How to start your own small-town bicycle shop

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Moder...ycle-Shop.aspx

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. 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).

[more]

On Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:11:21 -0400, Eric Vey may
have said:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Moder...ycle-Shop.aspx

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. 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).

[more]

I haven't read it, but have a funny feeling that the real prospects
too often look like those of a sugaring operation in the Vermont
woods. "How do you become a millionaire gathering sap and making
maple syrup?" "Start with two million, and stop when you're down to
one."

(Something tells me that 90% of success is running a bike shop in a
small town is in choosing the right small town to begin with; I can
think of dozens near here, many of which are doubtless of nominally
suitable size and might be attractive if they had entirely different
demographics and terrain, in which the prospects would be much worse
than merely grim.)

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

On Apr 10, 11:47 am, Werehatrack wrote:
On Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:11:21 -0400, Eric Vey may
have said:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Moder...-03-01/How-To-...

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. 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).

[more]

I haven't read it, but have a funny feeling that the real prospects
too often look like those of a sugaring operation in the Vermont
woods. "How do you become a millionaire gathering sap and making
maple syrup?" "Start with two million, and stop when you're down to
one."

(Something tells me that 90% of success is running a bike shop in a
small town is in choosing the right small town to begin with; I can
think of dozens near here, many of which are doubtless of nominally
suitable size and might be attractive if they had entirely different
demographics and terrain, in which the prospects would be much worse
than merely grim.)

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Hmmm.... that piece was written in 1974:
"First, why a bicycle shop? Because-as you probably know-a "bike boom"
is underway. 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."
We can only hope that history will NOT repeat itself. Bike boom
would be nice but not if it will cause oil shortage and recession.
Bikers can be so unaware of the effects they have on others.

On Apr 10, 11:09 am, Woland99 wrote:
On Apr 10, 11:47 am, Werehatrack wrote:



On Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:11:21 -0400, Eric Vey may
have said:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Moder...-03-01/How-To-...

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. 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).

[more]

I haven't read it, but have a funny feeling that the real prospects
too often look like those of a sugaring operation in the Vermont
woods. "How do you become a millionaire gathering sap and making
maple syrup?" "Start with two million, and stop when you're down to
one."

(Something tells me that 90% of success is running a bike shop in a
small town is in choosing the right small town to begin with; I can
think of dozens near here, many of which are doubtless of nominally
suitable size and might be attractive if they had entirely different
demographics and terrain, in which the prospects would be much worse
than merely grim.)

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Hmmm.... that piece was written in 1974:

Yep, and that $5k in start-up money is now over $23k in "2007
dollars", according to the Westegg.com inflation calculator. (And the
population of Independence, KS, has dropped to around 9,300 as of
2006.)



snipped

On Apr 10, 4:11*pm, Eric Vey wrote:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Moder...-03-01/How-To-...

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. 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).

[more]

Step 1: Invent time machine.
Step 2: Use it.
Step 3: Ka-ching!

Joseph

On Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:11:21 -0400 in rec.bicycles.tech, Eric Vey
wrote:

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.

and he didn't have the liability problems that bike shops now
have, either. one of our local dealers went out of business
because his liability insurance became so damn high and the
insurance company required so much paperwork, including having
customers sign waivers wben they bought new bikes or got warranty
replacements.

On Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:08:47 -0800,
(Dennis P. Harris) wrote:

On Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:11:21 -0400 in rec.bicycles.tech, Eric Vey
wrote:

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.

and he didn't have the liability problems that bike shops now
have, either. one of our local dealers went out of business
because his liability insurance became so damn high and the
insurance company required so much paperwork, including having
customers sign waivers wben they bought new bikes or got warranty
replacements.

Dear Dennis,

Can you tell us more about these new-bike insurance waivers?

Are they just for certain bikes? Are they a common practice?

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

On Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:18:57 -0600, may have
said:

On Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:08:47 -0800,
(Dennis P. Harris) wrote:

On Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:11:21 -0400 in rec.bicycles.tech, Eric Vey
wrote:

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.

and he didn't have the liability problems that bike shops now
have, either. one of our local dealers went out of business
because his liability insurance became so damn high and the
insurance company required so much paperwork, including having
customers sign waivers wben they bought new bikes or got warranty
replacements.

Dear Dennis,

Can you tell us more about these new-bike insurance waivers?

Are they just for certain bikes? Are they a common practice?

I believe the OP's in Alaska, which is a commercial environment unlike
any other.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

| and he didn't have the liability problems that bike shops now
| have, either. one of our local dealers went out of business
| because his liability insurance became so damn high and the
| insurance company required so much paperwork, including having
| customers sign waivers wben they bought new bikes or got warranty
| replacements.
|
| Dear Dennis,
|
| Can you tell us more about these new-bike insurance waivers?
|
| Are they just for certain bikes? Are they a common practice?
|
| I believe the OP's in Alaska, which is a commercial environment unlike
| any other.

Must be. That's certainly not the case elsewhere. Insurance *is* quite
expensive, but the paperwork isn't that onerous, and there are no
requirements that we have customers sign waivers when they buy a bike. Some
shops will say that insurance requires that customers wear helmets on test
rides, but even that's likely not the case. We require them because it's
*our* policy. Just as we explain that we don't allow customers in our repair
area because it's *our* policy. Many find it easier to claim that their
insurance doesn't allow it. And there could be some cases in which that's
true.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
[...] Some
shops will say that insurance requires that customers wear helmets on test
rides, but even that's likely not the case. We require them because it's
*our* policy.

Even though all the properly performed population studies indicate that
foam hats are ineffective for anything more than bump and scrape
protection? Do you require gloves on test rides.

Just as we explain that we don't allow customers in our repair
area because it's *our* policy.[...]

The last time I was talking to an LBS proprietor while he was fixing a
bicycle, it led to the eventual sale of a $1K+ bicycle.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful