Advice wanted! Let the beating begin.....

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Speed2XS

Speed2XS

Joined
Dec 29, 2008
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I want everyone’s thoughts and advice on this; really. Don't worry about being hurtful or a bit "too straight forward." I'm not scared of reality; I just want to know what I should expect.

I would like to open a bike shop. My reasons:
1] I would be one five bicycle shops locally, in a town that has almost 800,000 people in the Metropolitan Statistical Area, (not including the box stores).
2] I am almost always dissatisfied with the customer service, and general demeanor of the employees. It seems that you must be part of a bicycle elite to have someone be nice to you.
3] I think by my opening my shop I could help the cycling community locally and be doing my part to help make the world a better place.
4] I love bicycles and I love business.

My general plan is to attend United Bicycle Institute in OR to hone my skills, and fill in more of the bike mechanics blanks I have. While waiting to get in, I will be remodeling my garage to accommodate a home based business and hopefully give me the appearance of legitimacy. While operating from home doing mostly repairs, tuneups, and sales of small necessities, I will be trying to develop relationships with distributors, educating myself continually, and becoming more prominent in the local bicycling community, organizing small bicycle shows, and increasing public awareness towards cycling, both for safety and health. While doing all this, I *hope* to build up clientele, until I feel I am in a position to actually open a retail location, and do a bike/juice shop, or some variation of that in an area that I feel is in need of it.

This will be my second attempt at being self employed, so I have learned a few lessons on startup and such. Originally I wanted to open a pub in the downtown area of town that catered to a different crowd than what is currently offered, but because the lending difficulties we are all aware of, and the startup costs involved in that, I felt the bike shop idea could be accomplished in a much more bootstrap manner. Additionally, I would only have to make sure my wife is kept happy and not a few grumpy investors.

So, what do you guys think?
 
Ive had this thought in my head for a long time, i think a bike shop would be just the thing around my hood. I have been self employed for 11 years now doing home improvement stuff and its been good, pretty slow right now but it will pick up. I say any time you feel like you could make a better life for yourself jump on it and dont look back. Best of luck man hope it works for you.
 
go for it you have a clear plan. i live in a tiny town, and i've supported myself all year just re-CYCLING bikes i've sold nearly 200 in 10 months and thats just one guy who goes to school full time working out of my garage. I was recently offered a partnership in a legitimate bike shop in a prime location with major dealer ties and i'm reluctant to change my ways. I wish we lived closer i'd love to even help you out. But def. go for it with superior customer service and knowledge you should do well. just my opinion
 
Miscellaneous thoughts in no particular order:
-The fact that you want a particular type of service or store doesn't mean anything. The question is, how many other people do? You may have a whole town full of dissatisfied bike-shop-customers...or maybe not. It might turn out that your best chance of success would be to do exactly what you criticize the other stores for doing.
-Check if your zoning allows you to operate a business in your garage- it may not.
-I remember a Craigslist ad a while back where a lady was bemoaning the high prices charged by Walmart for bicycles- she felt that $75 was just outrageous. The reason the other stores aren't interested unless you're part of the elite is because that elite is willing to spend the money. So you may find a lot of potential customers who are also too cheap to pay you a living wage to do your work.
-In the past, in reading photography forums, I've seen where several people mentioned that if you get noted for doing cheaper work in an area (as when you're first starting), it can be hard to break out of that and get your prices up to where they should be.
-I recall someone discussing the major investment they had in bicycle tools. When I think of bicycle tools, I think of what it takes to service MY bicycles, which is not that much. I guess it can run into some real money to get set up to work on anything that rolls in the door.
-How do you de-grease things in a home shop? I used to work at a truck company that had a Saf-T-Kleen (not sure of the spelling) parts-washing sink. Can you get something like that for a bike shop or even your garage? If not, what do you do?
 
I say if you have the courage to do it, go for it. Tools you can get as you need. You don't have to have everything right away. The money in bikes resides in parts, service and recycled bikes. Not a ton of money to be made in new bikes from what I've been told by my buddies who run bike shops. Everybody offers the same thing at the same price, concentrate on giving good, honest service and stand behind your work. People will come back and refer you their friends. I've refused to work on a guys bike once because it didn't need any work, I told him it would be stealing his money. He is now a regular and has referred me a bunch of friends. Once the word gets out in your neighborhood that you fix bikes, and do a good job at a decent price, you'll be beating them off with a stick! Keep it low profile if you start at home, which is a great way to build yourself a customer base before investing in a store front. Btw, I use Lemon Pledge furniture polish to clean and degrease. Does a great job and smells nice too. :) Good Luck bro and keep us posted.
 
