Advice Line with Dave Weiner of Priority Bicycles

0:04 Hello and welcome to the advice line on how I built this lab. I'm Guy Roz. This is the place where we help try to solve your business challenges and each week I'm joined by a legendary founder, a former guest on the show, who will help me try to help you. And so if you are building something and you need advice. Go ahead and give us a call, and you might just be the next guest on the show. Our number is 1-800-433-1298. Send us a one minute message with your name, a bit about your business, and the issues or questions that you'd like help with.

0:39 Or you can send us a voice memo at hib at id.wondery.com. And make sure to tell us how to reach you. Also, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter. It's filled with insights and ideas from the world's greatest entrepreneurs. You can sign up for free at gyros.com or on Substack, and we'll put All this info in the podcast description. Alright, let's go. Joining me this week is Dave Weenerk, founder and CEO of Priority Bicycles. Dave, it's great to have you back on the show. It's an honor to be speaking with you guy.

1:10 Um you were first on a show back in uh twenty twenty three. Uh and of course we're gonna put a link to that in the in the show notes, so check it out. It's an awesome story. It's about how uh Dave left uh Really stressful job a at a tech startup. to start of all things a bicycle company, but not not just any bike. This is a

1:29 A bike that requires almost no maintenance, uh, because it doesn't have a metal chain. It has a A bell tribe. These these are made out of um rubber and carbon fiber. It doesn't need any oil. En of course the idia was to make those bikes. More affordable. You crowdfunded it.

1:45 Many years of struggle before you were able to turn priority into a really big Bike brand. I see them. all over the place here in the Bay Area. I see'em at hotels all over the country. It's Such a cool story and I loved

1:59 Telling it on the show is so fun. It's been great to be part of the show, guy. If you remember I was originally on the uh How you built that. Right. Yes, how how you built that is something we used to do back in the day. We'd have like a two minute segment at the end where a caller would call in and talk about the thing they're building. And yeah, you were You were on it like years ago, like in like twenty seventeen or something, twenty sixteen.

2:22 Yeah, that w that was great. And we've had so much fun building this business. And it's great that you're seeing the bikes on the road every day when I'm out riding, I see people riding our bikes, and it it really puts a smile to my face knowing that our our Products are helping. Make people's lives hopefully a little bit better. I'm Dave. When you were on the show you were still recovering from

2:44 Uh uh pretty bad. accident that you had a lot of the same. And I mean you ended up in the ICU and it it was a pretty bad b bike accident. I know when we spoke already by that point you were well on your way to full full recovery. How how have you been doing?'Cause it It was pretty bad. It was a pretty bad accident.

3:01 Yeah, I'm I'm one of the lucky ones, guy. I uh I uh you could say I made a full recovery. There's uh still some lingering aspects and uh And I'm scared to do things that I didn't used to be. And and that's probably not a not a bad thing in life. No, not at all. Uh but I'm I'm able to take my kids to school every day. I'm able to travel. I'm able to go to work every day. And I I just feel like I'm really, really fortunate how uh how this has played out. And uh That I'm here today talking to you and and still leading uh a growing company. Yeah, it's awesome. And I mean I I mean just as a fifty year old, I am so

3:40 Careful. when I cycle. I I I just did a a trip in in Italy with my kids and I was mountain biking with one of my kids. Um and He'll just go down these single track. You know mountain bike roads just like at top speed, and I'm like

3:55 riding the brakes. I'm like so cautious. I do not I don't even want to like Fall gently. Anymore. You know what I mean?

4:03 I I do know what you mean. I ride a lot slower than I used to. I also wear a full face helmet no matter Where I r with a chin. Oh, nice. Yeah. It's not a great look. Uh I look fast. I look like I'm I'm riding a motorcycle. Oh that's a good idea. And I'm certainly not, but uh you know our If we don't have our health. What do we have?

4:26 You know, I like that idea. I think I'm gonna do that. You know, one of the things that I I know from just talking to peop folks in the industry is that there has been a slowdown in in bikes overall. Um, tell me a little bit about kind of the the landscap for for for bike sales in the US, not just e bikes, but but overall bike bike sales.

4:47 Cycling is is actually up a little in the US. More people are cycling. More people are riding bikes, and that's a wonderful thing. However. Less people are buying bicycles. And I think consumer behavior and how people spend money is changing. And and with that, a lot of people are are fortunately riding the bikes that they have, which is which is wonderful. But it it is hurting bicycle sales. And and you put that together with the fact that

5:13 A lot of bicycle companies. Not priority. Still have too much inventory from the Covid days. Yeah. Uh Then you combine that with Tariffs and the cost of goods going up. And it's it's become a lot harder To sell bikes than it used to be.

5:30 Yeah, it's really, really interesting. Uh w you know this'cause I ride uh I've got regular bikes and also e bikes and I love e bikes. I mean it's a utility but also use them for exercise. Like I I was when I was mountain biking on this trip with my kids Overseas like We went up.

5:47 You know, we we climbed incredible elevation. You know, we Just I could not have done that on a regular bike. Um Do you think that most bikes will be e bikes in twenty years from now? Or do you think that

6:00 it's still gonna be, you know I don't know. Maybe a a s a smaller percentage of overall bikes. Bike sales. E bikes are quickly becoming fifty percent of the sales in the bicycle industry. And

6:15 I think that's gonna continue to grow. When you go door to door to your neighbor's guy, everybody has a bike, but not everybody has an e-bike. And the people that do swear by them. Uh certainly my family, we ride much further and we use bikes of cars because we have e bikes and we can get where we're going without breaking a sweat. And we get there fast and we get there by taking in the world around us. I I think that e bikes are Yeah.

