June 9

pics to come pending fast internet....

The sustainability of Ability Bikes Cooperative is gradually becoming more practical and realistic. Future uncertainties such as containers of bikes, extra storage, financial solvency potential are gradually being defined. And the tools to envision this future and practically build it are being utilized, which include the system of cooperative meeting and decision-making, the financial accounting system for the business, the increased skills and efficiency of the workshop mechanics, and the recognition that Ability Bikes Cooperative is not alone, that there are networks of support that will engage Ability Bikes to step up to new levels of effectiveness and professionalism.

Ability Bikes will be given the opportunity to independently manage their cooperative sometime in August or September, when I return to the US. There have been open reservations about this among the AB members, doubts if they can stay together and cooperate well without supervision. I responded to them that they will by all means face challenges. Learning to ride a bike requires being allowed to swerve and maybe crash. They will swerve and may possibly crash. And they will pick themselves back up, get on the bike and keep trying. They will learn to steer their direction and keep that bike moving and upright. Because the local and international project relationships have become too strong, the personal investment has become too important, the motivation and skills have developed too far. Not allowing Ability Bikes the chance to ride on their own may withhold from them the right to their own empowerment, self-reliance and confidence that could grow in that situation of uncertainty and challenge. I am entirely confident that in 2 or 3 months Ability Bikes can ride without a hand on the seat, a bit swervy, with minor crashes, but will grow stronger with greater resolve in their ability to lead themselves. I am also not naive of the issues within the dynamic of the workers that could destabilize the cooperative, such as difficulties making decisions, potential clashing of certain male personalities, and any one member (or group – aka administrators) claiming more power than appropriate. These issues must be brought to the surface and creatively and positively discussed.

An enormity of changes and developments have occurred in the past two months. There were times where it felt that I was working hard everyday on so many things, but not getting substantial work accomplished, and other times when all of that work matured and accomplishment was tangible. Time when I felt overwhelmed and disillusioned, and times when I clearly understood my role and acted without regard to adversity. All in all, we’ve made substantial progress toward our goal of financial and operational self-sufficiency in relationship with an international bicycle community.

In the beginning of April, Maud and Torsu (Ability Bikes administrator/salespersons) along with myself received training in small business accounting and basic administration. The training was 6 days spread out over 2 weeks. It was very effective in the sense that it introduced us to a business accounting system that effectively works. It was less effective in the training style – the majority of the time spent with the trainer reading and copying notes on to the flipchart, Maud and Torsu assiduously copying the notes into their books, me scheming on how to apply these systems in practice and writing questions. Once the copying was done, there was explanation and questions. Practical exercises were interspersed in the latter 4 days of the training with more intense practice in the 4th and 5th days. It was during these days that the cash book was used to record transactions from a hypothetical business month. The cash book is a very large book with 17 columns on each page. Opposing pages displaying the oppositional relation of income (left side) and expense (right side). Income and expense broken out into separate accounts (eg. for income: used bikes, used parts, new parts and accessories etc). Each page tracking either the income or expense from the cash and bank accounts, which get resolved at the end of a cash book period (1 week) detailing the amount of money that is in cash or in the bank at that given time. A comprehensive collection of source documents (receipts for both income and expense, payment vouchers, sale and repair invoices, vender invoices, timesheets) back up the cash book details. All of these documents get files in the new filing cabinet in a system of labeled and organized hanging folders. Once the cash book is totaled, the totals from each account get transferred to the ledger book, that has different sections for each account. These totals accrue over the weeks and months, and after a specified period, get totaled, and detail the amount spent or earned for each account. These ledger totals are used as the source data to produce the trial balance, the trading account, the profit and loss account, and the balance sheet. We learned how to do all of this, but currently, we are at the level of the cash book and ledger. Once the data accrues, we’ll practice preparing the more complicated reports.

