Should I buy a bike shop?

[PaulB]

Right, this is the situation.

I noticed yesterday that a long-established bike shop has gone for sale in a town about 6 miles from where I live.

One the one hand, it would allow me to invest in a business with a great reputation while working in an environment I love and would enjoy being involved with.

On the other, it's a huge investment which would put all of my savings, pension fund etc on the line.

I've never even worked in a shop and have no business sense and one side of me is telling me this is a terrific opportunity while the other side is telling me to be very cautious.

I'm going to see it tomorrow with my eldest son and we're going to talk over the pros and cons of making such a big decision (no, it's not in a town called Malice).

Chip in with any info/knowledge/advice if thou wouldst.

 

[PhilDawson8270]

Your savings, and pension, is a massive gamble with no retail or business experience.

As much as you may love the industry, I'd find it hard to recommend a risk like that with no idea how to run it.

 

[swee'pea99]

I've never even worked in a shop and have no business sense

Dare I say these are questionable qualifications for investing all your savings in a retail venture. To say the least.

 

[Kajjal]

Unless you have clear business plan, supplier contacts and an idea of future income etc. I would stay well clear. It is a very risky proposition and you need to plan to deal with competition from halfords and on line retailers.

 

[Deleted member 35268]

If you were to start a business selling bike stuff, I would start online. Buying a shop is going right in at the deep end.

 

[Drago]

Could be great, could be nasty.

I'd ask discretely about, find out why he's selling up. If the business ain't there, it ain't there.

On the other hand, it could be a cracker. I went to school with the oldest son of Roy Pink, and remember well Roy opening his bike shop. He's now on his third lot of premises (bigger each time) and is a premier Giant dealer, yet still retains that friendly family atmosphere and service.

Good luck of you decide to go for it. I'll be rooting for you.

 

[Oldfentiger]

I know the shop in question.
One thing to factor in to your decision making is location. There's a small car park opposite which is quite often full. On several occasions I've driven past and gone elsewhere because there was nowhere to park.

 

[rugby bloke]

Question is, how much can you afford to lose ? If you risk ending up on the street with no pension its a heck of a gamble.

Could you bring in a partner who has retail, business experience ?

 

[oldfatfool]

Yes, then train me as your mechanic on £30k a year

 

[KneesUp]

As others have said, gambling your pension and so on on something you have no experience of is a big call.

You need to accurately assess the odds of winning, and to do that you need to define a 'win' Remember that if you own a shop, you are never 'off' - if you want to not be at the shop, you have to pay someone else (and trust someone else) with your livelihood. I run my own business, and haven't had more than 7 days off in a row for 9 years (and 7 days only twice). It's nonsense to pay rent and rates to store stock no-one can buy part of the time: if you have a shop, you have to be open 7 days. Parking - as mentioned above - is a massive issue. Don't underestimate how much people hate walking. The nearest six or so on-road parking spaces nearest the place I work were suspended for resurfacing a few months back, and it cost a few hundred quid in lost taking, even though the whole rest of the street, and the neighbouring street were unaffected.

Could you ask the current owner about working alongside them for a few months as part of a purchase?

 

[derrick]

The small cycle shops are closing around our way, It's a hard game to make pay.Personally i would give it a miss and carry on enjoying your hobby, If you end up working in the industry it's no longer a hobby, Unless you can specialize in something no one else has local to you. Good luck with what ever you decide.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

If you have no retail experience, a shop may come as a shock to you. It is unbelievable how rude and difficult and ignorant average Joe can be. They get particularly nasty when faced with a grudge spend such as a repair bill. I'll never forget being abused by a customer who accused us of rusting his headset bearing by washing his bike before working on it. I can also not forget the customer who insisted that we sold him a bike with a rubbish derailer which kept on breaking off, once even ripping out of the frame. The problem was that he had no idea how to shift and through brute force, managed to break it off. The derailer wasn't strong enough, he claimed. There's no use trying logic and reason with these people. They want to fob off the expense to someone else at all cost.
Further, running a repair business requires a lot of experience. It is not a job for a newbie. If you intend hiring experience mechanics, then yes, give it a go. If you are not an experienced mechanic and want to wing it, rather don't.
Having said that, some of the best people in the world came into our shop and I'll also never forget them. But the ones I had to show the door really spoils things. Retail is hard. Very hard.

 

[Dave 123]

I was listening to any answers on R4 at the weekend. They were talking about the in/out of Europe issue.
A bike shop owner rang up and was saying that most stuff comes from Europe and they've recently added an extra percentage due to the uncertainty. I can't remember the details precisely.......

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07djvyl


Might just be worth a scan through to find it..

 

[numbnuts]

I haven't been inside a bike shop in years as I buy all my gear online and I'm not the only one, so unless you are going to sell online too I would say no.

 

[Blue]

20 years ago, when I bought my first bike, I had 3 bike shops to visit in my locality. Due to the rise of on-line sales the last of those shops folded about 4 years ago. I wouldn't wager my savings & pension on a bike shop.