Diary of a CEO #12: Why Building a Cycling Business Is Harder Than Winning Bike Races
There’s a misconception that I’ve noticed over the past few years.
People think the difficult part is creating a great product.
It isn’t.
People think it’s travelling the world, meeting athletes, working with engineers, developing prototypes or trying to make the fastest equipment possible.
It isn’t.
The hardest part is building a business around those ideas.
If you’ve ever raced a bike, you’ll know one comforting truth.
Every race has a finish line.
Business doesn’t.
No matter how successful today feels, tomorrow starts at zero again.
Another email.
Another meeting.
Another problem.
Another opportunity.
Another decision that could change everything.
When I started Raymund Afoakwa Consulting, I had this vision of helping athletes and brands push the boundaries of performance. Over time, that vision grew into Race Lab, Supermond Bikes, and partnerships with companies all over the world.
Looking back, I realise I underestimated one thing.
Not the engineering.
Not the technology.
Not the competition.
I underestimated just how difficult it is to build trust.
Trust is the real currency of business.
Products can be copied.
Ideas can be copied.
Marketing can be copied.
Trust can’t.
It takes years to earn and only moments to lose.
That’s why we’ve always tried to do things differently.
If we recommend a product, it’s because we genuinely believe in it.
If we partner with a company, it’s because our values align.
If we develop something ourselves, it’s because we believe we can make a meaningful improvement.
Would it be easier to chase trends?
Probably.
Would it be quicker?
Definitely.
But I’ve never wanted to build a business that simply followed everyone else.
I’ve always wanted to build one that asked better questions.
One thing I’ve learned is that entrepreneurship has a way of testing every part of your character.
It tests your patience.
Your resilience.
Your confidence.
Your discipline.
Your ability to make decisions when you don’t have all the information.
Some weeks everything seems to come together.
A new partnership.
A successful test.
Positive feedback from an athlete.
A retailer wants to stock your products.
Those are fantastic days.
But they’re only part of the story.
The other part happens when nobody is watching.
It’s replying to emails at midnight because your manufacturer is on the other side of the world.
It’s spending months developing a prototype that ultimately doesn’t make the cut.
It’s hearing “not yet” far more often than “yes”.
It’s questioning your own decisions while still having the responsibility to lead others with confidence.
That’s the side of entrepreneurship social media rarely shows.
People see announcements.
They don’t see uncertainty.
People see product launches.
They don’t see the hundreds of conversations that happened before anyone believed in the idea.
People see success.
They rarely see persistence.
One lesson I’ve carried with me is that progress is almost never dramatic.
It’s rarely one breakthrough moment.
More often, it’s a thousand small decisions that nobody notices.
One more phone call.
One more revision.
One more prototype.
One more meeting.
One more attempt.
Eventually, those small decisions become something people describe as an “overnight success.”
The truth is, there is no overnight success.
Only years of work that most people never see.
As we continue to grow Raymund Afoakwa Consulting, Race Lab and Supermond Bikes, I remind myself of one simple principle.
We’re not in a race against other companies.
We’re in a race to become a better version of ourselves than we were yesterday.
Because that’s what sustainable businesses do.
They don’t chase perfection.
They chase improvement.
If you’re reading this while building your own business, working towards a dream or trying to create something that doesn’t yet exist, remember this.
Don’t measure your progress against someone else’s highlight reel.
Measure it against who you were six months ago.
Celebrate the small wins.
Learn from the setbacks.
Keep showing up.
Because most people give up just before things begin to work.
Thank you for continuing to follow this journey.
Every message, every conversation, every introduction and every opportunity reminds me why we started.
We’re still building.
Still learning.
Still asking questions.
And we’re only just getting started.
See you in Episode 13.
— Raymund Afoakwa
Founder, Raymund Afoakwa Consulting
Co-Founder, Supermond Bikes
