Motorcycles are not like cars. When you park a car, it usually stays put. But for motorcycles, there is no standard way to prevent them from rolling. There have been some products over the years that have worked to solve this problem.
But safety has been a concern with many of those products as well. That was before ROADLOK came along, of course. The company produces a motorcycle immobilizer it says is safe and can prevent damage and theft. Read more about the business and how it got started in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.
What the Business Does
Designs and sells a motorcycle immobilizer.
The product is patented and the first of its kind. Adam Xavier, CEO and co-founder of ROADLOK says: “Before we brought the ROADLOK to market, the only option a rider had was to use a dangerous disc lock to prevent a roll away theft. We positioned our brand, ROADLOK, as the only true motorcycle immobilizer that eliminates any chance for injury or damage to a motorcycle.”
How the Business Got Started
On a bar napkin.
Xavier explains: “While sitting in a bar with my twin brother and a riding friend, we began discussing motorcycles and riding, as we often did in the summer. Eventually the subject of theft came up, and we started talking about the lack of practical theft prevention options in the market. Some of these solutions were okay, but not amazing or necessarily safe. So over the course of the next few hours my brother and I sketched out a prototype on a napkin. This design eventually became the basis of the system we use today.”
Biggest Win
Receiving patent protection.
Xavier says that it is difficult to get patent protection for this type of product. So receiving it really told them that the idea was legitimate.
How They’d Spend an Extra $100,000
Hiring more phone sales reps.
Xavier says that this move would help them increase sales and thus grow the business.
Business Tradition
Weekly “Power Hours.”
Each Tuesday, the team gets together to discuss various aspects of the business. Regardless of travel or other plans, they make sure to discuss plans and strategies at least once a week. And even though they call it “power hour,” Xavier says they usually extend to two or three-hour-long sessions.
Xavier explains: “We use the time to synchronize our schedules and get on the same page. After the formalities we discuss the product and how we can better get out in front of our customers around the world. The Power Hour time trumps all schedules and still holds regardless of time zone and geographical location of myself and the team.”
Favorite Quote
“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” – Kurt Vonnegut
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