Originally Posted by Mad Honk

Justin,
The most common problem is a lack of a business plan. Are you going to sell complete bikes, repair bikes, a combination of those two ? Then there are logistics to the plan and putting all in place. Is there a market for the bike shop, or is the area overloaded? Will you have enough money to start and maintain the shop? Do you have an idea of all of the costs? What about rent, utilities, tax numbers and registration for a business licence? Do you have a plan for employee pay, and monthly tax issues for their income tax? Liability insurance? Are you going to operate as a sole proprietorship, or an LLC? Then there is a need for an accountant or CPA to handle your tax filings properly. Do you have a plan for the accounting process, and how are you planning to manage your inventory? Use of SKU's will require label printers and scanners. Credit card need to processed and bank transfers in today's pay by phone app.
You will also have to learn how to price things like labor, and know what all goes into running your shop for an hour, or the number of hours you are open in a day and then weekly, and monthly. There are not really any manuals that teach this stuff, and help can be found in groups like SCORE. But eventually you will need both accounting and legal help to get started on the right foot. HTH, MH