Call it accidental success. When smart leaders turn around bad circumstances, it’s a win-win situation.
Cliff Vallentgoed, owner
Company: Redbike
What they do: bicycle retailer and repair shop
Best mistake: being an absentee owner
In 1997 we opened Redbike in Edmonton. We were severely undercapitalized and depended on receiving stock on credit from suppliers. As risky as that can be, we finished our first fiscal year in the black, and stayed there. In 2000, we started looking at expanding and Red Deer looked like a good market. We checked the regional growth and local income figures and, most important, there was no competition. Everything looked absolutely positive, and that’s when the mistakes started piling up.
We hired a manager we knew and trusted who was from Edmonton. But he quickly grew tired of being away and started spending more time away, until he moved back here. We went through that twice, and couldn’t find someone to dedicate himself to running a successful business.
We looked at the numbers then and realized we had done nothing but lose money and had diluted our business as well. We closed our doors after 18 months. I realized no one will ever take care of your business the way you will, and I was able to put it in perspective. Now I can dedicate myself to our customers, and still concentrate on expanding the company. That’s a very integrated process.
Follow Alberta Venture On: