Prescott, Arizona –February, 2013 -Many attempts have been made to assist impoverished people with bicycles as an affordable, healthy means of travel. From volunteer-run programs to corporate-funded charity grants, these efforts have not yet proven sustainable. A new book, Defying Poverty with Bicycles: How to Succeed with Your Own Social Bike Business Program, taps the best of these concepts and remolds them into a social enterprise model meant to benefit many generations. It guides readers through simple steps for providing appropriate bicycles to struggling people as well as proven methods for launching new careers through bicycles.
This book will inspire both novices and seasoned veterans to lift their bicycle programs into the self-sustaining social enterprise realm. Author Sue Knaup unveils this simple model using the latest social enterprise techniques as well as her own experience through her career with bicycles and her more than 36 years working for and leading nonprofits. As a San Francisco bike messenger in the 1980s, she saw firsthand how bicycles can offer an escape from poverty. As a bike shop owner in Prescott, Arizona for 13 years, she learned the intricacies of business success. And as the founder and executive director of One Street, an international bicycle advocacy organization, she works to connect nonprofit and business leaders to help people with bicycles.
“I only wish I had had Defying Poverty with Bicycles at my disposal eight years ago!” said Michael Linke, Managing Director of the Bicycling Empowerment Network Namibia.“The writing style is very clear, concise and accessible. The content certainly rang true based on my experience and will be a great asset to start-ups and established entities alike.”
The book starts with social business concepts ensuring that readers set a strong foundation for their own bicycle program. Planning and fundraising for initial capital come up quick as elementary to any program‘s success. Midway through the 206 page book, readers delve into the details of management in easy-to-digest sections that will help any program leaders gain the confidence they need to succeed. In the final chapters, readers learn methods of expanding their program into satellite bike shops, manufacturing their own bicycles and developing creative income generators such as bicycle machines.
Recently published through One Street Press, Defying Poverty with Bicycles is now available for purchase through online booksellers as well as at a 20% discount if purchased directly through One Street Press: http://www.onestreet.org/