Start a Bike Shop

[MarcHD]

2 minutes ago, eddy said:

Meh.

I buy a bike every so often and have never done so because the shop has an active twitter or Facebook account. 

I occasionally  buy consumables and spares for upgrade online and typically wizz through the local and foreign websites I am comfortable with - ironically I avoid CycleLab despite them having an active social media presence.

But I use and support my two local bikeshops, neither who spend money on SEO or digital marketing, but both have proper workshops and excellent mechanics. I support both because I want them to stay in business and am prepared to pay a premium on spares etc. to ensure they do. 

For me, no amount of marketing will change my custom away from Tom or Grant as I know and trust their technical ability and they have always treated my and my bikes well.

Substance over form.

Read my previous post with regards to the phenomena you are experiencing. 

 

I'm not saying you have to have a social media presence to survive. In fact I specifically mentioned how there are some stores who managed without it. 

Social and marketing at large forms just one pillar of modern business building that, if mastered, can help you thrive. The most successful stores in our market are those who have mastered all of the important aspects in business

[NotSoBigBen]

From personal experience keeping relevant and interesting social presence is time consuming for very little reward ... I'd still say the consumers want it but don't for a minute think it'll change their perception of the physical shop/workshop

[MarcHD]

Just now, NotSoBigBen said:

From personal experience keeping relevant and interesting social presence is time consuming for very little reward ... I'd still say the consumers want it but don't for a minute think it'll change their perception of the physical shop/workshop

Again, I am expressly saying it is NOT the only thing that counts.

Refer to my previous post about bell curves. Two people disagreeing with me does not represent the entire market. 

[NotSoBigBen]

2 minutes ago, MarcHD said:

Again, I am expressly saying it is NOT the only thing that counts.

Refer to my previous post about bell curves. Two people disagreeing with me does not represent the entire market. 

Easy tiger, I was merely commenting on my real life experience running the social media for a bike shop

Thankfully we're out of that ????

[RomP]

On 8/16/2021 at 7:36 PM, madmarc said:

I also did a lot of research on this subject - the idea was to first start a proper professional workshop with qualified mechanics and all the tooling required. Then grow into component retail, used bikes and finally getting a few bike brands on the floor.

1st problem - Component importers are not interested in even talking to you unless you have a proper shop, and even then, they will not guarantee they will supply you and certainly not on credit for the first 12 months. So go crunch the numbers - get a shop, kit it out, tool it up, employ 2 mechanics & load your budget for TorqZone academy training, and this is only the workshop side i'm talking about.

So now you spent the money and still hemorrhaging cash on overheads without much shop income, you be buying spares and components from other retailers to do repairs - the only income you really have is labor. So you approach the importers again, and they prepared to talk mmmmmmm we see you are too close to one of our other long standing customers, sorry we not prepared to supply you even on COD basis, or yes sure no problem but then load the wholesale prices and you find you are always the most expensive.

Lets not even go down the rabbit hole of becoming a retailer for known brand of bike. 2 of the biggest brands are concept stores, so they off the table - The others will also look at your location in relation to their other big retailers and soon they will be off the table as well - So unless you planning on a shop in the middle of the Karoo in Kakamaaz you against a brick wall and a hard place.

From my research i came to the conclusion that dealing with most (not all but most) of the bike and component wholesale market is who you know not what you know. 

After 5 months of business model building, planning, budgeting, phone calls, meetings etc etc - I invested my time and money in learning share & Crypto trading - Trust me, i'm a lot happier today and get far better return on investment than most bicycle shop owners. 

100% accurate on all mentioned. Mostly its whom you know...Distributors protect their long standing shops / buddies and not interested in newcomers. Its sad but a true reality of our very small SA market.

[Danger Dassie]

44 minutes ago, MarcHD said:

Again, I am expressly saying it is NOT the only thing that counts.

Refer to my previous post about bell curves. Two people disagreeing with me does not represent the entire market. 

Therin lies the rub, being effective on digital media (social) is stronger than having a stand alone website. Especially for SMEs. 
There are a wealth of tools available that can leverage sales etc .... It is likely one of the strongest marketing and sales support tools available to startups as part of their business. 

The problem is understanding this.

[Hairy]

Another consideration I would imagine for a distributer who is selling something a little more complex that spare tubes, is that the person that they are selling to is technically competent with their product and has a good general knowledge of the competition.

The last thing you want is to supply a new LBS not knowing how to handle your product, or it's benefits (if there are any) over the competition and giving the brand you are distributing a bad name.

The distributer would/could/should be able to offer the LBS training though, but it is a risk non the less.

[Pierre Nieuwoudt]

On 8/17/2021 at 1:36 PM, PhilipV said:

General comment: 

If you are  asking entrepreneurial questions, ask an entrepreneur. 

There are two ways of looking at a problem. The one viewpoint sees all the pitfalls, the other is looking for a creative solution. Listen to wise counsel. 

