The chance of a lifetime: You are asked to start a bike shop. How should it be done?

[IdunBrokdItAgin]

Mermaids should sell bikes!

They already do don't they?

Just not the two wheeled kind.

[Scorp]

I doubt many people would forge ahead with a plan if it didn't work on paper, But no matter how much effort is put into the guess work (forecast profits) The real would is always more harsh....and realistic. And its a fact of being in business that at times you may run at a loss, especially in your first few years.

Again... please lets not confuse start up borrowings with trading losses. If a business has heavy start up costs, it may indeed be several years before it breaks even. But that is very different from trading at a loss.

I'm talking about the basic, essential, unassailable need for any business to sell bike parts / sandwiches / toasters / rugby gear / financial advice / porn / whatever, for more than it costs to buy, store, provide and market said bike parts / sandwiches / toasters / rugby gear / financial advice / porn / whatever.

If a business ends up, for whatever reasons, in a situation where it is selling it's products or services for less than cost in a desperate effort to stay afloat, it is by definition no longer a successful business. It's a drowning business. That may be harsh, but it's commercial reality.

[Scorp]

That figure is a bit misleading though. It includes small business that are wound up for reasons other than illiquidity or banruptcy.

That's true actually. It's also over inflated by retail sector start ups. Most famous being the husband and wife who have dreamed for years of setting up their own coffee shop or restaurant and find the reality of doing it day in day out a form of self-indentured slavery.

In the scenarios being predicated here, a lot of those aren't going to be big to start with. probably no rent (work from home - internet means you don't need bricks and mortar) , bugger all equipment, probably no brands (they're selling others' brands) no real insurance cost, no wages.

They could also be run in conjunction with a day job.

Absolutely. And fair play to them finding a way to do this. Pretty much what I did too. But none of this changes the fact that you still have to trade at an operating profit to achieve what is commonly known as commercial success. If you don't, you're either losing money or wasting a large part of your life for next to no reward.

I'll throw out a thought of something I've seen done quite well - internet sales, but using webcam technology to enable to the buyer to talk with a live person, and view the actual goods. Not as good as being there in meatspace, but more personal than a webpage, and reassuring to many people. Investment is bugger all, and the technology is getting better all the time. Easy to do, web site has the usual pictures and text, plus a "talk to me real time" button. That way the seller can make a personalised saless pitch, ask questions, make suggestions etc.

That's an excellent idea, I've found these sort of set ups excellent too.

[Brian d marge]

what about the bird out of stingray , now she was hot .....and said ...not a word !

Stephen

BTW
Communication from many business in NZ is SHOCKING , they just dont or the promises , oh it will be done next week i have been busy

I dobt care , I ordered a part to be made , you said next week I told my customer the week after next ,,,,,,, that IS an area that needs to be improved

[Katman]

What really gets me kicking against the pricks (relax Conquiztador, it's just a turn of phrase) is that there are actually motorcycle businesses out there that tick virtually all the boxes that have been mentioned on here. (I can think of one that immediately springs to mind).

But instead of actively trying to search out those businesses it seems to be a far greater sport on here to slag off the ones that don't meet your expectations and then lump all motorcycle businesses into that same heap.

[steve_t]

what about the bird out of stingray , now she was hot .....and said ...not a word !

Was that Mareeeena, Aqua Mareeeena? (Marina )

Was it in Stingray where instead of saying F-A-B like in Thunderbirds, they said S-I-G??

[Brian d marge]

Was that Mareeeena, Aqua Mareeeena? (Marina )

Was it in Stingray where instead of saying F-A-B like in Thunderbirds, they said S-I-G??

now add big jubblies and there is the perfect bike shop worker

Stephen

[bogan]

What really gets me kicking against the pricks (relax Conquistador, it's just a phrase of speech) is that there are actually motorcycle businesses out there that tick virtually all the boxes that have been mentioned on here. (I can think of one that immediately springs to mind).

But instead of actively trying to search out those businesses it seems to be a far greater sport on here to slag off the ones that don't meet your expectations and then lump all motorcycle businesses into that same heap.

I think slag off is a bit of an exaggeration init, also, I would like to add one more thing to the list, online prices, I like to be able to check the pricing of parts with very little intention of actually buying them, Im guessing I would be marked as s hit customer if I rang up (or emailed) and price checked 5x as many parts as I actually bought. For instance, how much for a front disc for my 88 bros? online shops I can see it's quite a lot, but probably worth it if I decide not to swap the whole front end...

