LISTEN UP
BUDDY SYSTEM: Steve Green (right) has helped mentor Wheelzup founder Mandela Echefu (left)— and learned a thing or two from him along the way.
from him than he learns from me. Also, Mandela doesn’t ski as fast as I do—sometimes, I have to remember to slow down and wait for him. How can business be more than business? Mandela: When owners have clearly defined what success is for them. Once this has been done, your business then becomes a tool to attaining the life you want for yourself. I see the key to achieving a business that transcends just business in a quote by Zig Ziglar: “You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough peo- ple get what they want.” I do this starting with my team and then our customers. Steve: Talk to your customers and take care of your employees. We put that personal touch with our customers that big business- es or online can’t do. I know a lot of my customers’ foot sizes. What’s next? Mandela: I am trying to figure out what the future holds; there seems to be a change happen- ing in the outdoor industry. There are tons of newer, smaller, non-mainstream brands that resonate with customers, and our unique model of blending lifestyle, bikes, tourist stuff, and experiences creates challenges and opportunities. So, in essence, the plan is to collect more data, learn from more people, and hopefully decide how to proceed. Steve: I get to sit back and watch where Mandela’s path takes him. He is constantly full of ideas.
Better Together
and help build bikes. He’s a lot of fun to work with and has a contagious laugh. He was also out of my immediate market, so I didn’t view him as a threat. What have you learned from each other? What have you taught each other? Mandela: I have learned from Steve that there is no shortcut to success. You must work your business with optimism and passion. I have also learned that there is more of an art to striving to be financially successful as a business but not being only about squeezing every dollar from every customer. We must care about the business, the community, and the environment. Steve: Mandela is great at social media and growing his commu- nity. I always learn from his out- reach. I call him to bounce ideas off of him, whether it’s employee issues or vendor issues. I think I have taught Mandela some basic business concepts that helped him grow, but there are also times when Mandela asks me a question, and I don’t have a good answer. The relationship has come full circle over the last several years as I now learn more
W hen Mandela Echefu planned to start Wheelzup Adven- tures ( wheelzupadventures.com ), a bike shop and tour business in Cumberland, Maryland, he reached out to local outdoor business icon Steve Green, who has spent over three decades succeeding, making mistakes, and learning along the way at High Mountain Sports ( highmountainsports.com ) in nearby Oakland, Maryland. That mentorship has taught Green new things and made it possible for Echefu to continue to grow. How did you meet? Mandela Echefu: When I wrote my business plan, Steve was one of the people who owned outdoor/bike shops I reached out to. I had him look over my business plan and asked him some questions about the industry. He was very open and encouraging. A few weeks after that meeting, he sent me some grant information and checked in on my progress. He invited me to spend some time at his shop, where I went through a kind of apprenticeship. He taught me how to buy, to think in terms of profitability, and take a holistic approach to running a business. I have tagged along with him ever since. Steve Green: Mandela called me to pick my brain about starting a business. I knew of him from the cycling/skiing community, so we met at the coffee shop next to my business. He doesn’t remember this, but I told him running a business was incredibly hard and he should start with lots and lots of cash. This was before COVID. I had Mandela work in our store so he could see how things worked. During COVID, we couldn’t build bikes fast enough, so he would come up on the weekends when he wasn’t working his real job When High Mountain Sports’ Steve Green decided to mentor Mandela Echefu through the process of opening a new shop and growing a business, it was the start of a collaboration that has reaped rewards for both.
28 GRASSROOTS STORIES
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