Dr.Deltron

Start your shop in your garage!

Don't sell new bikes and inventory only essentials, tubes, wires & housing. Flip bikes you get at garage sales.

Invest in tools! Even if the shop fails, good tools will always be worth having.

Try that for a year and you will find that either ..

A) You have enough business to move into an expensive new storefront,

or B) You will be glad you didn't fork over $4,200 for a hole that you pour money into.

I've gone full circle and am happily back in the garage, with enough $ to eat 3 times a day.

I'll check this thread in a year and see if you are either A or B.
I will hope it's A, but I've got my money on B. Nothing personal, just that reality bites sometimes, especially with new bike shops.

PlatyPius

That would be great if I had a usable garage....

And garage sale bikes....
Well, there hasn't been a real bike shop anywhere in this area (aside from the one that lasted a year or two) for the 41 years I've been alive. Ergo, there are no yard sale bikes, except for some Next piece of crap that the person wants almost-new price for.

wahoonc

That is the situation in this part of the world too.

Decent quality used bikes are few and far between in these parts. I have toyed with the idea of opening a bike shop, but have serious doubts I could get one to fly. We have no cycling infrastructure to speak of and the bulk of the population lives in the lolly pop subdivisions off of multilane highways that are deadly for pedestrians and cyclists alike.

Aaron

PlatyPius

Our trail system:

https://www.indianatrails.org/People_...thways_map.gif

The dotted lines are paths that are in the works. All of our trails/paths are self-funded - ie: volunteers, donations, etc.

Little Darwin

That industrial looking brick building next to you is a B&B******************************?

I think if you can leverage the garage door to make yourself visible it is probably doable in the short term.

My favorite shop in the Wilkes-Barre area was almost invisible for their first year or two, and now they have a huge sign that is actually visible from the street. A mural on that side wall would be nearly useless to attract attention for someone driving by, but if you do something really creative, it could help with word of mouth.

Of course, I have read it in several threads here that the best way to make a small fortune with a bike shop is to start with a large fortune... although I have no experience.

Artkansas 

From what little I can see, Greencastle and DePauw are too little to support you. And that DePauw will be giving away bikes, your market is miniscule. It looks like rentals and repairs might be your main money makers. If you want Terre Haute business, you'd be best doing it in Terre Haute.

I can't seem to make the numbers work. As Dr. Deltron said, forget the brick and mortar.

And given your perilous financial situation, you might be best advised to focus on using your money on marketing, and avoiding inventory. Use your skills. If there are no bike shops, odds are there are no places to get the bike repaired. Another idea might be a mobile bike repair based off a tricycle or bike trailer. You could go on campus, summoned by cell phone and repair a flat while a student is in class. Sell repair insurance, and that way they know their bike will be fixed quicly and at no cost if they have something minor. You might even be able to do some part-time bike messengering.

Some other solutions might be to do business online. Make connections with the big online sellers. Have someone order through you and as a VAR service, you make sure that everything is tuned up and set up properly. That could take a lot of risk out of buying from a place like Bikes Direct or Actionbent for many people and minimize your inventory woes. Your idea for rentals is good too. Minimal inventory and maximum turnover. Becoming an LCI and giving bicycling instruction might work for you too.

I think that rather than selling as a business, you should sell yourself, the bicycle guy. Become a fixture in your community. Pedal to all the local chamber mixers and talk it up with them.

PlatyPius

Me either. I've never had a large fortune. Or a small one.

Any money I would lose on the bike shop venture would be < $40,000.

njkayaker

That isn't saying much even in a big font!

I'm going to guess that the OP doesn't have 10 years to search!

And, no, it doesn't "mean everything". I know of a retail/service business that did just fine in a crappy, even similar, location. One reason it worked for them because it was very cheap!

10 Wheels

He is young and will have more money then.......

njkayaker

Expensive. It would probably take him a long time to generate a sufficient cash flow.

????

PlatyPius

Fixed.

The old Blockbuster building is near a food store, on the main road. It's $65,000/month. Find me a bike shop that could pay that.

Next best is a place in a strip mall, which is near the edge of town, out by Wal-Mart. $2500.00/month. I'd have to do a LOT of business - more than my town will provide.

Being near campus is the key to success, and campus isn't on a busy road, or near a food store.

As for the "he has time...."

I'm 41 and working at a bike shop... how long do you think it would take me to save up a "safe" amount of money? Til I'm 60? 70?

njkayaker

Unless he picked up beaters, this would cost to have bikes to rent. There would not be a rental-market (really) unless the location was a tourist destination.

==============

These garages don't necessarily have to be local ones. (You might be able to be creative about where these bikes come from.)


You get it (my comment wasn't directed at you).

