The original idea for the TerraTrike was conceived on the winter solstice in 1995. At a Christmas party at Jack Wiswell's place in Hastings, Michigan, Jack ran into an old high school buddy, Wayne Oom, who was back in hometown Hastings for the holidays. Jack sketched a concept on a cocktail napkin and Wayne said, “I think you’ve got something here.” At that moment the TerraTrike was born.
The following June they decided to join as partners and bring the TerraTrike to life under the business name WizWheelz, Inc. which was adapted from Jack’s surname. This meeting coincidentally happened on the summer solstice which was clearly a sign that the planet was properly aligned for the TerraTrike revolution (sure, or something like that).
The founders scraped together $1,000 each from their personal savings and decided to see just how far they could take this idea. They had no investors, no venture capitalists, no bank credit line, no deep-pocketed relatives, and not even a mentor to point them in the right direction. They agreed early-on that they were not going to sell out shares of their company or beg family and friends for money because they didn’t want to drag other people down if it failed. They preferred to start without debt and figure things out on their own even though it meant that their limited cash flow and experience forced them to take things very slowly. That’s right…they had no income at all for a long time! Everybody in Hastings thought that Jack and Wayne had lost their minds when they dropped everything in order to make tricycles for adults. How did they do it? Thankfully, Lori and Kate (their wives) have always been unconditionally supportive. It took a tremendous leap of faith on their part when they encouraged their husbands to quit their careers to do this project! Lori and Kate supported their families through some very lean years in the late 90s.
Eventually, necessity forced WizWheelz to seek small bank loans for the cash flow needed to fund larger production batches, but the modest initial investment and a used napkin, which constituted the total assets of WizWheelz, Inc in 1996, were enough to kick start this business.
Jack welded the first two prototype frames together in his garage. It didn't take long for him to realize that he was a terrible welder. And since Wayne was twice as bad, they quickly decided to hire professionals to do the important work. They truly started from scratch and bootstrapped through those first few years without taking a paycheck until August of 2000 (a mere $300 per month . Warning: a trike company is not the easiest business to start - take their advice and choose something else, anything else!
They've had their share of struggles including having a seat manufacturer go out of business - running away with a large deposit check AND the materials. Then there was a welder who tried to hold their frames hostage for more money and a machinist who, after three months of delays, simply decided not to deliver the parts that were promised. But the toughest hurdle occurred when their local bank dropped them. Business was good and WizWheelz was doubling its production between 2000 and 2002 but their bank chose not to grow with them. Jack and Wayne soon learned that this wasn’t the only bank unwilling to lend over a hundred thousand dollars to an internet based company. After the dotcom bust of the late 90's it was difficult to blame them. They had a plan and an excessive amount of confidence but with no real collateral assets, the risk was too great for most banks. Now they were left without cash to fund their largest production run ever. Components were already on the way and bills were coming due. Jack and Wayne were frustrated because they were convinced that they had a breakthrough product but they couldn't get it to market without the proper funding. The company was in a crisis - the business needed working capital immediately or it would die and leave Jack and Wayne with huge unpaid bills. They were in too deep to easily back out so the only solution was to solve the problem and move forward.
After a desperate search of banks, government programs, venture capitalists, and individual investors, they finally convinced someone to take a chance on this crazy, internet-based, tricycle business. Jack, Lori, Wayne, and Kate literally put their houses on the line for this opportunity and Comerica Bank gave them the boost that WizWheelz needed. Once Jack and Wayne had the credit line to work with, parts were purchased, welders were paid, orders came in and were filled, and the bank was paid off earlier than planned. We highly recommend Comerica for small business banking.
Jack and Wayne found out the hard way why the business textbooks say "cash is king"! Without enough working capital, a company with a successful product can be stopped dead in its tracks. They've learned a lot over the years - the most important piece of advice they could give from experience is 'believe in what you're doing and don't quit!' There have been many frustrating times where it would have been easy to give up but they fully believed in their products and had tenacity, vision and a passion to make this thing work and along the way developed a company mantra which carried them through those tough times: "Failure Is NOT an Option".
