I have been exploring the feasibility of opening a community bike shop in my small-ish Northeast city. It looks like there's some opportunity here. As I search for start-up funding I want to be able to confidently tell funders that we'll become self-sustaining in a reasonable amount of time. My most promising lead likes to let go of the leash in 24 months. I'm anticipating most revenue to come from the sale of repurposed bikes out of the storefront, with some other special events, fundraisers, donations and memberships.
What can you tell me about your experience? Is this realistic?
Thanks, Matt
i personally know of several shops that exist with this model, but there are so many other factors involved that it's tough to credit the business model to the exclusion of the people involved.
depends on your shop traffic flow both in terms of bikes you get in, and customers to buy them. staff to refurbish them. money to pay for new parts with which to refurbish them. it's a huge puzzle.
i think the best thing to do is to diversify your income streams as much as you can. if you get 2 months in and realize that something about your setup--location, mechanical experience, market for used bikes--is not conducive to sustaining your operation, you'll have some other means of scraping by, instead of watching the entire thing fold in 6 or 8 months.
On Tue, Nov 20, 2012 at 4:10 PM, Matthew VanSlyke < vanslyke.matthew@gmail.com> wrote:
I have been exploring the feasibility of opening a community bike shop in my small-ish Northeast city. It looks like there's some opportunity here. As I search for start-up funding I want to be able to confidently tell funders that we'll become self-sustaining in a reasonable amount of time. My most promising lead likes to let go of the leash in 24 months. I'm anticipating most revenue to come from the sale of repurposed bikes out of the storefront, with some other special events, fundraisers, donations and memberships.
What can you tell me about your experience? Is this realistic?
Thanks, Matt
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Matthew,
What city, might I ask?
Thanks,
Dave Keene Bike Coop
On Tue, Nov 20, 2012 at 4:10 PM, Matthew VanSlyke < vanslyke.matthew@gmail.com> wrote:
I have been exploring the feasibility of opening a community bike shop in my small-ish Northeast city. It looks like there's some opportunity here. As I search for start-up funding I want to be able to confidently tell funders that we'll become self-sustaining in a reasonable amount of time. My most promising lead likes to let go of the leash in 24 months. I'm anticipating most revenue to come from the sale of repurposed bikes out of the storefront, with some other special events, fundraisers, donations and memberships.
What can you tell me about your experience? Is this realistic?
Thanks, Matt
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24 months is wholly realistic.
The Bikerowave gets the bulk of its revenue from the sale of parts (new tires, tubes, bar wrap, chains, etc., and a variety of used components), with stand time being the next biggest revenue generator. We don't have access to a regular supply of used bikes, so that's a fairly minimal source of revenue.
We're lucky enough to have a storefront on a main road with a bike lane, and we're in L.A., which has a large social cycling / DIY co-op community, which has made things easier.
Winter is obviously the slow season for cycling, especially in the NE, so unless you can convince your future landlord to give you free rent for the winter, I'd target opening in the spring.
Start planning now, and talking to the bike part distributors (QBP is the big one, but also SBS, J&B, Sinclair, etc.) to see what you need to do to get things sorted out.
There are a variety of business models (501(c)(3) non-profit, not for profit, for profit, etc.).
One of the key factors in determining the viability of your co-op is the number of hours you're able to keep the shop open and staffed, as unless you've got people donating money through paypal or the mail, it's fairly hard to generate revenue when the shop is closed. This means you've got to get a reasonably decent number of volunteers. (At the Bikerowave, we ask volunteers to commit to one 3-3.5hr shift a week, and we try to have at least 2-3 volunteer wrenches on a given shift. Our volunteer body seems to be about 30 odd people at any given time, and that allows us to keep the shop open 23 hours a week.)
It can be fairly easy to get overwhelmed, so if you can start putting together a team of people now, that will make it a lot easier.
On Tue, Nov 20, 2012 at 1:10 PM, Matthew VanSlyke < vanslyke.matthew@gmail.com> wrote:
I have been exploring the feasibility of opening a community bike shop in my small-ish Northeast city. It looks like there's some opportunity here. As I search for start-up funding I want to be able to confidently tell funders that we'll become self-sustaining in a reasonable amount of time. My most promising lead likes to let go of the leash in 24 months. I'm anticipating most revenue to come from the sale of repurposed bikes out of the storefront, with some other special events, fundraisers, donations and memberships.
What can you tell me about your experience? Is this realistic?
Thanks, Matt
Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit:
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
I was going to say not having paid staff, at least for the first while, will make self sufficiency much more affordable. It really helps to have a strong core of volunteers. If I were to start something in the winter I wouldn't expect to make much money but you may be able to get more donations and train a core of volunteers. You'd need a space and tools but not necessarily a store front yet. Spend the winter seeking out donated bikes/ parts, spend the time stripping or rebuilding bikes so you can have a base of used parts available. Get volunteers to work on this and maybe offer weekly repair classes to get the word out and get more community members involve as well as getting them more proficient in bike repair. I would also add that I'd lean strongly to a decentralized model of decision making. This gives volunteers more of a feeling of responsibility for the success of the space, helps split up tasks that need to get done, and helps the space to develop into a part of the community.
On Tue, Nov 20, 2012 at 1:37 PM, John Brown johnsbrown@gmail.com wrote:
24 months is wholly realistic.
The Bikerowave gets the bulk of its revenue from the sale of parts (new tires, tubes, bar wrap, chains, etc., and a variety of used components), with stand time being the next biggest revenue generator. We don't have access to a regular supply of used bikes, so that's a fairly minimal source of revenue.
