miamijim

Follow the money.

You can either set up shop in an area where people with money live or in an area where people with money drive through.

In my area we have both, there's a shop on the main road in the middle of a very, very nice zip code and there's a nice shop in the 'hood but its on a main road between the interstate and where alot of people with money work.

rhm

Right. Also, if you get a chance this summer you should check out this place:


I know you've seen that photo before, but I imagine you've forgotten about it by now.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

I have seen that pic but I don't know why or where.


Solid. Good thinkin.

rhm

Yuh. It's a photo I posted aeons ago. All I could remember was that someone replied "mmm cheesecake." Now of course you know how wonky the search feature is; but armed with that one word, I was able to find it again!

miamijim

There's nothing to check out....that place is around the way from a house I own* There's a shop on Main St./Hwy 80 in Center Moriches thats probably more like what your looking to get into.

rhm

Oh, I know the store in Center Moriches! They have an old Raleigh kids bike hanging from the wall, that one?

But yes, re Paul's, I do think anyone who's interested in being a one-man bike shop should check it out. It's a classic "don't let this happen to you" scenario. I totally understand why someone would want to own a bike shop. And I totally understand why it would be a bad idea for me to do so.

miamijim

Yes, thats the one in Center Moriches!!! I couldnt agree with you more......"dont let this happen to you"

Amesja

I would totally go to your one-man bike shop if you were in my area. I bet it would be a cool place to hang out and keep you from getting any work done.

JunkYardBike

+1 And I'd volunteer to do some wrenching. But there's no way I'd buy your ridiculously marked-up crap...I can get it online for half the price!

JunkYardBike

Is becoming a cobbler to supplement your bike mechanic income so bad?

nlerner

There's a one-man shop outside of Boston that I've visited several times: https://www.slcycle.com/

He's got a QBP account and carries several lines of new bikes, consistently selling below the price demanded by shops closer to the city. He told me that they've tried to shut him down (threatening the suppliers that they'll cancel their orders if they supply this guy), but several years later he's still around. He consistently runs CL ads, and I've been there when he's bought used bikes, which he also sells and parts out. He's offered to let me order anything I want from the QPB catalog with a 10% markup (which I haven't done--I have enough bike crap!). Formerly, the guy worked as an accountant, and he told me that for a while, at least, he was sleeping in his very crowded store. It's not a life style I would choose, but he seems to be making a go of it.

Neal

Amesja

We need a guy like that in Chicago! I'd go to him. But here they do things differently. When they threaten you it's always a bit more threatening than just shutting down your suppliers. Waking up next to a horse head changes a lot of people's minds about what they are doing with their life -or what is left of it if they keep on the path the "organization" doesn't want you to follow.

JunkYardBike

I thought they were only in sanitation and concrete. They own bike shops too?

ColonelJLloyd 

My LBS is a one man shop. He's pretty successful. Attributable in no small part to my consulting work.

Amesja

They run the entire city from the mayor all the way down the line.

Sixty Fiver

Our (frame) shop uses QBP as a supplier and we have no brick and no mortar, our co-op has been unsuccessful getting an account as although we have brick and mortar we are an NPO.

We use Babac here and Norco is a major Canadian supplier that most bike shops use in conjunction with QBP which has retail agreements with suppliers in that if a Canadian supplier sells the same good they will often refuse to sell it to you.

It is a PIIA sometimes as it is much nicer to be able to deal with one supplier... for example... QBP has refused to sell us Sun rims because Norco carries them so we said F that and started looking for other small suppliers.

miamijim

There's no place to hang out there.....

rhm

No; nor, for that matter, is becoming a bike mechanic to supplement your shoe repair income. I admire the guy for keeping a business going on a rough street in a rough town, and for being in a business of repairing things rather than throwing them out. It's just... oh, I don't know. Go in there and meet the guy. He's not a bad guy; it's just that if I were looking for a role model, I might shoot a little higher.

JunkYardBike

Okay, so you're being coy to avoid trashing the guy publicly. That's admirable.

By the way, why do you think my username here is JunkYardBike? You think I aim high?

-holiday76

just assumed you were into GI Joe

JunkYardBike

I had no idea. His owner, Mutt, was born in NJ, so I guess it's fitting.

bigbossman 

They are into anything profitable. "Protection" is very, very profitable.

himespau 

If you're planning on refurbing/selling used bikes as well, maybe it'd be good to locate near a source of used bikes as you won't have much time to be out hunting down deals if you're a one man outfit running the store. So maybe whichever city has a more active CL/better dump for pickings?

miamijim

There's no trashing the guy...he is a nice guy. He just has a different buisness model than one would expect. Did he start as a cobbler and get into bikes or start in bikes and get into cobbling? I didnt ask so who knows.

I guess the point of his shop is that a couple of miles away there's a medium sized shop on Montauk Highway in Shirley and then a few miles past that there's the small shop in Center Moriches. 3 shops within a few miles of one another. Paul's shop (the bike cobbler) is in a very hoodish part of town while the other 2 are on the main road with alot of traffic and they're also in between the same 2 exits.

This is a good example for ZB to look at, a small shop with low rent in a low traffic/hoodish location or a little bigger shop in a very high traffic location.

squirtdad

QBP aside....don't forget the basics (which some of this thread is covering): Do a business plan, be brutally non optimistic with the numbers. What do you have for working capital? What are start up costs? What is needed revenue ramp up to make business self sustaining? Insurance. Business structure (sole proprietor, partnership, LLP, incorporation). Hours. Marketing. Salary (ie when to you have be able to live off of the business, rather than the business live off of you).

In my area the bike shops that have been around for ages or are pretty new and appear to be doing ok have some common traits: Good vibe, feel (differs). Technical skills, love of bikes, focus on a market segment. here are some examples

Slough's: Famous for technical skills, obscure parts and almost eccentric owner..... focus on road bikes and custome high end builds. You have fixie..... no service.

Hyland: Family bikes. It has been in the same family for 3 generations. Repeat business from parents who got their bikes their. Casual recreationa bikes, in tune with broad trends: lot of mtn bikes when they were hot, comfort bikes, BMX, cruider) good service shop

Willow glen bikes: Good people, nice friendly, tech skills, lots of repairs and maintenance. Not a price leader, but service leader. Mix of bikes. Attuned to hipster trends.....lots of fixie, single speed. Always tring new brands, like Neil Pryde bikes. fair amount of commuter bikes. Long established but with different owners over the year. Most recent owner (who just sold to a new ownr, but rest of staff the same) revived the shop

Cupertino bike: High end road bikes