Business venture

Paulkingk

Hi guys i,ve been thinking about starting to do cycle repairs as a job in my spare time but am unsure as to where to start. Has anyone done this sort of thing before. I need to set up trade account with someone but have no idea what my best bet would be. I don't think any of the big distributers Madison Fischer etc etc would be interested in some thing on such a small scale. just any helpful advice people might have would be greatfully recieved. Thanks guys.

FunBus

There has been a lot of discussions along these line before on trade forums - asking whether its a viable business venture etc etc.

Truth is, most larger distributors, like you say, will only offer trade terms to bricks and mortor bike shops - so someone with an eBay account in their front room cant become the next Chain Reaction!

You could perhaps talk to your local bike shop to see if they want to form some sort of "partnership" - they get the stock at trade, for a cut of the profit. But, you may find it to be an uphill struggle as you're taking away business that could be theirs. Nearly all bike shops offer repair services, some better quality/value than others. Most riders will go to them for repairs rather than get a random stranger round to their house (for probably a higher cost!).

If you're just doing this as a spare time/hobby thing, you could start off doing repairs for your mates etc and see where it goes?

The initial outlay for tools/advertising could take quite a long time to earn back.

I dont think you'll be able to give up your day job just yet! Sorry!

weemo1rush

Have you Thought about mobile repairs out the back of a van. going to peoples work. or train stations.
what sort of level are you at with repairs.
me and a friend have looked in to it even went as far as registering a name and accounts. one problem you have is competition. .
Nobody however has done the mobile repairs out of a van to train stations .
i mean look at this way . the customer leaves his or her bike/bikes with so they are safe and when they come back you have indexed there gears and taken out that wobble on the rear wheel £20 thanks very much!
do this 5 times a day not a bad little earner!

FunBus

thats more of a full time job though if you're doing it during business hours.

I'm not so sure, not wanting to rain on your parade but there are a lot of mobile mechanics out there - in the latest BikeBiz magazine there was even an article about different ones around the country.

Most of them seem to be sideline businesses to a bike shop as you'll still always come back to the problem that you cant buy parts at trade unless you have a shop. Just servicing and adjusting is fine, no parts, but then you wont be able to charge much and wont really be able to offer much of an overall service. This would only leave quite small target market - if you can find 5 people everyday out of that market in one station (because if you're holding their bike, you'd need to be near the area again at 5pm) that will pay you to just do a bit of tinkering, then you deserve to be a success, but, i'd be a little more doubtful.

mickedwards61

FunBus wrote:

Most of them seem to be sideline businesses to a bike shop

I was chatting to the guy who runs the LBS I use, and he was telling me that the servicing/fixing bikes isn't where he makes his money. It's a sideline, and he does it in the hope that when people come to buy their next bike, they will do so through him because of service received in the past.

That said, if you enjoying doing it and like you say, want to do it in your spare time then why not. As above, start working on mate's bikes etc and see where it goes.

cee

mickedwards61 wrote:

I was chatting to the guy who runs the LBS I use, and he was telling me that the servicing/fixing bikes isn't where he makes his money

This is not the common thing...of bike shops i have spoken to about the same thing (including a good mate who runs one)....

The servicing is where they make their money....
example
exclude shop costs like electricity etc....because they happen all the time, whether someone buys a bike or has a bike serviced, or indeed if no-one even enters the shop all day!

say a bike sold for 1000 is bought at trade for 750

to sell a bike - he spends time say an hour selling them the bike.
he buys the bike from supplier
he spends time doing the PDI say half an hour
the buyer picks the bike up.

so the bike cost 750, plus an hour and a half of wages.

so profit is 1000 - 750 - say £15 for the 1.5 hours wage.... = £235 = 23.5%

workshop...

take the basic service from the big shops..
includes
- Checking and adjusting gears,
- Checking and adjusting brakes,
- Checking and inflating tyres.

costs £30.

takes half an hour - so profit = 30 - 7.50 = £22.50 = 75%

all day baby....all day.

I would take the no-outlay 75% over the high outlay 23.5% anyday. and...they will still buy innertubes, pumps, helmets, their next new bike etc anyway.

mickedwards61

cee

I can see where your coming from and it is a very valid point, and very well argued. However, I don't know many small LBS's that charge £30 for a basic service, at least not to regular customers, and the prices you quoted are from big shops who have much higher overheads than smaller shops.

In the case in point here, is that the OP is looking to start doing a sideline repair/service business, I presume from his garage. Would you pay £30 for some bloke in a garage to service your bike?

No way baby... no way

FunBus

Granted, servicing is nearly ALL profit. Anyone with any sense would want to do that all day everyday, BUT, you have to remember there are a lot of bike shop owners that hate, if not refuse, to work on bikes bought online or from large stores (Evans, Halfords etc). That being the case, unless you bought the bike from the LBS, you might struggle to get them to lift a finger - throwing money and future customers away i know, but thats the way fo the cycle trade....in some cases!

If i owned a bike shop, i know i'd prefer to churn bikes out all day rather than services. In most cases, dealers buy bikes from distributors with the opportunity to make 30-40% margin, before discounting. To sell a bike doesnt often take an hour and a PDI can be done while chatting to the customer about spares/accessories they "need".

Anyway, this is getting off track so good night and god bless!

cee

mickedwards61 wrote:

cee

I can see where your coming from and it is a very valid point, and very well argued. However, I don't know many small LBS's that charge £30 for a basic service, at least not to regular customers, and the prices you quoted are from big shops who have much higher overheads than smaller shops.

In the case in point here, is that the OP is looking to start doing a sideline repair/service business, I presume from his garage. Would you pay £30 for some bloke in a garage to service your bike?

No way baby... no way

in fairness...i wouldn't pay anyone £30 to run an oily rag over my bike....

I have had a look and can assure you that £30 is the average price in edinburgh for a basic service...big shop or small shop...

Would people pay £30 for a guy to come to them and run an oily rag over their bike? I think yes..

overall point is that...there is money to be made from servicing bikes...heck shops charge at least a fiver to change an inner tube including the tube they bought for 50p)

The commuting fraternity is where i would see a market. they are perhaps not as workshop savvy in general us the MTB lot...they are cash rich and time poor. come to my work and service the bike? £30 easy.

more to the OP . as always with these things...it will be the scheduling of the repairs and services that makes or breaks you....you couldn't do two half hour jobs in even an hour and a half if it means crossing the city in between or whatever...

getting lots of jobs close together geographically, and doing them during office hours.....maybe. depends on what it costs you to get to the job...and remember that most jobs will be stupid stuff like fit brake blocks, change puncture, unjam chains, replace chain etc...so not much in each job.. they are only worth it if you do lots of it in a day.

as far as suppliers goes...tricky.. unless you either order a baws lot of stuff cash up front, you are unlikely to get much discount on SRP. Consignment accounts are generally tied to credit ratings meaning business address and accounts etc....it is perfectly possible to do this...

contact hotlines/madison etc, but don't expect the best deal in the world. the more you buy..the better the price.

Rindle

One problem your going to have is spares. Headsets,cables bottom brackets, brake pads. This is where shops have the advantage. You'll need an outlay to make sure you have everything you need. Its way more than just a few cables and bearings.

How about doing a come to your door catalogue bike setup aound christmas time?

RockingDad

weemo1rush wrote:

Have you Thought about mobile repairs out the back of a van. going to peoples work. or train stations.
what sort of level are you at with repairs.
me and a friend have looked in to it even went as far as registering a name and accounts. one problem you have is competition. .
Nobody however has done the mobile repairs out of a van to train stations .
i mean look at this way . the customer leaves his or her bike/bikes with so they are safe and when they come back you have indexed there gears and taken out that wobble on the rear wheel £20 thanks very much!
do this 5 times a day not a bad little earner!

Being an area station manager if someone wanted to approach me to provide this service to my customers I would defo sit down and discuss....

RockingDad

tri-sexual

i think its a great idea so long as you are very good and can do all the jobs on a bike.
modern bikes require loads of specialist tools which tend to be very expensive so would require a large financial outlay up front, if someone ask you to do a job (eg changing a campag 11 speed chain) and you dont have the tools to do it then it looks unprofessional especially if you do not work from a proper bike shop.
make sure that you get insurance. you will be sued if a bike is stolen whilst in your care, and if you accidently damage a carbon frame due to improper handling or just over tightening of a bolt it would be very expensive for you to replace. saying sorry or lying by saying the damage was there before you started work is not really an option
try advertiseing in local shop windows and get your name known in cycling clubs etc, print loads of flyers and business cards and get yourself a good reputation.
if someone i know well would recommend someone good whether its a restaurant, mechanic or cleaner then i will have no hessitation in using/trying them even if they do not work from a shop.
wish you all the best in your new business venture