We're lucky enough to have a storefront on a main road with a bike lane, and we're in L.A., which has a large social cycling / DIY co-op community, which has made things easier.
Winter is obviously the slow season for cycling, especially in the NE, so unless you can convince your future landlord to give you free rent for the winter, I'd target opening in the spring.
Start planning now, and talking to the bike part distributors (QBP is the big one, but also SBS, J&B, Sinclair, etc.) to see what you need to do to get things sorted out.
There are a variety of business models (501(c)(3) non-profit, not for profit, for profit, etc.).
One of the key factors in determining the viability of your co-op is the number of hours you're able to keep the shop open and staffed, as unless you've got people donating money through paypal or the mail, it's fairly hard to generate revenue when the shop is closed. This means you've got to get a reasonably decent number of volunteers. (At the Bikerowave, we ask volunteers to commit to one 3-3.5hr shift a week, and we try to have at least 2-3 volunteer wrenches on a given shift. Our volunteer body seems to be about 30 odd people at any given time, and that allows us to keep the shop open 23 hours a week.)
It can be fairly easy to get overwhelmed, so if you can start putting together a team of people now, that will make it a lot easier.
On Tue, Nov 20, 2012 at 1:10 PM, Matthew VanSlyke < vanslyke.matthew@gmail.com> wrote:
I have been exploring the feasibility of opening a community bike shop in my small-ish Northeast city. It looks like there's some opportunity here. As I search for start-up funding I want to be able to confidently tell funders that we'll become self-sustaining in a reasonable amount of time. My most promising lead likes to let go of the leash in 24 months. I'm anticipating most revenue to come from the sale of repurposed bikes out of the storefront, with some other special events, fundraisers, donations and memberships.
What can you tell me about your experience? Is this realistic?
Thanks, Matt
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On Fri, Nov 23, 2012 at 6:59 AM, Vincenzo loco <wormsign@gmail.com> wrote:
> I was going to say not having paid staff, at least for the first while,
> will make self sufficiency much more affordable. It really helps to have a
> strong core of volunteers. If I were to start something in the winter I
> wouldn't expect to make much money but you may be able to get more
> donations and train a core of volunteers. You'd need a space and tools but
> not necessarily a store front yet. Spend the winter seeking out donated
> bikes/ parts, spend the time stripping or rebuilding bikes so you can have
> a base of used parts available. Get volunteers to work on this and maybe
> offer weekly repair classes to get the word out and get more community
> members involve as well as getting them more proficient in bike repair.
> I would also add that I'd lean strongly to a decentralized model of
> decision making. This gives volunteers more of a feeling of responsibility
> for the success of the space, helps split up tasks that need to get done,
> and helps the space to develop into a part of the community.
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 20, 2012 at 1:37 PM, John Brown <johnsbrown@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> 24 months is wholly realistic.
>>
>> The Bikerowave gets the bulk of its revenue from the sale of parts (new
>> tires, tubes, bar wrap, chains, etc., and a variety of used components),
>> with stand time being the next biggest revenue generator. We don't have
>> access to a regular supply of used bikes, so that's a fairly minimal source
>> of revenue.
>>
>> We're lucky enough to have a storefront on a main road with a bike lane,
>> and we're in L.A., which has a large social cycling / DIY co-op community,
>> which has made things easier.
>>
>> Winter is obviously the slow season for cycling, especially in the NE, so
>> unless you can convince your future landlord to give you free rent for the
>> winter, I'd target opening in the spring.
>>
>> Start planning now, and talking to the bike part distributors (QBP is
>> the big one, but also SBS, J&B, Sinclair, etc.) to see what you need to do
>> to get things sorted out.
>>
>> There are a variety of business models (501(c)(3) non-profit, not for
>> profit, for profit, etc.).
>>
>> One of the key factors in determining the viability of your co-op is the
>> number of hours you're able to keep the shop open and staffed, as unless
>> you've got people donating money through paypal or the mail, it's fairly
>> hard to generate revenue when the shop is closed. This means you've got to
>> get a reasonably decent number of volunteers. (At the Bikerowave, we ask
>> volunteers to commit to one 3-3.5hr shift a week, and we try to have at
>> least 2-3 volunteer wrenches on a given shift. Our volunteer body seems to
>> be about 30 odd people at any given time, and that allows us to keep the
>> shop open 23 hours a week.)
>>
>> It can be fairly easy to get overwhelmed, so if you can start putting
>> together a team of people now, that will make it a lot easier.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Nov 20, 2012 at 1:10 PM, Matthew VanSlyke <
>> vanslyke.matthew@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I have been exploring the feasibility of opening a community bike shop
>>> in my small-ish Northeast city. It looks like there's some opportunity
>>> here. As I search for start-up funding I want to be able to confidently
>>> tell funders that we'll become self-sustaining in a reasonable amount of
>>> time. My most promising lead likes to let go of the leash in 24 months. I'm
>>> anticipating most revenue to come from the sale of repurposed bikes out of
>>> the storefront, with some other special events, fundraisers, donations and
>>> memberships.
>>>
>>> What can you tell me about your experience? Is this realistic?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Matt
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Thethinktank mailing list
>>> Thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
>>> To unsubscribe, send a blank email to
>>> TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org
>>> To manage your subscription, plase visit:
>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> To manage your subscription, plase visit:
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>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Thethinktank mailing list
> Thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
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participants (6)
-
Brian Drayton -
Dave Levasseur -
John Brown -
Matthew VanSlyke -
veganboyjosh＠gmail.com -
Vincenzo loco