Who is the Spokesman??

Who is the Spokesman. ?? Well I have worked in the Motor Industry. I have worked in Service , sales, Leasing and in retail and Distribution. We all know that the Irish car business is going through a traumatic time at the moment. I have to say that that my  first passion is not cycling. It is again car related - it is motorsport. I have gone to many grand prix and witnessed many great rallies, but my dream came true when I competed myself.The highlight was the Killarney Historic Stages in a mostly self built 1967 Mini Cooper 

The Spokesman on the Killarney Historic stages Rally with my 1967 Mini Cooper Replica -check out You tube video - check out this link:                                                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8efPEGK7hd8  

Cycling was my second interest. I never raced but have done the Maracycle and I returned recently when I completed the Wicklow 200, the Trip to Tipp, Ring of Kerry, Sean Kelly cycle and a few others.

The Spokesman with Sean Kelly at the top of Slieve Mann on the 2009 Wicklow 200

The Spokesman at the Trip to Tipp 200k 2007.
Note Pink Maracycle top !!



The Spokesman with our tandem, and child trailer.
Yes that is 5 people on a bike !!!!



My family all cycle and we have a tandem that we use on occasion. We took the tandem to Belgium in the days when Ryanair did not charge for bicycles - that was a long time ago!!

So that is basically some of my background. I have a good mechanical background and my intention is to provide a high level of service.

Next Blog should include a video of my electric bike.

My Mobile Bike Workshop on the back of a bike

Hi all , I have had a busy week. This week was the debut of mobile bike workshop. It is photographed at European Mobility week at DLR County Hall . I cycled into Dublin on Wednesday to give the mobile workshop it's debut. The roads were very rutted and damaged and I hadn't tied the pump down in the box, so when I went over a bump it was fairly noisy. nevertheless I got great attention from travelling motorists and cyclists. One cyclist emailed and said :

" I saw you tonight on my bike in Blackrock and wondered what you were all about. Went to the website and was delighted to see you innovative idea. Best of luck with business"

Another customer who I collected bikes from thought that the idea was great. The next thing that I need to do is to get some fans on Facebook.

Has any one got advice about where to start???

My first day at Dunlaoghaire Market August 29th 2010

When I had the concept of a mobile bike sales and workshop business, my first idea was to start at Dunlaoghaire market. Many people were sceptical about starting in a farmers market. However after the first day last Sunday i must say it was successful. We sold accessories, met plenty of prospective customers, learned a lot of information about certain companies andwhere they are at with the bike to work scheme and finally arranged to have a number of bikes serviced. I am already looking forward to next week!

the Wright Brothers who invented the aeroplane, were ‘only’ bicycle mechanics

Here is an excellent article from Con Houlihan in todays Ir ish Independent. He talks about himself being "the spokesman" and in particular i love the bits where he talk about the sprockets and the springs. The full article can be seen at :

 http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/con-houlihan/how-i-became-a-spokesman-for-the-humble-bike-1375416.html

The final sentance is brilliant: the Wright Brothers who invented the aeroplane, were ‘only’ bicycle mechanics

http://www.thespokesman.ie/

Up and running

The business is up and running. Things are very busy I am repairing bikes, working on the website and getting ready for my first foray into the retail bicycle business. On Suday 29th I will be in Dunlaoghaire market selling bikes, repairing bikes and selling accessories. Look forward to meeting some of you and I will let you know how I get on.

The Spokesman  

www.thespokesman.ie

It was important that the idea I had was interesting for me. Otherwise I would not be motivated and passionate about my prospective new venture. I chose cycling because it interests me.


This idea developed out of an original idea to open a bike shop. However I learnt quickly that having a “Me Too” operation, particularly as start up was not a good idea. I then grabbed the bull by the horns and visited the London Cycle Show in October. I definitely was going to look into the opportunity to develop a business around the bike/cycling world.

The real idea evolved at a course I did in UCD in 2009. Each element brought clarity in terms of what might work and it was in November that the idea crystallised of a Mobile bike workshop. In fact I didn’t realise that there were existing mobile bike workshops in other countries. It turns out that this business idea exists in UK, Holland and Germany. I was delighted to learn about this. It was not a “stone in the shoe” idea and there were opportunities to explore the existing business models to ensure an effective starting point for mine.

As well as carrying out planned market research, I have been asking people what they thought of the idea and exploring all avenues of feedback. The reaction has been very positive, particularly from two potential customer sources; families with children who cycle and cyclists who work in companies. They are interested in the convenience of the service.

My objective is to take advantage of the increase in the popularity in cycling. Many new start-up bicycle shops have commenced trading in Dublin in 2010. I believe that my business proposition has three important advantages over bricks and mortar businesses:

• It is a low cost start up.

• As mentioned above it is service based.

• It is unique in Ireland.

The Spokesman.ie is unique because it is a web based mobile bike workshop.
The project is a viable one, it is scalable and it is green!!