Around the same time as the training, we set our minds and hands on the development of the front store. Drew up some plans, had discussions with Manpower *the welder*, finalized the design and set to work. By this time, we had already built a nice desk, set up the filing cabinet and small porcelain sink (the one sent in the first container bought from the Building Materials Coop near JP). The plan was to build a structure that can hold lots of wheels, lots of tires, and a row of bikes along one wall. We decided it best not to break into the walls to anchor the structure, but rather to support it with 4 legs of 1 ½ inch galvanized pipe with heavy metal plates welded to each foot to protect the floor. The frame hangs 68 wheels high to the ceiling along perimeter, hangs 100 tires on four lengths of pipe that fill the inside area of the frame, and hangs 15 bikes on a galvanized pipe extending 7 ft high along the left side of the structure welded to each leg with a central supporting leg and foot. We took two days and built it. Then we packed it, clearing up huge amounts of space where the wheels and tires were packed. This still left large amounts of overflow parts for sale. (We have separated out the nicer parts organized and stored in the workshop for bike build-ups and repairs, and the overflow of unnecessary parts to the front store for individual and sometimes bulk sale.) The plan was then to build a freakin heavy duty shelf to organize and hold these parts. We had a large pallet of some of the heaviest wood I’ve ever experienced in the back of the store. A few weeks later, Torsustey and I set to being carpenters. We bought a crowbar (useful in many applications) and disassembled the pallet with more testosterone than necessary, and big hammers, and teamed up to measure, cut, and nail wood. The result, a mega shelf unit with three shelves that can hold 2 milk crates deep and about 7 long. There’s more plans in the mix to build a good sales display for parts and accessories. Currently, the majority of the purchasers of these parts are bicycle sellers, the minority individual customers. It is intended that with better advertising (the finalizing of the signboard) and with a customer accessible sales display, individual customers without the time or the desire to sort through crates of parts can see what they need easily and buy it, increasing sales to individual customers.

Continued organizing of both the file cabinet in the front store and the parts cabinet in the workshop has occurred. For the front store, the filing system had previously been a pile of folders, papers, notebooks etc. When you need something, you sort through it and find it. We decided to improve the system with hanging folders categorized with subcategories of manila folders inside to make everything have a place, which it now does. We’ve separated the drawers into four sections: information, personnel, operations, and invoices/receipts. This is a system that I masterminded, and worked with Maud to create. If it works well for Maud or Torsu into the coming years, wonderful. If not, at the very least it offers a model for organization and could be adapted to the changing needs of the office. Our previous organization of the parts cabinet had ended with cartridge and loose assembly bottom brackets, leaving five open drawers. We left crates of other small parts waiting in the corner. After a discussion of the best way to subdivide the drawers, Sule, Julius and I realized that we need to use thicker plywood that can be nailed into place through the thin metal walls of the drawers. We set to work, Sule cutting and shaping the wood, Julius and I organizing and measuring the space needed for drawer divisions. Currently, we’ve thoroughly organized headset parts, 1-piece bottom bracket parts, bearings, axles, stem bolts, seat clamps among others. The workshop is doing fine. Awaiting the construction of a fourth bench for Agyen, and also a matrix shelving system for organizing seatposts by size and another one for spokes, as well as a work order board, another bench and a local material bike stand for the outside roofed area.

For the past two months, the bike stock has been low, and has recently finished apart from about 8 frames. I’ve encouraged the mechanics to practice truing wheels, which Miriam and Julius were enthusiastic about and Agyen and Sule less so. Miriam had been truing wheels for Agyen and Sule’s bike builds, so she has gotten very good. One day I was replacing major rusted spokes on a wheel for a bike Sule was building, and Miriam observed. She said let me do one. I said sure. We got out the spoke ruler, found some spokes from our spoke box (pending organization) and I helped her set up the wheel. When she finished, she did another on her own. Yeah, I was impressed.

The second week of May, Arik Grier the office manager at Bikes Not Bombs came to visit for a week. Arik moved right into Ghana as if he had been here for years. Together we were immersed in intense Koforidua experiences and together we learned a lot. Arik came to visit Ability Bikes Cooperative in order to see the project first-hand, to enter into relationship with the workers giving the workers a friend and contact person in the BNB office, and to aid in developing the administrative procedures of the Ability Bikes office. The visit was very effective on all fronts. It started however with a first night at the beach – time to chill, talk, breathe, see one of the most beautiful night skies ever, watch a kora player practice, stand in the shallows with a cider and shout down the foundations of Babylon. Next morning with a bath in the ocean and up to Kof. Dinner with Maud and Torsu, good times. The next day spent with an impromptu lunch party at the house, everyone from Ability Bikes but Julius. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday at the shop, in the office. Arik helped us to look critically at our cash book procedures and the payroll system and offered advice on how to improve them. There were also many discussions between Arik and I about the history of the project, various analysis of project dynamics, of future growth potential. We discussed at length the development of the cooperative system of accounting and the process of the first annual meeting. Since Maud and Torsu still need to fully understand in practice the complexities of the business accounting system, how can they be expected to process the cooperative accounts on their own at the first annual meeting? This meeting is critical, because it will be a presentation of the years profit and loss, balances, and the distribution of the profit (or loss) to both the business account and to the individual worker accounts. Potential dividend amounts will be decided upon, with the remaining amounts in the worker accounts to be reinvested in the business. The previous year’s financial performance will be analyzed, decisions will be made regarding the next years budget and any other policy decisions will be made. To be done well, it’ll be a lot of work, and could use some guidance. The question of guidance for this annual meeting will be revisited in BNB / AB discussions. A cooperative expert, Ghanaian or other, consultant or volunteer… The last night in Accra, rooftop, looking into the sky again. Great to have Arik here, but I knew he was off to more goodness in his Ethiopian musical journeys.

