so i started a bike shop. update 28/11/24
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cheers guys, i appreciate the support!
it's going well at the moment so i decided to give myself the bank holiday off to go riding!!
cheers guys, i appreciate the support!
it's going well at the moment so i decided to give myself the bank holiday off to go riding!!
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Re: so i started a bike shop.
Ah, I've seen you out in the mobile shop:
Ah, I've seen you out in the mobile shop:
highlandsflyer
Retro Wizard
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Re: so i started a bike shop.
Lol!
Lol!
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people keep saying i should look at the possibility of mobile repairs but i have a shop for a reason, so people can come to me, if you're gonna be mobile you need to be fully mobile, meaning no shop, that is unless you can afford another staff member which i can't, not to mention shop vehicle and insurance etc, also doubling up on tools for the van plus stock for the van, to do both is very costly.
i also deliberately opened up where a shop had previously been (who retired 3 or 4 years ago) as this would give me an existing customer base to a certain extent and as he was here for a total of 17 years that suggests that the area can support a small repair shop long term.
my plan regarding mobile is to go halfway, frankly i don't want to work on bikes in a cold carpark thinking "i wish i had XYZ but it's back at the shop" etc so there are some people/companies i have talked to where i have said i can collect bikes in small numbers, repair and service them and then return them when finished, the pick up and drop off has to be done outside of shop hours though, which is ok with me and seems to ok with the people i have spoken to about it.
also there are alot of companies locally that have bikes in the esso refinery, esso themselves have approx 300 bikes and frankly i don't want their contract, it's simply too big, it's a full time job in itself and the bikes are terrible and in terrible condition, and the contract will always go to the cheapest bid, it's just not worth it especially when they want the bikes picking up and dropping off aswel. that said there are several companies who work in the refinery that have 5 to 20 bikes, these companies are the ones i want, manageable numbers who will drop the bikes to me and i'd be dealing with 1 person who ok's what needs to be done and without the red tape of a large company like esso.
the other side of company work is that if it's too much work (sounds dumb i know) it will affect my normal private customers and long term i have found that they are the more important people as companies change attitudes and contractors constantly based on price mostly but also the person you deal with, there have been times locally where the person in charge of getting bikes serviced at esso changed the contracted shop based on that person knowing a particular person at a shop, the old "i know a guy who can get it done cheaper and he does my bikes", so it's a bit of a minefield really!
basically i obviously want work but it has to be realistic, i'd rather keep it small and done correctly than get a big contract and it cause me issues and ruin the reputation i'm trying to build.
and thanks for the positive comments
P.S and please no more junkyard pics!i don't want the thread to go off topic and silly!
people keep saying i should look at the possibility of mobile repairs but i have a shop for a reason, so people can come to me, if you're gonna be mobile you need to be fully mobile, meaning no shop, that is unless you can afford another staff member which i can't, not to mention shop vehicle and insurance etc, also doubling up on tools for the van plus stock for the van, to do both is very costly.
i also deliberately opened up where a shop had previously been (who retired 3 or 4 years ago) as this would give me an existing customer base to a certain extent and as he was here for a total of 17 years that suggests that the area can support a small repair shop long term.
my plan regarding mobile is to go halfway, frankly i don't want to work on bikes in a cold carpark thinking "i wish i had XYZ but it's back at the shop" etc so there are some people/companies i have talked to where i have said i can collect bikes in small numbers, repair and service them and then return them when finished, the pick up and drop off has to be done outside of shop hours though, which is ok with me and seems to ok with the people i have spoken to about it.
also there are alot of companies locally that have bikes in the esso refinery, esso themselves have approx 300 bikes and frankly i don't want their contract, it's simply too big, it's a full time job in itself and the bikes are terrible and in terrible condition, and the contract will always go to the cheapest bid, it's just not worth it especially when they want the bikes picking up and dropping off aswel. that said there are several companies who work in the refinery that have 5 to 20 bikes, these companies are the ones i want, manageable numbers who will drop the bikes to me and i'd be dealing with 1 person who ok's what needs to be done and without the red tape of a large company like esso.
the other side of company work is that if it's too much work (sounds dumb i know) it will affect my normal private customers and long term i have found that they are the more important people as companies change attitudes and contractors constantly based on price mostly but also the person you deal with, there have been times locally where the person in charge of getting bikes serviced at esso changed the contracted shop based on that person knowing a particular person at a shop, the old "i know a guy who can get it done cheaper and he does my bikes", so it's a bit of a minefield really!
basically i obviously want work but it has to be realistic, i'd rather keep it small and done correctly than get a big contract and it cause me issues and ruin the reputation i'm trying to build.
and thanks for the positive comments
P.S and please no more junkyard pics!i don't want the thread to go off topic and silly!
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