3: Disrupting The Industry Standard and Niche Markets with Elsbeth Cool

Where can you find Four Star Family Cyclery?

Elsbeth Cool is the owner of Four Star Family Cyclery. She and her husband, Nate have been car-less for 10 years all while have two babies in between. Elsbeth has been riding cargo bikes since the beginning which eventually inspired her to start FSFC 7 years later.

The biking industry is largely athletic men who tend to scoff at women riders who want to use biking as a mode for transportation - especially with kids. Elsbeth saw an opening in the industry after hearing countless stories of women who had poor experiences at bike shops. There is also a specialized knowledge set that comes with owning and caring for a cargo bike. So she decided to turn her industry on its head in multiple ways by opening up a cargo bike-focused shop that is by appointment only. Her friends who also owned bike shops and were in their retail spaces 6-7 days a week said it would never work but FSFC is thriving.

Elsbeth hardly does any traditional marketing - she relies heavily on referrals from her customers! She also never got traditional funding either - she started small and didn’t go into debt in order to start her business - she feels like this keeps you from feeling like you’re being ruled by your business.

They are a 100% family friendly business and have all sorts of things to entertain the youngest members of the family while the parents are testing out the bikes!

Books Mentioned:

The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur by Mike Michalowicz

Clockwork by Mike Michalowicz

The Podcast