There was a bit of a lull in the schedule of cooperative meetings for Ability Bikes. This was due to the intention of developing an action plan and budget to be presented at the meeting. One distraction after the other, one important work priority taking priority over the last. Time went. About a week and a half ago, we had the best coop meeting to date. It was a full day meeting. The thing that made it so incredible and extraordinary is that many things were discussed, many decisions were made, and there were no negative feelings expressed. The entire meeting was orderly and respectful. At certain points, criticisms of individual members were expressed in positive ways with positive responses. An important policy that undoubtedly influenced the peace and productivity of the meeting is that of a revolving chairperson. The coop has 6 members. Usually the 2 administrators chaired the meetings by default, developing the agenda, projecting un-intended hierarchy, increasing tension. Sule chaired the meeting and did an excellent job. Torsustey respected this position and assisted in Sule’s meeting role. Among the discussions and decisions were meeting schedule, meeting structure, preparation of meeting agendas, cooperative membership fees and dues, assessment of options for extra storage (land with containers or other rented stores), signboard and t-shirts, the pending container from Working Bikes Cooperative in Chicago!!!! (awesome new space – saw the pics, damn), hiring a contract clearing agent, the grand opening ceremony, and behavioral discipline in the workspace. We ended the meeting at 5:45, said peace to each other and felt good that another productive step was taken.

The system we’ve decided upon for the payment of the workers, the membership fee, dues, taxes etc. is this (***feedback welcome***): Each worker gets a monthly salary which is currently 70 GHC per month (better than average in Koforidua). Once taxes begin being paid, the gross salary will be increased to accommodate the taxes while maintaining around a 70 GHC net income. Taxes include 10% income tax and 5% Social Security, with 12.5% Social Security paid out by the business. The essence is that at the end of the year, the monies paid to each worker in salaries (not including the 12.5% SS paid out from the business account) are totaled and subtracted from the total income allocated to the individual worker’s account that year. The total allocated income per worker is based on the percentage of hours worked by that worker in relation to the total number of hours worked by the coop workers that contributed to the total profit for the year. (50% net profit for the year gets sent to the business account, and 50% gets allocated to the worker accounts.) If the allocated profit is more than the monies paid to the worker that year in salaries, the worker’s account will be positive. If the allocated profit is less than the monies paid to the worker that year in salaries, then the worker’s account will be negative. This potential loss will not affect the agreed upon monthly salaries for the workers the following year, but will just leave their member account in the negative. The number of enormous expenses this first year such as rent and payback of loans has reduced the business potential for profit. It is expected that any negative accounts will balance positive in coming years because profitability potential is strong. Regarding the membership fee, since it would financially affect the workers for AB to take a direct cash payment for the membership fee from them, it was decided that we can increase the gross monthly salary by 10 GHC, deduct that 10 GHC each month for 10 months making 100 GHC. This 100 GHC will be included in the total monies paid for the year and will be deducted from the workers allocated profit. After 10 months, the increased salary will remain. Dues will be cash payments made on behalf of the worker to pay for coop specific expenses (such as any expense incurred in printing, photocopying or refreshments at meetings).

About three weeks ago, Maud, Torsu, Sule and I met with a clearing agent and discussed the clearing of the next container. We agreed on a mutually beneficial pay rate, and we are currently waiting for the bill of lading. Due to the impossibility of Ability Bikes Cooperative getting a tax id number until registration is complete, Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah graciously agreed to assist Ability Bikes Cooperative to clear the container under the name and tax id number of his organization EEFSA. Thanks Emmanuel! – offering this critical support to the project. Once the bill of lading is in, the clearing agent will set to work processing it with the inspection company, that will value the goods based on certain standards and will prepare an official document detailing these values. This document is taken to an independent clearing agency that has access to the customs online database. The values are processed in the database and an official document is produced detailing the bill to customs. Since bicycles are already exempt from customs, the taxes and duties will be minimal, however the taxes at the shipping line and the container terminal will be a significant amount. At the point that this customs document is produced, Torsutsey and I will meet the clearing agent in Tema, go to customs, pay the fees, go to the shipping line, pay the fees, and then go to the container terminal, pay the fees, get the container, the driver, and get the hell out of that industrial pollution back to the mountains man. It is expected that there will be no demurrage (late) fees to pay, as we are going to act on this bill of lading process with unprecedented speed.

