Small bike business, would it pay?
Discussion
I've potentially got the chance to sub let a small area in a unit (bodyshop) to use for doing bike stuff. I can work on and build 95% of bike things and can spray/repair panels.
So the question is, if you had the skills and tools and were offered an area in a unit such as this, what would you use it for that relates to bikes, in order to make it pay? Salvage/parts/breaker? Service/repairs? Sell whole bikes? Bodywork/paint? What's the best chance?
So the question is, if you had the skills and tools and were offered an area in a unit such as this, what would you use it for that relates to bikes, in order to make it pay? Salvage/parts/breaker? Service/repairs? Sell whole bikes? Bodywork/paint? What's the best chance?
Hi Vince,
I rent a small area of a joint workshop solely for personal bike work and storage but have found the most profitable way to make money back from bikes is breaking the right bikes for parts.
For example my blade with smashed fairings but running, riding with MOT, over £1k worth of receipts people would only offer £600 for. I had the start bid as £800 and it didn't sell... twice
I broke all the parts and after getting bored with all the sundry items including subframe, all panels and a few bits and bobs I got back around £1200.
Also I bought a "project" XR 250 that I did a few bits too but mostly sat for 18 months. I'm about £300 up on that so far with lots of parts still to sell! It's a time consuming effort though and certainly not hugely profitable as a sideline but I am sure it could be if you started making the right connections.
If it were me I wouldn't bother but I'd consider buying s
tters at low prices to do up, but it's probably not going to be a huge money earner in my opinion
I rent a small area of a joint workshop solely for personal bike work and storage but have found the most profitable way to make money back from bikes is breaking the right bikes for parts.
For example my blade with smashed fairings but running, riding with MOT, over £1k worth of receipts people would only offer £600 for. I had the start bid as £800 and it didn't sell... twice
I broke all the parts and after getting bored with all the sundry items including subframe, all panels and a few bits and bobs I got back around £1200.
Also I bought a "project" XR 250 that I did a few bits too but mostly sat for 18 months. I'm about £300 up on that so far with lots of parts still to sell! It's a time consuming effort though and certainly not hugely profitable as a sideline but I am sure it could be if you started making the right connections.
If it were me I wouldn't bother but I'd consider buying s
tters at low prices to do up, but it's probably not going to be a huge money earner in my opinionI'd expect margins to be quite tight. I'd also expect the work to be quite seasonal too.
If I were you, I'd try and put together a basic business plan/budget. Work out what your outgoings would be for the unit, rates etc. Then work out how much you could charge for work (based on your experience of others charges), and how many you could do in a day. Add some cost for parts (again, experience of others would help), and you'll end up with profit or loss. The other thing to do with that plan is look at how much work you need to at least break-even, and have a think about whether and how you'd sustain that level... advertising? marketing? don't forget to add those to your costs.
So for example, if your rental costs £1000/month. Your bike service you sell at £120 and costs you £20 in parts. It takes you 2 hours to do, so you can fit 4 in per day. If we take 20 days per month, you'll make a massive profit of £7000, but you also need to sell 80 per month!!!! Likewise you break even is a more modest 10 services per month.
I've used simple numbers, and a lot of assumptions above, but it gives you an example of how to get a high level do or don't. To get a more accurate figure you need to factor in rates, drop-outs, insurance, phone bills, tea and coffee, tools, furniture etc. etc.
If I were you, I'd try and put together a basic business plan/budget. Work out what your outgoings would be for the unit, rates etc. Then work out how much you could charge for work (based on your experience of others charges), and how many you could do in a day. Add some cost for parts (again, experience of others would help), and you'll end up with profit or loss. The other thing to do with that plan is look at how much work you need to at least break-even, and have a think about whether and how you'd sustain that level... advertising? marketing? don't forget to add those to your costs.
So for example, if your rental costs £1000/month. Your bike service you sell at £120 and costs you £20 in parts. It takes you 2 hours to do, so you can fit 4 in per day. If we take 20 days per month, you'll make a massive profit of £7000, but you also need to sell 80 per month!!!! Likewise you break even is a more modest 10 services per month.
I've used simple numbers, and a lot of assumptions above, but it gives you an example of how to get a high level do or don't. To get a more accurate figure you need to factor in rates, drop-outs, insurance, phone bills, tea and coffee, tools, furniture etc. etc.
Also worth considering what you can bring to the business that is either unique or that adds value so you can increase your margins or generate lots of regular business.
Maybe custom bike building if that's your thing. Start off with something cheap and add value. That can be very time consuming and there's only so much someone will pay for a dolled up CB400.
There's a dealer here in Oxfordshire that specialises in classic bikes, he does a little bit of fettling to get them sellable and often has rare/interesting stuff in his inventory.
www.classichondamotorcycles.co.uk/
Maybe that's a model you can use as the bikes are old and don't need the latest computers/expensive equipment to work on.
Maybe custom bike building if that's your thing. Start off with something cheap and add value. That can be very time consuming and there's only so much someone will pay for a dolled up CB400.
There's a dealer here in Oxfordshire that specialises in classic bikes, he does a little bit of fettling to get them sellable and often has rare/interesting stuff in his inventory.
www.classichondamotorcycles.co.uk/
Maybe that's a model you can use as the bikes are old and don't need the latest computers/expensive equipment to work on.
Some good points from motorsportom.
Being personal I think you need to establish how far to go on any given job. Have seen your projects on here and whist very good/satisfying etc, if you worked things out, you would earn very little if you were doing it as a job. Again appreciate these at your own hobbies but you have to have a different work ethic to customers bikes.
I worked part time in a bike shop years ago, the first thing the owner told me is you do only what you're asked to do. By all means offer/quote to do extra work but be careful you don't sound like you're pushing for extra work.
As much as I'm not a fan of the hipster trend but it looks like money can be made with some imagination here but I fear that bubble will burst sometime and suddenly there's a lot of modified undesirable bikes around.
Whatever you decide, good luck.
Being personal I think you need to establish how far to go on any given job. Have seen your projects on here and whist very good/satisfying etc, if you worked things out, you would earn very little if you were doing it as a job. Again appreciate these at your own hobbies but you have to have a different work ethic to customers bikes.
I worked part time in a bike shop years ago, the first thing the owner told me is you do only what you're asked to do. By all means offer/quote to do extra work but be careful you don't sound like you're pushing for extra work.
As much as I'm not a fan of the hipster trend but it looks like money can be made with some imagination here but I fear that bubble will burst sometime and suddenly there's a lot of modified undesirable bikes around.
Whatever you decide, good luck.
Great food for thought, thanks all.
Some thoughts:
-lots of caff shops cropping up round here and I don't fancy being too customer facing, I prefer actual dirty work.
-Unit cost would be pretty low, shared with bodyshop partner.
-potential link to damaged/repairable stock being looked into now.
-wrt my own past projects, there's no way I would put that level of love into trade work, i'd starve.
Again, thanks for all input, it's a long term/potential escape plan but good to do as much research as possible up front!
Some thoughts:
-lots of caff shops cropping up round here and I don't fancy being too customer facing, I prefer actual dirty work.
-Unit cost would be pretty low, shared with bodyshop partner.
-potential link to damaged/repairable stock being looked into now.
-wrt my own past projects, there's no way I would put that level of love into trade work, i'd starve.
Again, thanks for all input, it's a long term/potential escape plan but good to do as much research as possible up front!
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