Q&A with The Jumpoff Pedal Trolley co-founders Rhonda Douglas & Tiarra Hammond
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Rhonda Douglas and Tiarra Hammond met at work as social work professionals. Douglas, 47, a South Bend native and Hammond, 35, originally from Chicago, connected over their desire to someday start a business.
The duo launched The Jumpoff Pedal Trolley last May, after finding a trolley owner looking to sell within state limits. The company provides two-hour pedal trolley tours of South Bend Area bars and pubs for single riders, groups, private parties, and corporate events.
The company’s business season runs from May through October, due to weather conditions.
Douglas and Hammond spoke with Inside INdiana Business about how they got the business idea, funding, and some of the different strategies they are using to market their business to residents and visitors. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
What inspired you guys to start the business?
Tiarra and I were co-workers prior to the business starting. She had some business ideas; I had some ideas, so we decided to go into business together. One of the business ideas that we had originally wasn’t viable, so we scrapped that. One day I’m sitting on the couch, watching a reality TV program, and they had a pedal trolley on that programming. Then I reached out to Tiarra and I said, “Hey, what do you think about a pedal trolley?” She was like, “Oh, I think that’s a great idea.” We thought it would be a good addition to our city.
What resources did you need to start the business and where do you store the trolley?
I already had established an LLC. So I had the groundwork already laid for the business account, which gave us a little bit of leeway for a start. We also got in contact with an entrepreneurial boot camp through University of Notre Dame. That also helped us to begin to bridge some of those business gaps that we were unfamiliar with and also helped establish our network with other entrepreneurs, other folks who were familiar with the footprint in the community. The Notre Dame entrepreneurs boot camp has actually been a tremendous help. From there, we started reaching out for financial support once we made those business connections. We were able to get connected with CDFI Friendly in South Bend. They helped us secure the money for us to be able to purchase our trolley and then began to find out where we can actually store the trolley. We were able to find another local business owner to store the trolley there. That’s a part of our overhead costs.
Douglas speaks about Notre Dame’s entrepreneurial bootcamp and getting connected with CDFI Friendly.
How much did it take to get the business off the ground? And how have you been able to pay back the loan given the seasonality of the business?
It was about $30,000, the loan was about $15,000. The CDFI Friendly partners with financial institutions to keep the interest rate below 10% for entrepreneurs, so it hasn’t been too bad. But when you are trying to still manage your own household finances, that becomes a challenge especially along with the insurance and all that stuff. The CDFI Friendly funds are only for two years. So we’re trying to be smart about only taking on debt that we can actually manage.
What are some of the challenges you’ve faced and how have you been able to navigate them?
Finding funding initially was a challenge because there’s just limited resources available to minority, women-owned businesses. So we had to understand grants, loans, etc. If it was a grant, were there restrictions on how we would be able to spend the money? So we began to talk to more community members and that’s how we were able to find the CDFI Friendly.
Another big challenge, especially going into this season is insurance. The insurance, who’s actually holding those policies, the premiums along with those monthly payments has been a huge financial strain.
The third thing is just marketing. Even though this is only the second season, still a lot of people just don’t even know who we are. So just constantly trying to get the word out. Trying to find events, different things that are going on in the community that are a good fit for us.
Is the business only open during the weekends?
We’re open Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We’re doing some pilot research to see if people want to do the trolley as part of the wine walk downtown on Wednesdays.
What was the reception like in your first season?
Last year was a lot of trial and error, bringing something new to the area. There’s a lot of things we would do differently in this second season. The first season was essentially just collecting information on what works, what doesn’t work, and we had a lot of takeaways. Customers love the concept and one thing we’re working on getting right is the reservation system and how we can get more people. If we had to guess, we had about 100 people from May to October in our first season.
What have you done so far to begin to expand your reach for this season?
The season is just getting started and as part of our marketing, we do booths and tables at community events. On Saturday, we will have a spirit station at the Girls on the Run Michiana 5K at the Potawatomi Park. Within the Notre Dame boot camp, they have students that work with one of the professors. We’re also working on doing some events with Notre Dame, the alumni association and then also doing a reunion event with them as well. Last season, we did the Memorial Day parade and this year, we also participated in the St. Patrick’s Day parade. Those are some of the things that we’ve done and some of the things that we’re also looking forward to. This season, the city is allowing alcohol on the trolley, so that’s going to be another big thing for us.
Are there any plans to focus fully on the business in the future, especially with its seasonality?
That’s our goal for sure, but we have to be realistic in that aspect as well. These things take time and we’re just taking it season by season.
In terms of your experience so far, what are some of the entrepreneurship lessons that you’ve learned?
You’re not going to get rich overnight; that’s definitely one of my takeaways. Number two, you need to know your ‘why.’ Number three, you desperately need to have the grit to survive the ups and the downs of the story and knowing that it is and can be a very lonely, isolating road out here if you don’t know how to find your tribe.
How much does the service cost for the trolley and how can people find you?
Pricing is different based on the day and we also offer group discounts. $45 on Fridays, $50 on Saturdays and $40 on Sundays. All the information is on our website.