This pending container is from Working Bikes Cooperative in Chicago (http://workingbikes.org/), which managed to pack and send us a container with 500+ bikes very soon after moving into a new space which must have required significant effort. These efforts are offering the critical support Ability Bikes needs at this time. AB still owes a debt to the landlord and has a significant loan to pay off before AB can begin to pay toward acquiring extra storage. Ability Bikes is not responsible for paying overseas shipping on this container. Thank you Working Bikes for helping us out critically.

Ability Bikes is managing financially, but for the past two months there has not been significant income due to the reduced stock of bikes for sale. AB has kept afloat through the sporadic sales of our remaining bikes, used parts sales, and repairs (which are increasingly more frequent). We also sold the fence!!, I mean, we as in Ability Bikes.. ok, Maud sold the fence. She rocks. 5 pieces of US quality 8’ x 12’ fence sold at 130 GHC each making 650 GHC. We been trying to sell that damn fence for the past year, and now in the time of need, providence. So this leaves us with about 1000 big GHC, and lots of wheels and parts that can be wholesaled, along with bikes (including about 4 high-end bikes we built up from frames made possible by our increased wheel building). We can get at least another 1000 GHC from that minus this month’s salary amounting to around 400 GHC. This money will not be sufficient to clear the container. We estimate that it will cost around 2,500 GHC to clear this container, but we need to have at least 3,000 accessible in the bank. Loans from the bicycle sellers. Ever since the last container was cleared 5 months ago, the Koforidua bicycle sellers have been trying to give us money that will be credit toward the next wholesale. We refused because we don’t prefer debts. But we are going to approach this strategically. Nearly every wholesale has major tension and heightened male aggression in the hot sun – arguments abound, potential fights barely averted, it’s a rough day yo, but enables AB to avoid potential storage problems and to make large payments on debts, which is a very freeing experience, so we love it. We are developing the Ability Bikes Distribution Network (ABDN) that will allow bicycle sellers having their own physical workshop and point of sale to register as a member to be an official buyer during the wholesales. Registration will be a contract relationship with certain policies that the bike sellers must abide by to maintain membership. One major one is that only one representative from each shop at the wholesale, final. This will hopefully build a positive and professional relationship between AB and the bike sellers and may possibly reduce the tension and challenge of the wholesale.

I’ve worked with Maud and Torsutsey to develop an action plan for the remaining three months. We are trying to critically look at all the goals that must be accomplished by this time, break that out into tasks and responsibilities. We are going to work through it systematically to make sure that enough critical tasks get done in time. It is a goal of mine that Maud and Torsu will make this planning process their own, and as a result of this planning, experience the results of systematic task accomplishment, which will be in the form of a financially and legally stable Ability Bikes, an accomplishment for them to behold and say they did it.

On the long-term agenda is the search for extra storage. There are so many possibilities, but none seemed to be ideal so we just kept moving on. The most promising possibility over the past few months had been a piece of land, owned by Ghana Railway Company, about a 10 minute walk from the shop. A bit far, but doable. Large enough to hold 3 containers comfortably. The land is easily accessible by a 40ft flatbed truck and a crane, but is slopes, so would require a significant foundation built up about 4-5 ft on the back end. This particular situation of the slope would probably require a crane, which is crazy expensive. We schemed how we could make it happen, but we don’t even know the cost of the land, and this could be a very long process to find out, requiring substantial bribes. In the back of my mind had been another possibility, that I did not feel ready to inquire upon until recently, until I could tell the landlord exactly when we will pay him the balance we owe him, now that the container is confirmed, and on some enormous boat floating over the Atlantic at this very moment. Next to the two workshop stores are three stores in a row that are connected without walls on the inside, a veritable warehouse. I knew that the landlord used part of that space for his own borehole water pumps (his personal business), and that a friend of his used the rest of the space as a storage facility. I called the landlord and asked about those stores, prefaced by the statement we will pay you in 4 weeks. He told me that his friend’s interest in the space dwindled and that he would call this person, and if he no longer needs the space, the landlord could give us two of the stores. Satisfied I discussed this with the other workers. This is the most ideal storage space ever. It’ll cost another load of money, but the lease is ten years with the majority payment up front. On the phone the landlord said he would agree to a gradual payment schedule. He informed me that he always wants to support Emmanuel’s work, and now that he sees the character of Ability Bikes, he wants to support the work for physically challenged people. So the next day, he called and asked if we want all three stores, I said, ideally, swallowing the words: but the money, and he said he’ll try to find another space for his goods and will get back to me. All three stores would allow Ability Bikes to operate so comfortably, so effectively. Oh the visions I’ve had since those conversations. Anyway, we’ll see how things work out.

