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All,
I’m not sure how to import this topic from Ekarting.com but I though it was a great article and should be passed on. If someone knows how please do so….. It’s important to support the local guys.
Mike Edwards
Is this the post you are talking about Mikey?
“I’m looking for the free help, please.”
They don’t say this, but if I could read minds, it would be in Times New Roman, bold, underlined, and in size 48 letters.
Most of us in “the business” deal with this issue every day. We grind it out, twenty-five weekends a year at our local races trying to make a living in this crazy sport we love. We have customers that pit near us, ask us questions, elicit our help, and in return, we get their parts business. Those are called “shop guys”. That’s how it works.
Then, there is the other group. The ones that only come by when their stuff doesn’t run because there is a dead cat in their carb, they just piled it into the barriers and can’t get their axle out or need tires changed in two minutes because their race is up next.
Then they bring their tires over in a box.
We gladly change them and ask where they got the tires, when they know we bring 5 cases to every race. “I order from http://www.partsfromanotherstate.com, they give me great service.” I guess our definitions of service differ. Bright white packing peanuts, a box on the porch and a $3 discount don’t define service for me. Saving your ass at a club race when your heat is two minutes away is closer to mine.
So, I charge them a few bucks, or make them bring me lunch or a 12-pack of my favorite beverage. Yeah, I know, a few of us can change tires in less than a minute, but that’s not the point. If you buy the tires from us, we don’t charge to change them. Why? Because we made a little profit on the deal and know that tires can be pain in the ass. Its only fair. But, the flip side of the coin is if you need my help and you don’t support my business, I am going to charge you for my time.
Its akin to having two family doctors. One that you see when you have the sniffles or a sprained pinky, the other one gets your business for the diarrhea, the puss leaking wound or the internal bleeding. When asked why you have the first doctor when the second one can seemingly handle all of your issues, your reply is simple, “his co-pay is $1 cheaper.” There is a racer at the local club that asks at least 24 questions a day. He is part of the other group. In fact, I think he may be their leader and have some sort of title. “What jet should I run, what gear should I have, my kart is pushing, what should I do?” He is in our pit at least once an hour. Yet, when I looked his record up in the computer, we hadn’t sold him a gear, a chain, a spark plug or a set of brake pads in more than a year and a half.
We smile weakly, give him a minute of our time and then he saunters back to his pit and bitches to the rest of the group about me and the “shop guys” and that they are sponsored and get all of the good stuff. Hey folks, we don’t sponsor them, they sponsor us. They get the good stuff because they pay for it. In return, they get to slowly suck the karting knowledge from our brains, one gear, chain and tire at a time. I can afford to be at this event because these guys are there. They support me, I support them. Some of the profit I make from the stuff they buy goes towards truck fuel, employee wages, pit passes, or the biggest expense, my lunch. The rest of it goes towards all of that frivolous stuff, like rent, utilities and insurance.
I don’t fault the guy from http://www.partsfromanotherstate.com, he is trying to make a living, too. As he sits at home on Sundays, playing in piles of packing peanuts and laughing maniacally about the suckers at the races, I am slogging it out, helping my “shop guys” and his customers, the other group. Oddly enough, I like what I do, I couldn’t do his job. I enjoy the smell of two stroke exhaust and helping that 12 year old kid better reach his or her potential. I love karting and am glad that I can earn a meager living doing something that I am passionate about. If I wanted to get high on packing tape glue and suffer from cardboard cuts, I would go to work at a UPS store.
I guess there will always be “shop guys” and the other group. You get what you pay for, some understand it, some don’t. The hope is that we can change the world, one member of the other group at a time. Although, maybe I will start my own online store. It will be for people in other states to order from. If I do it though, it won’t be for karting parts, it will be for something that everyone needs and will be around forever.
I’ve got it! http://www.zerodownmortgagesfromanotherstate.com
This is going to be big…
Yep , But why does it seem most in “the business” order from http://www.Partsfromanothercountry.com ?
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