Start a Bike Shop

[Hamstring]

Me thinks there two sides to this, we have a product that we are offering (bike cleaner) on consignment and it has been a struggle. LBS don’t want to give it a chance at no investment risk from them, it’s just weird  

[Hairy]

9 minutes ago, Hamstring said:

Me thinks there two sides to this, we have a product that we are offering (bike cleaner) on consignment and it has been a struggle. LBS don’t want to give it a chance at no investment risk from them, it’s just weird  

This is interesting ... have they given any reason?

I see you are in the Western Cape. Have you considered taking an alternative approach by creating demand from the cyclists who in turn will ask their LBS for your products?

Approaching some of the Tygerberg trails, Tokai, Jonkers and others to allow you to set up a pop up bike cleaning station for a weekend and offer free bike cleaning where your real clients, the riders, get to see the product in action.

Edit: The buy in for the trail is that they riders will spend more time milling around and then also spending more money at the trail head coffee shop and/or bicycle shops.

Edited August 18, 2021 by Hairy

[Edereese]

Seeing that OP has left the building and i'm in the process of starting my own thing too. Please feel free to check out my insta page and add a like ???? @precisionbicycles_za

If this post is not allowed, please feel free to delete. 

[DieselnDust]

35 minutes ago, Hamstring said:

Me thinks there two sides to this, we have a product that we are offering (bike cleaner) on consignment and it has been a struggle. LBS don’t want to give it a chance at no investment risk from them, it’s just weird  

Not unusual at all. many many years ago a few mates and I had a sports equipment import business. We introduced a line of German helmets and accessories into the RSA market. Exciting product and well priced. We'd set up appointments  with LBS owners to show them the range. We'd be early and kept waiting for hours till their royal highnies were willing to grant us fiefs an audience. The cartel was strong in those days and it was in your face. If the LBS owners didn't like you, the colour of your shirt or your socks were too funky they'd phone each other and "warn" the network. It wa shard but just kept chipping away. One BS owner asked me directly which truck did I hijack to get this stuff (cos you know bruin ou's mos only acquire through stealing). right so we never went back to that box. took us a year of humbling experiences to start getting product on shelves and when that happened  we saw the really ugly side of the cartel.

 

Just keep trying, eventually you will wear one guy down and he'll relent and take the chance or just sell direct. Be master of your own destiny

Edited August 18, 2021 by DieselnDust

[Hamstring]

We have the bike cleaner in 5 LBS but its been long struggle, and we will keep trying. have a look at the insta page dirt_eater.sa ( I'm just the warehouse rat) so don't ask me about marketing.   ????

[NotSoBigBen]

Don't ... just don't

[Mountain Bru]

8 hours ago, King Pluto said:

I agree with you there, it's more about the experience and customer service. I say this because I got 3 bikes shops within the distance of 14km, one being 4km away, the other 8km but I always go to the one thats 25km away, because it's about the experience and understanding I have with the owners and their mechanics. Another reason is having better and all equipment and tools. They also have a much better shop which gives it a welcoming and comfortable feel.

So what you're saying is that you go to the shop with the best workshop and best shop, and also like the vibe there?

That's not saying anything really. The question isn't would you go the 25km away shop when it's actually the best workshop and you like the guys there. It's would you go to that shop when it's not the best, but you like the guys. 

(If I don't service my bike myself, I literally drive past a shop where I really like the head mechanic to take it to a shop with a better workshop and thats on Hubtiger)

[Edge_Design]

Why does every person who rides a bicycle feel they are qualified to run a bicycle business?

 

The distributors need to protect the image of their brands - if they don't know you and don't know what your store will look like then how can they know how you will represent those brands? They don't have any obligation to supply every single "bicycle shop" with their brands.

 

Someone mentioned R8k as the "ridiculous" 1st order - I don't know if that is accurate or not but I hope no-one is complaining about an R8k first order! If you're talking R80k then even that only gets you the basics from most of the big brands.

 

Arrange a meeting with someone from those distributors and ask them straight out what it would take to get an account with them - business plan; store plans; proposed store design; up front security deposit etc If you can't offer those then maybe you aren't ready to stock their brands just yet?

