Bicycle repair/servicing

Bicycle repair/servicing

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Discussion

General Madness

Original Poster:

365 posts

151 months

Monday 16th March 2015
quotequote all
I run my family owned convenience store on a busy bike commuter route.

Right now the business is struggling, we just cannot seem to generate a larger customer base.

I am a perfectly competent bicycle mechanic, previously done it as a job.

I have come up with the idea of providing repairs or servicing from within the store. I have the relevant tools and skills.
Space and time are non issues as I am in the shop anyway and if I don't have customers to serve then I can be focusing on any repairs/services.

What I would like to know is, are there any regulations/insurance issues that would prevent this? Can I do the odd job on someone's bike without having to jump through any hoops?
Ideally if this proves to be a good successful idea then I'd try to start selling spares etc... Obviously I'd carry a basic range of spares like tubes, brake pads and cables etc...

Can anyone give me ideas? I need to do something to generate extra footfall and cash for the shop.
We don't want to lose it.

Any ideas are greatly welcomed!

David

singlecoil

33,313 posts

245 months

Tuesday 17th March 2015
quotequote all
I've got an idea, just do it.

If there are any regulations, which I doubt, and if they are enforced, which I also doubt, someone will be along to tell you that you shouldn't be doing it until you've filled in a form, paid a fee etc.

Obviously you will need liability insurance, apart from that I can't see any problems.

Start today.

General Madness

Original Poster:

365 posts

151 months

Tuesday 17th March 2015
quotequote all
singlecoil said:
I've got an idea, just do it.

If there are any regulations, which I doubt, and if they are enforced, which I also doubt, someone will be along to tell you that you shouldn't be doing it until you've filled in a form, paid a fee etc.

Obviously you will need liability insurance, apart from that I can't see any problems.

Start today.
That's a great idea!

Seriously, that's been a gentle kick up the arse. Thank you.

I will have to speak with our current insurers and see what is required by them.

Ideally I'd like to push our shop as a regular stop off for the many cycling groups that normally pass right by.

Are you a cyclist? What would attract you?

Cheers

David

nyt

1,803 posts

149 months

Tuesday 17th March 2015
quotequote all
General Madness said:
Are you a cyclist? What would attract you?

Cheers

David
In London cyclists are attracted by:

- A very obvious tyre pump outside the door. Gets them used to stopping if there's an issue

- Often they can get a cup of coffee while they wait for a fix.

- Sundry other temporary services like smart water tagging (talk to local crime prevention)

And, I think it would be great if you stocked a few replacement inner tubes & perhaps tyres so they can get back on the road ASAP.

Mark yourself as a cycle repair shop on google maps.

Advertise as while-you-wait fix (if you can spare the time)




Camoradi

4,285 posts

255 months

Tuesday 17th March 2015
quotequote all
If someone gets a puncture on the way to work they need it fixed quickly, right?

So keep a couple of spare wheels ready to go, cyclist shows up asking for a repair in a hurry, they pay a deposit and leave their wheel for you to repair, and you can send them on their way, Formula 1 (TM) style. They stop off on the way home to collect their repaired puncture and pay your exhorbitant fee for a premium service.


General Madness

Original Poster:

365 posts

151 months

Tuesday 17th March 2015
quotequote all
Ok, thanks for the great ideas.

Today I allocated space in the shop for carrying out any work, shelving for keeping tools and spares on. I will be setting up a basic workstation over the next couple of days.

I threw together an advertisement for a bicycle safety check and servicing/repairs. I have also been mentioning it to my regular customers and it would appear that they think it's a good idea with some saying that they themselves would be interested in trying it out.

I like the idea of providing a pit stop so to speak. I will see what I can come up with.

Outside the shop we have a very large paved area, I am going to suggest to the local council that installing a rack or 2 would be beneficial to the residents, also it would help cyclist feel safer leaving their bikes locked up outside if they just want to nip in for a snack or a chat.

This may just work!

Any other suggestions and or do's/dont's are welcomed.

Thanks again folks

David

rhinochopig

17,932 posts

197 months

Tuesday 17th March 2015
quotequote all
Just make sure yourcontents insurance covers you. 5 or 6 bikes in the store could equate 15-20k.

