Latest / Spokes & Strategy: Marketing the Bicycle / EP 14: From Corporate to Community Building
Transcript
- Brandon Morphew AI: Welcome to Spokes and Strategy, Marketing the Bicycle with Brandon Morphew and Chris Melman of MISO Partners. Brandon Morphew: This is Spokes and Strategy, the business of bikes the joy of riding. Running an independent bike shop is a struggle. And said that straight up in pre-interview. And today we're unpacking what that actually looks like in 2026. What she's doing to keep people riding ⁓ and to keep the shop healthy. I'm Brandon Morphew, your host for Spokes and Strategy. I'm delighted to welcome Gillian Forsythe. It's great to have you here, Gillian. Gillian Forsyth: Thank Brandon Morphew: it's to have you And ⁓ I think a quick, ⁓ know, sort of jumping it, ⁓ you're in Chicago. ⁓ What's your default, your go-to ⁓ in Chicago? Where do you and where do you end? Gillian Forsyth: Mm. ⁓ Usually we have a trail called the North Branch Trail ⁓ which heads north ⁓ west up to a ⁓ place called Botanical Gardens in Highland Park and that's about a 50 mile round trip. ⁓ So it's just nice because there's trees and ⁓ you can see the different seasons of the trees. ⁓ So you can see things growing in the spring and ⁓ turning colors in the winter. So when you're living in the city like I do, it's only about a three or four mile ride through the streets to get to the start of it. So it's not that bad. Brandon Morphew: Nice. So it's the dead of winter now. So there's probably not too much riding, at least outdoor is happening. There's some troopers out there. And they're great. They help keep things moving. I'm sure there's some repairs going on. But if you think about those customers, ⁓ what's the type of customer that comes in that makes you think, yep, this is why I'm doing this. This is why I'm here. Gillian Forsyth: Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ Mostly ⁓ it's the customer who doesn't know anything about a bike or they come in and they admit that and it kind of reminds me of where I was when I was buying my first bike, whether it be for just recreational riding or triathlon or whatever. It's all the information out there. and all the different types of bikes and all the different components, even more so now than ever, it's hard to kind of find your way through that without somebody helping you. Brandon Morphew: I love that. And then is there anything that you do in the process to sort of help, you know, customers let their guard down, to let them know? I think one of the challenges that I've experienced personally, and I think a lot of shops are aware of, there's this ⁓ culture of, ⁓ you know, a little bit ⁓ geeking out on the tech, a little bit of like, maybe a little bit bro kind of culture sometimes, but definitely like, you know, like, high bar on expectations around what people know and different components and the lingo that happens inside the four walls of the shop, as I'm sure you know. Is there anything that you do to disarm the customer when they come? Anything that you've seen that works to help them get comfortable and be vulnerable about not knowing? Gillian Forsyth: Yeah, I mean, I just really have a conversation with a customer about ⁓ what kind of writing they visualize themselves doing. And I kind of help them explain kind of my history of, ⁓ you you want to start getting into it and then all of a sudden it's a sort of grows and you're all of sudden you find yourself doing 200 mile. bike races and things like that. you know, I try not to, you know, I just try to explain that, they're, you know, do you want to buy a bike that will kind of lead you to, you know, a certain place or just a bike for now? You know, there's just different types of bikes. Brandon Morphew: like that. I like that. Well, that's a good transition. So let's sort of rewind a little bit and I want to talk about your origin story. Gillian, you're the owner of BFF Bikes in Chicago. You spent your career as a corporate accountant. You've competed in endurance events, gravel, mountain bike, triathlon. And then 2020, you bought BFF Bikes after a career change. Take me through a little bit ⁓ back to 2020, what happened and what made you say, I'm buying a bike shop. A lot of people listening are probably gonna say, she's crazy. What happened? Tell us about it. Gillian Forsyth: Yeah. So I was, I was let go of my corporate position. ⁓ And, you know, I'd been at that company for 12 years or so, which isn't a lot, but, you know, just at the end of kind of towards the end of my, ⁓ my