6:46 Because Th they're better for for the person riding it than than certainly driving a car and and In comparison to a regular bike, you can just go further, you

6:58 can use more energy if you want to, you could use less. At the same time, e bikes are evolving. The technology is growing so fast that the people that bought an e bike five years ago love it. But then they get on a new e bike and they're like, Wow. Yeah. The innovation is tremendous. And I think e biker are gonna be a a big part of the sales in the bicycle industry. There it's unbelievable. Dave, we are and I hear this all over the country when I speak and I talk to

7:27 both small and medium sized and even even larger business owners um About Mm. That one.

7:34 perceptions of economic headwinds, whether they're real or not. Obviously there are challenges, there's tariffs, there's uncertainty about how whether people are gonna be spending money and so on. in this environment, right, how do you think about positioning your business. You mentioned that you're not keeping uh too much stock, too much inventory, which is critical, right, especially in retail business. Uh

7:58 Балсо you've gotta make other choices and decisions. So what are some things that priority is doing Not just to Yeah, to

8:07 business in the for the future, but also to prepare for potential headwinds. We've been trying to fill white space. You know, our our sales have been really steady, but that's Because we continue to innovate and put out new products, we're constantly looking at the light white space in the bicycle industry and say, where can we bring a low maintenance bicycle that'll be a best in class value? That consumers will look at and say if I need a bike, that one is special.

8:35 And I want to buy that one. So we continue to innovate. We have several new models already this year, and and several of our best yet to come this year. Uh Because innovation is the only way that we can gain market share in A market that is declining right now. Yeah.

8:55 Um all right, Dave. I'm sure we've got A a lot uh hopefully we'll have some advice to to give to our our callers. Why don't we take our our first caller um and uh see what we can do. You ready? I look forward to it. All right, welcome caller. Please tell us your name, where you're calling from, uh and just one line about your business, please.

9:14 Sure, hello Guy and hello, Dave. My name is Dave Lanning. I'm calling from Narragansett, Rhode Island. And I own Dave's coffee. We're a small craft coffee roaster. And also we make an amazing, delicious, versatile product called coffee milk syrup. That's really an incredible thing. Alright, welcome to the show, Dave. I know what coffee syrup is because man, this is now like thirty years ago when I plus years ago when I started college.

9:44 There was a guy down my hall from Rhode Island. And I still remember he would say Smack your lips to eclipse, is that right? Yes, yeah.

9:56 Like Chocolate syrup. But it was this bottle of Coffee sh I'd never seen it. And and and this is a Rhode Island thing. People Poor

10:04 This coffee syrup into milk. Like it's like the state drink, right? It is. It's the official state drink of Rhode Island. Wow. And it's uh it's actually delicious. I've had it before, but it's so uh it's so weird that it has not really kind of penetrated be maybe like bits of Connecticut, bits of like, you know, Fall River, Massachusetts, but it hasn't really gone beyond there, right?

10:25 That's right. It's uh it's really stayed local. And it's an incredibly has an incredibly loyal following. Like people are are Love it. They

10:37 It's kind of like a rite of passage in Rhode Island. Yeah. Okay. So you have uh t you say two coffee shops in Rhode Island? Two cafes, yes. And they're and you do you've got make espresso drinks, it's a r a normal coffee shop that you go to, right? Right. But you're also making And selling coffee syrup that you have made that I guess I'm assuming is a sort of a more premium version of what of the mass sort of the mass produced one. Right. I I was born in Rhode Island and grew up here on my life. And I wanted to serve coffee milk, but I didn't like what was currently available because it was filled with high fructose corn syrup and artificial colors and preservatives.

11:16 So I formulated our own version. And it's also different because we are a coffee roster. So I started with a really good coffee. And it's just our cold brewed coffee and cane sugar. Two ingredients. Wow. So you and so it's this concentrate it's like uh like um It's like maple syrup, but it's but it's coffee. It's basically concentrated coffee and sugar.

11:38 Exactly. Um okay. Awesome. Um, tell me a little bit about I mean, how did you come to this idea of wanting to to m make this and try and and you know have a go at at taking on the the the big guys. Yeah. So the the primary reason was that nobody was making a coffee syrup From a roaster's perspective.

12:01 So I wanted to source the coffee. I I got an an amazing Brazilian coffee that we roast at at a special level, has a nice nuttiness to it, a nice sweetness, lends itself to the syrup. So I always I say that we're First and foremost coffee roasters. But we we make this amazing delicious coffee milk syrup. Um, it's awesome. I'm on your website now and I'm looking at it. I've got a lot of thoughts. But before we get there, tell me what what your pain point is. What's your question for us?

12:29 My challenge is I wanna bring this this product to a national market. Yeah. But just like you had mentioned, it's often misunderstood. It's confused with either a coffee concentrate or like a vanilla or hazelnut kind of syrup.

12:46 And there are so many different uses for it beyond coffee milk. That are really Culinary uses that that I feel like it Has a a long way to go.

12:58 But how do I get this out there without Confusing people or How do you educate people about coffee strip. All right, Dave Wiener, w a lot to think about here, especially'cause you had to kind of educate people about belt drive bicycles. And and still do sometimes. There's still a bias sometimes people like, Oh no, you need a chain. And you've had to spend years educating people that like Actually this is a lot easier. You don't need oil.

13:23 It's maintenance free. But we can get into that. Um, do you Dave Please say hello to David and and do you have any questions for him? Uh David, it's a pleasure to meet you. Uh I'm looking at your website and you know, I'm so close to Rhode Island, I'm in New York City. And yet I'm not familiar with coffee milk. So there is an opportunity here. I've never heard of Such a thing before and it sounds delicious. I can't wait to try it.

