Talk to any cyclist with two wheels and a heartbeat, and they鈥檒l tell you about the rush that comes from discovering a city鈥檚 treasures and secrets from behind the handlebars.
That鈥檚 a feeling that recent H漫画 graduate Sarah Craig knows well. These days, though, she gets an equally-thrilling rush by sharing that experience with others through her new bike share company.
I Heart Bikes, just opened on the Halifax waterfront, incorporates rentals, a service shop and promoting the best-kept secrets of Halifax. Through her hard work, Ms. Craig is proving that business can not only be fun, but socially, economically and environmentally聽 conscious.
Making a difference
She graduated from H漫画 this spring with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, focusing most of her electives on environmental science topics. That fusion of interests reflects her belief that business leaders, present and future, need to have a better understanding of the environment and how it relates to day-to-day business practices.
She completed her first work term at the Eco-Efficiency Centre where she did energy reviews for small-to-medium sized businesses, and then went on to work with the Climate Change Directorate doing greenhouse gas accounting.
鈥淚 knew I wanted to make an impact wherever I went,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檝e been working with small businesses since I was a teenager and felt I was finally ready to take the step and run my own business.鈥�
Powerful partnerships
鈥淎t the time, I was working on a project that required doing research in the bike industry,鈥� she explains. 鈥淚 started finding all these bike rental programs in London, Madrid, Toronto and Montreal, and thought to myself, 鈥榃hy doesn鈥檛 Halifax have a bike share program?鈥欌��
And suddenly an idea was born.
I Heart Bikes opened its doors on the Halifax Waterfront on Canada Day with a wide range of services including a bike rental program, service shop, a boutique with locally-made items for sale, and an original 鈥淐ity Map鈥� with five different routes that incorporate cycling, walking, dining, and sightseeing throughout downtown Halifax and Dartmouth.
To help finance the project, I Heart Bikes offered a 鈥榮ponsor a bike鈥� program to the local business community. Some sponsors have even offered discounts to I Heart Bikes customers when they present their helmet, helping creating a more collaborative approach amongst businesses in promoting urban adventure.
鈥淎fter talking with local businesses, it became obvious that people wanted to see a bike rental program in Halifax,鈥� says Ms. Craig. 鈥淚 Heart Bikes seeks to provide both locals and visitors with a unique and memorable experience that is woven into the fabric of our urban environment in attempts to exhibit our artistic flair and creative small business culture.鈥�
鈥楬ow can we do better?鈥�
So far, Ms. Craig says the feedback has been very positive.
鈥淚 always have my customers fill out a comment card before they go home,鈥� she explains. 鈥淪o far, everyone has had a very positive experience with the routes, the sightseeing and the local hotspots. Even so, there鈥檚 always room for improvement and I鈥檓 always interested in hearing how we can do better.鈥�
Not one to rest of her laurels, Ms. Craig is already thinking ahead with goals of expanding I Heart Bikes to satellite locations in Downtown Dartmouth and the north end of Halifax. She plans to spend the winter months on the research and development component of her business by conducting focus groups, hoping to build the business slowly each year.
鈥淲e want to know how to make biking more accessible for people and what we can do to promote cycling to locals and visitors to the area,鈥� she explains. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a small business and so we don鈥檛 have large promotional funds so finding creative ways to get the word out will also be something we work on.鈥� 聽
For now however, she鈥檚 looking forward to spending the rest of the summer engaging with clients, meeting new people and discovering other ways to help promote the environment through I Heart Bikes.
鈥淪eeing each customer depart and arrive with a smile on their face is the best part of the job,鈥� she says.聽 鈥淲hen a customer tells me someone ringed their bike bell at them, or yelled, 鈥業 Heart Bikes!鈥�...it鈥檚 the icing on the cake.鈥�
For more information on I Heart Bikes, visit