Mr. Reed is a new teacher at Lincoln this year. He teaches a variety of business classes including Business Economics and Business Management. Apart from being a teacher, he’s also a small business owner. 

He owns a franchise called Velofix, a mobile bike shop, which provides repair services for all kinds of bikes. His customers book their services online and at a specified time, a professionally certified mechanic from the shop goes to the customer’s house to fix their bike.  

I sat down with Mr. Reed to learn about how he juggles his two jobs. “It actually works well with my teaching schedule. In the summertime when we don’t have class, that’s when the bike season is busier,” he says of being a business owner. 

In the summertime he goes out and fixes his customers’ bikes, sometimes taking his son with him. He hopes that his son and younger daughter will someday work for the business and keep it in the family. 

During the school year, he limits the work he does for his business to what he can do from home. He takes customers’ calls, replies to their emails, and inputs payments from customers into his business’ system. He’s also involved in the behind-the-scenes work of paying for his business’ vehicle as well as the taxes. 

“I have an employee who works for me during the day,” he explained. While he’s teaching, his employee fixes his customers’ bikes.  

As for teaching, while having objectives he wants to hit during his classes, he doesn’t spend time planning out every minute of his lessons. He feels that a strength he has as a teacher is the ability to improvise a little, making for a fun class while also giving him more time to spend with his family and on his business. 

“Feeling exhausted is somewhat normal,” Mr. Reed said when asked for advice he would give to people considering taking on multiple jobs. “I think it’s just about managing and making priorities. If you’re organized, have set priorities, and stick to those priorities, you can manage multiple things at the same time.” 

Mr. Reed is a great example of someone who is balancing a teaching career with the demands of being an entrepreneur and owning a small business.