13:49 My first question and and I know y you're talking about the culinary side, I of course I'm thinking about the coffee side because I'm the the daily coffee drinker. Uh Lactose intolerant person. How's coffee milk compared to coffee for gut health?

14:05 Uh did it have less acidity? It does have less acidity because the way we make it is with a cold brew. So it doesn't extract a lot of the acidity that hot brewing does. And then also when we simmer it down with the cane sugar It almost takes on a a caramely coffee flavor. Well, that sounds delicious.

14:25 And I do think that uh, you know, I'm not seeing that on the website and I'm wondering if if there's other benefits to coffee milk. Besides that? As far as benefits, I think it's just a cleaner healthier version. I mean as healthy as coffee syrup can be. But It's just it's a fun product and we've had some some organic um

14:47 mentions like Andrew Zimmer. Nice. The celebrity chef. He called it the workhorse of the pantry. Because you he can put it on top of ice cream, he can mix it in with his uh oatmeal, you can put it in smoothies, like there are so many different uses for it. And and that's kind of where I get hung up. Like

15:07 Do I focus in on a certain area? David, let me let me ask you a question. How right now, uh where are they sold besides the website? Is it sold anywhere else? Yeah, so we have about Just under a hundred and thirty wholesale accounts and Primarily upscale gourmet shops because of the price point. Um That are mainly Rhode Island, a little bit into Connecticut, a little bit into Massachusetts.

15:33 But um but that's primarily our market. Got it. And um and so the challenge, of course, is trying to educate people outside of that area, that this is what it is and and why it's interesting. The first thing that comes to mind,'cause it just so happens, that last night I was in San Francisco for dinner with my wife And We were going to see a concert and I fall asleep really early, like uh at like nine thirty. Like I'm an early I just get tired and I was like I gotta stay awake'cause you know, I'm gonna see this concert. And I I wanted a drink and I ordered an espresso martini.

16:08 to keep me awake with the espresso. And I'm thinking Like to me this is a classic But like one of the classic ways to get this into people's you know, to get to try it is to get it in behind bars for bartenders to use it. Yeah, a hundred percent. We we actually work with a couple of restaurants in the area.

16:27 And they do make amazing Um espresso martinis and also kind of a version of of a white Russian. Cause it lends itself to that flavor as well. Yeah, I mean have you tried to I mean'cause it sounds like you're trying to find out how d how do we get this to consumers, but I it I I wonder whether there's a way to work with bartenders or bars in in and sort of Start that way.

16:54 Yeah. That's a that's a great idea. Oh I was gonna say. Dave, I listened to your episode several times. And I I know that one of the key points in your story was when you hired the PR agency.

17:07 And that I'm just thinking Do you feel like that's that was Let them tell your story. Yeah.

17:15 Yeah, and and that's certainly where where I wanna go. And I and I think David The fact that I live a couple hours from Rhode Island and I don't know about coffee milk is amazing because not only can you grow Dave's coffee. But you could Create a segment.

17:30 Educating people around the country and around the world of what coffee milk is, and of course why Dave's the best is an amazing opportunity for you. That was the biggest expense that was questionable when we started priority by schools. It it kept me up at night how much we were spending on PR. But I learned that If we didn't educate people on wire. Product was different.

17:53 that they wouldn't know to come to our site and buy it or or support our Kickstarter. And and that was money well spent and it still is. Um You know, eleven years later we're still investing heavily in PR. Most people if you go knock on your neighbor's door and said, I'm looking for a new bike, they wouldn't necessarily say, look at a belt drive bike. Now if they do say look at a belt drive bike, they'll know to look at priority.

18:18 Because we are the leader in belt drive bicycles, but we have to open the category up first for people to know that we're the leader. And I think that Dave's coffee could do the same. I think that there's a lot you can educate people about coffee syrup. And about coffee milk, so that they they wanna think to buy it and of course wanna think of of Dave's coffee. And I think that the the expense there would be well worth The investment. I mean I I agree. I I think that part of having a good relationship with the with a PR firm is also having a vision, helping them, right? It they can come and like look at what you're doing and give you some feedback on branding, but your branding's very good. You know, and I'm looking at your website, clearly you're selling a canned iced coffee. I mean you got a lot of things going on.

19:01 And so It seems like really where a a a good PR firm could come into play is getting you coverage, helping you build buzz. Because I think what you wanna try and do are I mean, I hate to use the word stunts, but but like

19:16 pop ups, like a a coffee milk pop up. You'd literally have a sign. Like you know, like w in the Peanuts gang or and it said like, you know, uh ten cents for you know w was it was psychiatrist ten cents. You have a sign that says what's coffee milk with a big question mark. And you you just have a a a booth in like outside of festivals or be you but you go to very strategic cities. Portland. Coffee city.

19:41 Uh Brooklyn. Coffee capital. Right, uh Austin, Texas. Parts of San Francisco, obviously Seattle. You go to these coffee centers.

19:51 Where there's a critical mass of people And you just do things like that. And I think having a the right kind of uh PR agency to help could be very helpful. The other thing I think i that you you may want to think about is Yeah.

20:06 It seems like part of the challenge is when people see the bottle, they think that it's either a sweetener for coffee, right? Coffee syrup, they think, Oh, it's like a simple syrup. Right. understand what it is. You know, they might think it's like coffee concentrate, which you can buy at you know, Trader Joe's or whatever.

20:24 Um And I wonder whether there's a way to Um Maybe not even on the bottle, but a but a way to kind of

20:34 Explain it to people like the vanilla extract of coffee. I'm just riffing here. I don't know. But the the thing that The other thing to me on the label That I think you could really uh you would benefit from is if it said something like like Like craft it in Rhode Island.