Make sure you understand the difference between being self-employed and having a business with employees. I was self-employed for 10 yrs. It *sucked*. The work itself was great and I had enough to keep me busy. Doing all the paperwork and paying the outrageous self-employment taxes is what made me depressed. The government and big business has the deck stacked against the small business man as well as the self-employed. You no doubt know about bikes, just make sure you know about accounting and the amount of paperwork you're in for and the taxes you'll be paying. Sorry to be the only negative poster so far, but you wanted the truth. B607
 
^^^ wise words B607. I wouldn't say the "deck is stacked against" as it makes sound like it's on purpose, however, it is very difficult to run a small business. Having said that, the best and worst boss you will ever have will be yourself. 8)
 
My wife runs a small business. She had to pay $5000 last year for her own social security. If your self employed and make any money at all you have to pay it. Unless your wife won the lotto and has plenty of money to back you, this is a really bad time to start a business. The economy is in the tubes for the next year to two years , and unless you can eat it with no profit for two years your business will die.They are dropping like flies around here and I'm sure its mirrored all over the country. Your best bet is to flip bikes for a while till the economy gets better and see what it does without ,when times are really tough. I'm betting you will be calling everybody at home ,because when things get really tight them $120 a month cell phones will be the first thing to go. :roll: I'm thinking expensive bicycles will not be a high priority either. They will save their money for food ...house payments and car payments.
 
I worked in cycle retail for twenty-some years, as an employee rather than owner but I picked up a thing or two in that time. Even before the current financial doom and gloom I came to the conclusion that;

Making decent money in cycle retail is hard work. If I had the kind of money required to open a cycle shop I probably wouldn't open a cycle shop with it!
Everyone I ever met who started a bike shop because they loved cycling became very disillusioned after a few years of dealing with the general cycling public.
The success of your new venture absolutely depends on either 1) Your ability to 'create' new customers. or 2) Poaching customers from existing businesses.

A previous employer started out with £1K 15 years ago and just sold his two bike shops for £half a million, so it is possible to make a good living.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
 
Maybe thats what you need to start. A pub where you work on bicycles. Two fun things ....drink and build a bike..Kinda goes together. :lol:
 
Thanks everyone for the wise words and input.

I am at a bit of an advantage with all the paperwork, tax, and expense stuff as my mom does that for a living for many small businesses. So, she'll definitely help with my ignorance there, getting me set up correctly so I don’t get myself in trouble.

Part of the reason I am starting from home is because I want to keep the investment/losses to a minimum and not need employees initially.

I am of the opinion that the overall economy will be getting worse, and that expendable income will be at a minimum. Part of my plan is to flip bikes that would be good for commuting, and not deal with high-end builds as that segment is already well taken care of locally. Basically, I will try to have the best product and services and keep expenses to an absolute minimum.

Also, my intent isn’t to do injury to the other bike shops in town, although they’ve done a good enough job of that themselves, but rather to create a better alternative. I think there is and will be more than enough business to go around without poaching from others. Like someone else has said, creating business for myself will be an important part of my success, if I do succeed. My town still has a glut of huge lifted trucks making for tons of potential bicyclists who don’t know it as a viable option. Fixed gear bikes are still very fringe here, where, as I am sure everyone else knows, everywhere else it’s tired.

More or less, everything everyone has said here are all things that have crossed my mind. I like to think of myself as a realist, but my wife just calls it negative. None the less, worst case scenario, if I fail miserably, there will be a huge internet sell off my inventory at drastically reduced prices, woohoo!

Also, if any one here has specific business or bike shop advice pleeeeeeeeease share it with me. I think if I am to succeed I will need all the good advice and info I can get.
 
Uncle Stretch said:
Maybe thats what you need to start. A pub where you work on bicycles. Two fun things ....drink and build a bike..Kinda goes together. :lol:
Click to expand...

I saw a place like that recently in one of the bike mags. Sounds like an expectional, may I even say captial, idea!
 
You should check to see if your state or county has any type of small business assistance program. My dad lives in Kansas and was thinking about buying a fire extinguisher service & sales company. The state sent a representative to do a complete financial analysis at no charge to my dad and found that the business for sale was undervalued, it was actually worth about $15,000 more than what the owner was asking. That's not exactly the same type set up you're looking at doing, but there might be some local government programs that would assist you in starting up.

