Some Advice

Wallace1492

Hi all, now been redundant 4 weeks. Thinking of doing something different.
My idea is to set up on my own to collect/service and/or repair bikes and deliver them back. Just local mind.
Does not seem to be a service like that here, and the ones that do, hell what is wrong with some competition!

I know my way about bikes, and am going to do a VeloTech (WeldTech as was) Gold training course.

Anyone got any words of advice, or experience of a similar venture, either that you have used or know of.
At the moment dont even know what I could charge, but thought of £20 for basic clean, brake and gear check/adjustment and chain/drive chain clean and lube. Obviously anything else like replacing parts would be extra, cost price for parts and an extra charge for time to fit.

I have TCL and CT (Cycle Trainer) and a good few years of commuter and loads of other cycle experience.
Would be aiming at the not that regular cyclist market, as the regular cyclist would normally do their own maintenace.

Ideas, advice, drawbacks, welcome.

Cheers

(off out for cycle so wont see/respond for a few hours)

suzyb

Guy I know did that. He gets a decent amount of business from the other Lanarkshire MTBers although I have no idea how much from elsewhere. His website is here http://www.stewartsmobilecyclerepairs.co.uk/ if you want an idea of prices.

daviesee

Look at Edinburgh Bicycle Coop for services and prices then undercut them :?:

mr_ribble

Then work out your costs. If the latter is less than the former then may have a business.

danlikesbikes

There is someone near us that recently started up - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id= ... 25&sk=wall
& they do something very similar to what you are looking to do. Might be worth a quick look?

jonny_trousers

I would definitely pay for it. I've yet to find an LBS in my area who does not charge too much for a sub standard service. I'm equally happy to pay a fair amount more than internet prices for LBS kit too, but the difference in price some expect is just ridiculous.

Shame you're not in London!

vermin

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

I would definitely pay for it. I've yet to find an LBS in my area who does not charge too much for a sub standard service. I'm equally happy to pay a fair amount more than internet prices for LBS kit too, but the difference in price some expect is just ridiculous.

Shame you're not in London!

London rents.

jonny_trousers

vermin wrote:

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

I would definitely pay for it. I've yet to find an LBS in my area who does not charge too much for a sub standard service. I'm equally happy to pay a fair amount more than internet prices for LBS kit too, but the difference in price some expect is just ridiculous.

Shame you're not in London!

London rents.

Sure, which is why I'm happy to pay more, but to give you a recent example, an LBS I was recently dealing with wanted £30 more than Wiggle or CRC for the same pair of alloy bars. That's just silly. Like I say though, as soon as I find an LBS who does what I want, will do it quickly, well and with a smile on their faces, I will offer them my custom forever more, but I've yet to find it.

I was recently charged £80 to fit a new set of ergo levers and bar tape. That can't be considered reasonable can it?

msmancunia

I'd aim for the regular cyclist market too - I cycle 25 miles five days a week and I don't have a clue about bikes. I can oil a chain, and fix a puncture or change an inner tube and that's it. LBS sort out the rest, but I'd be happy with a home visit just as much.

supersonic

I've known a few that have done it - but how far do you want to go with what work you will offer? Also will you stock basic parts?

What many have found is that they simply didn't have the tools or parts to fix some bikes ie odd freewheels, facing mounts and shells, chasing threads, bleeding brakes and so on.

walkingbootweather

Not convinced you could make a good living out of this. Have a mate on the south coast that does something similar - it is only viable for him because he has managed to negotiate deals with some big organisations like local police, council, schools etc. to perform regular work. For him it is more of a life-style choice. His wife works in the City and is the main bread winner.

What you are up against is the uninitiated that buys a BSO for less than £100, finds it quickly needs work and baulks at having to pay a high proportion of the purchase price to try and make a silk purse out of their sow's ear. At the other end of the spectrum are people who have a better appreciation and are willing to spend more on the purchase and maintenance of a quality bike. Pretty soon many of these people prefer to do much of the maintenance themselves.

I can do most things myself but still tend to have an annual service from a local bike shop. I leave the bike with them while I'm at work and for about £25 plus parts get it tuned.

Wallace1492

Cheers for the comments, plenty of food for thought, and thanks for the links too, have seen a few and will look at the others.

Not looking to service/repair the more exotic or top end of the market, well not to begin with! More the masses that cycle maybe not as frequently, and maybe those that are not comfortable or can be bothered fixing things, and are fine paying someone a few quid to clean/lube/repair. Would not anticipate carrying much stock apart from cleaning stuff, oil, grease, brake and gear cables and housings. Maybe some of the more popular brake blocks/shoes. Anything beyond my abilities/tools/expertise, I would simply point them in the direction of LBS. The main point is picking up the bike, do the necessary and return it at a convienent time to suit the customer.
And it would be a lifestyle choice. I know I will not get rich out of it, but with no mortgage and a few quid, would be simply to make a living.

Agree with walkingbootweather as people become more comfortable, they do more themselves, but it is that initial gap I would be targeting.

I have a good few tools already, and a van, so apart from the VeloTech course it should be relatively inexpensive to set up. If it does not work, I will still have the tools and an even better knowledge of bikes.