20:50 You know crafted in Rhode Island, the birthplace of Of Uh coffee milk or something like that. Yes, yes. Um, because then it's like, Oh, wait, what? What is that? Like Crafton Road Island, the birthplace of coffee milk.

21:01 Like on the label. Something like that could be interesting, but I think With the right partner, you don't have to spend that much money, especially if you have a sense of what you want to do. Right, right. I love the idea of the pop ups and the the

21:16 The Snoopy analogy there because I think that could be a a lot of fun. Yeah, you give people shots of of coffee milk. Yes. And you have oat milk, you've got almond milk. Have like seven different kind of hemp milk and macadamia nut milk and dairy milk. You know, have'em all there. Right. I love it. What about bagels stores? You know In New York The the lines Saturday and Sunday morning for the bagel source are so long

21:42 And if you dare to order a coffee. It's it the wait is even longer. I I would like to think that a coffee milk would go amazing with a bagel, and also the bagel store could make it a lot quicker. With your concentrate. Right, a hundred percent. They could. Great. Yeah, I think that I think there's an opportunity here.

22:02 You know, g who who are some famous Rhode Islanders like I'm trying to search for Rhode Island celebrities and I'm sorry if I'm forgetting somebody famous, but I just can't think of any right now. But um uh it it's awesome. I mean I think look, I think that a lot of this is gonna be on your shoulders, right? start to educate people. I would

22:23 Really emphasize Th the that they can drink it with any kind of milk, right? Yeah. And do you feel like the direct to consumer is the A good path to go. I know it it Dave for you you said that

22:36 W you originally told direct to consumer because you couldn't financially But that's changed now, obviously, but Um How did that play into the growth? You're right. When we started, we couldn't we couldn't work with bike shops. Uh now we sell about seventy percent of our bikes consumer direct.

22:55 Uh bike shops are important. to get the word out about our brand and what makes our brand different. I I think that you know Your product.

23:06 If you can find a way to get into major retailers, your margins are not gonna be great, but it is gonna help spread the word. And and that is gonna be important together with the PR side of this. Yeah, I I think of like botchans, it's a uh Japanese barbecue sauce all over Costco and Whole Foods now. I mean they that was a they had to educate people about what that was. So I think that it's worthwhile looking into to to Uh

23:31 to doing wholesale and to seeing if you can get on the shelves of, you know, nationally in Whole Foods for example. But um obviously y you have to figure out where they're gonna put you. Are they gonna put you in the coffee section, are they gonna put you in the The sh the the So but I think that that could be worth looking to. But by the way, I did find a g a the perfect Rhode Island celebrity for you who has been on the show years ago, Nick De Giovanni.

23:56 who's a social media Chef. And a really great one. Nick de Giovanni. You should get in touch with him. Ska I'm he's a Rhode Islander. Okay, great. Hill though coffee syrup, so there you go.

24:08 Perfect. Tom Guy sent you. Yeah, Tom I sent you. Yes. Yes. Uh David Lanning of Dave's Coffee Syrup uh and Dave's Coffee Brand. Thanks for calling him in. Good luck. Thank you so much. I love the show, Guy, and I've I've listened to almost every episode and learn a lot. Amazing. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for calling in. Yeah. See, you did not know coffee syrup, Dave. Never heard of it. And uh and I did, and I have not had it in a long time, but it is delicious. I mean imagine A a cool, cold glass of, you know, some kind of milk. I you know, I do dairy, but

24:39 And uh just like a nice sweet coffee flavor. It's like It's delicious. Can I have one now? Yeah. The the problem is where do I get it?

24:49 The problem. Where do I get it? I know. It's a problem. You can't get in New York City, so here we go. It sounds delicious. We're gonna take a quick break, but when we come back, another caller, another question, and another round of advice. I'm Guy Roz, and we're answering your questions right here on the advice line on how I built this lab. Welcome back to the advice line on how I built this lab. I'm Guy Raz, and my guest today is Priority Bicycle's founder and CEO Dave Wiener.

25:28 Uh Dave You ready for the next collar? Let's do it. Alright, let's bring our next caller. Welcome to the Vice Line. You're on with a wiener from Priority Bicycles. Uh, welcome to the show. Tell us your name, where you're calling from, and just a little bit about your business. Hi, uh my name is Alex Plant. I'm calling from Buffalo, New York.

25:46 I own Kinlock Farmstead, which is an organic lavender farm, barn wedding venue, and small batch winery. Awesome, thanks for calling in. So um Alex, first of all, where is Cambria, New York? So we are way upstate New York, we're north of Buffalo, so right on the Canadian border. Wow, and you grow lavender there. Yes, we do. Which is obviously growing it right now, but we're talking in the middle of the summer. Yeah, it's the season, harvest season right now. It's the season, yeah. So tell me a little bit about the business. Like you grow lavender

26:17 And what else do you do you do there on the farm? So we have a thirty acre farm. Um we grow lavender on part of it. We just started growing grapes and making wine as well. Nice. And most of the business is focused on hosting weddings. So we have a beautiful barn on the property where we host weddings and private events. And how d how long have you been running this business? We bought the farm in well the farmland in twenty seventeen and we opened to the public in twenty nineteen.

