ROUTE MOTORING CLUB

Concept:

This business held a special place in my heart, as motorcycle culture is where I truly find my sense of belonging. It addressed two significant challenges I faced after relocating to the Bay Area. In each apartment I moved to, the absence of a garage meant that my motorcycle tinkering and project car work happened in public parking garages, on the side of the street, or not at all. Furthermore, I always experienced a sense of FOMO when working on my projects because it’s typically a solitary activity unless you have both friends who share your passion and a dedicated space to collaborate. There were Sundays when I wanted to work on my projects but didn’t want to sacrifice the limited weekend time I had for socializing with friends and family.

The Covid lockdowns provided the space and time for me to focus on gathering the right market research, talking to the right experts, and taking action on key steps to start building momentum towards opening the doors. Originally, I had planned on trying to rent the building across the street from what turned into Route, but I saw an opportunity with a different property and felt I had to act on it.

While walking our dog with my wife, I noticed the door to the smaller vacant garage across the street slightly rolled up. It was the first time I’d ever seen activity there since it sat closed and deteriorating for years. I stopped and told my wife, “I’ll be right back,” ran back to the garage, crawled under the roll-up door, and came face to face with the owners. I quickly assured them I wasn’t there to rob them and launched into the vision of the business. Honestly, I don’t think I gave them a moment to interject before I covered all the important points, but they could tell this was a passionate pivotal moment, so they let me talk. They said they would call me back after they thought about it. A couple of days later, I got a text to come in and talk. We met up at the shop, and they let me know they were prepared to take the risk and let me pilot the motoring club; I will forever be grateful to them for taking the leap with me. They put a lot of trust in me.

On a more granular level, I designed this venture to address two challenges with a business model I was very familiar with from my past career: a gym. In the distinctive landscape of the Bay Area, a common challenge persisted: a high concentration of motorcycle owners paired with a scarcity of service providers.

Individuals often found themselves managing basic services independently or navigating the logistics of reaching a service location, which over the years had receded farther and farther from residential areas. Furthermore, within the motor enthusiasm community, there had always existed a yearning for an official meeting place—a sanctuary where passion could thrive. Car and motorcycle enthusiasts naturally sought opportunities to connect with like-minded individuals, yet such interactions were often limited, sporadic, or confined to a narrow time window for meetups.

Route emerged as a response to these challenges at a foundational level. The broader objective was to create a hub of shared passion and dynamic collaboration, echoing the spirit of the Bay Area’s unconventional, progressive approach. It went beyond the realm of merely fixing motorcycles and cars; it was about cultivating connections, celebrating diverse interests and preferences, and establishing a space that honored the profound feeling of embodying a mechanical creation as a representation of a piece or whole of themselves.

Flugtag

The Build -
Bootstrapping at its finest. I funded this project entirely myself, so every purchase made was felt personally. Friends and family assisted with almost all of the demolition and restoration. We upcycled used equipment and fixtures, sourced furniture from offices in SF that were being liquidated, and leveraged all our WeWork building management connections to turn the space into a functional and inviting stage of mechanisms and personalities.

With a business model focused on getting everyday people to occupy an automotive garage with heavy equipment and tools, we knew some areas needed proper management. Legal considerations and having an insurance expert evaluate and advise on the best operational practices were key to a less anxiety-ridden opening.

Car and motorcycle culture already has a level of tribalism, so I tapped into that to start building brand awareness and excitement pre-launch. I created the most affordable postcards I could on Vistaprint and began tagging cars in the parking garage of the WeWork that I was using as a company home base. I placed them on all the sports-focused cars and motorcycles in the garage with a simple message about getting a “top-secret sneak peek” at the soon-to-open car club in town, with the promise that their vehicle would be featured in the club and shot by a professional photographer.