[Robert Taylor]

to be fair on the 'industry' as you put it i told Robert that it was unacceptable to expect more than a day reply to emails in retail type enviroments, in fact even a day is to long, i think an hour to 90 minutes is where I try to aim for.

what Ixion is saying with a webcam interface is a intersting idea, as even the US websites i deal with only seem to operate in there work hours, so interenational tyupe sales would require 24 hour staffing, almost impossible in NZ imo at the moment, but maybe on some of the biggest web based retailers around the world, although i wonder how long until the person would be photoshopped into someone more attractive than the person that was answering the question,

Yes but in fairness you also clarified it, a business like mine that has a heavy technical focus, custom builds a lot of shocks and is otherwise engaged in work that is very labour intensive. Because of same there will often be a longer lead time to answer especially the more complex e-mails. Its not like selling fine cystal, theres often a lot of detail and whys and wherefores required in our typical e-mail replies.
Aside from maybe 20 minutes a day answering pms on this forum and pulling pins on hand grenades in the forum sections my days are currently 14-16 hours long and lead time on the more complicated e-mail replies up to 3 days. I currently have a staff member on 2 weeks holiday at present so that exacerbates it all, its funny how stff can have time off but owners find it more difficult!
This is a VERY typical issue with small businesses., especially specialised ones engaged in complex and time consuming work. The simpleton answer would be ''employ more staff'' but its VERY difficult to get the right staff and it then makes the business non profitable.

[Robert Taylor]

obiviously a bit more than what you were taught....the core of this thread is about starting a business from scratch not operating an existing business




true but a successful business in the long term has whats called "an adaptive culture" which involves a high percentage of forecasting & planning and strategic handling to influence their operating enviroment...... a business such as what is suggested here established a "trade association" in order to survive enviromental uncertainty ie: a learning organisation. What is suggested here is essentially a "greenfield venture" operating in a virtual enviroment which is high risk but with the potential to be successful

Are you still in the motorcycle industry?

[T.W.R]

Which is irrelevant. If they can't run their sideline businesses at a profit, they will effectively be posting their own cash to other bikers along with the parts they've ordered. I think Conquistador and Bogan get that. Can't understand why you don't.


Only if they are profitable.

.

My arguement with your train of thought came with your original statement of "Profit is King" which is narrow focus Then you went on to digress the fundimentals of a business.

Profit is the end goal not initial key to a business.......the number of freshly started businesses that instantly make profit from day one you could count on one hand....it's totally against the norm.

Though as a sideline digression there are plenty of well established & sucessful Non Profit Businesses operating around the world some being truely global operators

[T.W.R]

Are you still in the motorcycle industry?

yeah and doing reasonably well under my own steam

I only left the last place because of my disgust at the treatment & bullshit some of the genuine clients got dealt........I'm a motorcyclist and have been in a motorcycling family all my life and hate with a passion shops that treat motorcyclists with distain......I've been in & around bike shops and the industry since before i can remember, I've seen good shops come & go and seen the leeches that hide behind a veil of bullshit that baffle the average biker into parting with their money unneccsarily

And as one of the joys when I was with the other outfits, your beloved CKT was one of the difficult SOB wholesalers to deal with

[sinned]

Fascinating thread. I am so pleased I have not had the urge to seek this doubtful "chance of a lifetime" and rather have been a customer who has found satisfaction with service from the industry and had time to enjoy the ride.

[Robert Taylor]

yeah and doing reasonably well under my own steam

I only left the last place because of my disgust at the treatment & bullshit some of the genuine clients got dealt........I'm a motorcyclist and have been in a motorcycling family all my life and hate with a passion shops that treat motorcyclists with distain......I've been in & around bike shops and the industry since before i can remember, I've seen good shops come & go and seen the leeches that hide behind a veil of bullshit that baffle the average biker into parting with their money unneccsarily

And as one of the joys when I was with the other outfits, your beloved CKT was one of the difficult SOB wholesalers to deal with

Pray tell then..........................

[Scorp]

My arguement with your train of thought came with your original statement of "Profit is King" which is narrow focus Then you went on to digress the fundimentals of a business.

Not really. I've just been banging on about the same thing, namely that if you don't put profit first, nothing else can follow, because you're effectively trading at a loss and therefore going out of business.

Profit is the end goal not initial key to a business.......the number of freshly started businesses that instantly make profit from day one you could count on one hand....it's totally against the norm.

Yeah... still not getting that thing I said about TRADING profit. Every single business begins day one selling it's product for more than the unit cost. i.e. Trading profit. This must be the fifth time I've now made this distinction.

Though as a sideline digression there are plenty of well established & sucessful Non Profit Businesses operating around the world some being truely global operators

Non-profits are not businesses, they are charities.