I can see the tool bill being the thick end £10k even being conservative.
Surely you could economise on that by targeting consumers better.
If you want to work on high end bikes then you you will need a Chris King specific bearing press at a bazillion dollars even though only one of your clients needs it.
If you are happy working on commuters then you could be ok with a couple of HT2 tools and a cartridge BB spline tool and get away with referring anyone with Campag ultra-torque to their LBS who will invested in the ridiculously priced tool for that particular solution looking for a problem. 80:20 rule, 80% of the jobs will use 20% of the tools (and further 64% uses 4%, 51% uses 1% etc). Alternatively specialize on one expensive component (fox forks, reverb droppers, replacing shimano brake pistons) which requires a small numbers of tools but there might be sufficient market locally to keep you busy.
£10k for tools?
If the OP has the skills to do this (and I don't doubt he does), presumably he'll have most of the stuff that Park tools kit covers already. I dread to think how much they factor in for that naff barstool.
That said, shock dynos, nitrogen charging equipment, Kestrel workstand - dunno how much all that runs to...?
Seriously thinking about doing this myself along the lines on collect-repair-return
I dread to think how much they factor in for that naff barstool.
£99.99 🙂
A decent Kestrel workstand cost me £700. Worth every penny.
I can’t imagine anyone buys the park big tool kit. Our kestrel stands at work must be 20 years old at least as well as there display stuff we have in the shop. It was top quality stuff but have not bought any since the change of owner
‘Dangerous’ roads see cyclist numbers decline
In reply to a couple of posts on page 1 of this thread.
I stand corrected in my spesh BG insoles.
Depressing, even moreso that the KSI stats have remained in proportion to the number of miles, so much for 'critical mass'.
Go a notch up on the business model.
Put together a service package price to ensure that bikes are safe and serviceable.
Approach companies that participate in the cycle to work scheme, ideally ones which have extensive bicycle parking facilities on site.
Sell it to the MD/HR as a way of ensuring their team are on time and don't have to worry about nipping out to the bike shop.
More of an employee perk than trying to vie for business with the usual tight arse public.
This may lead on to further PJ's to sort out employees weekend bikes etc.
Will lead to a few fixed locations to work from, will be interesting and pay consistently.
Offer options on the supply of materials, owner supplied or via you, or perhaps the company will offer a subsidy for their employees.
Will contribute to their Corporate Social Responsibility package and provide wellness for their employees.
I need to get in Dragons Den with this one.
Also, if you do offer a service that is more of a skill, like wheel building or repair, make sure you’re good at it. Reputation will be the biggest source of income and being known for high quality work in what many consider a dark art will be vital.
Wheelbuilding is a good example for this thread. I'll blow the illusion out straight away - wheel building is easy. A piece of cake. Even for the amateur, you can take a pile of bits and turn it into a wheel that is every bit as good as one you'd buy from a "proper" wheelbuilder. Likewise with truing and repairs.
..but (and there's always a but!), can you do it quickly enough for it to be economical? I can build as good a wheel as anyone, but it takes me at least 90-120 minutes to get it properly tensioned and trued to my (stupidly) exacting standards. In order to make money, you'd need to have this down to 1/4 of this or less, or you'd never be able to charge enough to cover your own costs.
And therein lies the problem with bike spannering. I'm willing to spend hours and hours working on my bikes, making sure that every detail is perfect. And, without wishing to sound excessively prideful, I can do a job that is better than a bike shop because I'm willing to spend hours on the job, something that no bike mechanic wishing to stay solvent would ever do. Most of the people that I ride with (cycle club types) do their own spannering for 99% of jobs. Why? Because they tend to be time rich, cash poor and with a literal garage full of bikes to maintain, which they would never be able to do if they had to pay someone to do each. In my case, just my son's race bikes (road, CX and MTB) are almost a full time job to keep in perfect order during the racing season - something I could never manage logistically (or, I guess, financially) if using a third party.
Not trying to put you off here, but just to encourage some realistic consideration on how you might turn a great idea into a viable business!
I know someone who does this.
Shut down an uneconomical bikeshop and started a mobile business working from van and home.
He does very well and is much happier than when he ran the shop.
However he mainly does higher end kit - contrary to some on the thread, there does seem to be a large number of cash rich time poor cyclists round here who want their bikes in top condition. His reputation as a bike whisperer is well know and it doesn't hurt that he's pretty handy on both the road and mtb.
He has a very active Facebook and instagram presence
He seems to have more free time when he wants it and more business than he can handle.
He has 10k worth of tools...
can be very lucrative.
I'd like to see some numbers please...
...and a bit less BS...
Holy STW member revival...!
I've been asking about Scotland winter silliness for a day or two!
Bizarre that this thread popped back up 😀
To update you:
Business name set up
Registered as a Ltd company last Friday
Business insurance sorted
Bank account and card machine sorted
2 jobs in tomorrow
Enjoying the ride so far 😀
Hope it goes well for you.
Just had a quick scan of that Cycletech web page and it basically reads like the marketing spiel for a pyramid scheme.
I'm sure it's not, but less hyperbole and more actual information would make it sound less like it was written by Scammmy McScam Face.
I do the same, albeit currently on the side as i am doing an internship elsewhere. It paid for fun stuff when at uni as well as buying my van. I have a core set of loyal customers with high end bikes but also get the occasionaly once a year BSO service. You can make more money on the shit bikes and as long as you are friendly and explain the cost of things to the customer you shouldnt have a problem. I give all of them an itemised breakdown. I wasnt able to get distributor hookup but having worked in a few shops alot of the time it isnt worth it especially for low quantities of stuff. As such i dont make money on parts aside from a 10% 'handling fee'.
can i pick your brains on a few things please?
Go for it
I did the same for four years between working for other people's bike shops and opening my own shop.
It's a relatively inexpensive way to get started, but don't expect it to be easy money doing something you think is simple.
The money is there, but you need to be *good*, be convenient (goodbye evenings, weekends, stepping away from your phone and thinking travel time was negligible) and have good kit.
You'll need good tools - don't buy cheap crappy ones, they fail when you really need them. Yes, a £50 "complete mechanics' set" with 40 parts may see you through a couple of services on your own bike, even a couple more on mates' bikes, but use it regularly on bikes in poor condition and you'll kill cheap tools - and probably your customers' components - quickly.
MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL, *you* need to be good. Not just I reckon I can do this, I've fixed my own bikes, I've watched some YouTube, I've done a course, how hard can it be, good. That will see you spend all day servicing one bike. Which is fine if it's your own bike and your own time, but while you're doing your business calculations you need to work out what that will cost you and what you need to charge for that service to make it feasible. A good servicing mechanic is knowledgeable, accurate and FAST. Most bike shops would expect a general service on a bike to take 90 minutes. Try fully servicing your own bike, which you already know, in that time to get an idea of how that feels. Then imagine doing it at least 4 times in a row, but on different bikes with different levels of problems, different "stuck" bits, internal cable routing, seized-in-place bearings, etc.
I wish you all the luck, but it was a shock to me even after a few years in the industry working for other people - there is no way you'll earn anything close to £45K for a few years if you jump now. And now is a really bad time to jump, unless you've found a geographical niche that's _really_ crying out for it.
Where are you based? I'll happily chat to you and even offer some optimism if you like!
To all those saying "just work on high-end bikes"... if you owned an £8K bike, would you entrust it to someone who had just done a CyTech course and bought a bunch of tools? And would you pay a premium price for that service?