They also had a number of things go right for them, so it certainly hasn't been all negative. The best moves they've made have been in the hiring of employees. Jack and Wayne are very cautious and deliberate in this area but they also consider themselves lucky. Each one of their employees has been an exceptional addition to this project and the founders regularly say that these people are the company’s most valuable assets. This group of talented individuals makes working at TerraTrike headquarters a fun and exciting experience every day.
The employees of WizWheelz have strived to develop this company in harmony with the planet, the community, and their own lifestyles. They believe that simplicity in design is paramount whether it's a physical object like the TerraTrike or an idea like a business plan. During the first seven years WizWheelz was quite unorthodox by "normal" business standards. You couldn't get in your car and drive (or trike) to WizWheelz. It was a virtual company out of necessity (i.e. it had no money to pay for a central office let alone a factory). It employed several job shops around Hastings to create the TerraTrike products and move parts from the welder, to the powder coater, to the assembly, warehousing, and shipping house. The founders managed the operation from home offices and met once a week at their conference room (the Essential Bean coffee house in Caledonia). In January 2004 it finally became possible to centralize inventory and assembly operations in a building in Hastings. The company quickly outgrew that space and in August 2006, moved into a building twice its size in Kentwood. The new building has a beautiful showroom packed full of TerraTrikes near an expanding bike trail system in and around Grand Rapids. In January 2008, WizWheelz expanded once more, adding a warehouse which again doubled their space and created enough room to add an indoor test track.
Team members take a corporate retreat every year and set out to tackle a new adventure each time. They have hiked and camped in deserts and canyons in Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and California, climbed a 14,000 foot mountain in Colorado, hiked the slot canyons of Death Valley, tent-camped on a freezing snow-covered mountain, surfed in the Pacific Ocean, and hiked into the Grand Canyon where Wayne narrowly dodged a rattlesnake bite (don't tell Kate). Future plans include repelling into deeper slot canyons, sea kayaking, whitewater rafting, spelunking, sailing the open seas, and whatever else sounds interesting. The trips are an effective team building tool and creative outlet as it takes people away from their daily tasks and frees their minds to dream up the next model, product, or direction for the company. Several of the TerraTrike models have been developed around a campfire in some remote region of the Utah desert while gazing at constellations and listening to coyotes. That is the official new product brainstorming process for TerraTrikes.
Did we mention that we also make guitars on the side?
- December 1995 - Jack sketched trike concept on napkin
- June 1996 - The company was formed
- October 1996 – WizWheelz incorporation date
- April 1997 - First TerraTrike goes to a happy home in Olympia, WA
- December 1997 – 11 TerraTrikes find riders this year
- May 1999 - Moved assembly operations from Jack’s garage to Hastings industrial incubator
- August 2000 - Jack and Wayne’s first paycheck (a huge $300/month)
- June 2002 - First employee hired; Randall Bertrand (Sales)
- June 2003 – First Tandem TerraTrike produced; delivered to Penn Jillette
- July 2003 – TerraTrike Race model steps onto the scene
- December 2003 - Hired Mike Kessenich (Purchasing)
- January 2004 - Moved operations into building in Hastings
- January 2005 – TerraTrike Edge project unveiled after months of secrecy
- March 2005 - Hired Ben Williams (Assembly & Shipping), Lori Wiswell (Bookkeeping) and Bernie Oom (Special Projects)
- April 2005 –TerraTrike Sport enters the lineup
- September 2005 – TerraTrike Cruiser introduced to dealers with rave reviews
- May 2006 - Hired Pete Hall (Assembly & Shipping)
- Aug 2006 - Hired Dave Lintemuth (Sales Manager)
- August 2006 - Moved operations to Kentwood facility doubling the space
- October 2006 – Introduced Zoomer and Zoomer Elite TerraTrikes
- June 2007 – Hired Alex Kirk (Assembly & Shipping)
- September 2007 - Hired Dan Jelens (Assistant Production Manager)
- October 2007 – TerraTrike Path model added to the lineup
- November 2007 - Hired Jeff Yonker (Marketing Manager)
- January 2008 – Expanded facility doubling the space again
- May 2008 – New web site launched
Click here to view the evolution of the TerraTrike