Llanbedr Pont Steffan?
Tregaron?
Lots of negativity on here, you could easily replace bike shop with teaching, office work, council staff
Changing jobs is a different matter to setting up your own business. If a new job turns out badly, it's usually not too difficult to find another job. Starting a business requires pouring money into it to get it running. If things go badly, everything you've put into it is gone. A huge proportion of new businesses fail within the first year.
Im aware yes, I've dude exactly that
The most sucessfull new LBS by far around here is Velolife in Henley.
Can't help but think that's down to the fact they sell very little bike stuff which their customers probably buy online anyway, and mostly sell coffee and cake which they can't.
Lots of negativity on here, you could easily replace bike shop with teaching, office work, council staff
No you couldn't. Working in an office (turn up, get paid a known and constant amount, put £0 of your own money in, work the contracted hours, go home) is absolutely NOTHING like starting up and running your own business.
You can't even really compare it to running other types of shops either assuming you have repair services as a major part of your business income.
The positive is clearly that if you really enjoy it and do well it is down to you and you reap the rewards (not just financial) which can't be said for an office job.
MrsRNP opened a woman's clothing shop (bear with me) ~8years ago in a village with other similar shops. What made us different and successful were;
1. The shop was more of a woman's social hangout with the coffee machine always on and a play area for kids.
2. We were mobile (had a large van) so did fashion shows/fundraiser's for schools/churches etc. Hard work setting everything up but made good money and then fed into the shop.
3. Traded at VW camper festivals and flower shows - demographics with disposable income. We had a massive gazebo and had it decked out well inside.
4. Had unique lines - we set up distribution deals with jewellers and leather goods in France and Spain that didn't have presence in the UK market. We drove round for 3weeks every winter when the shop was quiet living in our van searching stuff out.
It helped that I was the main bread winner and we didn't have children so could quite comfortably take a gamble. It was hard work and dragged me into lots of it.
So in summary you can do well with a business but you need to think differently to everyone else and in the age of online shopping you can't sit in a shop expecting people to come to you, you need you to go out there and feed people back into the shop where you offer personalised/unique service.
Ultimately though we realised it was hard and long hours and sold up putting our money into renovating/flipping commercial property which had far better returns.
Have you considered opening a bookshop?
https://www.thecyclingexperts.co.uk/industry/opening-a-bike-shop/
There is a popular saying in the industry which goes something like this: "If you want to make a small fortune in the cycle trade, start with a large one."
Some people have tried a mobile cycle repair business.
https://cyclingindustry.news/mobile-mechanics-a-sustainable-business-for-the-bicycle-retailer/
@DallasWiseman I have messaged you directly...
I have a wealth of knowledge I can impart, but to be honest, a lot of it you won't want to hear I'm afraid!
A different take:
Lots of negativity on here, you could easily replace bike shop with teaching, office work, council staff – send done people exude negativity about their job regardless of what it is with similar gripes
I love working in a bike shop and have had some great times! Doesn't change the fact that now would be a bad time to start a new bike shop without some serious friends in the industry and a lot of money!
I think the key is demand.
IS there demand in the local area for a bike shop?
Mid-Wales is a relatively sparsely populated and poorer part of the UK.
Is there likely to be enough custom to keep you in a salary, cover bills etc?
Do a couple of surveys of shoppers in the target area on a Saturday afternoon.
Watch how much people spend, research average wages in the area.
That will help define how much potential customers have to spend on leisure.
A lot of trail centre bike shops rely on money 'coming in' from the outside area. This is another angle to look at.
I would definitely grab any grants you can, start small, grow organically and do some objective market research first.
I had about 3 years working as a cycle mechanic on and off, and I loved it, but the things the general public try and pull on you is unreal. How confident and steadfast can you be? I had people ( not customers, cos they buy things) come in demanding a refund on bikes theyd just pulled out of the sea, literally found it on a beach and demanding money back. Proved they were lying by taking the bottom bracket out in front of them and showing them the bracket tube rammed solid with sand.
Also had people come in claiming previous managers had promised them a bike for charity rides, that kind of thing. The brass neck on these ****s is unbelievable.
Also, christmas was mental, I think one year we as a shop built something like 700 + bikes between October and Christmas Eve. It was a quiet day if I wasnt building and PDI ' ing less than 30 bikes a day, this included climbing over the racks to get at them, disposing of cardboard, etc. One very popular kids model had a manufacturing fault whereby they had forgotten to thread the fixing bosses for the rear doll carrier, so they all had to be done by hand. That kind of thing takes extra time you dont have. And this was all for minimum wage. I once saw the workshop manager put in a 30+ hour shift in order to get them all built in time. If you take into account how much he got paid , he was working for less than minimum wage, which was about £6 iirc at the time.
Basically, yes, playing with bikes all day is fun, one of the best jobs i had ,but its definitely not worth the hassle or the pay. Stick to spannering for you and your mates.
PS both of the shops I worked in were in Wales.
Having owned a shop for 6 years, not bikes, traditional sweet shop, the best advice I can give you is know when to get out and be prepared to take any other job to get by with.
Do not let the shop get into debt, know when to walk and realise that although you have put your heart and soul into it, eating and paying bills is more important.
Do not get me wrong, having your own business in many ways is better than being someones employee, just gone back to being self employed myself, BUT, and these are big buts, you will be working far more than the 60 hrs a week you are now, expect to work every day, either being open or arranging stock, doing books etc. We were lucky that we could run between my wife and I, but when you start looking into staff and employment laws it makes it far more complex.
Honestly ? Give it another year or two, change jobs if your current is crappy but do not leap into this with the current situation unless you have considerable funds behind you to live off for a few years.
I really do wish you the best of luck, and hope you can get it to work but really think about putting plans off for a year or so and see if situation improves first.
I've never worked in a bike shop or run one, but I do know that something like 60% of startups fail and when asked the CEOs (or owners) of those start-ups never expect it to be them.*
*I'm sure the real stats are out there, but this is something like the actual figure.
