Buy Australian: Local focus proves mountain of success for Escapegoat Adventures
Adelaide Hills mountain bike business Escapegoat Adventures bounced back from COVID thanks to renewed focus on the local community.
Small Business
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After cancelling all their mountain bike tours in March, Escapegoat Adventures co-founder Ian Fehler decided to focus on adapting his business strategy.
The Adelaide Hills based business, established in 2008 by Mr Fehler and wife Deborah, relied extensively on interstate and international tourism, so when the COVID lockdown hit they were forced to cancel and refund all bookings.
However as restrictions eased, Mr Fehler decided to focus his energy on the parts of the business the couple could operate – predominantly their mountain bike skills courses.
“People were wanting to get out on their bikes, bike usage was going through the roof and the demand for our skills courses were three-to-four times bigger than they usually would be,” he said.
“It’s been awesome that we’ve been getting so much support from the locals. We just needed to adapt what we already do to what’s appealing to them, we’re hoping that they’ll support us and keep us afloat as we get through this time.”
This focus on the local market led the family-run business to take the leap and expand to a permanent shopfront, The Goat Shed, which opened on October 1. Previously having one casual on board before COVID, Mr Fehler said they were able to create three new jobs to meet the needs of the new shop location.
“We opened a bike hire hub and cafe in the old Belair golf course precinct, a particularly great mountain bike area,” Mr Fehler said.
“We’ve been trying to get in there for two-and-a-half years and the timing for it ended up being now. We adapted the business further so people can hire bikes and we’re doing good profits.”
While they await the return of interstate and international tourism, Mr Fehler said they’re turning their focus on potentially developing new mountain bike trails in the Belair region.
“We’re hoping we can get some new trails in Belair National Park so we can run more of our skills training courses from that location, that will really help us if we can do that,” he said.
“We’ve been unable to run our shuttle service, it’s almost a glorified ski lift for mountain bikers, but we’re getting inquiries all the time.”
The business’ refocus has proven nothing short of a success, however Mr Fehler admits they couldn’t have got through the year without the support from the local community.
“The Adelaide mountain bike community is a really tight knit group, people have been really supportive and have been referring their friends and family,” he said.
“A lot of people in the Blackwood community weren’t aware of us, but they’ve realised we’re a local business and now we’re opening the shop we’re getting a lot more people popping in to say hello and grab a coffee.”
Originally published as Buy Australian: Local focus proves mountain of success for Escapegoat Adventures