I ride my bike to work. On the way in, it gives me time to organize my thoughts for the day. On the way home, it gives me time to decompress and get out of “work-mode.”
It also gives me time to inhale this beautiful city in which I live and just think. These are some of those thoughts that occur somewhere between East Bay Street & Lockwood Drive.
Epiphany
So as I’m riding my bike to work one day I realized that if someone opened their car door on me, I could be seriously injured.
Here in Charleston, cyclists have to follow the same laws as motor vehicles. The sidewalks aren’t wide enough for people & bikes. Plus the cobblestones would make for a miserable ride…
So we have to ride on the street, amongst the cars and in the thick of traffic. We have to ride past rows of parked cars parallel parked in meter spots throughout the city.
If a driver opened their door without paying attention and a cyclist couldn’t avoid them, the biker would help that driver get their door all the way open… with their front handle bars.
Yes, it’s kinda scary and it’s almost happened more than once to me. The more you ride, the more you learn to look for the potential doors being opened. But there’s still the tourist or the new driver that doesn’t think to look for cyclists in this town.
What would happen if I got hit? Whose fault would that be? Who would pay for my mode of transportation and for their door to be fixed? Or worse, any injuries?
Opportunity
Image Courtesy of Bike Safe Boston
Of course I researched this because it’s too good of an idea not to already have some attention.
But all the bikers’ insurance I found seems to be only for people who are serious racers, not necessarily people like me who casually ride to work. It covers high end bikes for people who race on the open road and have the potential to get side-swiped, not the ones who might have a door opened up on them.
Nor is there anything for the college kids in this town whose (in some cases) sole mode of transportation is a bicycle. Most of it is too expensive for college kids and/or their parents who are already paying tuition.
So they’ve already got type A Bike Insurance: expensive and made for serious open road racers. But our opportunity is type B Bike Insurance: affordable and meant for city-cyclers who have to stick very close to cars.
I wouldn’t be surprised Type By existed somewhere, but I couldn’t find it after a quick search online and I’ve never seen it marketed here in Charleston. That and the fact that bikes are illegal on sidewalks here make for a great opportunity.
So someone with a website that was optimized for the right keywords has a great opportunity, just like someone who is willing to do some guerilla marketing and find the bikers around downtown areas like mine!
No Shortage of Ideas
Everyone has ideas. Not all of them are great, but everyone has ideas. I wanted to share some of mine so that maybe, just maybe you’ll share some of yours.
I love hearing new business ideas, talking strategy with people, and encouraging people to go for something that they’re not sure about. Heck, that’s how I got started with my work. Just talking it through with a few people, exploring possibilities, and getting some feedback helps to get ideas off the ground
I want to encourage you to think because it’s still OK to do that.
We’re brought through schools in a manner that encourages us to be cogs in a wheel and many of our youth don’t know how to think for themselves anymore. It was a tough spot for me when I realized I had to start thinking and acting differently than when I had a steady income. I didn’t really know what to do after I quit, so I floundered around until I’m doing what I do now.
Had I been more comfortable thinking up business ideas and had the confidence to go after them, my entire course could have been altered.
I want to encourage each of you to explore those ideas you’re unsure about. You can do that with me here in the comments section, on twitter (@mikemccan3), via email (mikemccann3 {at} gmail) or with someone else who wants to listen.
Just do me a favor and explore some new ideas, you’ll be amazed at what comes out of it!
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Have a great week!
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