Anyone own or run a bike shop on here?

[mathmos]

...and wouldn't mind answering some questions on how the business works?

Thanks!

[okgo]

No, but I've never seen anyone make a go of one, it's the last thing I would do with my money.

[JEA1K]

I don't but I know people that do ... two of which closed their doors in the past 12 months ... during the boom, which in itself should tell you all you need to know. As with most shops, income is generated from bike/parts sales and labour on servicing etc + any additional services.

Its not a business you go into to make money, competition is stiff against the huge online retailers. Personally I think the only way you can be profitable is to offer something else to compliment the bike sales/servicing side such as a cafe for example.

Put it this way, if you ran a cafe on its own, it would be more profitable than a bike shop + cafe

[okgo]

JEA1K said:

I don't but I know people that do ... two of which closed their doors in the past 12 months ... during the boom, which in itself should tell you all you need to know. As with most shops, income is generated from bike/parts sales and labour on servicing etc + any additional services.

Its not a business you go into to make money, competition is stiff against the huge online retailers. Personally I think the only way you can be profitable is to offer something else to compliment the bike sales/servicing side such as a cafe for example.

Put it this way, if you ran a cafe on its own, it would be more profitable than a bike shop + cafe

A bike theme/friendly cafe is a way better shout than a bike shop.

Giro in esher is a good example. It has a huge crowd every weekend, mostly cyclists. In the week it is still nice enough and non bike wkery that the local women of leisure will go there for coffee.

[bigandclever]

I had an 'opportunity' presented to me a couple of weeks ago. Bike/e-bike shop in East London, think they wanted £90k for it. The most cursory bit of digging suggests they make more money on the side-line of doing up and selling 2nd hand bikes than anything else.

ETA found a shareable link .. https://uk.businessesforsale.com/uk/welovecycles-b...

Edited by bigandclever on Monday 8th November 18:55

[_Hoppers]

okgo said:

No, but I've never seen anyone make a go of one, it's the last thing I would do with my money.

Cycle Heaven in York seem to be making a decent job of running their business (IIRC the owner has a business degree?). They've got a large shop/cafe/workshop on the outskirts of the city centre plus a workshop/cafe just outside the city walls and another shop at the railway station.

https://www.cycle-heaven.co.uk/

Edited by _Hoppers on Monday 8th November 12:08

Edited by _Hoppers on Monday 8th November 12:09

[JayRidesBikes]

The guy who ran the most local bike store to me closed down his shop which always seemed to be fairly busy, and bought a van, kitted it out with all his tools and runs a mobile repairs / servicing service now, looking at his Facebook page he looks to be doing quite well with the mobile business and when I've wanted to book him for a service it's been around a 3 week wait.

[Dnlm]

JayRidesBikes said:

The guy who ran the most local bike store to me closed down his shop which always seemed to be fairly busy, and bought a van, kitted it out with all his tools and runs a mobile repairs / servicing service now, looking at his Facebook page he looks to be doing quite well with the mobile business and when I've wanted to book him for a service it's been around a 3 week wait.

This doesn't suprise me. In my local relatively-performance orientated place they seem to spend huge amounts of time explaining basics to people that walk in then leave on seeing prices. Tbf, a lot of time explaining basics to people like me too, who at least spend decently to make up for uselessness.

[lauda]

JayRidesBikes said:

The guy who ran the most local bike store to me closed down his shop which always seemed to be fairly busy, and bought a van, kitted it out with all his tools and runs a mobile repairs / servicing service now, looking at his Facebook page he looks to be doing quite well with the mobile business and when I've wanted to book him for a service it's been around a 3 week wait.

I use a mobile bike mechanic like that too and he's brilliant. Always very busy so you have to book weeks in advance.

I really wanted to like and use my local bike shop but they turned out to be shoddy, over-priced, pretentious wkers. If they were half as good at servicing bikes as they were telling you how good they are at it, they might be ok.

[andySC]

mathmos said:

...and wouldn't mind answering some questions on how the business works?

Thanks!