We had so many owners show up with cars that we had a minor traffic jam moving vehicles in and out between shoot sessions. The vast majority of owners I tagged were excited to show their car but more excited to tell the story of why that car was so meaningful to them. It is very rare for people to get a stage and opportunity to talk about their passion to others who get it and want to hear it. This organic excitement was the key to us opening with a significant portion of the membership pre-sold and the business already generating working capital for further development.

Operating -
This never felt like work; it involved long hours and a ton of mental and physical energy, but opening the garage door each day always got my heart racing. I never knew who was going to stop in with what rare machine and what rich conversation would flourish from the interaction. It could be a Vintage Vespa, a mint 79’ Chevy Blazer, or a 10-foot-tall Unimog - you just never knew.

Eventually, it took a combination of three teammates and two part-time employees to run the physical operation. Between keeping the common areas and lifts tidy, dealing with the physical byproducts of automotive work, and curating, prepping, and staffing events, the workload and stress were heavy. We wanted to keep growing the membership base as fast as possible to have the cash flow take the financial strain off the progress and get the model self-sufficient so we could focus on curating the community magic. Referrals and foot traffic ended up being our strongest member origins, which is a testament to the success of the business vision and the creation of a physically curious, inspiring, and inviting space.

We were pleasantly surprised when members started using the space as a remote office. For them, this was an exciting destination where the chance of a meaningful interaction was highly likely as members came and went throughout the day in their unique mode of transportation. Route became a fixture of the community in the area. With a significant number of members living within walking distance, there was new foot traffic in a previously vacant area that sits between two more commonly visited parts of Mill Valley. We collaborated with our business neighbors to support and drive business to them as well as lift the overall energy in that part of town. Weekdays were consistent, and weekends were full of energy and members.

The Closure -

This proved to be the most character-building phase of the entire experience. While I had negotiated a special lease that gave us the edge needed to open and launch operations quickly, it also became our Achilles’ heel. The building owners expressed their intention to revert the property back to private use, a development we were aware of, but the timing proved challenging due to several unrelated factors.

My business partner, Kevin, who was also my partner at Simple Campers, was expecting his first child just weeks before my son’s birth. Faced with this, we had to make a difficult choice: to focus all our energy on our more established and revenue-generating business, prepare for the arrival of our growing families, or prioritize setting up the new location for Route.

Simultaneously, our two other business partners felt overwhelmed by the impending transition and abruptly relinquished their responsibilities, adding to our workload during an already challenging period.

Understanding we were going to be fathers any day, we had a loose move-out date of three months with the owners, so Kevin and I solely shouldered the responsibility of breaking the news to members, liquidating assets, closing down operations, and shutting the doors. Needless to say, this was a lot to shoulder emotionally and physically, but we were able to do it. We closed out all the legal requirements over the next few months, and on a very early, chilly November morning, I walked my dog over there and spent a few quiet minutes inside the club before I closed the door for the last time. To this day, I still can’t bring myself to paint over the exterior logo. I love pulling up to that intersection and seeing “Motoring Club” in huge text on the main route to the best driving on Route 1 in California. What an unbelievable experience it was, introducing me to so many brilliant people, challenging me in every way, and helping me better understand myself and what I stand for. Eventually, I will open another physical business with the essence of this mission because there is a dire need for connection and community in this day and age, and we nailed it with Route, regardless of the struggles and outcomes.

Lessons Learned:

The business model can function financially but demands a dedicated approach to member engagement.
We strongly emphasized the concept that less is more. For most members, the primary attraction was the social aspect and the sense of belonging to a community, with the tools taking a back seat. Member retention heavily relied on being present and enthusiastic. It became evident that investing sweat equity yielded greater returns than pouring more funds into lavish renovations, top-tier furnishings, or high-quality tools. We focused on the core desires of our members for a social club.
Always check references. The key lies in assembling the right team to weather the storm of a business launch. I had a few business partners who jumped ship when things got challenging, but having one business partner, Kevin, who believed in the mission and me and stood by my side until the end proved invaluable professionally and personally.