26:45 So seven years. And where did you what were you doing before? Uh so I came up with this business idea when I was living in Brooklyn. I was on maternity leave for my first child. I was working in advertising sales and I just couldn't foresee my life raising kids in Brooklyn, working long hours, commuting. So on maternity leave, I made this business plan to

27:08 Have a farm. Which at that point wasn't feasible at all. I guess I just manifested it. And it's kind of a marriage of um I grew up in the restaurant industry, my grandfather owned Scottish restaurants. So I grew up around weddings and catering. But also as a hobby, I would make a lot of like I had an Etsy shop, I made candles and lotions and stuff like that. So it was kind of a marriage of the two things and then

27:34 Cut two, we ended up moving to Buffalo. My husband was transferred for work and I was like, I'm buying a farm. I'm doing it. Wow. And here I am. And here you are. Okay, so you've got the farm. And And I'm assuming most of the revenue comes from events and and weddings and things like that? Correct, yeah. Yeah, and tell me a little bit about

27:53 how the business operates.'Cause there's a lot of snow in the winter, so is it uh is it year round or or what? Yeah, we are seasonal, so we're only open from May to October, and that was kind of A a big part of the reason I wanted to do this business was to be around my kids more. So I thought at the time, oh, I'll have the winters off, I'll be with my family more, I'll make my own hours, it'll be flexible. So it was sort of a way to run my own business, but also be with my family more. And did that happen? H has that happened? At first.

28:23 It did. Yeah. But now as I've grown and luckily become more successful and we're fully booked and making wine and selling out of products. I'm working all the time. And that's my big issue. Year round.

28:37 Yeah,'cause I'm so busy in the summer that I don't have time to get to some of the back end stuff like paperwork, uh employee stuff, pay like There's so much back end that I have to do in the winter. And give me a sense of of where you guys are I mean, are you are you doing over half a million a year, for example? Yeah, we're about half a million a year. And so and and what is the biggest sort of

29:01 Time sock for you? Because I mean uh the answer often is well, bring a couple more people on to help you out and things like that. Yeah, so I have nine employees. And I keep delegating things out. But somehow I'm still sucked in.

29:16 So right now my biggest time suck is the weddings because you know, brides and Decorating and you know, we provide the bar and unfortunately in my situation I really enjoy the farming aspect, which was shocking for even me. So I would rather be out in the fields, but I'm really sucked into the wedding piece the most.

29:36 And so even though you've got nine people, it sounds like a lot of your time is spent managing those people or or and or products. Exactly. Having nine employees is is its own job. Right. So it's a it's a lot. Okay. So um before we what's your what's your question for us? My question is As a small business owner

29:57 When do you decide to stay small versus going the next step and really going bigger? Because right now there's so many opportunities for me to grow. Like our lavender products sell out all the time. We're fully booked with weddings. So it's so easy for me to scale, but I'm s I'm at a burnout Point at this point. And I'm never say my kids, you know. So

30:20 How do you kind of decide as a small business owner to just stay small or to go the next step and You know, go all in. Alright, lots to think about here. Uh Dave Weiner wanna bring you in um Great idea. Let's leave Brooklyn. Let's leave the high stress of Brooklyn. And then we'll

30:37 you know, we'll have a more manageable, sustainable life, but actually it sounds like Alex has recreated that same stress. on the farm. Exactly. Uh I'm looking at the website and what a a beautiful property you have.

30:52 And I I love how multifaceted your business is. Uh, you've got so many aspects to it. And and and so no wonder you're stressed. There's a lot going on. Yeah. Uh You could Certainly if you wanted to, and I I don't think you want to, you could just focus on the events.

31:10 And that would be fine. But I i it sounds like you know that you wanna do more. And and that's exciting. And I think that there's no escaping the fact That when you operate a small business, it's hard. And it's stressful.

31:26 You nід big tolerance. For stress. But you also need the vision of a pathway to grow to lessen the stress that you're you're currently experiencing. Uh It sounds like most of your business today is in the

31:42 The event space, is that correct? Yes. And you have nine people, which is is Something. That's a lot. Uh you know, is there a way to

31:52 To remove yourself. From the event space so that you can focus on the products and start to grow that the way that you've grown events. Yeah, that's I mean I've Considering hiring a manager to manage all the events. My hesitation with that is I have hired nine people.

32:09 And I'm at least trying to delegate to them, and I still feel like I'm sucked in a lot. So I'm I I'm eager to grow and I'm excited about growth and expanding and scaling and selling our products online and stuff like that, but I feel worried that I'm just continuing to add more to my plate. You know?

32:30 Yeah, I mean management is r is one of the hardest things about r running a a a strong business. Very, very hard, right? And part of the part of the challenge for for founders is Uh when you are a perfectionist and you pro listen, you got weddings. This is the the the most important day of someone's life, and I imagine you take on a lot of stress around those weddings. You want it to be perfect. Families.

32:56 Are expecting it to be perfect. Exactly. And so there's a lot of a lot of pressure. I would I would do a couple of exercises and you've probably done versions of this. And and what I would do is I would just run a test, right? Like list list all of your revenue streams just on paper. You know Lavender, wedding Wine, or soap, wh whatever you have, right? And then for each one of those things Right, what is the percentage of your total of the total revenue?

33:22 And then the percentage of time or energy it takes you. The gross margin. And then how much Joy. Each one of those things brings you.

33:33 And it's not a perfect science, right? Because you know, pr time, energy uh uh um and and revenue you can figure out gross margins. But The joy and stress is important, right? If if if something is bringing you a lot of stress, but it only it's only bringing in you know, five percent of revenue. Maybe it's not worth doing.

33:55 It sounds like, you know, I'm mainly hearing I kind of don't really What Uh want this to uh to to continue to take over my life. Right.

34:06 That's correct. I I really like that idea of an exercise because that's something I'm I definitely struggle with is I created this business to be happy. And be with my kids more and I find I'm spending so much time with the weddings when I really enjoy making the products and I enjoy making the wine and the lavender, but that's where I get to spend the least amount of my time.

34:29 So I I like that exercise of kind of figuring out And and you're you were also right. about being a perfectionist. So part of the reason I bottleneck every single wedding decision. Is because I'm a perfectionist and I'm too afraid to let go.

