I am not in the business, but as a customer, here is what I like in some of our local shops and what I wish to find:
– A good mechanical shop, with quick turnaround.
Either bring your bike in (no appointment) and get it back within a few hours (or the next day), or take an appointment for the next day and get quick service. If you are near an office area, people may be interested in bringing their bike in at 8:00 or 9:00 a.m. and get it fixed at 5:30 p.m.
Of course, when everybody brings their bikes at the same time for "Spring tuneup", delays are a bit longer.
– Hands on training for basic repairs.
I don't need it, but based on comments I hear when I "save the day" of other riders, it's really needed. Things like "how to repair a flat" (both repairing and changing the tube), tuning indexing, basic chain lube... with hands on on their own bike. A 4' 10" woman needs to try to put the tire back in place (and of course, she can do it if she knows a few tricks rather than simply look at the football player doing it). If you have a club, user group, etc. that does it, you may want to refer them directly to them.
P.S. You won't make money on the repair class, but you'll keep the clientele, and if you programme the class at a low time (late Winter, for example), your work schedule won't look too bad.
– Displays, self-service, etc.
All our shops keep their parts behind the counter, and quite frankly, if it weren't for the web and e-mail forums, I wouldn't be aware of most of them.
Some things could best be left in self-service shelves, others in assembled showcases. For example, is there a way make a "mini dark room" to see lights and compare them?
Or to compare brake pads in the wet?
– Specialty items and top items (depending on your market).
For example, forget most basic brake pads and sell Kool Stop Salmon brake pads. Why? they cost 10% more but last 4-10 times longer and work much better in the rain or snow. So your customers will like them; they may come back less often for new pads, but they will like your advice.
Ditto for lights. All shops sell battery headlights and rechargeable ones, but almost nobody sells bottle generators and dynohubs. You could develop a specialty market here, and if you are a good wheelbuilder, you might even suggest to your customers to buy bikes with a rebuilt front wheel.
Right now, I think that most "utility riders" either need a generator-based headlight or one of the powerful LED-based headlights (when you need a be-seen headlight only)... but of course, I don't know how well – or poorly – streets are lit in your neck of the woods.
– For different markets: a "commuter kit"
Racks, panniers, fenders, decent lights... plus basic clothing like helmet, walkable shoes, gloves (cheap ones). Even if people don't buy the kit at once, it would give them an idea of how much they need to spend.
– Bicycles that are actually useful for utility riding
Touring bikes (light touring bikes like the Bianchi are affordable), good quality hybrids for those who like straight bars (but prefereably with bars that are curved near the end). In other words, bikes that can use 700x32 or 37 tires and fenders.
