@whathaveisaidnow

its not easy, or everyone (with some spare cash) would be doing it 😉

a few years back, I worked for an established importer with 3 exclusive import brands (1 Canadian owned / manufactured, 1 USA owned / manufactured and 1 Canadian owned / TW manufactured)

we sold direct, did very good business. but it was always a struggle to get enough funds to do PR (which included print and web advertising, bike mag test bikes and rider sponsorship), to get the “word out” to the cycling public

bearing in mind, each of these 3 brands were well established

our biggest selling brand? The only “boxed brand” we sold which was Specialized Bikes. Outsold our own brands perhaps 3:1, which tells you the power of branding and big brand value compared to trying to establish your own marketplace

something else to be very concerned about in terms of a business risk is warranty issues; a run of warranty issues can completely ruin a brand in terms of profits and consumer confidence

let’s just say one of the 3 exclusive brands we sold, is no longer part of my previous employer’s roster, but was let go after ongoing warranty issues proved somewhat costly to any profits and more importantly the brand’s reputation in the UK 🙁

cheers, some very good advice there, esher…tah

et’s just say one of the 3 exclusive brands we sold, is no longer part of my previous employer’s roster, but was let go after ongoing warranty issues proved somewhat costly to any profits and more importantly the brand’s reputation in the UK

evil?

@jam bo

Mythic (now back to Banshee)

thankfully, Ison Distribution have worked hard with Banshee’s new owners and the factory in Tw to get things sorted in terms of new designs and proper QC. I am hearing good things about that brand now!

Mythic.