34:44 So I guess I just have to kinda Yeah. If it just swallow that pill. Yeah. I mean I think Dave and and I think you can speak to this t t for sure, which is'cause I know I've spent time with you and your kids and I mін not every business should be scaled, like and in fact. Many, many businesses That I know of. Are far more successful than massively scale businesses. They're profitable, they're sustainable.

35:09 Um and they enable the founders, the owners to have a a a sustainable lifestyle, right? I mean Is Is turning this into a million dollar a year business or two million dollar year business going to um, you know, uh qualitatively improve your life? Probably not. I mean, I don't know. Only you can answer that question. Is it if if you're if you're doing Three hundred thousand a year.

35:34 But you have, you know. thirty percent of your time back. Is that more worth it? And I think a lot of people might say yes in that case if you can afford. to to do that, right? I mean that that to me lifestyle is is

35:50 Definitely an important consideration. when you're thinking about what to do with your business, right? Dave I mean, Dave, you I think you have figure out how to manage that in a way that enables you to also be a parent and a dad and be present. Yeah, that's a great point, Guy. When we started priority, I was working Every night, every weekend and and

36:10 To Alex, uh you know, to what you're doing, making sure everything was perfect. It took until we got to a a larger size that I could start to really hire the People that could take things off my plate and that I could say, I'm not gonna micromanage this. I'm gonna let them run with this. I hired the right people, they know what to do. And I'm gonna monitor the data the way that that guy's saying you need to set up the data and make sure it works, and then monitor the data and hire the right people to do it. It sounds like you have a really successful event planning business. You you need to if you wanna grow the other side of the product business, you gotta find a way financially To hire the right person or people.

36:52 or or promote the right person or people to to do that work so that you can focus on the the next Versus. And at the same time finding the important time to be a parent. Yeah, and also I I I would add to that, Dave, that That deciding

37:08 to c sort of pull back a little bit and slow things down doesn't mean you can't ramp it up again in the future. Right, you can still Set out a goal. To grow the business in a smart way. You know with with

37:22 mm di different ki of kinds of help with better pricing, with a you know, certain a plan for hiring and outsourcing But you may not want to do that for two or three. How old are your kids now? Nine and seven.

37:35 Yeah, so you may not want to do that for a couple of years, you know. But Uh I I'm I'm soon I'm gonna have kids out of house, right? My teenagers are gonna be gone. I'm gonna have a lot more time on my hands. Right. So uh you know, your your priorities and um and your time horizons change. And so

37:53 It doesn't mean that you can't scale this up. Again, you can ramp it up. I'm sure there aren't a whole lot of places around you that are doing what you're doing. No. But but it m but it's probably worthwhile thinking how do you keep it sustainable, manageable. And And allow you to be a sane person and I'm you know, like like any parent, you probably want to spend time with your kids.

38:14 Right. Yeah. I I I yeah, I appreciate that. And I think um Just thinking about I I've just got excited over the last seven years and like it's growing and it's growing and I've just kept going with it. And yeah, now here I am working seven days a week. So

38:30 Growth doesn't always necessarily mean More profit or More happiness. So I can just think about think about my priorities. Yeah.

38:40 But focus I would focus on on w what is sort of bringing in the revenue and how much time it takes. The margins on that and then how much stress it brings you. You know? Yeah. And and if you're looking at that and you're saying, Okay, this just doesn't make sense it's it's gonna be clear what doesn't make sense. Yeah. Alright.

38:57 I appreciate it. Cool. The business is called Kenlock Farmstead. Alex Plant, thanks for calling in. Thank you. Good luck. This is such a hard question, you know, as parents our our most meaningful investment.

39:09 is raising kind and capable children. And at the same time, as an entrepreneur, all you want to do is grow your business, and there's so much enjoyment in that, and it's a it's a hard struggle. It's a hard struggle and Look, you know, I think when you're running a business that doesn't depend entirely on You know. earning a certain amount if you have the luxury and the ability to scale it back.

39:33 um to have more time with your family. To me it's a no brainer. Agreed. Alright, we're gonna take another quick break, but we'll be right back with one more caller. Stay with us, I'm Guy Roz, and you're listening to the advice line right here on how I built this lab. Welcome back to the advice line on how I built this lab. I'm Guy Roz, and today I'm taking your calls with Priority Bicycles founder and CEO, Dave Weiner. Uh Dave, let's get back to it and take another call. Put'em on.

40:14 Alright, let's bring our final caller. You're on with Dave Wiener. Uh tell us your name, where you're calling from, and a little bit about your business. Hi Guy, hi Dave. I'm Sabrina Garcia, the founder of Idaho Barkery and calling from Boise, Idaho. We make plant based hypoallergenic dog treats inspired by my own dog, Rocky, who has food allergies. Alongside our wholesale and online business, we also offer a customizable branding opportunity by stamping. Any logo or design onto a clean ingredient dog tree. Okay, welcome to the show. Thank you for calling in Sabrina.

40:47 What kind of dog do you have? I have a lab mix. I adopted him in twenty nineteen and he's over a hundred pounds. Wa a hundred pounds? Yeah. That's a big dog, man. My dog's fifty five pounds. Well one of my dogs, another one's ten pounds. Kiki's little, but but Uh Big dog is is fifty five. Wow, and she's a powerful dog. So okay, so these are dog treats.

