Just today I found myself googling ‘bike mechanic courses’. 

Why on earth?…

The main reason is to do a bit of self education around bike maintenance now that I own a bike again – and to save a few $$ on bike repairs when things go awry. Maybe I should know all this stuff from childhood, but I was never big into bikes. However in the last two months I have been cycling 4 or 5 times a week and often on tracks that a little rough, meaning the bike can take a bit of a beating. There have been 2 visits to the bike mechanic already, and I sense more to come unless I figure this stuff out myself. 

On Friday I texted a ‘mobile bike mech’ to see if he could attend to an issue with the gear shifting. He could but it would be $230 + parts for the first hour. I quickly lost interest. However; as happened 15 years ago with reticulation, I thought to myself ‘there are people out there paying this amount to have their bikes repaired…’ It sounded like an outrageous amount just to come and adjust some screws, but perhaps that is the going rate?…

Then the thought came ‘I could learn this… bikes can’t be that complicated… and people love their bikes and hate it when they break down…’

I dunno if I will do anything with the thought other than try and do a bit of self education, but for an aspiring entrepreneur with savvy social media marketing skills there is a small business opportunity there for the taking. (See here)

It reminded me of a podcast I was listening to a few months back now from the English Northern Baptist Assoc of churches as they tried to re-imagine themselves as missionaries. One of the pastors is bivo, with his other role being that of bike mechanic. He spoke of the way it engaged him with the people in his community and how people just appreciated his services. Another pastor took a short ‘barber’ course and then began cutting hair, focusing especially on the folks who couldn’t afford a regular haircut. It’s a very personal thing to have someone in your immediate space for 30 minutes and inevitably conversation flows.

For some people the idea of going ‘bivo’ sounds daunting – like ‘where do I start?’

Simple answer – start with what you are good at and what you enjoy. Chances are you will continue to enjoy it and even get paid for it.

In his book ‘Bivo’, Hugh Halter writes about smart jobs and dumb jobs you can get as a bivo pastor. He further divides the idea into four types of jobs. I have slightly modified it by adding the word ‘local’.

High local people contact + high income = smart job

High local  people contact + low income = ok job

Low local people contact + high income = ok job

Low local  people contact + low income = dumb job

You can probably think of jobs that fit each category. My time in retic was a smart job – lots of local people and a steady supply of well paid work. My caravan weighing business and diesel heater business are more in the ‘ok’ sphere though as they pay well, but the people contact is not specifically local. 

You can of course just get a ‘job’ and do the bivo thing that way, but unless you are in a high paying vocation, you will likely just  be earning a reasonable salary – which is fine – but a ‘job’ typically brings a degree of constraint and limitation which a self starter type business doesn’t.

So my advice to people who are serious about being bivo is to ideally start a small venture that can grow, but that is both lucrative and local – like being a bike mechanic… Seriously – as well as lucrative and local, I would suggest that you look for roles where there is a low bar to entry. You can’t just head out and be a plumber tomorrow, unless you complete a 3-4 year apprenticeship, so while plumbing is a good idea – it is not an immediate solution.

What are some examples I am aware of?

Just last week I caught up with a young 21 year old who wants to figure out how to serve God but also keep the $$ flowing. I had never met him before, but I knew his father from a previous pastoral role. He had read my post here and wanted to chat. As we talked he shared that he has found a niche in email marketing, working for several clients and while it’s only bringing in around $1K/week he is well positioned it grow – and he can also get by on that very minimal salary at this point in his life. He works from his laptop, specialises in a particular type of marketing and is figuring out how to do it well. I have no doubt he will succeed and his biggest challenge will come with turning away work and limiting his income as a result.

My friend Stuart runs a consulting business that is now well established and highly regarded. He is also helping a country church thru a period of transition. We sometimes laugh about his corporate rates, but this is simply the $$$ ballpark in which they play. As a result he can offer churches top quality help at a very nominal price by comparison. And it’s stuff he is good at and really enjoys. Interestingly, while he always had these capacities, they were ‘fanned into flame’ around 20 years ago during our ‘Forge’ years when he took on the role of director of coaching – because he seemed like the right guy for it. Now with both substantial training and experience he is in a position to keep doing what he loves for a long time – and he will get well paid for it.

Then there is Andy who used to live in our local area and work as a pastor. He did a stint with a country church, working part time as a pastor and also on the local mine. More recently he has finished in the pastoral role and runs his own SUP (stand up paddle board) school. It is local and while some of his clients are tourists I an sure a good number are also local people.He is a long time surfer so being in the water and with people are two of the things he loves and is good at.

Get the idea?

What are you good at that you may be able to convert to a small business to help fund some ministry ventures?

I have considered doing things in the area of drone photography and coffee roasting as these are both loves of mine. Both my diary and the local market are already full enough, but if I wanted ‘more’ then maybe I could begin here. The fun I have had cycling lately on an electric ‘Fat-bike’ made me wonder whether in a touristy place like Yanchep ‘Fat-bike tours’ could be a fun venture too. Again – there is only so much space in life so some ideas just go straight thru to the keeper.

But the point is to, find a niche – Ideally a niche that you enjoy and that pays well, begin working locally, among your own community and from there build a client base of local people. If you are leadng a church at the same time then you will have the opportunity to model misisonal leadership and Christlike living to the people in your congregation as you inhabit the very same working world as they do.

Want some other ideas?… Because they just keep coming at me and I don’t have time to pursue them all. 

Start a garage door repair business – no training needed (obviously you would need to learn the ropes) then get started and define your catchment area for work. It’s often a one man operation and pays well.

Be a carer for people with disabilities. (Don’t do this if don’t enjoy this kind of work – because it is tiring), but you can set your own hours, choose your clients and receive a very healthy income from NDIS. I know because my 21 year old son is doing very well out of this at the moment and anyone who wanted to pursue a bivo path could do this with minimum training or qualifications.

A couple of years back while we were travelling Oz, one of the ideas we mulled around was buying a local school bus run and driving it ourselves. I thought it looked like a great way to get into the lives of all of the local families on a daily basis. And the gov rates of payment also make it a very lucrative gig. In the end the thought of being bound by school holidays was a key factor in us not pursuing it. It was only a few months back we spoke at a country church and then had lunch with some local people who told us how they loved their kid’s school bus driver because he took an interest in their lives – he made it about much more than bus driving.

I hope you see that the possibilities are only limited by your imagination. So when people complain and say they don’t want to ‘flip burgers’ or stand a Woollies check out in a bivo life I want to suggest there are many more creative and lucrative ways to pursue that kind of calling.