Just Resigned

Shavedlegs

Well there is no going back now.

Just pinged off my resignation e-mail. In a few short weeks I shall be a self employed bike shop owner!

andyp

That's a brave step but one I wish you luck with. Where's the shop going to be?

Shavedlegs

Hi AndyP,

I'm shaking a bit. The shop will be in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, it will have a wonderful e-commerce site though so I can provide Bikeradar members nationwide with all the shiney bargains the could wish for.

I'll be having an opening sale, so watch this space.

Alex

Mog Uk

Brave move, I wish you luck....

Just out of curiosity what job are you resigning from ? Do you already have retail experience or is this a totally new start...

All the best...

gumball3000

I promise I will stick my head round the door at some point.

We have to support fellow Radar users!

You're not going to be a Cannondale dealer by any chance?

Bronzie

All the best Alex - that takes some spacehopper sized balls to walk away from paid employment into the great unknown. Hope it all works out for you and looking forward to spending some dosh in your online emporium.

Doobz

sounds awesome man..

I wish you the best of luck and hope your dream becomes a reality. When I used to have a shop I noticed the way we made the most cash was through repairs and anything hands on.. as long as you can offer some sort of service where there is no outlay. If making cash for your time and skills then you will be fine..

ooking forward to the site
adios
doobz

suze

Good luck ...

Wish I had the guts to do something like that....

robbarker

Thhe very best of luck old boy!

I just had a quick look at the website - seems fine and looks professional. You still have someprices not set - ITM seatposts for example at £999!

From the perspective of a potential customer, what stock will you be holding? Nothing irritates me more than ordering something online only to be told there's week's wait while it's ordered in from the distributor.

jimmythecuckoo

Good luck!!!

gumball3000

Can you give us the web address yet?

That way we can put it in favorites.....

And start the annoying, i konw better than you, suggestions! Only kidding!

Shavedlegs

Thanks for the support.

I work in IT so I haven't really got any retail knowledge or experience. If I analyse the decision it doesn't make sense other than I'd regret not giving it a go and I have enough regrets already. This forum has helped me make the decision, I like the thought of dealing with you!

I've never needed to use the quote function before but here goes.

You still have someprices not set - ITM seatposts for example at £999!

Thank you for looking at the site and the nice comments. Yes, I marked things £999 to flag I haven't calculated the price. It should all be ready early next week and then I'll add the shopping cart.

From the perspective of a potential customer, what stock will you be holding? Nothing irritates me more than ordering something online only to be told there's week's wait while it's ordered in from the distributor.

I know what you mean, the plan is to have everything in stock and dispatched the same day. It probably won't be perfect from day one as I'm unsure as to the demand for specific items.

I honestly want to provide the best service possible and hope that although most of you will ordering through the site (if you order at all of course) you remember it is me personally you are dealing with. Any problems, just chase me down around Richmond Park on a Sunday morning! PM me on here and my mobile number will be on the site too.

You're not going to be a Cannondale dealer by any chance?

I haven't decided on which frames yet! They are to be my biggest outlay. Possibly. I'm happy to take a poll on the best frames for me to stock as I go round in circles. I will be producing my own in the near future though, I may run a competition to name them.

Also if anyone wants support for their club events let me know, I need to get the website known as Trowbridge is quite small and can't really provide enough customers on its own.

Alex

synchronicity

There was another thread recently (in the last few weeks I think) about opening a new local bike shop. I just tried for 5 minutes to find it, to no avail.

I wish you the best of luck! But you don't need luck, you need determination!

Coming from someone with zero experience with self-employment, may I suggest you take a look at this brief article I wrote, called "On with the business".

You also might be interested in:
The importance of networking. & My life on an island paradise...

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daniel_b

suze wrote:

Good luck ...

Wish I had the guts to do something like that....

Couldn't have put it any better, hope it goes better than you could have ever hoped for.

Inspirational.

Dan

McBain_v1

Best of luck with that - since I do normally all of my bike shopping online I will add your site to my list of "up and coming" attractions.

lateralus

Good luck! Let us know when the site's live.

Random Vince

if you need any graphic design work, logo's, flyers etc then give us a shout

trying to make ends meet a little while at uni

all the best with it, if i'm down that way I'll pop in, but i rarely go further south than coventry.

grayo59

Whereabouts in Trowbridge? Shop name?

robbarker

Best of luck with it anyway - I'll ride over and visit when you get up and running - only about 50 miles away :-)

(Will you have new legs in stock? - 33" inseam please..)

redvee

The way to make a small fortune in abike shop is to start with a big one :shock:

Good luck with the new venture. From my knowledge of the shops in the area I cna se the big competitor being MCC if they are still in business.

Adam Tranter

Good luck with your venture, the bike industry is a hard one. It can be lucrative, but some advice, stock the stuff that will sell not the stuff that is shiny.

Bunnyman 5.5

All the very best! 8)

renard

I left a well paid job (that I didn't like) to spend a year training at my own cost, with no guarantee of success or employment.

I haven't looked back. The only thing I missed was pay day but I get better ones now.

For a while I was self employed, and you do worry about work coming in, but if I worked late one day, I saw the results in my pay packet, unlike most salaried positions.

Good luck with it!

mrushton

Good luck with your venture. Like many on here, being a wage slave is not appealing but there is the fear of the unknown. just watch out for those cheapskate cyclists who 'can get it cheaper on the net' then expect you to help them gratis when 'it' isn't right.

El Gordo

You seem to be doing what everyone on here wishes they were brave enough to do too. Myself included.

Everytime I see a vacant shop in my village I think "Hmmm, I could open a nice bike shop there" but with a wife, baby and hefty mortgage I know I'll never do it.

I hope it all goes well for you.