Workshop members and crowdfunding supporters
Their needs informed access, tools, training and the facilities delivered.
Kustom Kommune.
A practical workshop built around shared access to tools, training and a community that could use it.
Founder and operator
- Task and scale
- Workshop opened 2013; relocation and expansion 2017
- My position
- Founder and operator
- Location
- Melbourne, Australia
01 Task & scale
Task & scale
I founded and ran a communal motorcycle workshop, carrying the commercial, spatial and operational responsibility from its launch through a major relocation and a decade of public use.
Give people access to proper tools, space and practical support to work on their own motorcycles.
02 Teams, partners & interfaces
Teams, partners & interfaces
Eight-person committee and 36 volunteers
Set direction and operating structure while coordinators and volunteers owned defined parts of delivery.
Harley-Davidson, GearWrench and sponsors
Negotiated support and connected partner requirements to workshop activity.
Trades, suppliers, landlord and council interfaces
Coordinated venue, fitout, procurement and required applications; specialists completed specialist work.
Founder and operator
Held commercial and operational accountability across launch, relocation and live use.
04 My responsibility
My responsibility
I led the launch and later relocation: fundraising, partnerships, venue and fitout decisions, a governance committee, volunteer teams, programming and ongoing operations. I held the overall responsibility while bringing in trades and specialists for the work that required them. The design had to function for members and staff long after opening day.
Funding and partnerships
Raised launch and relocation funding, negotiated sponsorships and held commercial accountability.
Venue and fitout
Led venue, facility and procurement decisions, coordinating trades and specialists for the physical work.
People and operations
Built the committee and volunteer structure, coached coordinators into greater responsibility and created paid teaching roles for skilled members. I ran the workshop and its ongoing programme.
I held overall commercial and operational responsibility. Committee members, volunteers and qualified trades contributed their own work; I do not claim their specialist tasks as mine.
05 Constraints & critical decisions
Constraints & critical decisions
Launching a member workshop required capital before the space could operate.
Decision Ran a AU$34,610 launch crowdfunding campaign and built the initial facility.
Effect Opened a working communal workshop in 2013.
Relocation expanded both the facility and the number of people involved.
Decision Raised AU$104,930 through Pozible, brought in private support and coordinated committee, volunteers and trades.
Effect Delivered an expanded workshop with five DIY bays and fabrication facilities.
07 Delivery & outcome
Delivery & outcome
The launch crowdfunding campaign raised AU$34,610. The relocation campaign raised AU$104,930, with approximately AU$20,000 in private support. Kommune served more than 1,000 members, involved 36 volunteers and ran more than 60 events annually. Peak annual turnover exceeded AU$1 million, with me as its sole employee.