![]() ![]() Finding Supppliersīefore your Grand Opening, you will, of course, have to line up wholesale suppliers to furnish you with bicycles, parts and accessories. An old gas station (easy enough to find these days) on a good site would be perfect. What you want is a small building in the very center of town. To the local people, however, our place was on the outskirts of the community and we had very little walk-in business for a few months (until we moved to a roomier, better-located shop that costs us a monthly $125). Our first building (which was small and rented for just $60.00 a month) was only two blocks from the main intersection of Independence, and since that’s a short distance by city standards we assumed we were “downtown”. A bit of hindsight: If you aren’t native to the town in which you open your shop, it’s easy to choose a poor spot. After three or four days of tripping over bike parts, however, we found a location for our soon-to-be business and moved frames, wheels, pedals and all over there. Sharon and I initially chose to live with the boxes and I used our living room as an assembly area. When to start looking for that ideal place is a tricky question: You don’t need a store until you have goods to sell but you don’t want to fill your house with bicycle cartons while you hunt for a shop, either. Independence, Kansas, our own location, has about 12,000 people and provides enough volume to support our business, but I wouldn’t want to try it anyplace much smaller.Īlthough almost any building will do (at least to start with), it’s best to find one that can be divided easily into a small showroom and a service area. Choosing a Locationīefore you rush out to open a shop in some village with a population of 49, let me say that by “small town” I mean a community of at least 10,000. Today’s interest rates could easily make the difference between success and failure. Whatever your initial grubstake, it’s best if you don’t have to borrow the money to start with. Sharon and I began on $3,500 and could probably have got by with a little less. Ten thousand dollars will launch a very large operation, $5,000 an adequate one. ![]() The amount of money you’ll need to start a bike business depends on the scale of your plans. But when their purchases fall apart (as they inevitably do), you’ll get the repair jobs. You won’t have a monopoly on local bike sales, of course: Many people will buy the cheaper products from large outlets just to save money. Which adds up to a fine opportunity for you, the independent small-town dealer, to profit by offering, without competition, usually, better goods than those in the department stores. So it happens that the resident of the average small town can buy a bicycle only through the local chain outlet, and in most cases his acquisition will be of poor quality. These larger producers, with a few exceptions, seem to be concentrating on urban sales, with much of their output retailed through department stores and discount houses. Increased demand for bikes has brought more and more manufacturers into the field: some with fine products and some with junk designed to be sold cheaply to Americans who don’t know what makes a good machine. (Incidentally, one satisfaction of the business is the knowledge that you’re providing your customers with non-polluting transportation.)Īnd why a small-town location? Partly, of course, to give you that relaxed, pleasant life you’re after, but also because the smaller community is a good potential market for well made bicycles, and one that’s been neglected because of the direction the boom has taken. In 1972 two-wheelers outsold automobiles for the first time in modern history, and someone has to market and service all those millions of machines. My wife, Sharon, and I have run a bike shop for a year now and feel sufficiently expert to pass on a few basics (enough, we hope, to help you decide whether or not this trade will suit you as well as it suits us).įirst, why a bicycle shop? Because, as you probably know, a “bike boom” is underway. Here, for all the folks who want to get out of a big city and start a little business in a friendly, peaceful spot, is yet another small-town self-employment suggestion: Become a bicycle dealer in the small town of your choice. In a small shop, most of your income will probably come from bike repair services. Homemade Cheese Recipes: Cheese Making Articles.Sustainable Farming & Agriculture Articles.Power Equipment Articles - Lawn and Garden Equipment.Raising Ducks and Geese: Articles & Ideas.Homesteading Poultry - Chicken, Turkey, Ducks Archives. ![]()
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