A look inside...who are we?

[Rody]

Often the question of who is a professional builder comes up in conversations about our industry.

A few years ago, I drafted up a survey to take a look at the demographic that make up our community. I thought the results would yield a unique perspective on the sustainability of building as a career.

I've finally gotten around to putting it into an online form and would like to achieve a wide distribution to capture a diverse snapshot of individuals who ply this trade with the end goal of sharing our findings to provide some transparency for folks who are considering this field as a career.

I did take the liberty of focusing on individuals who fit a generic label of professional; custom fabrication in exchange for money, have a business license and insurance, ply this trade for their daily economic survival. If you feel that your business ticks these boxes, please consider taking 10 minutes to complete the survey.

The survey has been completed by a small group of trusted professionals to help direct the development criteria and we are now expanding our survey group.

This is an in depth questionnaire, seeking not only basic demographic info, but business specifics as well; production numbers, COGS, Infrastructure, etc...

All information is anonymous and I have no ability to personally identify the participant, so I ask that you also be honest in your evaluation as we want the statistics to reflect our profession as accurately as possible.

The survey questionairre can be found here... https://rody1.typeform.com/to/ZOKiTM

It is my hope to have the research completed and available for presentation by Nahbs in Sacramento, after which it will be accessible as a resource online.

Thanks for helping paint a more transparent picture of who the professional framebuilder is.

cheers,

rody
Groovy Cycleworks

[sam]

Not to dirty up the thread or sidetrack the post, I hope this does not do that. Anyway I think that many up and comers might be surprised at how many builders we would truly think of as professional, and are professional, but it is not there main job or supplemented by other income, or spouse.

[Rody]

Sam,

It is my hope that the statistics will clearly illustrate that hard definitions rarely apply across the spectrum.

Though each of us are individuals with unique circumstances, there are truths that hold across the profession; success requires strong business education fundamentals, ingrained muscle memory of process/fabrication repetition, sacrifice and dedication in an often lonely environment, and a desire to reach a higher level of personal achievement and quality.

I look forward to seeing the results as well.

r

[Too Tall]

Thanks goes out to Rody for bringing his honesty and positive energy to the forum. In particular, keeping the conversation relevant and focused.

Yeah man. Go!

[bencooper]

Done. Though there's some things I'm not answering.

[dgaddis]

Done. Though there's some things I'm not answering.

Why? Because you don't want to share, or because you don't know?

They all look like good relevant questions for what Rody is trying to do, I didn't see anything I would be hesitant to answer.

[landshark]

Cool to see this....and this is basically part of what I'd been intending to undertake for my own research into the handbuilt/custom bike niche/world, so will be curious to see results (and will message off list a bit about this). This is not meant as a critique at all, but one of the most intriguing issues here (to me, at least!) is perhaps filtered out by your current structure. That is, in purposefully limiting respondents to those who "realize income necessary for survival" the survey filters out those who build part-time or have multiple sources of income. I know the definition of "professional" is often debated here and elsewhere, and I'm not taking "sides" in the definitional debate....but having a sense of just how many builders are making a living full-time or part-time would really help clarify how the niche works (or does not) as what you call a "sustainable" source of business or personal income. From a survey standpoint, you could always later filter out those who report doing this part-time, as a hobby or whatever else, but you can't know about them at all if they aren't responding initially.

Ben Brewer

[Rody]

This is not meant as a critique at all, but one of the most intriguing issues here (to me, at least!) is perhaps filtered out by your current structure. That is, in purposefully limiting respondents to those who "realize income necessary for survival" the survey filters out those who build part-time or have multiple sources of income.

Ben,

This was discussed amongst the small group of peers I vetted the survey with.

Although we are all lumped together as "framebuilders", my hope is to limit participation to those that WORK this profession; taking pride in their product, standing behind it when it falls short, place the safety and satisfaction of our customers as a priority and recognize it as a contributing factor to career longevity.

If building makes up the greatest portion of your personal income or is simply an adjunct to another income source is a relevant metric I hope to see prove out in the results. Lots of folks have spouses/partners that carry the financial/benefit torch, some have product lines outside of cycling that still come out of the same shop, etc... I want to see results from folks who are invested in this profession and use it as a sustainable income source to provide for their chosen lifestyles.

Many want to dip a toe into this pool without a clear perspective on if it is possible, or the amount of personal sacrifice/work to make it so. Let's hope we can lift some of that veil.

[bencooper]

Why? Because you don't want to share, or because you don't know?

They all look like good relevant questions for what Rody is trying to do, I didn't see anything I would be hesitant to answer.

Just some financial stuff I'm not happy sharing. that's all.

[crumpton]

pro·fes·sion·al

(of a person) engaged in a specified activity as one's main paid occupation rather than as a pastime.
"a professional boxer"

[incepi]

I'm interested in knowing what percentage of known framebuilders respond to the survey. Of those who respond, what percentage describe framebuilding as their primary income source.

[Rody]

Eric,

To date, we've had 24 responses.

The niche of builders tend to be very independent folks...tough to herd cats together.

Please feel free to share the link to this thread in other areas of the interwebs, the more participation, the more clarity the results will provide.

cheers,

rody

[duanedr]

Eric,

To date, we've had 24 responses.

rody

Anything you can share from the results of the survey? As a trained economist and an analyst in corporate finance in tech industry in real life I often find myself wondering what it takes to be sustainable in this trade. I'd be interested in understanding size of market, production numbers and such. More out of curiosity than anything.

Also happy to help collate and analyze the data if that's limiting the progress on this.

Thanks!