal to add new locations.  He requested help in adding a store near Victoria Falls and one on the capital city of Harare.  We all discussed it in detail over several days and decided to focus first on Harare because the market there is much larger and much more in need.  It fits better with the mission of the Foundation to get bikes in the hands of Harare residents who really need them, rather than the tourists visiting Vic Falls.  We’ll keep you updated as those plans progress, but we think Milton is poised for much success in his future.

But we’re not the type of guys to resign ourselves to failure.  We sat down with Jerry Kokwane, one of Bones’ employees and discussed how we could set him up in a less risky, more manageable situation.  So out of the ashes of JonMol, Jerry’s Bikes rises!  As Rob moves his distribution warehouse to a larger location to serve the four Sister Shops, Jerry will set up shop in Rob’s existing space.  With Guta, JonMol’s top mechanic, at Jerry’s side, they have already started putting the pieces together to form this new business.  There are three key differences in how Jerry’s Bikes will be run, which we believe give it the best chance for success.  The first is low overhead.  The rent on Jerry’s space will be shared by Jerry’s Bikes and Bicycle Recycle, so a slow period of sales won’t have as drastic of an effect as before.  The second is that Jerry’s Bikes will start out using our new distribution model, so resupply is much more manageable, predictable and affordable.  And the third is the proximity to Bicycle Recycle.  We can only provide so much training and advice from 12,000 miles away.  With Jerry’s Bikes and Bicycle Recycle so close to each other, small issues can be sorted out before they become large issues, and communication back to us in California will be much improved.

While we are saddened by the closure of JonMol, the experience has taught us valuable lessons about doing this work in Africa, and how to prevent a situation like this from developing again.  At the end of the day, these Sister Shop micro-businesses are businesses like any other – and sometimes, businesses fail.  It’s very important, especially in the context of philanthropy work, to be able to publicly acknowledge the failure of a project, and pull the plug.  The JonMol project was a success, but failed in its quest to achieve the holy grail of self-sustainability.  We feel that the new setup with Jerry’s Bikes provides a much better chance of reaching that goal, and we couldn’t be more excited about Jerry’s opportunity.  No matter what happens, we remain committed to the cause of creating a sustainable supply of bikes to these communities, and this turn of events only strengthens our resolve and improves our chances for success.

Bicycle Recycle will receive our containers of donated bikes and warehouse them in Gaborone.  They will serve as the distributor for our Sister Shops and “sell” them bikes.  The price the shops will pay to Bicycle Recycle covers the cost of shipping the bikes from California to Gaborone, plus the import duties, which comes to about $40 per adult bike.  The markets where we have shops can typically afford $50 – $150, so this pricing model works well. Bicycle Recycle will also assist the Sister Shops in getting new bikes and parts from ProBike. The problems of transport and payments are solved by the involvement of Bicycle Recycle – they front the money to ProBike and they transport on their own trucks.  These new bikes will supply a growing “middle class” that can afford $200 – $500 for a bike – a market that is crucial for the success of the Sister Shops. By combining the needs of all the shops, Bicycle

Recycle can get ProBike to cooperate and supply their Gaborone warehouse.  These bikes and parts are then passed through to the Sister Shops with no additional mark up. You might be asking what’s in this for them, and why they would go to such trouble and expense for us.  For one, they just truly believe in the Sister Shop project and they want to help it succeed. But also, they’re now the BikeSmart distributor for South Africa.  They feel that our line of accessories could be very successful there, so they will be selling it to shops across the country.  They already have placed it in two high-end shops in Joburg and Cape Town, and so far the shops are very happy with it.  We are also working with a couple of our vendors in the US who don’t have any distribution in S. Africa.  Through our relationship with Wilier, Bicycle Recycle is also now the exclusive S. African distributor for one of the best bike brands in the world.  We will continue to help Bicycle Recycle build out a portfolio of brands that will be among the best in the country, and in exchange we achieve our goal of creating a sustainable supply chain of bicycles to a part of the world that could really benefit from it.  Pretty cool, huh?

their initial container load, they have found it very difficult to get resupplied.  We have been creative in attempting to resupply them ourselves, but given the lead time and the fact that we can only send a 40’ container, it’s just not a reasonable or manageable solution. We’ve worked with BEN Namibia to get some bikes to MakVeto, we’ve sent three total containers to JonMol in Botwsana, and now MK Cycles in Zimbabwe has sold through its initial container.  While there is a distributor in S. Africa called ProBike that can supply these shops with parts and bikes, they don’t really want to deal with these countries, especially for small resupply orders, and the logistics of transporting and paying for the orders are daunting.  This is a huge problem and a threat to the future sustainability of our Sister Shops.  Remember, our ultimate goal is for these shops to be profitable and grow without any outside financial help or further philanthropy required.