These past two weeks have been particularly exciting for Ability Bikes, due to new relationships, new possibilities, new stimulus. We agreed to support Craig Calfee and a team of bamboo bike frame builders that work in a small town near Koforidua to build up 7 frames as part of a bicycle mechanics training for the framebuilders. A full set of parts got shipped through VBP for the bikes – all new parts, beautiful stuff. We plan to do the training the end of this week.

Also, we’ve begun to work with Wisdom, the man aka “The Boy” as he is known in Accra. He’s a damn good Ghanaian bike mechanic, now 46 years old. He joined the business in his youth – made a bike completely out of wood that he rode to school, later exhibited in Ghana and then moved to a museum in France. Bicycles became his life at an early age. Wisdom learned how to do virtually all his mechanics through practice, critically exploring the principles of each component, understanding its system. During his 2-day visit, Wisdom taught us many things, but we focused on wheels. Let me just say that I have been the principal trainer for the Ability Bikes mechanics. All other experienced Ghanaian bike mechanics in Koforidua are competition. Wisdom came to Koforidua as an experienced Ghanaian mechanic who knows his job, and who shared this knowledge openly to the AB mechanics. Fireworks. They connected so well. I asked Sule who said, Man… he’s a cool guy. Miriam and Agyen now call him Uncle Wisdom. Wisdom gave the nickname “The Girl” to Miriam. Good times with a great friend. Wisdom focused on wheels during the two day visit. He showed his methods of straightening pretzeled rims, truing wheels, building wheels, spoke calculation on the fly, and finally freehub overhaul and repair. This was my first time overhauling a freehub, and now I can repair them as well, psyched. A shaky freehub probably indicates wear on the bearing races. A set of 3 washers separate the cup and cone, one washer ultrathin. Depending on the degree of shaking, one of the washers can be removed to shorten the distance between the cup and cone thereby reducing the play and correspondingly the shake. Also worn pawls can be ground back to shape. Wisdom took his job of mentor seriously, the workers became his students, he set an example for work ethic, offered business advice. What a great visit, bringing new energy and new possibilities, let alone new skills. Miriam and Julius have taken to Wisdom’s method of wheelbuilding, as opposed to my own, and I’m cool with that, it works for them and I’ll help them with more theory. The wheels are well built, and they are cranking them out with joy. All of this wheelbuilding and wheel repair has increased the amount of usable 26” wheels and is allowing us to build up those remaining frames into some solid high end bikes. Anyway, looking forward to more relationship with Wisdom.

Ability Bikes is expecting two more nearly confirmed containers in 2009. Income from these containers should pay off debts and the potential expense of renting the 3-store warehouse next to the workshop, leaving Ability Bikes the opportunity to save subsequent income in an offshore dollar account to be used for payment of overseas shipping on subsequent containers. Further income will allow Ability Bikes to purchase new parts for sale in bulk and pack them down in the warehouse, making more profit per item. Ability Bikes will also be able to purchase new bikes in bulk (there is a high demand for Japanese upright 3-speeds), pack them down, assemble, and sell them in addition to the used bikes. If the time is right, Ability Bikes can accept new members as mechanics, and it the bike stock grows past the immediate demand of Koforidua, can develop a system of selling bikes in rural areas around Koforidua. If the money is there, Ability Bikes could potentially order higher quality tools from Taiwan for sale and distribution. Further income could mean seed funding another bike shop for disabled people. These are just possibilities. The real work is the day-to-day operations, keeping things moving, growing. The goal however is to do one thing very good (this one bike shop providing 6 jobs), before looking into any other directions. But we’ve got so much potential, it doesn’t hurt to dream.