Fancy opening up a bike shop with me?

I have a mate who owns a bike shop down here in Bristol.

Its not about the bikes its about the way you run the bike shop.

People buy people, why any one would go into Evans or Halfords over a LBS is completely beyond me unless its just for something ancillary like an inner tube of Knog back light.

The local bike shop 'should' be the hub of the local biking community with countless opportunities to cross sell during shop rides & social gatherings.

Opening your own bike shop is a lifestyle choice & truly unique opportunity, fair play my son, get on and do it.

I wish you the best of luck!

Rgds James

i wish you well with your business idea.

perhaps a discussion with these guys might provide some like minded direction?
they are seeking premises, you may have mutual interests.
Just a thought.

http://www.comtat.co.uk/about.asp

Jonny, Firstly good luck with finding your partner and to acheiving your goals. It doesn't matter how many chain stores are in central London you will always have some business especially if you set yourself apart from the chainstores - look at condor and mosquito. I'm a bit worried about why you need so much investment to start up unless your looking at a huge square footage premises and the stock to fill it. If this is the case then if you have dreams of selling exlcusive high end brands that set yourself apart from the chains then it just won't work on this scale. The internet now dominates the bike trade and as someone who has recently started a business in this trade I can vouch that selling a Super Record groupset will bring you the same amount of profit as selling a set of carbon handlebars (about 40 quid) . I'm not saying it cannot work but you will spend alot of money very quickly and the return will be very slow becuase the margins simply aren't there, so if the motivation is money, don't do it. If it's a case that you would just like to be surrounded by bikes 6 days a week my advice would be, keep your 100k in the bank, get a job at bike distributor paying you an ok wage and treat yourself to a nice new bike and a trip to the alps every year out of your 100k savings. The most sucessful independant retailers in this business don't make much money - check them out at companies house. If it's your dream then go for it, if it's a business choice then my advice would be don't do it. I know you haven't asked for advice but hopefully you find some of this useful. Good luck.

I wish you the best of luck, and I have only admiration for your enterprise and determination. I'm entirely bereft of those qualities, but I have been going into London's bike shops for 30 years, and I can't imagine there's been a tougher time than now to open a shop. The Private Equity chains, Evans and Cycle Surgery, have about 15 shops between them in Zone 1 alone. I presume they work by employing cheap, young staff and using buying power to get discounts from manufacturers, some of whom use price-fixing to prevent internet undercutting/support the bike trade (delete one of above). They market to the bubble of new cyclists in London, topping up bike sales with the fat margins from lights, locks, clothing and those weird things new cyclists wear on their heads. Is that sustainable? Are Boris Bikes cycling's Spotify? Discuss.
But you knew that, and you want road bike expertise, so I guess your USP isn't the mass market. Perhaps you think people with a few bob have nowhere to go beyond Condor. I think you're right, although for me Condor do a reasonable job. Women of my acquaintance aren't so keen. But by the time people are spending north of £2k, they may be starting to wonder how much personal service they need and whether they'd sooner save £500 online. Selling bits and stuff? Wiggle etc., not just on price but because the lack of standards means a shop will never have what you want. Repairs? The same guy who's happy to stump up £150 an hour to change the oil on his BMW begrudges shops £30 an hour for a more skilled job.
Maybe bikes for triathlon? Triathletes have tons of money, have to get a new bike every year and are kit freaks. But the guy I knew who targeted them couldn't make it work in London.
Again. Good Luck. But ask yourself; how many really good pizza places are there in London? Certainly not 15 in Zone 1.

If your USP hasn't been tested in the market yet, could you run something as a concession within another sports store (like the fashion clothes shops do), to see if it has legs ? ... while you're looking for a partner.

Expensive short term, but cheaper than finding you need to modify your offering when you've committed to a full scale plan.

Probably feels like only half doing the job, but you might get the footfall and loads of feedback; with the big plan sitting in the background, just waiting to be switched on.

I guess you've got most of it sorted, but something intermediate might just give you a chance to get something moving, if the partner search gets frustrating.

Good luck from me too. The more bike shops the better.

Read all the posts above........all I can say is good luck

As usual on forums people are quick to criticise and offer all sorts of "helpful advice & comment" but not a lot else !

....Whoops I suppose that includes me...

Quote:

The comment from 0ne_bad_mofo was:
"I don't want to sound like I'm weeing on your parade but £100k plus a bank loan to start up a bike shop! WTF!"

I want to make it clear that the shop would be opened with more than £100k. I was asking that anybody interested should have at least £100k. So their stake of over £100k plus my stake plus a bank loan equals considerably more than £100k.

Damn the internet and it's lack of nuance. What I was trying to point out is that the sort of outlay you're suggesting as a start-up is way more than most cycle businesses begin with. I know I once started a business in the bike trade* and I know others who have done the same.

It makes me think of the old joke. How do you make a small fortune in the bike trade? Start with a large one.

If you decide to go for it the best of look.

* I ran the business for five years but the economic situation globally and the time invested/money returned equation wasn't working out. I didn't lose money but I didn't really make any either and I wanted to get a socail life back.

Maybe Old Cranky could hire a Docklands loft apartment for the meeting, bare brick walls and bereft of furniture other than a chair and a desk with his £100,000 sitting on it

I'm a lurker with the other credentials. What's the expected return on investment?

I'm intrigued, I imagine Jonny has some kind of USP built into his business plan but I don't imagine he'll be telling us just yet what that is.

Am I right in thinking Jonny that you are looking for someone to take a hands-on role rather than just a sleeping partner?

With your background you've no doubt gone through the whole route of looking at start-up funding and angel investors, if you don't manage to secure a private investor is there any possibility of trying to get investment from a (non-retail) business already active in the industry (although that might detract from independence).

Anyway, best of luck with it and let us know how it all goes.

I was just thinking 100 + 100 + a loan adds up to quite a bit.

I guess you didn't come here for advice, but having done a few startups and looking at the experience you've got, I'd suggest trying to get an investor who has started something from scratch with hardly any money.

You've obviously got the contacts / margins / best sellers / industry knowledge nailed. Its a bit like recruitment though - what you don't want is 2 of you - that't not meant as an insult !

Good luck finding someone.
If you don't find someone, why not just start smaller ?

It is shocking that some people feel the need to post such pedantic, ridiculous and purile comments seemingly expecting the OP to give a full and honest account of himself.

I'm sure Jonny has indeed calculated his way into bettering all other bike shops, and ergo thinks he can make a jolly good go of suceeding.

Good luck Jonny.

I don't want to sound like I'm weeing on your parade but £100k plus a bank loan to start up a bike shop! WTF!
Also why do you think you can succeed in London? I wouldn't want to go head-to-head with the likes of Cycle Surgery, Evans, Condor and On Your Bike, way too much serious competition. I just hope you can offer something that sets you apart or makes your shop a destination type of place.

... and I'm not actually interested at all. But you can invite me to the opening! I'll keep my schedule free.

I am interested, but I only tick one box (25+)
Sorry; not in London and don't have a spare £100k

You reckon? seems like the offer of a lifetime

This reads like one of those emails you get from Nigeria... ...