A good pal of mine owns his own shop. Him plus 3 other members of staff. He sells Trek, Ridley & Giant plus Castelli & few other clothing brands. He’s done well out of it & has been in business since the early 90’s. He told me that where he thinks he got it right was buying the shop & living above it (in fact he still does but at a bigger/better shop!). This would minimise his outgoings I guess..

He’s had his best year or so ever during the pandemic & was able to sell just about every bike he could get hold of. That said he says he makes more out of the servicing & repairs.

Reasons for his success…I think he’s been shrewd, patient & allowed the business to grow slowly but above all that, the shop has a great atmosphere & the lads who work there are good guys, as is the owner.

There’s also a tie-in with the shop & the local cycling club.

[LordHaveMurci]

I looked into buying one 3-4yrs ago, as others have said, they made most money from 2nd hand bikes.

2wks after I walked away they went bust.

My cousin ran one in a different part of the country, he turned it into a cafe a year later & sold it on, his advice to me was don’t do it!

[Stevenery]

Working in an independent cycle shop was a part-time job growing up. The owner has two stores and waited a long time for ideal locations to become available. One of these houses some short-let Airbnb style rooms, a cafe, a restaurant/bar, and the cycle shop. The other has a vast capacity for storage. This allows for holding a range of sizes so a boxed bike can be put together quickly for a potential customer (About the time taken to sit and drink a coffee), but also great for bulk bike purchases.

In a competitive city it'll be hard sourcing suppliers as often they're loyal to a particular shop.

And as mentioned before, the right workers are key. Great staff will stick around for years, whilst odd-balls with no sense of time and social skills should be ushered out quickly.

[Teebs]

JEA1K said:

I don't but I know people that do ... two of which closed their doors in the past 12 months ... during the boom, which in itself should tell you all you need to know. As with most shops, income is generated from bike/parts sales and labour on servicing etc + any additional services.

Its not a business you go into to make money, competition is stiff against the huge online retailers. Personally I think the only way you can be profitable is to offer something else to compliment the bike sales/servicing side such as a cafe for example.

Put it this way, if you ran a cafe on its own, it would be more profitable than a bike shop + cafe

Any of these in York?

[JEA1K]

Teebs said:

Any of these in York?

Teebs said:

Any of these in York?

Yes. Cyclescene & Cyclelane (Pock). Bicis y mas closed 4 years ago and that was a cafe etc.

[Teebs]

Cheers, shame really. I try and support local as much as possible and have bought bikes from Cycleworks and Cyclestreet before.

[_Hoppers]

Teebs said:

JEA1K said:

I don't but I know people that do ... two of which closed their doors in the past 12 months ... during the boom, which in itself should tell you all you need to know. As with most shops, income is generated from bike/parts sales and labour on servicing etc + any additional services.

Its not a business you go into to make money, competition is stiff against the huge online retailers. Personally I think the only way you can be profitable is to offer something else to compliment the bike sales/servicing side such as a cafe for example.

Put it this way, if you ran a cafe on its own, it would be more profitable than a bike shop + cafe

Any of these in York?

See my post above

[964Cup]

Yes. Co-own my local bike shop. What did you want to know?

[mathmos]

Thanks all...I think at least some of my cursory question had been answered....really just having a think about what I want to do with my next 10 years working and the thought of sitting in front of a laptop much longer is starting to sound pretty grim.

I was thinking along the lines of a cafe/bike shop but maybe somewhere at least a little way out of town so it was a bit more of a destination for people to cycle to and have a coffee when they got there. Under the current boom I really just wondered how profitable they really were and what things like supply was like. It would seem silly to start something up but then find there was no way to get any bikes or parts!

[Fat hippo]

I thought about this too a couple of years back, and the following phrase put me off;

If you want to make a small profit in a bike shop, start off with a big profit

The problem is the online retailers will sell parts and certain brands much cheaper and you have the overheads associated with the cost. The margins aren’t there anymore unless tou are dealing in servicing or secondhand sales.

[okgo]

Doubt sigma make much out of selling news bikes. And they have the pick of the brands. Some two Bob shop ain’t getting a Specialized ticket. You’ll be on Giant if you’re lucky. Or worse. Servicing is the one. At scale.

“If you want to make a small fortune doing x. Start with a big one” is the line