And, will be far better than the 26 years I have spent sitting behind a desk for a large financial corporation!
Please, happy to hear more downsides.

veronese68

Sounds like you've got a good attitude, give it a go. I was about to say what's the worst that could happen which made me think make sure you get some public liability insurance.

rjsterry

+1 for insurance. Everyone makes mistakes sooner or later.

I take it you have space for all this fettling + storage.

Also get yourself a book on setting up a small business (obv) to make sure you've not missed anything - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Teach-Yourself-Setting-Business-Skills/dp/0340928778 isn't bad.

Wallace1492

rjsterry wrote:

+1 for insurance. Everyone makes mistakes sooner or later.

I take it you have space for all this fettling + storage.

Also get yourself a book on setting up a small business (obv) to make sure you've not missed anything - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Teach-Yourself-Setting-Business-Skills/dp/0340928778 isn't bad.

Cheers, will look into book. I have a decent sized, secure garage that I would use as workshop, dont think I will have storage issue as I would only be working on a few bikes at a time. Will look into Public Liability Insurance too. Cheers.

Applespider

I know a guy who does this in our local area. He 'advertises' on a local community forum and gets at least some business from there. He tends to charge about £20 for a general tune-up/service although he doesn't clean the bike (other than chain) - he comes to you though rather than collecting the bike and returning it. I think he does some cycle instructing on the side too.

alansd1980

The only thing I would say is do a decent job and people will come back.
I found someone that lives withina mile of me and gave him my commuter for a service and bottom bracket replacement, within a few months the BB had somehow come loose and now I wouldnt touch him with a barge pole regardless of how cheap and convient he was.

Good luck with it though!

mrc1

Wallace1492 wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

+1 for insurance. Everyone makes mistakes sooner or later.

I take it you have space for all this fettling + storage.

Also get yourself a book on setting up a small business (obv) to make sure you've not missed anything - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Teach-Yourself-Setting-Business-Skills/dp/0340928778 isn't bad.

Cheers, will look into book. I have a decent sized, secure garage that I would use as workshop, dont think I will have storage issue as I would only be working on a few bikes at a time. Will look into Public Liability Insurance too. Cheers.

Definitely look into the insurance before you get started and fix prices. My experience of insurers in this sort of area is that as soon as you go even slightly off piste in terms of not operating a standard business model (ie in your case a bike shop) they charge a stupid premium as they don't understand your business. If you keep looking you will eventually find somebody that charges a reasonable premium but it will be a fair bit of work. I'd also avoid like the plague storing customer bikes overnight as insurers charge heavily for this/demand very high security, especially if you are servicing higher end bikes. Don't underestimate how quickly the local scum bags will find out you are storing bikes once you start advertising.

On the model generally I think that with your attitude you can definitely make it work in terms of keeping you out of trouble and keeping some money coming in. What I would say though is that in my experience the type of people that don't cycle that often are unlikely to realise that a bike should be being serviced or are unwilling to stump up a decent amount of cash to have it done - ie they probably think "Well it works so why should I spend X on it". Once you factor in your collection and delivery costs (there and back two times I'm guessing? Also check your current van insurance covers you if you are ferrying customer bikes around) you need to be charging a decent amount for a service to make it worth your while. I'd therefore suggest you should look to aim at the higher end "MAMILs" who are willing to spend £50-80 on a good service as they have spent a grand or so on their bike and don't have the time to do it themselves/don't understand how to index gears. This will obviously have higher set up costs as you will need more tools/knowledge but you can phase this in as the business starts to get more customers.

You should also consider spares and try your best to get a trading account set up at the relevant distributors (Fisher Outdoors is one of the big ones) so that you can buy trade price parts and make some money out of changing brake pads/chains/cassettes etc. You'll have a struggle to satisfy them that you are actually trading if you can only give them your home address, but if you explain your business you should be ok.

Have you looked at the City and Guilds courses? They are very well regarded and much cheaper than the commercial ones (the one you mentioned seems like its going to be pretty basic if that is all covered in such a short amount of time - it also looks pretty expensive at £400). These people have an excellent reputation and one of their 10 day courses should cover pretty much any eventuality and is a bargain at £1050 for the qualification http://www.bike-inn.co.uk/training_courses.asp. There are other places that do the City and Guilds of course but this one is reckoned to be the best.

Finally, I'd get talking to local clubs. If you get a decent reputation at clubs you'll get lots of repeat customers. One idea I have seen work is to email the club secretary and then take a bit of a mobile workshop down to the local club's meeting point. You can then chat with the riders and give their bikes a bit of a "health check". This should lead to at least a few customers and if you do a good job with them they are sure to tell their club mates.

All the best with it and drop me a PM if you have any other questions and want to discuss.

Cheers

Rob

Applespider

The other place that might be worth touting for business is if there are any big office developments near you. They might be willing for you to spend a day on site 'fixing' their commuter bikes. And since many commuters don't have lots of knowledge about gears/brakes, you might get a steady stream - and then you can go back at quarterly intervals.