You haven't really identified any "real" sources of cash-flow into the business. I'd guess that it is going to take a long time to build the business. It might make more sense to run it cheaply and vigorously (and economically) build the recognition in the outlying areas. Another way to manage this is to do it as an "affordable" hobby and keep your job/career until the business can stand on its own feet. It's possible that you could succeed, but the way to do it might be "slowely".

chipcom 

Good luck, hope you have great success. IMO, location isn't as important as getting started and on your feet with as little overhead as possible. If people know you, they'll know where to find you. Communication, relationships, advertising, promotion and marketing to your target market is where I would be putting my efforts both now, prior to opening, and for the first year or so.

Being a member of BF (and RBR) will be a great resource for you to.

chipcom 

Bingo! Also, the perception of cool is important for that market...a starving old dude, rumored to have a mysterious past of bike exploits, working out of a basement, is much cooler than a capitalist pig in the mall.

PlatyPius

An old dude with an odd collection of bikes, I.T. and web design experience, who has also worked as a ski lift operator, a ranch hand, and an auto mechanic, who works out of a basement, provides bikes and service for the DePauw Cycling Team, has worked on Alexi Grewal's bike (learned to wrap bar tape on it), rides a 650B Rawland with Record on it, and thinks people who aren't racers shouldn't be on race bikes, is much cooler than some 19 year old kid who can tell you how much every part of HIS bike weighs, but couldn't tell you which companies make generator front hubs, or recommend a set of sturdy panniers.

chipcom 

I knew I liked you, kid.

Edit: I am jealous...you're fixin to live my retirement dream. I wanna run a little bike shop over in Oberlin someday, carry simple, inexpensive, European style bikes and hire hot college gals as employees and interns.

Big Pete

Capitalist Pig in mall that cracks me up!! Almost all colledge kids are into Fixie Hipster style junk. You did mention its near a BAR! Are you friends with this bar owner and he could possibly be a part of the huge kegger you need to throw when you open! Also if the city is so behind you they will more than likly let you close the street block party esk and by doing this open containers will be allowd in the street then hold bigwheel racing for the drunks you will be fine.

Just spend some of that money and go around buying older bikes and flip them, what doesnt sell in the shop go for the Ebay route.

wahoonc

Another thought to add to the collection. Find something, anything that people need for bikes that isn't readily available in the US and offer it via the internet. I know that is basically how Clever Cycles and Velo-Orange got their start. Another one that comes to mind is Wallingford Bicycle Parts

I have no clue where to start on something like that but it sure works for them. There are all kinds of parts that people would like to buy that aren't available in the US at this point. Hebie, B&M lights, Spanninga Lights, and many other brands. I realize some of the ones I have mentioned are being imported but not in very great quantities and usually not the full line.

Start your maintenance shop and find something else to specialize in and keep it rolling. A couple other brands of bikes that I have seen very few dealers for, but seem to be decent value for the dollar are KHS and Torker. I know that Torker is available from Seattle Bike Supply.

Aaron

Big Pete

Also my boss just wrapped my granite installation truck with one of those gay total veichle wraps and I hate it but in the 2 weeks it has been done I have handed out 25 cards and just installed the first kitchen from a card that I handed out it was a 150 square feet kitchen with tearout and inside out side pass through that the customer paid over $6000 for and I have also made about $150 in resealing and chip repair =)

on top of the wrap you could mount bikes that you actually have for sale on top of the car.

TomM

A town that has a population of 14000.

PlatyPius

I've already looked into that. It's cost-prohibitive at the moment, but is something I'll consider in the future. The wrap would cover up the rock chips on the front of my Tacoma 4x4. lol


I already have an account with Peter White (B&M, Schmidt, etc).

KHS is what the shop that didn't last long sold. I love KHS; I was a KHS dealer at the first shop I was a partner in. They just don't sell in Indiana for some reason. Sold the hell out of them in Colorado, though.

The Torkers are.....interesting. Honestly, I like the Electra versions a lot more. If you haven't seen the 2010 Electra stuff yet, go check them out.

PlatyPius

Putnam County, which has no bike shop at all, has 36,019 people. Greencastle is the county seat, and everyone ends up here at some point.

Hendricks County, right next door (about 10 miles) has 104,093 people and.....no bike shop.

Morgan County, also next door to us, has 66,689 people and.....no bike shop.

Clay county, to the west of us, has 26,556 people and no bike shop.

Parke County, just north-west of us, has a population of 17,241 and no bike shop. And has a lot of Amish people, who like bikes.

Getting the idea, now?

Artkansas 

Well, unless Platypius expands into Oberlin, you could still do it.

chipcom 

Are you my Daddy Warbucks?

PlatyPius

That's what I was wondering... If so, I could use a few grand to get some bikes for the store.