Simpo Two

85,149 posts

264 months

Tuesday 17th March 2015
quotequote all
Camoradi said:
So keep a couple of spare wheels ready to go, cyclist shows up asking for a repair in a hurry, they pay a deposit and leave their wheel for you to repair, and you can send them on their way, Formula 1 (TM) style.
Hopefully better than some of the pitlane fails in Australia!

General Madness

Original Poster:

365 posts

151 months

Wednesday 18th March 2015
quotequote all
rhinochopig said:
Just make sure yourcontents insurance covers you. 5 or 6 bikes in the store could equate 15-20k.
That is something I will look into. I do however have my doubts that I would be dealing with bikes of those values. I think It will be more of a 1 or 2 beaters at a time situation just to make a little extra cash while I am running the convenience side of the business.

You never know though, it could take off. Especially if I can market the shop to suit cyclists in general.

TwistingMyMelon

6,385 posts

204 months

Wednesday 18th March 2015
quotequote all
Good idea OP, I am a keen cyclist and commute by bike:

-Get insurance sorted for liability and bikes in storage, there was a horrible young lad near me got killed when his brakes failed after taking them to a shop earlier in the day for another issue to be looked at, ended up in court.

-Offer a quick turnaround, with polite service. My favourite shop are firm, fair , quick and good value. That's why I use them. So many shops take a bike in and then have it for 2 weeks to do a basic job. My shop , I phone in Monday, drop it off Tuesday 8am and then pick it 5pm same day. Job is always done to a high
standard and they take pride in their work.

- As above, offer pickup/drop off times outside of 9-5 weekdays. Offering 7:30 - 7pm means that people can drop bikes off on their way home or to work. So many shops don't offer this so I simply can't use them

-Simply offering a polite friendly service, so many bike shop employees love "riding" but have no customer service skills. I don't expect miracles but politeness and a smile would be great!

-Mark-up on accessories is huuge, look into selling these

-Facebook page could help , I see a local repairman near me has one and works from home. Loads and loads of women message him on the page to enquire about fixing their families bikes, he then books them in and they offer post afterwards how good he was, so other can see.

-Perhaps develop a medium - long term business plan, which could involve in the long term offering more cycle facilities/coffee shop etc...

-Be prepaired to deal with complete idiots, who think they know best and expect piss poor cheap argos special bikes to be repaired for £1 (I'm sure you know this)


General Madness

Original Poster:

365 posts

151 months

Wednesday 18th March 2015
quotequote all
Thanks for all the replies.

We are open between 7am and 10pm all week anyway so pick ups and drop offs shouldn't be an issue. If there is ever a demand for this then it is something I would look into.

Customer service, Well in my opinion we have it down to a T already. There is always room for improvement though.

I really do hope this proves to be beneficial, as I said in the OP, our shop is struggling with so much competition around us. If I can transform it into a cyclists hub then fingers crossed we'd be onto a winner.
We are on an arterial route direct to the city centre and pretty much nothing else before us on the way in!

All suggestions are welcomed.

David

jamescodriver

400 posts

192 months

Wednesday 18th March 2015
quotequote all
Are you close enough to peoples destinations to offer a bike park / showers etc? secure parking all day and the chance to grab a shower and then probably a coffee ready to walk the remaining distance to their office etc?


General Madness

Original Poster:

365 posts

151 months

Wednesday 18th March 2015
quotequote all
I am afraid not. We are approx. 2 miles from the city centre. It is however a highly populated area with a primary school across the street.

We do already provide hot drinks and food.