career type thing. And I, honestly never found joy in what I did. you know, I did it and I wouldn't say never, you know, there were people I worked with were, you know, mostly nice. But I just didn't, ⁓ it just didn't give me any purpose. And I just, it was very, I always call it soul sucking because you're, you're working with executives who are, you know, making four or $5 million a year and plus that and. It's just all the little things you do, just didn't seem to help anybody or help the world or make a better place for people. So I didn't know if I could go back to that, especially back to a different company and do that all over again. So I found out that ⁓ BFF was for sale through a friend just... found out that ⁓ BFF was for sale through a friend ⁓ I just... ⁓ kind of thought, here's my chance to do something positive. kind of thought, here's my chance to do something positive. ⁓ so I just kind of ⁓ jumped in, knowing, I didn't know anything, honestly, you know, I had finance background. Brandon Morphew: It's Gillian Forsyth: There was was a bike on the wall, I think it was, was, it was, you know, during COVID, so there wasn't a lot going on. Brandon Morphew: Yeah. Well, that, mean, it really is brave. And I think like, you know, often in those situations, there's a lot of feelings and emotions. What was the scariest thing ⁓ in that decision? Was it about money, credibility, operations, something else? Gillian Forsyth: ⁓ At the time I was renewing the lease and so I had to decide if I move the store and I did decide to move the store which I think ultimately was a good idea. ⁓ And me, the scariest part is, and still is, my lack of knowledge of ⁓ being a mechanic and fixing bikes was really kind of scary because I'd never really done anything that I just didn't know. Didn't know how to fix a derail. I mean, I always was the one that was, ⁓ can you just hear? Fix, please. That was scary. Brandon Morphew: And that's still scary. do you, how do you mitigate that? What are, mean, great people really help, I'm sure. What are some things you do to help minimize that? Gillian Forsyth: Yeah, mean, putting trust in my employees and knowing that they'll do the right thing. ⁓ I have a service manager who's been with me for almost 10 years. ⁓ we have a great working relationship, and I trust her. And I've taken courses and learned a few things. As I go, I've joined the profitability group in the MBDA. one of the biggest things I did. ⁓ And so I had a lot of people in the background to ask questions to. Brandon Morphew: Would you say ⁓ your corporate accounting brain helped with this ⁓ endeavor or is it something you picked up on right away? Like I'm going to be able to do things here that maybe are challenges for others or what did you not prepare for? What were you not prepared for? Gillian Forsyth: I think initially I sort of treated the books and everything, the records and everything very similarly to how I would have in this public company that I worked for and it was overkill. You know, you do your inventory at end of the year and you're, you're like 10,000, know, $15,000 or whatever it's, you know, my... my old brain would have had a heart attack. So you just have to kind of know that when you're working in operations like that and during the summer when it's just like go, go, go, go, go, it's just things are gonna happen. Brandon Morphew: I do I love that that your party your sort of ethos is serving new cyclists and triathletes and When you say they're you know serving new cyclists, you know, is there we talked about this a little bit upfront but is there like a profile who is it like is it is it a certain type of person or Is it more general like is it hard to be able to pick up on who they are and then? What are those customers typically nervous about when they walk in? Gillian Forsyth: No, it's pretty it's once you've had, know, I'll have an initial conversation and I I feel like for the most part people open up pretty quickly so It's the you know, haven't I haven't had a real bike since I was 12 or you know, are the things that you hear and you know that I just love hearing or else there's the people that ⁓ you know or they literally come in the store and they say I can't and you have to convince them that you can you know like just just get up on the sidewalk I'll hold you you know I've like I've taught like grown women just kind of like to do their first pedal and you know it's it's it's that stuff is really awesome Brandon Morphew: It sounds really awesome. What are a couple of things, ⁓ know, things that you do to help make ⁓ BFF feel welcoming instead of intimidating? Gillian Forsyth: Yeah. let's see. ⁓ I think it's like just kind of a, ⁓ a mandatory, you know, walking up and talking to the person, ⁓ like what brings you in today and, ⁓ you know, just like little questions like, you know, do you, do you live in a neighborhood? ⁓ you know, just. recognizing the fear of asking that question and trying to make them feel comfortable through the conversation. If you start talking to them about the bikes, then they'll open up a little bit. It is intimidating. You get it to come into a bike store and ask a question that you're afraid is too stupid or whatever. just maybe start talking about myself and how little I know. Brandon Morphew: I imagine that helps. I imagine that's disarming as well for you to come in with a little bit of humility ⁓ as well. So that's wonderful. Thinking about triathletes, and you know, it's interesting, we've done a little bit of research and there's definitely what I will call ⁓ early signs of a resurgence. You triathlon has had waves, right? And it's been ⁓ a sport that's had waves over the years. And I think, Gillian Forsyth: Totally. Brandon Morphew: I think these things are cyclical and I think we are starting to see the early days of this next triathlon wave, participations up at events. There's more events, they've been a down ⁓ for a long time. And so those are good signs. think people are still getting after it, whether it's mountain bikes, road bikes, commuting or triathlon. And so when you think about triathletes, what do they need most from a shop? that you think other shops really miss. Gillian Forsyth: Well, ⁓ mean, triathlon is just a whole separate bag of tricks, right? Like, mean, so many things. ⁓ And when we first started, the first couple of years, I had people coming in who were ⁓ doing their first triathlon. And so I had already been around the triathlon scene in Chicago and, you know, and knew coaches and training groups. so I felt like, and, but I wasn't like the triathlete who was winning my races. was kind of like completing them. And so, so I kept having people and then they were doing their first triathlon. So I would, you know, give them advice on their, on the bike or whatever. And sometimes it meant, you know, you know what, you just stick with the bike you have and then do your first one and see how it goes. ⁓ maybe not good sales approach, but you know, sometimes that's better. And ⁓ so I just decided in my head, like, you know, I have all these people who just don't really know anything about the community and don't know where to start. So I started doing these triathlon socials. So they were like once a month and it was just to bring ⁓ new triathletes together to talk with other Brandon Morphew: I think it's a great sales approach. Gillian Forsyth: triathletes who were in the same boat. ⁓ And if they exchanged numbers or got in contact with a training group or something like that, that's kind of where that all went. It wasn't necessarily to join a, we weren't a triathlon ⁓ team or anything like that. It was just get together and meet other people who are in the same position as you are. ⁓ So I've... seeing friendships forged from those. so that to me is ⁓ so gratifying. Like, I just love it. It's been the best part of my job, seeing those people who now they have a book club, now they're, you know, like, it's just great. Brandon Morphew: Yeah, it is one of the things I love about the bike. There's so many things I love about the bike, but one of the things that I love is how many people it has connected me to in my life. it is, you know, and I think there's people that I'm not gonna connect with through the bike, right? You know, like I'm a cyclist for 45 years more, probably now almost 50 years. And so that, For me, I'm not necessarily gonna connect as intimately with a beginner cyclist, right? So there's so much room for people to connect. There's so many places socially, sort of in competition and then through business, through work. So I love that. I'm grateful that you're doing that, because I think there's a lot of room for that. And you talked about the recommending... recommending someone not buy a bike. I think that's the best thing you can do for business frankly, because it builds trust. And I think, you know, who do we want to do business with? We want to do business with people that we trust, you know, that we know, and that we trust. And I think there's so much, ⁓ there's so much damage that can be done by selling someone a bike when they don't need it. And I think you really can, ⁓ you know, because they're in a vulnerable position, you know, they just, we talked about their, you know, unsure. Gillian Forsyth: Absolutely. Brandon Morphew: Yeah, so I think that's wonderful. ⁓ You mentioned, ⁓ you know, when we did a little ⁓ pre-interview ⁓ and you mentioned, you know, running an independent bike shop ⁓ can be a struggle. It's the middle of winter, so I imagine, you know, customers are a struggle. right now, like, what is the struggle is real, but what is the struggle? ⁓ You know, most days, where do you find the challenge? Gillian Forsyth: in it's, it's really just getting the business and getting people to come in and, ⁓ I just don't know, it's hard for me to read what's going on in that sphere, like in the bike area, but it's just, you know, I... I do a lot of things and you know, you, think sometimes you feel like you're just banging your head against the wall. Like you're, you're, you're, doing all the right things and you know, you're just, you know, you're still seeing days where your, your sales are a hundred dollars and you know, you have the, you know, you have the people that pay, you know, you have, you know, you have all that stuff that will not go away. Whether you sell $1 or a thousand dollars. you still have those expenses to pay and you try to keep a pad in the bank account for these months. But if you only forecasted that you would need it till the middle of February and you thought it'll be springtime again and more and more people want to get outside. But right now it's not happening because it's still, we've had old days and We really did have a bad winter, brutal winter. yeah, that's the stuff you can't predict. Like, you just don't know. like, we do a two-for-one tune-up ⁓ in February just to get people in while we're not busy. I'd rather have somebody do work and make half the amount of money than have no money. So. Brandon Morphew: Yeah. Have you had any success with that? you seen, does it bring people in? Gillian Forsyth: You know, in the past we've sold out. ⁓ This year ⁓ it's been steady, but I wouldn't say it's been, we haven't, not at capacity or anything like that. So ⁓ I'm not sure that could be because of the cold and people just aren't really thinking about it or not really sure. Brandon Morphew: ⁓ If you think about ⁓ owning the shop, and you've had five, going on six years now ⁓ of shop ownership, ⁓ what's the most surprising part of the ownership emotionally? Gillian Forsyth: ⁓ hoo. ⁓ I'm used to work, like that's not a surprise to me. I've been there. I guess, you know, as I was thinking about my kind of buying a bike shop, second career type thing, was maybe not prepared for the amount of work it was gonna be. ⁓ The pool of hiring the right person maybe to, ⁓ let's say I do want to have a shop manager, the pool of having the right person who will do that and act like an owner is hard. It's hard to read sometimes what motivates the employees because a lot of times the bike mechanics will have, this is kind of their way to make money and then they have their side things going on. You know, they're not career bike mechanics necessarily. They're just, you know, I'm out of band or I'm doing this or, know. I think having to deal with that is a little, been a little bit challenging. Brandon Morphew: And I imagine there's like tension in that too. ⁓ thinking about the sort of the different parts of the business, know, bikes versus service, ⁓ inventory risk, know, staffing, ⁓ seasonality, ⁓ you know, where do you feel ⁓ that tension the most? Gillian Forsyth: Um, definitely the winter's, you know, really challenging. It's just, cause you're just watching that bank account drop, drop and drop. I'm not in the, I'm not in the place of my career where I'm, I'm ready to like borrow money to invest in the store. Like I just, I just don't want to do that to myself cause I'm older. It's not like I have, you know, 30 years to to gain that back and work through that. just, so I'm really trying to manage my money effectively and it's so counterintuitive too, though, as you know, you need bikes to sell, but you know, what bikes do I buy? you know, I mean, and that's another risk too, is you know, buy the bikes and you know, three months later, ⁓ You see the manufacturers offering 30 % discount online. Brandon Morphew: Yeah, that's a problem. You're not alone in that one. ⁓ I think, especially right now with inventory has been, there's been such a surplus. It's been, I think a lot of folks have been challenged with that. Well, you talked about marketing and sort of like some consistency around new business. so ⁓ I know ⁓ you've got some social media challenges and ⁓ Gillian Forsyth: Yeah. Brandon Morphew: what's about marketing? Like, is time? Is it the like the consistency, the understanding algorithm? ⁓ feel like it's not connecting? What is it about and specifically social media that you find ⁓ hard? Gillian Forsyth: Yes. All that? ⁓ ⁓ I, going into this, I didn't know anything about, you know, anything like that. And I still don't think I know. ⁓ I had somebody who, one of the sales associates who really jumped in and took it over and did a really good job. And then she left. I had tried to hire somebody else like that. Just didn't work out. And then since then I've been taking it over. Yeah, the ideas, I'm not like, I'm not a young influencer or whatever you want to call it. I've seen, I tried to hire another person and I saw that she had some great ideas and she had the ideas and she could video it and edit it and do all that stuff. it's challenging for me, like it's time consuming for me. Yeah, it's all of that. I ⁓ don't know how the algorithms work. don't know. I think we're doing okay on social media ⁓ based on followers and things like that. But other than that, I don't know what else to do Brandon Morphew: ⁓ a post that worked that you think worked well and ⁓ do you think it worked well? Gillian Forsyth: Oh, there was, yeah, recently there was one that I did. I got a lot of attention. was in the initial stages of winter and I had recorded myself riding to work and the state of the bike lane, you know, it was covered in snow. I videotaped that and that got a lot of attention. It was good and bad. So it's interesting, you know, and that's another thing too is like, you know, you get that Brandon Morphew: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Gillian Forsyth: You get people posting from both sides of the fence, like people who hate bikers, who love bikers. And you have this thing going on and you're on your social media posts and you're just like, ⁓ my God, what have I done? Brandon Morphew: It is interesting to me that there's so much ⁓ passion, right? You know, it's such a polarizing thing because, you know, people in their cars and driving, ⁓ you know, get all ⁓ ornery about ⁓ cyclists and cyclists love what they do and want to get out there and enjoy all the freedom and, you know, and I think cars are dangerous, you know, that people don't realize. I'm always, I remind people that ⁓ every time you see a bike, that's one less car. So if they weren't on the bike, they would be traffic, you so there's a real benefit to having more bikes out there because it means less cars and you're not going to be sitting in traffic for as long. Gillian Forsyth: Yeah. Brandon Morphew: But yeah, Gillian Forsyth: I think that's key part for them to realize ⁓ that connection. Yeah. Brandon Morphew: It is. Yeah, think it's, you know, it's, I, a long time, my grandfather hated cyclists. I remember sitting in the car and ⁓ witnessing him buzzing them, like intentionally. Yeah, yeah, he did it. ⁓ he would be, you know, I think he didn't realize that that's someone's grandson or someone's granddaughter that's on that bicycle, you know? And so I think, ⁓ Gillian Forsyth: Yeah. Right. Yeah. Brandon Morphew: You know, we're all people and ⁓ yeah, it's a tough one. ⁓ P2, tell me about ⁓ P2. NBDA has this program. I know about it, like kind of tangentially, I know that people talk about it and stuff. What kind of impact has that had? Is it around confidence? Is it around connections, having a peer group, systems? What kind of impact has that had? What's worked for you there? Gillian Forsyth: The peer group factor is huge. These are people, there's probably, you know, they can be up 10 or 16 in one group and not meeting retailers. And I can, these are people that I can message any time of the day. like, you know, if I have an issue or even if, you know, I can't find a part or something, anything. When I was first learning about, when someone was telling me it was taking an hour to do this, I'd message them and say, should it take an hour to do this or should it not? Because I didn't know. And ⁓ then just holding you accountable to ⁓ your budget and to ⁓ your numbers and having them ready. ⁓ You have to be... ⁓ You know, have to be ready for our monthly meetings, ⁓ because otherwise, you know, you're not, you're not contributing to the group if, you know, if you're not doing