 

[splat]

15 hours ago, Hairy said:

I knew a bike shop in town who encountered a big name bike shop that put pressure on a brand he carried to be taken off this floor as he was selling the bikes at a low price point that other lot could not match. Good guy gets legal eagle involved, and not too long afterwards the brand is back on the floor and not too long afterwards the big name shop leaves the CBD.

This big name shop only had one knowledgeable staff member with rest being really short on knowledge and drive to learn.

I miss the old good guy shop who eventually closed his doors again. That same brand that was on his floor then opened a concept store down the road a couple of months later. With average at best levels of service and a shocking workshop. Our whole commute group no longer visits this store since their workshop messed up many of our repairs every time..

That sounds like a giant really big mess

[GHOST FACE]

It's wasn't as simple as that and not due to pressure from that bunch.

[DieselnDust]

2 hours ago, Edge_Design said:

Why does every person who rides a bicycle feel they are qualified to run a bicycle business?

 

The distributors need to protect the image of their brands - if they don't know you and don't know what your store will look like then how can they know how you will represent those brands? They don't have any obligation to supply every single "bicycle shop" with their brands.

 

Someone mentioned R8k as the "ridiculous" 1st order - I don't know if that is accurate or not but I hope no-one is complaining about an R8k first order! If you're talking R80k then even that only gets you the basics from most of the big brands.

 

Arrange a meeting with someone from those distributors and ask them straight out what it would take to get an account with them - business plan; store plans; proposed store design; up front security deposit etc If you can't offer those then maybe you aren't ready to stock their brands just yet?

 

<insert nail on the head>

all of this before the cartel gets involved, therefore..BRAVE!!

 

[love2fly]

3 hours ago, Edge_Design said:

Why does every person who rides a bicycle feel they are qualified to run a bicycle business?

 

The distributors need to protect the image of their brands - if they don't know you and don't know what your store will look like then how can they know how you will represent those brands? They don't have any obligation to supply every single "bicycle shop" with their brands.

 

Someone mentioned R8k as the "ridiculous" 1st order - I don't know if that is accurate or not but I hope no-one is complaining about an R8k first order! If you're talking R80k then even that only gets you the basics from most of the big brands.

 

Arrange a meeting with someone from those distributors and ask them straight out what it would take to get an account with them - business plan; store plans; proposed store design; up front security deposit etc If you can't offer those then maybe you aren't ready to stock their brands just yet?

 

I got chased by a well known bike shop in the Midrand area and threatened with the Consumer Commission, as well as a few other shops for that 8k. That was some years ago.

 

[Jewbacca]

Cool heat wanted a 50k 1st order 10 years ago..... Not sure if that has changed.

 

 

[splat]

26 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

Cool heat wanted a 50k 1st order 10 years ago..... Not sure if that has changed.

 

 

Do they even have R50k worth of product in stock at the moment ?
????

[Mountain Bru]

1 hour ago, DieselnDust said:

Someone mentioned R8k as the "ridiculous" 1st order - I don't know if that is accurate or not but I hope no-one is complaining about an R8k first order! If you're talking R80k then even that only gets you the basics from most of the big brands.

 

38 minutes ago, love2fly said:

I got chased by a well known bike shop in the Midrand area and threatened with the Consumer Commission, as well as a few other shops for that 8k. That was some years ago.

 

I'm confused by this R8000 thing....

Are people saying that a first off purchase of R8000 is too much? 

Personally, I can't believe a first purchase is as low as R8000 if you want to be a retailer. I mean realistically, what can you even buy for R8k? Maybe 1 groupset? The cheapest frame a manufacturer makes? A few sets of box section wheels? For a bicycle/component brand, I would have expected the initial purchase to need to be well over R100 000 if not more. 

Average Joes are spending R50k plus once off on a bicycle, and they're not allowed to buy at wholesale prices. If you claim to want to own a shop, and can't spend R8000 once off to buy stock, I really don't think you're in a position to open a bike shop.
(Yes, I get that you might need to spend R8000 at more than one supplier, but the point still stands even if the value was R50k)

[Hairy]

34 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

Cool heat wanted a 50k 1st order 10 years ago..... Not sure if that has changed.

 

 

50K gets you 2 x deore cassettes and maybe a gear cable (Ex. end cap) if you bargain hard enough these days