So what do we do about this resupply issue?  We originally thought the supply chain from S. Africa would be able to support our shops, but that’s not the case. That’s where the Carle brothers enter the picture.  Rob and Andrew Carle own a freight company, GMR Freights, based in Johannesburg and Gaborone (capital of Botswana) and they transport goods all over southern Africa.  And they just happen to be obsessed with cycling! Rob is based out of their Gaborone office and that’s where our relationship started.  He heard there was a new shop in town and went to check out JonMol.  He met Bones and Jerry and very soon became their best customer. As their relationship grew, Rob provided a lot of assistance to JonMol and was very interested in helping the shop be successful.  We met Rob when he helped us deal with a container destined for Gaborone that was literally sliced open by a forklift operator en route to JonMol.  Rob’s expertise in dealing with this process was invaluable.  If it weren’t for him, that container would still be sitting at the port in South Africa with its guts spilling out…

At the same time that all of this was happening, Rob and Andrew were growing increasingly frustrated with the supply of high end bikes and parts in South Africa and Botswana.  So much so that they began exploring options for importing and distributing themselves.  There are two major obstacles in the distribution business – one is the access to product and the other is the logistics of moving those products to where they need to be.  As a successful freight company, the movement of product is not an issue and as for access to product, that’s where Mike’s Bikes comes in.

We have access to almost everything the bike industry produces.  And since we already have containers going from California to southern Africa, and since we need help supplying our Sister Shops, there are some obvious synergies.  So several months ago, we tried an experiment. Rob set aside some warehouse space in Gaborone and we sent him a container of bikes and some basic spare parts needed by the Sister Shops.  Also in the container was a decent amount of our BikeSmart line of products.  Rob agreed to warehouse the donated bikes and parts and supply our Sister Shops, in exchange for us allowing him and Andrew to begin selling BikeSmart into higher end shops in South Africa.  He affectionately called it the “Robin Hood” model.  If they can sell enough quality products to shops in South Africa, they can cover their costs on supplying our Sister Shops.  Rob even took one of his old Land Cruisers, which we’ve named “the Beast”, and repurposed it as the Mike’s Bikes Sister Shop Distribution Vehicle!  With the trailer, it can deliver 40 bikes to almost anywhere in southern Africa.  So far it has delivered two loads of bike and parts to MK Cycles in Zimbabwe, and two loads to MakVeto in Namibia.  And with JonMol just around the corner, supplying them is a snap.  The experiment worked and Bicycle Recycle was born!

So for the Lesotho shop, we sat down with Tumi and created an opening budget, which included a certain amount of bikes from Bicycle Recycle. This time, we’ll give Tumi the money to set up his store and to buy his opening inventory.  This has two main benefits, the first being he can order an appropriate amount of bikes based on his space, and it gets him in the habit from Day 1 of paying a cost for the bikes.  The idea that the business needs to conserve enough of its sales revenue to purchase more inventory is a concept that some of our guys have struggled with. We hope our new method will make that idea easier to conceptualize and follow.

It’s important to note that our friends at Bicycle Recycle are not making any money off of this model and, in fact, they have donated a considerable amount of their own time and money to set up a specific delivery network to all of our shops. The money they receive for the bikes helps cover the cost of shipping the container, unloading and storing the bikes, and delivering them to the shops. They believe in the project as much as we do and are committed to helping our guys succeed.  Again, more info about our relationship with them to come…

As for Tumi’s actual store, we decided that two 20’ containers in an L shaped configuration would work best.  On the fenced-in property, there is a large bushy tree that will provide great shade for the shop.  The tree will be right at the corner of the “L” and Tumi will also install a triangular canopy between the two containers for additional shade.  He can source the containers locally and that is included in our budget.  Another change from Sister Shop 1.0 to 2.0 is the idea of an Opening Budget.  In the past, we arrive with a bunch of cash to buy materials, hire workers (remember the Joiner from last year, we’re still not sure if he ever finished…), etc.  Our Sister Shop owners often had no idea how much was spent getting their store open and never had to deal with working within a budget.  Tumi will be given his budget and it’s up to him to find the best deals, weigh all his options, and make his own purchase decisions, providing valuable experience with deciding how to best spend each dollar (or Rand or Maluti).  We also included in the budget funds for modifying the container with a door, window, and all the interior furnishings required for a functioning bike store.  The plan is for Tumi to have his shop completed before we go back next year to complete his training and get him fully up and running.  We are confident this will happen on time based on the results of his first task.  Before we left him, he had a list of items to complete before we’d give him any money – register his business with the government, receive clearance from the local Chief, open his bank account, etc.  By the time we arrived in Joburg, we received this email from him:

Sent: Wednesday, November 2, 2011 2:07 PM

Subject: given fast service because i’m the star of the country

Hi Ken and Matt?

you can’t believe that i have opened an account and registered the business so they ask me to collect the license next week, at least i reduced my work before the next race.