Mr Overheads

2,436 posts

175 months

Wednesday 18th March 2015
quotequote all
Grab and go bacon butty (or whatever commuter cyclists want in the main) Stand right by the cycle path, people don't even have to get off their bike, make it a round pound price e.g. £3, pre-wrapped in foil and brown paper bag (or even better a bag with voucher for bike serving printed on it) to keep warm, £4 gets them a cold drink too

Walford

2,259 posts

165 months

Wednesday 18th March 2015
quotequote all
Blood transfusions are popular with the more serious cyclists,

Deano_Deano

10 posts

195 months

Thursday 19th March 2015
quotequote all
Sorry to be negative but as a bike shop owner I think I can safely say you'll have a nightmare of a time trying to do this. Without becoming a dedicated bike shop you'll struggle to get a number of suppliers and companies to deal with you. If they won't deal with you, you are not going to be able to get a lot of spares unless you order from regular shops and then you'll not be able to put any markup on them. If they do deal with you you'll always have minimum orders to hit and I fear you'll struggle to do this or you'll waste money on things you think you'll need. You're going to need to build up a relatively large amount of spares and even then you'll only have a fraction of the things you'll need.

If you decide to go for it I wish you luck but I'd recommend you get at least a Level Two Cytech qualification as if the worst happens at least you'd be able to prove you had some real training. This springs to mind where a lad was killed (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2317500/Kadian-Harding-Cyclist-14-visited-bike-shop-check-brakes-hours-died-father-family-ride.html).

Reference to something mentioned above there is NOT huge mark-ups on anything in the cycle industry these days. Despite the positive spin in the media the industry generally agrees there are too many shops, distributors and manufacturers. Pressure is being put on shops from all directions by the big e-commerce players, grey imports and direct to consumer sales. The internet will never be able to fix a bike but you'll find it hard to make any real money from labour alone as you just can't charge enough because it's only a 'bike'.

My recommendation to you is if you decide to go for this walk into a bike shop somewhere closish where you're not likely to offend them as being competition but ask their opinion. I think you'll possibly only see what I mean about the issues once you have gone for it and realise the reality of it. From the outside everyone thinks it's a cushy job in a booming industry but it's hard work for little money.

Edited by Deano_Deano on Thursday 19th March 01:05

Walford

2,259 posts

165 months

Thursday 19th March 2015
quotequote all
Deano_Deano said:
I'd recommend you get at least a Level Two Cytech qualification as if the worst happens at least you'd be able to prove you had some real training. This springs to mind where a lad was killed (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2317500/Kadian-Harding-Cyclist-14-visited-bike-shop-check-brakes-hours-died-father-family-ride.html).
FFS nanny state x 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000


singlecoil

33,313 posts

245 months

Thursday 19th March 2015
quotequote all
Walford said:
Deano_Deano said:
I'd recommend you get at least a Level Two Cytech qualification as if the worst happens at least you'd be able to prove you had some real training. This springs to mind where a lad was killed (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2317500/Kadian-Harding-Cyclist-14-visited-bike-shop-check-brakes-hours-died-father-family-ride.html).
FFS nanny state x 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
What on earth has the above got to do with the government?

Celt

1,264 posts

191 months

Thursday 19th March 2015
quotequote all
Obviously nutrition is a massive area for cyclists. Could look at getting in the bars, gels and drinks if you find a lot of cyclist are using it. Be good to be known as having all the basic cycling supplies I'd imagine. Could maybe look at making your own flapjacks if you've got a vague idea what your doing in the kitchen. John turode, the guy from master chef, has a few cycle based recipes online.


Good luck OP hope you can turn it around.

General Madness

Original Poster:

365 posts

151 months

Thursday 19th March 2015
quotequote all
Again, thank you for all the replies.

I'd like to say that I am under no illusions that I will be competing with a real bike shop.
My goal is to provide a basic service to the local community and passing cyclists.
If someone walks in with £5k of bike wanting all moving parts replaced them I will be honest with them and tell them that I simply cannot supply them.
I intend on having a small selection of tyres, tubes, pads and cables. I am thinking along the lines of emergency replacements. If people want specific items then id try my best to source them.

With regards tthe the nutrition side of things, well that is something I have already thought of. I see they can be bought In bulk online.
I already do a massive range of flapjacks, oat bars etc...

I don't know how I stand on the qualification side of things, 10 years ago I worked for a sporting goods supplier and was sent for bike specific training by them. Cannot remember with who though!
Apologies if I've missed anyone's points. Typing on my phone right now.

Cheers for all suggestions