Originally Posted by
Josh_Craig
Do you/Have you own[ed] a shop? I'm just curious to learn more about the reality of it. If you do own a shop (or know someone who does) what are you/they currently doing to attract/find employees? How well is it working? In the heart of just looking things head on and facing it, what problems does this challenge around staffing create?
I've worked in several shops, including one owned by a close friend.
Staffing is critical to every aspect of the business. Finding and retaining people who are knowledgeable, honest, dependable, and customer service-oriented is every retail business's challenge. To build a team that is focused on the same goals and how to attain them requires a lot of training and culture-building. The inexperienced don't have the expertise to foster customer confidence, and training them is expensive. Those who have experience are often resistant to supervision and direction. As far as recruiting goes, you just have to be resourceful; social media is your friend, and being an active member of the local cycling community will expose you to possible candidates. Both work pretty well until someone quits and you have to scramble. It largely depends on where you're located, but by and large it's not like the restaurant business where there are lots of people out there with experience; the bike shop is a pretty specialized segment of the retail landscape. The odds of finding people who know what they're doing and who won't rip you off, piss off your customers, show up stoned, or break the bikes they're working on are much lower. Plus, they have to get along with everyone else at the shop. During times when you're short-staffed, expect to put in a lot of hours behind the workstand or on the sales floor yourself, in addition to your ownership duties.
If you haven't already, check out the
NBDA dealer forum.