that. And I, sometimes I feel like I've, I've gotten more out of the group than any of them, because I was the newbie and didn't know anything about the bike industry. So ⁓ it's, it's been a game changer for me. Like, you know, I've become friends with them and we meet in person twice, twice ⁓ a year. at one of the bike shops and we visit the bike shops and we audit their bike shop and critique them. ⁓ So I think that's really beneficial. And we all have our strengths. I have the accounting strength in that background. So they go to me for that. And so it's just ⁓ been great. ⁓ I would highly recommend, I mean, you don't have to be in it forever, but it'll teach you things about and about how to keep your margins up. They have all the ideas Brandon Morphew: that. there's shop owners, know, listening ⁓ and ⁓ quite possibly feeling alone. You know, what's one step that someone could take? You know, yes, join the P2 group, but what's one step that someone could take this month, to sort of like, reduce some of that isolation? Gillian Forsyth: Mm-hmm ⁓ they, the MBDA has something if you're a, a, a, a, which is, know, just a one time or 50 bucks or whatever for the year. ⁓ the, Monday mingles they have, ⁓ I, that's where I first joined the Monday mingles and, ⁓ it's a bunch of retailers getting together, talking about stuff and any topic. Like if you're, if you have on your on your brain that you're wondering about, like, should I do this? Should I not do it? Does it make sense? Join them on Monday mingle, throw it out there and see what others have to say because I 100 % guarantee there's going to be someone else that's in your same boat or has been in your boat and, and give you advice on that. Don't feel like, don't feel like you're alone. And we're all here to help each other, honestly. Brandon Morphew: of that. ⁓ Well, spring is not far away. ⁓ What's what's what are you most most? It's really not I know it feels like it is, but it's really not. What are you most excited about about this? This spring? You've got, ⁓ you know, you've got the tri socials that you've done. It sounds like you're engaged in NICA. ⁓ What's something coming up this ⁓ this this spring that you're excited about? Gillian Forsyth: Yeah. Yeah, know, NYTA is definitely something I in Illinois. So I'm looking forward to helping out there wherever I can. I think it's a great program and especially for, you know, these city dwellers, kids who they, you know, sometimes parents don't think it's safe for them to be out on a bus. They opportunity to ride. with a group of other kids. So I think that'll be good. This is my third year working with ⁓ the ⁓ AgroTorathon. ⁓ So I'm looking forward to ⁓ building that again ⁓ and seeing where that goes. Yeah. Brandon Morphew: Nice, Any rides that you're personally interested, something that you're doing this year that you've got on your calendar that you're looking forward to? Gillian Forsyth: Just...yeah. Yeah, ⁓ were thinking about doing a, a friend of mine and I were thinking about doing a ride in ⁓ Jacksonville, Wyoming, no, Jackson, Jackson, Wyoming. ⁓ camping, we'll circle, so we're just gonna camp and kind of go around. I've never been to Wyoming, so I think, I'm more into that now than ⁓ the big races. Brandon Morphew: Yeah. It's beautiful. Gillian Forsyth: Ha! Brandon Morphew: Nice. Yeah, that's wonderful. It's a beautiful place. It's at that. ⁓ It's just, yeah. Well, Gillian has been great. I really appreciate you. ⁓ You know, thanks for your time ⁓ where's the best place for people to follow BFF Bikes? Is it at BFF Bikes? Instagram? Okay, super. Gillian Forsyth: Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yeah, anybody wants to reach out to me, feel free. I'm to help wherever I can. Brandon Morphew: Okay, awesome. Thank you. Awesome. And you're in Chicago. ⁓ So if someone's new to cycling or tri, you've got your monthly triathlon socials, are those still happening? Gillian Forsyth: Yep, every month. Yep. It's on we have a cal or stuff on the on our website with our rides and. Brandon Morphew: Awesome, awesome, and we'll keep. on the web. And what's the website again? We'll link it in the notes, but what's the website again? Gillian Forsyth: It's BFFBikes.com. Brandon Morphew: Couldn't be easier. Well, this is Well, thanks, Gillian. Thank you so much for your time. ⁓ it's great to get a chance to know you better. I appreciate it. Gillian Forsyth: Pretty. You're welcome. Thank you. Brandon Morphew: Okay. Well, that's it for today and we'll see you next time. Thanks so much.