@megz1985 That sounds like a great background to me. In my opinion anything computer science at all mixed with business is great because the IT side is just so, so, so important to running a modern, lean business that can be successful quickly. Nevermind having a skill set for online expansion.
I personally look at the big online specialty shops as inspiration for growth in whatever area. Your average person thinks Amazon rules all, but there are niche market leaders by the hundreds. So after an initial expansion into e-commerce, there's even more growth potential to compete with a niche leader. Nashbar comes to mind for the bike business, but basically every industry has its own version. B&H for electronics, Rockler or Woodcraft for woodworking...I could go on.
@megz1985 I worked in a few bike shops over 6 years or so in high school and college. The bread and butter is $200-400 bikes with slim margins. Accessories and service are ok money makers. $1500ish road bikes do ok too. If you think you can grow the business via e-commerce you are dead wrong. There are two many very large, well established companies in the online market. Performance Bike has been around for 20 ish years. There are several others. If you are in a tourist location renting bikes is a good revenue stream.
@andy1947 I think a lot of bike shops don’t know how to navigate growing an online business. I bring IT experience working for a fortune 100 in marketing/IT (MarTech), have a web development background, and a solid understanding of digital marketing.
It’s going to take a ton of work to break into the online space but I’m prepared for the grind. I’ve built a professional looking Shopify site and ready to begin split testing social media ad campaigns, write content, and start my YouTube channel. (I have video production experience and decently high end gear sitting around.) SEO will be make or break for the business.
Other online bike shops have made it in the last 8 years this way (worldwidecyclery was started by a guy 2 years older than me, thelostco, fanatikbike). Point taken and understand it will be a challenge for sure.
@megz1985 I have no doubt you have the skills and gumption. What I don’t understand is why you think Performance Bike and Nashbar don’t already serve this market very well. Then there is Amazon. The websites of the small bike shops you listed are not great. Actually thelostco’s mobile site really sucks. Could you do better than them? Sure. Are you actually going to make worthwhile money doing it? No. If you are working at a Fortune 100 company and looking to bail out on the corporate life in your late 20’s to buy a bike shop it sounds like you might want to talk to someone about that.
@andy1947 Haha maybe. I’m just not that into working for others. I got super lucky with my current job and it sounds crazy to be looking for something else but I know I’ll regret not giving entrepreneurship a fair shot in my later years. If I could somehow float both until the bike shop/something else takes off that would be ideal. I doubt that is really possible in reality but we’ll see. Buying an established shop with good employees, good reviews to ramp up e-commerce channel on the side sounds good at this point. Also will have the next 3 months to see how I manage.
As far as competition, yes - there are big shops out there dominating the space. I agree lost co’s site is clunky. They put out great YouTube content and have grown despite being new. WorldWideCyclery also puts out great YouTube content and was able to steal market share. I think that’s what it takes to carve a space out for yourself. There are a few things that these don’t do that I think I can do better. Will be a challenge for sure.
@megz1985 Bike shops are weird. They all lean on different things for revenue. There's huge growth in electric. If you can use marketing to get them in the door you can add a revenue stream and customers to a shop that otherwise makes most of its money on tune-ups.
My buddy has beer on tap at his shop to build community.
@dannyboy237 For sure. I’ve heard of beer bars and coffee bars to get people to come around. That would be really cool. This shop is located in a college town + military base town that sits between two major cities on the state line. Also I’m interested in carrying a few brands that no one else in my state currently carries but are extremely popular elsewhere.
High end mountain biking is the niche. The market may not be there yet for the ultra high end bikes but it’s steadily growing. E-bikes will let older folks get back into the sport and I have no issues with selling them. The local MTB organization has built some pretty awesome trails for the area, too. I’ve gotten a bunch of my friends into riding and can sell people on $1-2k bikes just as well. Rentals/Demos with credit towards a purchase on demos seems pretty standard.
@megz1985 I replaced our second car with an EV (Onewheel). That's a market well outside hobbyists that's not being serviced. So bringing in new customers rather than selling more to the ones you already have. There's no place to try EVs out really. You could even work out a finance company.
For a parent with a 16 year old even a $3000 EV is cheaper than a car with insurance. Just an idea.
Another buddy sold the hell out of recumbent trikes just because he loved them. So many $5000 trikes sitting in garages. He did ok in commission.
@seekinggodjesus Good point. I have some savings and will not be taking a salary for the first year. GF starting her career will help too as I’ve been supporting both of us for the past 4 years. It could be her turn for a couple
@megz1985 I’m still sitting on a lot of the product I bought after a decade or so... don’t be me! Buy at a good rate or not at all. Figure out the prices before getting too committed.
@megz1985 That’s what I should do. Just have to take the time away from the other business.
Retail stores have offered to take it at like 20% of cost which wasn’t worth it.
@megz1985 I used to manage a pro shop in college that still has a worldwide reputation online. The old joke in the bike business is if you want to be a millionaire running a bike shop, you better start off with $2 million.
While my old shop had a reputation for supplying actual pros and elite amateurs with bikes & gear (and still does), we made most of our money from labor. Lot's of $30-$50 tune ups on Huffy's and other entry level bikes. Just learned how to make any rolling piece of junk road worthy in a 30 minute tune up and charge the poor college kid accordingly. Selling bikes was a break even or money losing proposition. By the time you paid for the bike, paid the mechanic for two hours to build the bike and then pay me to sell the bike, all while carrying the inventory on the floor for a year the margins were non-existent.
@paulsimmonds60 Hmm. Wonder if it’s possible to do showfloor demos and sell on an order by order basis. Call it special order and ask them to wait 2 weeks/3 weeks max. I’m definitely more interested in pushing accessories online over bikes. There are so many new products every year. Need to become my own influencer at the same time.
@megz1985 It's been awhile, but our bike suppliers made us pre-order in bulk. Then we could order on an as needed basis additional bikes. It's like buying a car, the casual bike purchaser wants to buy today. The knowledgeable enthusiast is willing to wait a few weeks.
Clothing was fickle, but it had the best margins. Especially women's gear. A guy would buy one pair of shorts off the clearance rack and continue wearing his old club jersey until it falls apart. The women customers would buy 2-3 shorts, jerseys to match and socks, gloves and color coordinate it with new water bottles and cages. This was over two decades ago and I still remember selling a woman customer or two $500+ of clothes in one hour and they all had 60% margins vs. 40% on bike parts. Really helped the bottom line that month.