And to think we had our fingers crossed that he would get this much done within the first month…

The rest of Tumi’s budget includes a basic laptop and 3G stick, a small office area, a starting marketing budget, work bench, proper tools, electricity to the container, installing lights and outlets, bike storage racks, shelving, an opening order of bikes, parts, and accessories, and a big sign to advertise on his busy road.  We plan to visit Tumi at some point next year to finish up his training, work with him in the shop, and look for areas where he can improve and grow.  In the meantime, we’ll be in constant contact with him as the shop is completed, the containers are placed, etc.  One requirement we have of all Sister Shops is regular communication and reporting on the health of the business.  These guys have no business or accounting experience, so this is an area where we leverage our experience to help guide them to success.  With our help, Tumi will develop his monthly operating budget, assign himself a salary, and start to make decisions on how many staff to hire, where to advertise, etc.

We’re really excited about this new model, and we’re confident that it will give Tumi a much better chance at success and provide a blueprint for future Sister Shops.

We spent two and a half days touring the city by bike and based on the reaction of people as we rode past, Tumi should do quite well.  People were very curious and excited to see our peloton cruise by.  Often rolling through with a pack of 10-15 people, we were quite a sight.  Every school we passed produced cheers of “bicycle, bicycle” as the kids ran to side of the road to watch.  Often the teacher would recognize Tumi from the work he’s done with the local kids and give us a big smile and wave.  When we were in more crowded parts of the city, Tumi seemed to know everyone and would tell them “these are the guys I was telling you about, I’ll have bikes to sell soon!”  Tumi’s success with racing over the years has made him a bit of a local celebrity.  He has a couple newspaper articles about him on the wall of his small workshop.  We found out towards the end of our trip that he represented Lesotho in the Commonwealth Games for cycling! So with the amount of interest in bikes for transportation and recreation, combined with a city perfectly suited for getting around by bike, we feel the sky’s the limit for Tumi.

In order to make our Sister Shops sustainable, they have to be able to buy bikes and sell them with enough markup to stay in business and grow.  That means their customers have to be able to afford to spend a certain amount on a bike.  After the initial inventory donation, we require the shops to cover the cost of shipping the donated bikes from California as a step toward true sustainability.  The total shipping cost and import duties for the container, divided by the number of bikes inside, usually comes to around $40 each (why it’s so important for us to pack as many as possible into the container).  So with an assigned cost of $40, Tumi will need to sell his bikes for $50 to $100, depending on the condition, quality, and features.  After a bit of market research, we determined this would be possible.  As we’ve seen in other markets where we have Sister Shops, there is availability of what are derisively referred to as “China bikes”.  These are usually relatively expensive and always of extremely poor quality.  And they are sold in what’s referred to here as “China shops” that also sell a myriad of other non-bike things.  There is zero support from a service or spare parts standpoint, which is a necessity for bikes this junky, so most people just choose to walk.  Maseru is no different, there is one of these stores in town and based on the condition of the 6 or so bikes lined up outside, we guessed they had been sitting there for quite a while.  The plastic front wheel of one kids bike appeared to have been stepped on by a passer-by and it was broken completely into two pieces, but still out available for sale!  These bikes were priced at $80 – $120, prices that a good chunk of the population could afford, but would consider a waste, knowing that these bikes won’t work and won’t last.  The local people are hungry for real bikes, are able to afford Tumi’s bikes, and are just waiting for them to actually appear here.

In order to complete our picture of Tumi’s chance of success, we had to see where he planned on putting his shop.  Maseru is a much less developed city than Gaborone or Bulawayo.  There is retail space to rent but there is also a solid “roadside” economy where people sell wares by the side of the road either in a little stand or on foot.  As we know all know too well back home, spending too much money on rent means certain failure.  So Tumi has decided to do a containerized store on the property of his godfather, Mr. Sello.  Mr. Sello owns a security company just outside of downtown, but directly on the main road into town.  His office is a small building set back from the road a bit and he has offered to let Tumi put his container in his “front yard”, rent free!  This is huge.  And while a containerized shop is a step down from a proper retail space, not having to cover a large monthly rent expense increases Tumi’s chance of success dramatically.  If things go well, he can always move into a more typical retail space.  Add in the fact that Tumi’s bikes will be safely stored on the property of a security company, and you can see why we feel this is a perfect place to start.

So with a captive market starved of proper supply, a customer base that afford to pay a reasonable amount for a good bike, and a good enough location with no rent, we feel the situation is ripe for Tumi’s success.  Couple this with Tumi’s boundless energy, passion for bikes and his “celebrity”, it was time to set a plan to get him open!