Heaven on Wheels -Simple Article

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The article Heaven on Wheels, published by Forbes Magazine and written by Christopher Steiner, is about a bicycle messenger in Portland, Oregon that made a wide “U-Turn” and started his own business. Sacha White, a retired bicycle messenger, decided to build his own bike after his own bike took its final ride, due to its frame snapping in half. White soon became famous in his community for the materials he used, creating the frame out of a silver alloy that cost 20 times more than the normal brass most common bikes used. White soon decided to end his bike messenger days and form a bicycle manufacturing company called Vanilla Bicycles; due to multiple requests made from friends begging to buy a bike like his own. Vanilla Bicycles has become rapidly well known in the bicycle world, many bicyclists wishing they could get a hold on one. Vanilla Bicycles has had to stop taking new orders, due to the amount they had received in the last year, reaching a wait-list of four years. What separates Vanilla Bicycles from most common bicycles is the quality and effort put into each bike. Before White starts building a bike, he must receive the clients measurements, customizing the bikes frame to fit the client perfectly. Although United States may be in a recession and Vanilla Bicycles doesn’t offer the cheapest bikes around, averaging 7,000 dollars a bike, it hasn’t stopped bicyclist from buying high-quality American-made bikes. The company has an income of 300,000 dollars a year, earning 100,000 dollars in profit, which is more than enough to keep White from ever having to become a bike messenger again. This article reminded me of Chapter 2, Competing in Global Markets, due to the reasons of other bicycle companies that are imported into the country with a much lower resale value. Not only does White face competition from bikes made in China, but other American-made

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