41:08 That you make in Boise, Idaho. And uh uh Tell me a little bit about the you stamp them into shapes of a logo or you stamp the logo onto uh Just like a round bone shape of the dog of the the tree. Yeah, exactly. So we use an in house three D printer to make custom dog stamps, like you would imagine a cookie cutter, but it has a stamp on it as well, which allows us to make

41:35 literally anything you can dream of. So any logo, any design. And and what's the shape of the of the dog trees? Like a is it round or is it square? It can be anything, yeah. Oh I see it can be anything. You can stamp out From uh I I'm thinking like sugar cookies. You can just create a stamp. Exactly. Custom made stuff. So it could it could say like Like Tesla. Or Coca Cola, like where like you could just have

42:00 Uh dog treats in the shape of those logos. So that's cool. And um tell me how you Start like tell me how this business started. So I started this business in 2020 as a side hustle, again, really for my own dog who has significant food allergies. I found a recipe that really worked for him, very minimal ingredient, very clean. Didn't have any meat product in it.

42:25 And my friends started to love it so much that I started to offer it at farmers markets and kind of grew from there, now offering it in wholesale businesses in Idaho. And what uh uh what was your main hustle at the time? Uh, I'm a pharmacist. Nice. Okay. What what tell me what I'm looking at the website. So you've got peanut butter flavor. You've got pumpkin flavor.

42:48 Is that right? Those two flavors? Yep, just those two flavors. So we really try to capitalize on the customizable ability of making dog treats um and keep our recipes really simple. Yeah. These are vegan dog treats. Yes.

43:03 Wow. Who who I didn't I've heard that pumpkin is good for dogs. It is a little bit more. Yeah, it's a great protein source as well, the peanut butter. Ah I see. Okay. So tell me uh be before we dive in further, tell me what your question is for us.

43:17 Yeah, so we've actually seen a big demand. locally from some dog friendly hotels and resorts for custom dog treats. And we'd really love to lean into this side of the business because it seems to be what our customers are asking for. Uh, so my question is, what strategies do you recommend to help us identify and connect with larger corporate brands or hospitality groups that might want custom branded dog treats? Got it. And just to be clear, you're selling this only direct to consumer to your website right now? So we actually sell wholesale.

43:46 Um So through we have about 65 stores in Idaho that we sell through. Uh we also sell online and then we have a bunch of partners who are like local resorts that are dog friendly, um, in Sun Valley that want just something that's unique for their Dogs that visit the hotels. Nice. Okay, cool. Uh Dave Wiener, uh wanna bring you in here. Um

44:10 It's I s I don't think you don't have you're in New York City, you don't have any dogs. It's hard to have dogs in New York City unless they're tiny. Yeah, I wish we did. But no no no yard means no dog for us. Yeah. Um but You know, I I really Sabrina, what a

44:24 I I'm looking at the website. What a great product in in terms of the health of the dog and and the customizable aspect. I mean, I I love what you're doing. Um I you know The the first thing that comes to my mind when I'm looking at this is you know the journey we went on when we started selling to consumers and then hotels became very interested. Uh now between hotels and corporate campuses, we have over a thousand locations using our bikes.

44:52 Which is amazing. It's an amazing revenue stream and uh in addition to an amazing way for consumers to learn about our product in in these hotels or corporate campuses. The first step for us, it took us a while to figure this out. Was we had a website sort of like yours, where we sold the consumers

45:11 And we sold to corporate campuses and and and hotels. And at some point we realize that Our website was very consumer focused. And that A hotel buyer, for example, or a corporate campus buyer.

45:26 was going to Google or or whatever search engine And they were looking for A different

45:35 They were looking for different keywords. Fleet bicycles, not low maintenance commuter bicycles. Ah and so where our website was doing very well in the giant algorithms of SEO out there for consumer bikes, we were not doing really well. For fleet bicycles. And and so the answer that really helped our our fleet business Was to

46:00 Create a whole new website. We have uh it's priority fleet by schools dot com. It's amazing. And that Website Talks. To fleet buyers.

46:10 Whereas our core website talks to consumers. There's a little link in there that says, hey, interested in fleet, click here. But they're two totally different landing places, and and the expense to do that is is not significant. And now you start to get into the algorithm so much differently. And and you can Speak to the different buyers. I think that's a such an inter so she so basically she's got Idaho Barkery for consumers who want to buy the

46:37 product and and I have a some feedback for your website, but then she has a separate one that's really for corporents who want to do like custom branded, you know, dog treats for their employees or their clients or something like that. That's it. That's amazing. I love that feedback. Yeah, it's r it's such a good point, Dave, because you have

46:56 I mean one of the secrets of your success has been Putting priority bikes. Everywhere. I mean I I go to hotels and I it's just like amazing how They're you know when when bikes h have When hotels have bikes to lend out to to their

47:10 guests it's almost I'm almost always seeing priority bikes. And that's just an amazing That's it. It's uh it it's great for the brand and it is great for sale. So you just gotta figure out how to talk to those two different buy differently. Mm. Yeah.

47:28 Sabrina, one thing I uh a couple thoughts for you. I'm looking your your website here And then if you click and and it again, I agree with Dave, if you can separate those two things it would make a lot of sense, you know, just a a a completely different way, maybe call it Idaho Barkery, custom treats, I don't know, some something or maybe even on this website have a big button that says

47:51 Um, are you a company that wants is looking for, you know, a cool Cool opportunity or something logo, I don't know, something like that. Uh obviously you want to go If you're looking to work with bigger brands, you want to think of aligned brands. Like w are there pet friendly hotel chains? I think there are. There must be out there. Um

48:10 Are there pet friendly co working spaces out there? You know, what are some brands that are big brands that are notable for being pet pet friendly. Like are there any Airlines known for being more pet friendly. Maybe they're interested in working with you. Um You know, subscription box companies like BARC.

48:32 bark branded or or maybe give away bark branded Dog treats to customers as a gift. I I would target ten to fifteen brands that you really want to be in business with right. are gonna have some kind of alignment with dogs, right?

