Hi all,

I'm thinking about setting up a bike store. Does anyone have any advice they could share with me?

Cheers,
Chris

Yeh, don't bother and give all the money that you'll no doubt lose, to me!

Speaking from experience twohats?

Wha do you want to know?

Recently, there were several posts like this one on the forum. The consensus seems to be that it won't make you any money. However, if you know your market and are good at business I for one can't see why you shouldn't be a success. Wheelbuilding, decent stock and great customer care not freebies are paramount. And being able to say NO.
Where are you thinking of doing it?

What can you offer that customers can't get somewhere else? If you cna answer that one sensiblely you might get somewhere.

Loads of questions but primarily I guess I'd like to know more about how distributors are with start-ups.

Cheers.

Is there a gap in the market where you are? What is your unique selling point going to be?

have you got tens of thousands of pounds backing to cover stock, shop rental and wages until money starts coming in?

Thanks guys.

Well I'm coming at it from the angle of delivering outstanding customer service and sustaining on repeat business from a loyal customer base. There's a definite gap in terms of bike shops and it's quite an affluent area.

Getting stock is the bit I'm a bit hazy on at the moment though.

Recent experiences have shown me that most companies want to know you're legit – got proper premises with nice shop potential lined up etc etc as well as an idea of what you're going to sell and to whom. As mentioned above – what can you offer that others can't?

As far as brands go I wouldn't think any of the major (bike) players will touch you, they'll either have a dealer nearby or won't see any benefit in risking their reputation dealing with someone they don't know. Componentry-wise you'll probably fair better but only after you have a bike brand to deal with.

My advice (and I'm an unknown voice on t'interweb so feel free to ignore it) is find a probable location, draw up a business plan etc. Then contact a relatively unknown brand (UK based niche brands are good but often niche for a reason) who are big elsewhere such as Spain/Germany and tell them you want to help grow their brand in the UK. They'll be more likely to bite than say spesh and you'll not be competing with anyone – important as start up costs mean you'll never be able to price match wiggle/evans etc on mainstram brands.

Once you've got the bike brand lined up then approach the componentry bods. Hopefully they'll fall into place…

Then you've got the makings of a shop so spread the word about how good your new "unheard of in this country but big in Germany" product is and try and get it reviewed somewhere.

Don't blag customers, go the extra mile, don't employ idiots, keep the shop focused rather than selling a bit of everything and spreading yourself too thin and just hope for the best.

I've banked several bike shops in my time. Some have been 'proper' businesses and others little more than a hobby Invariably the ones that do well have territorial exclusivity of top brands. Specialized, Marin, Cannondale etc and cater for ALL types of cyclist, kids, roadies and families. Find out first which brands are available in your area. IIRC some brands such as Marin are much more fussy about how many shops they supply than others such as Giant.

Stock control is key. Stock will take up most of your cash and you need to be able to turn it around quickly – so as much as you would like to stock top end full bouncers be careful. These are expensive lumps of metal that won't do you any good as a showpiece for kids to gawp at after school. Premises are important – you'll need parking etc and research the competition.

Forget about providing niche stuff – the internet has won that battle

Do you even need to sell bikes? You could always just run a workshop and stock components. It seems that the space you need for a decent display is significant and puts a serious cost on the premises.

But maybe there's more money to be made in selling bikes then making repairs – I don't know. Just thinking aloud – take it for what that's worth 🙂

Thanks guys, I appreciate the responses.

What I would be offering above the competition around here is the convenience of the location, the quality of service and advice and (hopefully) the quality of stock. I'm not trying to re-invent the wheel so to speak just banking on getting the combination of those things done well.

Treat everyone well, staff and customers.

Listen to what people say to you.

Be a good boss – be the same with everyone and never lose your temper – show you can deal with all sorts of stuff going on and your staff will act the same.

Remember your customers names. I make a real point of this and it pays off. It really freaks people out! I do have a great memory for names though – one of those weird things.

And remember – its a business. Its not bikes. Its cash flow. Get the business head on and not the romantic bike hobby and you will be fine.

Does anyone have an example of what a distributor expects from the retailer? I.e. How you established that relationship, what terms were agreed, what quantity of units were purchased, how this relationship developed over subsequent seasons, what difficulties were encountered etc.

Some idea of this would really help. Thanks.

The top brands will expect you sell a certain number of bikes per year, even down to model. Some like Marin, won't be wanting you to discount them in case you cheapen the brand. You'll need to pay them on time, whether the bikes are sold or not. The better you treat these suppliers the more 'favours' you can expect. E.g. Being first in the queue when new models come out or being allowed to discount old models.

You best bet is to meet up with a few sales reps from various distributors. The Cyclists Source book is a good start for contact numbers etc. I have an old copy somewhere that you can have but a lot of it will be out of date. It is a start though.

From chatting to the owner of a newish shop in my area the money made on actual bikes is fairly low, he makes his shop work by pushing the simple things like helmets and components which have a better mark up.

get yourself over to bikebiz.
I've been considering doing the same myself, I just can't find the right premises in the area I have in mind at the moment. A small localish chain have recently opened up in the area, but the shops not great you could easily walk past and not know it was a bike shop.

The mark up on bikes ain't great, usually the things that make you money are locks or clothing, train your staff well. If someone is buying a bike then a good member of staff can also sell them, lock, lights, bottle, bottlecage, helmet etc……. an indifferent member of staff will sell them the bike and nowt else, extra £100-200 every bike sale adds up nicely.
Selling a full sus, sell them a shock pump etc…

dont most full sussers come with a shock pump provided by the shock manufacturer? Some shops seem to "forget" to give the buyer the pack full of manuals, spares etc that comes with a new bike, and in my experience as a customer that pack invariably includes a shock pump.

Back to the OP's question, are their any trade shows you can attend to get a feel for the area? Have you researched new business loans, grants etc that are available in your area for start-ups?