Don't just look at just the bike stores as competition, include bike co-ops. When gas was up around $4 a gallon this summer, the bike co-op which I belong to couldn't keep up with demand-we were selling bikes right and left. Most of our customers were looking for commuter or recreational bikes but didn't want to spend full price for a new one.

If I was going to open a bike store, especially if I was flipping bikes, I would include a free maintenance plan with every bike. It would show the owner stands behind the business, and gives the customers a reason to come back so you can try to make additional sales. And you'd be right to emphasize personal service and let people know they're going to get good, knowledgeable, personal service. One bad bike store experience can scare away some people for the rest of their lives, and then they end up at WallyWorld for good.
 
GodHatesCleveland said:
You should check to see if your state or county has any type of small business assistance program. My dad lives in Kansas and was thinking about buying a fire extinguisher service & sales company. The state sent a representative to do a complete financial analysis at no charge to my dad and found that the business for sale was undervalued, it was actually worth about $15,000 more than what the owner was asking. That's not exactly the same type set up you're looking at doing, but there might be some local government programs that would assist you in starting up.
Click to expand...

I need to do this, although I'm not sure where to start. I get what you're saying though, and I know there are funds in state and federal coffers specifically for these type of environmentally friendly business (there should be here in hippy CA at least).

Don't just look at just the bike stores as competition, include bike co-ops. When gas was up around $4 a gallon this summer, the bike co-op which I belong to couldn't keep up with demand-we were selling bikes right and left. Most of our customers were looking for commuter or recreational bikes but didn't want to spend full price for a new one.
Click to expand...

As of right now, there’s one organization that does this, more non-profit than co-op, but it has been very poorly run for quite some time. They have new management now, but I was going to be part of it for a short time anyway, and try to learn what I can from the bike kitchens head chef (?).

If I was going to open a bike store, especially if I was flipping bikes, I would include a free maintenance plan with every bike. It would show the owner stands behind the business, and gives the customers a reason to come back so you can try to make additional sales. And you'd be right to emphasize personal service and let people know they're going to get good, knowledgeable, personal service. One bad bike store experience can scare away some people for the rest of their lives, and then they end up at WallyWorld for good.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about the free maintenance idea as well, but hadn’t considered the increased opportunity for sales. Good point. Our box stores, incidentally where I bought my first road bike because of cost, are not great either. The concept I guess I want to try to sell is that most modern road bikes aren’t well engineered for comfort or convenience, and if the ones that are will be very expensive. Why spend $600+ (like I did) and not necessarily feel comfortable or feel like every trip is a race, when you can buy a bike for less that is more set up for urban transportation, that also happen to look sharp.

As I am relatively new to flipping (hate this term due to my past life in real estate :lol: ) bikes, what percent should I invest of the final sales price? Anyway know what it takes to get a resellers license?
 
xddorox said:
Speed2XS said:
Anyway know what it takes to get a resellers license?
Click to expand...
A Craigslist and Kijiji account. :mrgreen:
Click to expand...

Oh, trust me, I will be using craigslist often, havent seen Kijiji before though. I was referrng a resellers license that, if I understand correctly, deferrs tax on inventory purchases, and will generally (not always) get you warehouse pricing.
 
Even though you would be selling used bikes, I would suggest making sure you know how to properly 'fit' a bike to a rider, and vice versa. If a customer buys a bike from you, and feels comfortable on it, they will remember how you went out of your way to make sure it fit them.
I understand you wouldn't have an inventory of 300 new bikes to choose from in order to do that though...
Good luck, sounds like fun!
 
blue72beetle said:
Even though you would be selling used bikes, I would suggest making sure you know how to properly 'fit' a bike to a rider, and vice versa. If a customer buys a bike from you, and feels comfortable on it, they will remember how you went out of your way to make sure it fit them.
I understand you wouldn't have an inventory of 300 new bikes to choose from in order to do that though...
Good luck, sounds like fun!
Click to expand...

I'm glad you mentioned it, because I had thought about it and since forgotten I need to do that. I will be researching bike fitting programs pretty soon to do just that. The training school I'm attending has some frame building classes I would like to take and and knowing how to properly fit people would probably help. From what I understand there are several different bike fit theories and programs, so I guess I'll have to do a couple to figure out what I think works best. Thanks for the wishes Andy.
 

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