Originally Posted by
BarracksSi
So, then, why open a bike shop at all?
It's obviously not for the money, and it's not so you can have time for yourself, either. You do it so you can encourage others to ride, and on top of that, you want to impart some of your knowledge and expertise so they can learn how to have a good time and stay safe.
What better time to do that, then, than when they have lots of time to spend in a shop?
Are you assuming people open bike shops to encourage people to ride? To impart your knowledge? For you that might work for others it might be simply because it allows them access to something the love and freedom for others setting their schedual. If it was simply to make all the money they could opening a bike shop seems like a bad idea.
http://nbda.com/page.cfm?pageID=70
I don't know if when you used the term, my bike shop, if you were talking about the one you own or the once to go to. But if someone had money to invest and were simply interested in making money there ae a lot of businesses with a bigger return. But the reason most LBS owners I have talked to use is that they like bikes and it gives them a chance to be close to what they like and the freedom to run it the way they want. If they wanted to make the most money they could most of them would still be with JPL, Xerox, IBM, GMAC where they could get a big check. If I happened to be the owner of a bike shop and I wanted to be closed on Wednesday, or Saturday, or whatever day that is just when I would be closed. But if it ever got so complicated that I had to be open seven days a week, I would sell and retire. But that is just me.
