Setting up a small bike shop

[Dayvo]

You could offer us a kind of share option: we pay, say, £50 a head, and we get to become life-members of the cafe with discounts on spares and parts etc!

Good luck, though, although I don't think you'll need it; you seem to know how to go about this venture.

 

[Crankarm]

Are you requiring capital? You could offer shares in your bike company £100 each max holding £10,000, you to retain the controlling majority. Alternatively start a co-operative or partnership, be aware that partners are jointly and severally liable for any laibilities/debts if not a limited liability partnership. Those posting on here seem to be enthusiastic of your scheme maybe it's a goer for them?

 

[pij1979]

Autumn going on winter is probably not the best time to open a bike shop especially in a rural and remote area. Coupled with the current economic climate a sure way to lose a shed load of money IMHO. Best wait until the spring. At least you'd stand a fighting chance. As stated above a "sale or return " agreement with a supplier sounds good. What marketing or advertising were you planning on doing apart from CC?

Good luck anyway.

Thanks for the good luck!

I think it will take a good 6 months to secure the sale and get planning let alone do the refit and start up so it is definitely a while off. As I metioned as long as it i self sustaining it doesnt have to be my main source of income and building works can be done at cost which is a significant saving.

Marketing wise I think the key is engaging the customers. I personally love going to a small business where I feel that my custom is direclty benefitting a community or enterprise, and not simply going into the pockets of shareholders in a large corporation.

Therefore the simplest level is making people aware of the project and giving them the opportunity to engage in and follow its very conception. It would be reat for the project to become a feature in a mag wtc, however I wouldnt want to do that to the detriment of its commercial independance.

The next stage would be to engage and promote local clubs, from road, tt, auax, and mtbers. I would also want to fit it into promoting and encouraging tourism in the local comunity.

Any interest from potential investors would be welcome also! Though not if you are purely profit orientated, if you would just like time/ costs and the satisfaction of being involved let me know.

 

[Crankarm]

Thanks for the good luck!

I think it will take a good 6 months to secure the sale and get planning let alone do the refit and start up so it is definitely a while off. As I metioned as long as it i self sustaining it doesnt have to be my main source of income and building works can be done at cost which is a significant saving.

Marketing wise I think the key is engaging the customers. I personally love going to a small business where I feel that my custom is direclty benefitting a community or enterprise, and not simply going into the pockets of shareholders in a large corporation.

Therefore the simplest level is making people aware of the project and giving them the opportunity to engage in and follow its very conception. It would be reat for the project to become a feature in a mag wtc, however I wouldnt want to do that to the detriment of its commercial independance.

The next stage would be to engage and promote local clubs, from road, tt, auax, and mtbers. I would also want to fit it into promoting and encouraging tourism in the local comunity.

Any interest from potential investors would be welcome also! Though not if you are purely profit orientated, if you would just like time/ costs and the satisfaction of being involved let me know.

Your plan is admirably altruistic. But any business what ever guise it is operating under has to make money or more importantly not to lose money unless you are prepared to underwrite it as you are a rich internet or oil billonaire and aren't to bothered about losing a few hundred thousand.........a year.

Are you making a pitch to the Dragons on CC?

 

[pij1979]

Your plan is admirably altruistic. But any business what ever guise it is operating under has to make money or more importantly not to lose money unless you are prepared to underwrite it as you are a rich internet or oil billonaire and aren't to bothered about losing a few hundred thousand.........a year.

Are you making a pitch to the Dragons on CC?

Not making a pitch as I would want to retain ownership of the bulding within one of my companies. The bike shop venture would probably be set up as a prtnership or Ltd Co within my group paying a nominal rent to the holding co.

As a developer my focus is not just on profit, but also on sustainability and giving back to the community. Unfortunatetly this is often enforced through S106 which inevitably disppears into the coffers of the local council. In this case it is an opportunity within my local comunity where I know there is a need to encourage sustainle tourism and ventures, as well as providing employment opportunities.

I am pragmatic about the investment required and would certainly have a capped budget. Id be pitching more for enthusiasm and ideas/experience.

As I previously said Id keep ofice space in the building (only a couple of rroms if that) for my companies. Id like to give the rest back to a sustainable enterprise.

 

[Hilldodger]

Get that cafe set up and I'm sure plenty of CCer's will be at you opening!

 

[pij1979]

Well, here is an update for those interested.

A price has now been agreed on the premises and the cash and mortgage are in place. It looks like I will be buying the building and the bike shop may become a reality.

The plan has evolved slightly into bike shop/cafe but also guided rides/routes and possibly a partnership with a couple of local accomodation providers to provide mtb/ road guided or supported holidays and rides.

So its the research phase at the moment. What would attract you to a specific shop, particularly out of area, but in a lovely spot with great riding all around. What brands would you expect to see? Would you repsect a 'we can't price match v the web, but we do offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee, aftersales support and a free guided ride to try out your new stead' Or something along those lines.

Any other ideas?

 

[summerdays]

If you want to attract from out of the area to use both the shop and go on rides then you need to know of car-parking nearby - preferably with space for a bike rack on the back.

Could you offer some kind of basic maintenance courses where people could come along and learn to fix their bikes, have the bits to buy on hand and include lunch in the deal? Or a ride after lunch?

Good luck anyway.

 

[Hilldodger]

Treat people like friends and try to built a bit of a community feeling around the shop and then let word of mouth advertise for you.

 

[beanzontoast]

What would attract you to a specific shop, particularly out of area, but in a lovely spot with great riding all around. What brands would you expect to see? Would you repsect a 'we can't price match v the web, but we do offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee, aftersales support and a free guided ride to try out your new stead' Or something along those lines.

Just my personal thoughts - I'm not a retailer!

To my mind 'try before you buy' is a huge incentive. Too few places offer it. Sitting on a bike is no guide to how it will feel on the road.

The issue with your aftersales support offsetting higher prices as I see it is that, if you are attracting people from a distance and they then have a problem with an item they've bought, they're unlikely to want to travel a fair distance to return it unless it's an expensive item like a full bike, (whereas if it's bought from their LBS, sorting out the problem is a lot more convenient). This puts you in the same position as the online retailers receiving stuff back through the post and having to send it back out, but without their volume advantages to defray your postage costs. (And what about the customer's postage - would you pay that too?).

Some kind of loyalty discount might be an idea.

To me, price is very important. If all your prices are uniformly way above internet prices, it doesn't look as good as if you stock some items (basics like tubes etc) at close to internet prices. At least one of my LBS will match internet prices on some goods but not on more expensive items.

The 'lovely spot with great riding all around' sounds nice, but you have to remember - anyone can get that for free without calling at your shop. They have to either want or need to call in. The cafe part of the shop would be instrumental in this as I see it. Most of the bike shops I frequent are in urban non-lovely places and none have cafes - I go because I need to, not for the scenery - and they rely on being easy to get to and having a city-sized population to serve.

 

[Piemaster]

Easy answer is just do everything halfrauds don't. Sounds like your well on the way to that anyway. Personal service - say 'hello' to everyone that comes in, that help / advice is available if they want it but not in a used car salesman manner. They will likely buy something - you wouldn't go to a distant shop and come away empty handed would you? Especially a bike shop.

BTW I'm interested. Any chance of being open for summer holidays? Bike hire? Discount code for CChatters ?

 

[Hilldodger]

To my mind 'try before you buy' is a huge incentive. Too few places offer it. Sitting on a bike is no guide to how it will feel on the road.

Trouble is that there are very small margins for retailers on bikes and bike shop space is always limited. Be good if you could do it - we sell a lot of trikes to people from across the country because we have a range of demo models in. But it has cost us a lot to set that up.

 

[beanzontoast]

To my mind 'try before you buy' is a huge incentive. Too few places offer it. Sitting on a bike is no guide to how it will feel on the road.

Trouble is that there are very small margins for retailers on bikes and bike shop space is always limited. Be good if you could do it - we sell a lot of trikes to people from across the country because we have a range of demo models in. But it has cost us a lot to set that up.

... and the other thing I suppose is that the more of the space is used up for the cafe, the less there will be for discretionary things like try-out bikes.

 

[accountantpete]

I'd have a word with your accountant about Vat registration. Currently if you turnover more than £70k per year then you have to register but if it's less then you don't have to.

If you are selling physical goods then there is very little difference between being registered or not -except where you plan to buy costly equipment to use in the business.

However if you are providing a service it often pays to not register as being vat registered means charging an extra 17.5% vat to your customers.

 

[pij1979]

Some useful advice from all, thankyou very much!

I think the cafe is key for generating cashflow and drawing in locals in the village. Shop sapce will be fairly limited. At the moment I am considering raising the roofline and creating a mezzanine floor for the cafe (this will still have level access from a different road to the shopfront). I will set up a website and go after online sales too. It seems to me the margin is on parts servicing etc rather than specifically bike sales.

Once things become set in stone I will begin to publish more details as feedback from CCers is most welcome. Hopefully you will be able to wintess the birth of a new shop!

Disounts promotions/ loyalty schemes/ free cake are all of course key marketing tools which we will utilise!

I think I will also need an, enthusastic and dynamic shop manager/ mechanic. Anyone interested?