End of a dream....start of one for someone else?

[BarneyRubble]

Hi All,

I feel the need to share my tale of reality stifling my dreams as it will be good to get it off my chest!

It has been a long held ambition to return to the cycle industry having worked as a sales exec in my LBS 10 years ago. After years in sales related jobs selling things I have no interest in and generally feeling very unfulfilled I decided to start making an effort to realise my dream/ambition. I was well aware of the high levels of competition for sales jobs in the cycle industry and knew my lack of direct cycle industry experience would count against me, but I wrote a tailored CV and applied for a couple of choice looking opportunities selling brands I respected. Responses were typically "thanks but no thanks" but then a company saw past the obvious experience issue and invited me for interview. I was up against several experienced cycle industry types, so didn't expect much, but low and behold I was offered the job! Fairly quickly though my excitement turned to disappointment as I realised that the salary was just too far below my current earnings to accept the role. Even with some serious belt tightening and no social life I just wouldn't be able to meet my financial commitments. I know you might be thinking "why did he apply if the pay would be too low?" but my current salary was on my application and the advert said "generous package". What I hadn't appreciated (although I'd heard it) is that the cycle industry really does lag behind other market sectors in terms of pay and conditions. So in the end I had to turn it down; I just couldn't expect my wife to give up our goal of buying a house and ever having a holiday again so I could take the job. To be honest I am completely gutted as I now have to accept that I will probably never be able to return to the industry I love (barring a small lottery win) and will be doing jobs that are just "jobs" for the rest of my life. Damn I'm depressed.

Still, my loss is someone else's gain and they are re-advertising the job; it really did seem like a great opportunity and if it wasn't for my mountain of financial commitments I'd be working there now! advert can be found here: http://www.bikebiz.com/jobs/read/territ ... ntatives-2

 

[jonnyboy666]

sorry you couldn't do it.

wages were the main reason i left the trade, if i had stayed i would never be able to afford a house, now i am on my way to a deposit. it does suck balls that i am in an unrelated job to bikes but having said that i never suffer from overexposure now, there were times when my interest dropped because i just got sick of bikes.

also as an ex trade guy i would say that MMA would have been a hard company to work for. mainly because they don't do too many pad filling items. meaning if the shop needs a load of tyres from maxxis great, and a bit of 661, the odd bit of sunline but what else? i think the last rep for the area was (or maybe the areas have changed) Rob Stobart, he used to race back in the day, he worked for them i think by contract, meaning he sold their stuff but had other companies he sold for aswel. quite a few reps do that now as opposed to be working for one company.

get yourself a saturday job, just for fun but in a good shop, it might scratch the itch and give you a bit of experience for future job applications.

 

[BarneyRubble]

Cheers for the positive spin. he did say that they had recently stopped using an agent and were going to use in-house sales resource. They have 2 new guys for other areas but still need to fill the sw.. I think the portfolio is due to expand but don't quote me!

Saturday job, good idea. I could properly revert to my teens!

 

[TheGreenRabbit]

Been applying for a few cycle sales roles alongside my core knowledge in Horticulture, they are a few chancers taking on sales juniors at lower rates or low base and high commision just because they can get away with it, good sales people are worth the money.

 

[highlandsflyer]

No one ever went into the bike business to get rich.

It just kind of happened to very few.

Mind you with the price some of these hipster bikes are making, I would not be surprised if a good living is to be had right now, but for how long?

 

[IDB1]

Saturday job, good idea. I could properly revert to my teens!

Similar-ish industry/tale, we knew a lad at our local motorcycle shop who was a full-time quantities surveyor (could have paid cash for 2 of anything the shop had for sale) but cleaned bikes on a Saturday for metaphorical buttons.
The upshot was that we decided he was probably mental but he loved it... and done it for years..

 

[highlandsflyer]

People ask why I have never given up my two bob a week home bra fitting job.

At the end of the day, it is not just a question of taking on a low salary, but also where is the scope for progression?

 

[Neil G]

That's a real shame but at the end of theday youo do have to make ends meet and if the pay wasn't even enough to get by on you made teh right decision.

After having some insight into the bike industry and the people involved in it I'd never want to get involved at all. Way too many folk trying to get a piece of the pie and wallowing in their own self importance.