Starting from scratch

You could start a mobile bicycle repair / tune up in a panel van
greg 🙂
"Scott_Palacheck" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hey... I'm trying to start a bicycle repair shop in St
Petersburg FL. I have my own tools, and I know how to use
them. If I could get a job at a bike shop that needs a
tech, email or reply to this thread. I'm looking forword
to hearing from anyone with suggestions or ideas.

Scott

Scott Palacheck said:

Hey... I'm trying to start a bicycle repair shop in St
Petersburg FL. I have my own tools, and I know how to use
them. If I could get a job at a bike shop that needs a
tech, email or reply to this thread. I'm looking forward
to hearing from anyone with suggestions or ideas.

Don't do it! Bicycle shops are not a great way to make
money, especially if you know nothing about the business,
and the business end is where most such shops go under, not
in understanding the maintenance of the machine. Sales is
where it's at as well as marketing.

You'll find that a long term bicycle shop is competing
against a bunch of short timers who don't know that they are
in a "going out of business" mode. Repair shops are a
necessary adjunct to a good retail shop but that isn't the
main income.

I think before making such a move, the question should be,
as in many pursuits, "What is my contribution to the art and
is there a demand?"

Jobst Brandt [email hidden]

Jobst-<< and the business end is where most such shops go
under, not in understanding the maintenance of the machine.
Sales is where it's at as well as marketing. >><BR><BR>

I agree that business sense is where many LBS commit suicide
but Knowledgable labor is a far higher margin than bicycle
sales, which typically are the lowest margin of things
'sold' in a bike shop.

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 vecchios.comvecchios.comOpen ↗ "Ruote convenzionali
costruite eccezionalmente bene"

[email hidden] (Qui si parla Campagnolo ) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Jobst-<< and the business end is where most such shops go
under, not in understanding the maintenance of the
machine. Sales is where it's at as well as marketing.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

<BR><BR>

I agree that business sense is where many LBS commit
suicide but Knowledgable labor is a far higher margin than
bicycle sales, which typically are the lowest margin of
things 'sold' in a bike shop.

Peter Chisholm

Hmmm... can I agree with *both* of you? "Knowledgable Labor"
is quite valuable... but communicating that to the public
requires a high degree of sales skill, marketing, and
political adroitness. Omitting any of these will be a
handicap in making a successful new bicycle business.

To the original poster: it's a noble pursuit, but that's not
enough. Before you invest major chunks of cash, make sure
you want to *run*a*business* first. As Jobst points out, the
bicycle business is overstuffed with people who are willing
to cut everything to the bone simply to stay involved in the
"Bicycle Business". Either that, or people who are very
successful in other arenas and are looking to burn off
excess cash (I've seen both).

My advice: do your homework. Figure out how much cash
you're willing to lose. Make a business plan. Be prepared
to make hard decisions and stick with them. Marry someone
with lots of money.

Jeff (A pretty good mechanic, fairly knowledgable, but lousy
in the sales/marketing area. I married a beautiful, smart
woman who earns lots of money and rides bikes, too.)