We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Robert Hemingway. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Robert below.

Hi Robert, thanks for joining us today. What can you share with us about the story behind how you found your key vendors?

Being a motorcycle parts manufacturer meant that I needed to make parts right? Most would send their designs overseas and try to get things done cheap, I wanted something different. It was a must that I made things here in the U.S.A., and working with machine shops can be a challenge. I was working a motorsport engineering job at the time this all started and had some of the purchasing group help me get connected with some local machine shops. I would give the local shops a window, say 3 months, and in that time I would want my parts done. They would have busy times and not so busy times so my parts would get made during the not so busy times. This helped them keep machines running and got me parts as inexpensive as I could made in America. Starting a business is very much who you know and how you make connections. Anyone will take your money, make sure they deserve it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am born and raised in Southern California, Former certified mechanic, and now Masters degree level engineer. I grew up in a family where if something broke, we learned to fix it ourselves. My dad was a racer, so I became a racer. RC Cars, Go Karts, Dirtbikes, and Off Road Trucks. We always had small motorcycles to ride around the ranch, or the pits. Get enough small bikes together and you’ve got yourself a good time with (low) risk for injury. We always made cool custom parts for ourselves, be it for fun or competitive edge on track. One day, one of my small dirtbikes custom suspension setups was spotted and posted on a forum. Another friend pointed that out to me where many people seemed to be interested in purchasing that same setup. I Said sure, if I get 10 people interested in a week Ill make a small run. That tuned into 30 people throwing money at me in the first hour, so I decided to take a step back and do this for real. I make components to run suspension suited for adults to ride small dirtbikes. Everything is designed, developed, tested and manufactured in the U.S.A. I Am happy to help you out with whatever setup you are most interested in. What started in 2019 has grown a lot and I ship to 14 countries and counting. Weather you are riding with your kids, or other bigger adults for fun, we have suspension solutions for you. Most things sold can be bolted together with simple tools in about an hour, and they just work.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Ah yes, money. So many people want to piss away money at the start with things that are unnecessary. You don’t need flashy, you don’t need big or expensive, you just need to be smart. I sold a few spare motorcycles, bought material and made parts. Did all the legal stuff like creating an LLC and whatever minimums were required to sell things to people. I stored parts in my garage, designed them out of my home office, and kept overhead as low as possible. I didn’t even have stickers or a logo yet, but I was slinging parts to key people and planting seeds to watch grow. I kept this philosophy of low overhead and only spending what was needed, and turned a profit in year one which is huge for a new business. Keep it simple with low investment. If it fails, move on as it was not meant to be.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

Almost. I walked away from my professional motorsports job when the side hustle was bringing in more money over a few years. That lasted about 3 weeks until another engineering company heard that I was not employed and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I decided to keep the side hustle on the side and still work a day job so I don’t get forced into making irrational or emotional decisions based on financial needs. This idea keeps me level headed and if I don’t make sales one day, so what.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rhmotoworx.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/RHMotoWorx
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RHMotoWorx
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@rhmotoworx7920