You'll need  to think way out of the box to procure stock in a time of shortage where suppliers will honor their existing customers first. Maybe partner with a shop in another area. get access to their suppliers, either for a nominal cut or to combine buying power or something like that. 

 

 

I can only agree with what PhilipV  and Zebra says 

In this unprecedented enviroment that we are in and consequent problems with stock supply by suppliers to established retailers , the problem you have  is even more pronounced ........................it does however at the same time present an opportunity for someone who is prepared to spend time and effort to build up contacts for resourcing hard to find supplies ( if necessary from other retailers ) for frustrated customers.

Possibly the only viable option  while you are building up such a network, would be partnering with some established retailer.

If you can approach them on the basis that you can compliment what services they can give to prospective or existing  customers (either by operating in a different geographical space  or service offering ) and at the same time not cost them money or directly compete with them ...they could be put in a position of having to say why not give the proposed association a chance .

 

 

[MarcHD]

48 minutes ago, Danger Dassie said:

Therin lies the rub, being effective on digital media (social) is stronger than having a stand alone website. Especially for SMEs. 
There are a wealth of tools available that can leverage sales etc .... It is likely one of the strongest marketing and sales support tools available to startups as part of their business. 

The problem is understanding this.

Hit the nail on the head

[MarcHD]

45 minutes ago, Hairy said:

Another consideration I would imagine for a distributer who is selling something a little more complex that spare tubes, is that the person that they are selling to is technically competent with their product and has a good general knowledge of the competition.

The last thing you want is to supply a new LBS not knowing how to handle your product, or it's benefits (if there are any) over the competition and giving the brand you are distributing a bad name.

The distributer would/could/should be able to offer the LBS training though, but it is a risk non the less.

100%

A large part of why a distributor is against supplying any self proclaimed "bike mechanic" 

You are absolutely right then that this distributor should offer training on their product to empower stores/dealers. 

If the dealer wins you win. 

[Mountain Bru]

Seen as I intentionally have zero social media (apart from BikeHub, if that counts), I don't really care how active shops are on FB, Insta, etc. I don't want friends or cool content from a shop, I want quality service and good prices, so if they post a sick edit every day or not means nothing to me. 

Being active on bikehub definitely counts a lot for me though. I bought so much stuff on CWC's "tell us what you want" sales when those were a thing, and they basically became the first place I check when I need something because of the good deals I got on those sales. 

Apart from that, what I do care about is response to emails/online queries... And knowing what stuff will costs - and that typically comes from a website and the "contact us" page for me. Take Lyne for example... I give them money with a smile on my face because Dayle responds to emails, and their website makes sense and has prices on it. Compare that to BikeAddict... I've literally never spent a cent on their site because I can't be bothered to request a quote and then wait for a response, and then fine tune the quote, and then wait for a response, and then maybe pay. By the time they've responded, I've normally come right somewhere else.  

 

[MarcHD]

2 hours ago, Mountain Bru said:

Seen as I intentionally have zero social media (apart from BikeHub, if that counts), I don't really care how active shops are on FB, Insta, etc. I don't want friends or cool content from a shop, I want quality service and good prices, so if they post a sick edit every day or not means nothing to me. 

Being active on bikehub definitely counts a lot for me though. I bought so much stuff on CWC's "tell us what you want" sales when those were a thing, and they basically became the first place I check when I need something because of the good deals I got on those sales. 

Apart from that, what I do care about is response to emails/online queries... And knowing what stuff will costs - and that typically comes from a website and the "contact us" page for me. Take Lyne for example... I give them money with a smile on my face because Dayle responds to emails, and their website makes sense and has prices on it. Compare that to BikeAddict... I've literally never spent a cent on their site because I can't be bothered to request a quote and then wait for a response, and then fine tune the quote, and then wait for a response, and then maybe pay. By the time they've responded, I've normally come right somewhere else.  

 

What you just described is a largely what my original post outlined as being convenience v. friction when transacting. 

[wondermakerstudio@gmail.com]

What a response, been taken to the toilet for not replying to liberally, I am out of lube, Rookie of the year!

You have taken me to school in all aspects and this has been most rewarding. This post and the responses will serve as valuable material to any person  contemplating or planning a shop. I will take note of all and consider my actions. In my experience, one should not be afraid of failure but rather learn through it, some failures are your own and other failures are from those around us. The same is true for success. 

I will ask more questions and learn. I will keep you posted on my journey and my 8K! 

[Zebra]

Re-reading, x3, your much-delayed, and anticipated reply here, if you do not open a bicycle shop, then I do think you have a future in writing Chat-Bot scripts…????!

cheers

Chris

[wondermakerstudio@gmail.com]

12 hours ago, Zebra said:

Re-reading, x3, your much-delayed, and anticipated reply here, if you do not open a bicycle shop, then I do think you have a future in writing Chat-Bot scripts…????!

cheers

Chris

tx

 

[DIPSLICK]

41 minutes ago, wondermakerstudio@gmail.com said:

tx

 

funny how all you ex banned hub haters all come back in one or other form,,, waddle back under your bridge