48:48 And you find out who is the buyer or who's the brand manager or who are who is the partnerships manager there? Not hard to find by doing some searches on LinkedIn. And you make a custom box of them. You you make raising canes. Logos.

49:04 You Punch them out. And you send them a box. With Pre made I mean

49:10 I I'm not saying I want you to do this, but I people will send me stuff with how I built this logos on their things and it always catches my attention. Right. And and so You mail it. To them with a note. And you follow up a week or two later.

49:26 I mean that That is gonna catch someone's eye. And if it's not gonna cost you that much to three D print. one of these logos. I would just go for it. I would just try it and see You know

49:37 Start with ten companies you want to target. And see what happens. I love that idea. And I can think of so many brands right now that are dog friendly that we could send custom treats to. So thank you for that advice. And Sabrina, you can even start with an email.

49:51 Well you know, for us, we often start with an email that is a mock up, a photo realistic of what their custom bike would look like with their colors and their logo. And And that's effective. Now if you can send a heavy mailer, that's always the best, but the you know, the cost of producing the the mold and producing the product Can get there if you if you can start with the bag, what the bag would look like and what the treat would look like, and just email that out. I think it would catch a lot of eyes. Especially these hotels that are dog friendly and say this would be, you know, the treat in your

50:28 In each room. Yeah. Right. Giving'em a visual. That makes sense. Yeah. Yeah, I mean

50:34 It's such an interesting idea. I don't think anyone's doing doing something like this. It seems like a really interesting opportunity. So I would I would start there and and let us know how it goes. I appreciate the advice. Sabrina Garcia of Idaho Barkery, thanks for calling in. Thank you. Dave, I um uh by the way, do you guys have like are some of the hotels you work with like Nomad or

50:57 Some of these hotels do they ever kind of want their logos or their branding on the bikes as well, or like certain colors. Every single hotel wants. At minimum their logos. Uh but but we also do custom paint. almost every day and we can do blends of paint and multiple colors and

51:17 switch out tires and grips and w we really try to specialize the bike, customize the bike into whatever the hotel's identity is. Yeah. So it can Make their guests feel special. And then of course be a low maintenance bicycle ride. So the the bike is very reliable while the guest is on their experience. Yeah, it's cool. I know g you're guys are at like the Meridian hotels. I've seen that one. I stayed with the one in Santa Monica a couple of years ago, you're there, and I think you're in a bunch of hotels and Santa Monica understandably because people can ride right to the beach. Um, and that it just makes sense, right, that they're gonna have

51:50 their kind of branding on your bikes and it makes sense for both both parties. It's a great it's just a great Collaboration. Total win. Both sides. Yeah.

51:58 Um, Dave, before I let you go, um quick question for you that I I ask every guest who comes on, which is now that you have all this experience under your belt, not just with bicycles, but your previous experience as a CEO of a small tech company and you know, all the challenges there. If you go back when you were starting priority, right, when you were just about to start a Kickstarter and it was just stressful and you could you could give yourself some insight or some advice or some wisdom, what would have been helpful for you to know that you now know? Guy, I I think that Earlier in my career

52:29 I felt a strong need to be right. Yeah. To have the best ideas, the sharpest insights, to get the final word, especially if coming out with an underdog company. You know, I believe that being right was the way you showed your value.

52:44 Uh over time I learned in business and being an entrepreneur that The best. And isn't It's it's sometimes The most knowledgeable and the most confident leaders

52:57 Are the first to admit that they Don't know the right answer. Or that they're even wrong. I think effective leaders know when to slow down.

53:07 when to listen deeply and understand all the perspectives before acting and uh I think that shift. For me From needing to be right. Instead striving to get it right.

53:21 has made me a better teammate, a better leader and and a better entrepreneur. Yeah. It's awesome. It's really, really it's good advice. Um that's Priority Bicycles founder and CEO, Dave Wiener. Dave, thanks so much.

53:34 It's a pleasure to be on with you guys. By the way, if you haven't heard Dave's original how I built this episode please go back and check it out. It's a really great story. Starts with Kickstarter. I mean a Kickstarter brand. It's awesome. Uh, you can find a link to it in the podcast description, and here is one of my favorite moments from that interview.

53:53 Now you're full year end, the business, right? August of twenty fifteen. Yeah. And you had that really successful initial Kickstarter, but A year later Not much. Not much action. Yeah.

54:06 The classic bike was still doing well. So I knew that we had a win. That could carry the company though it couldn't carry me. Yeah. And now I'm I'm

54:18 Pretty deep. I have one successful product. I have one unsuccessful product. I know that the way I can grow this business It it is simple in theory and hard in reality. I need to have a bike.

54:33 That changes everything. Hey, thanks so much for listening to the show this week. And by the way, please make sure to check out my newsletter. You can sign up for it for free at gyros.com or on Substack. And of course, if you're working on a business and you'd like to be on this show, send us a one-minute message that tells us a little bit about your business and the questions or issues you are. currently facing because we would love to try and help you solve them. You can send us a voice memo at hibt at id.wondery.com or call us at 1-800-433-1298. you can leave a message there and make sure to tell us how to reach you. And by the way, we'll put all of this in the podcast description as well.

55:15 This episode was produced by Carla Esteves with music composed by Ramtina Rabli. It was edited by Andrea Bruce. Our engineers were Maggie Luthar and James Willis. Our production staff also includes Alex Chung, Elaine Coates, Neva Grant, Casey Herman, Chris Massini, Sam Paulson, Catherine Seifer, Carrie Thompson, and Ramel Wood. I'm Guy Raz and you've been listening to The Advice Line. on how I built this lab.

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