Creating a Business

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Creating a Business
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flag boxxerride
Posted: Oct 8, 2007 at 22:15 Quote
you should think about kelowna there is like 4 or 5 shops here but most of them suck if u had good prices and good staff and service i think you would have huge sucsess
flag supermanseatgrab
Posted: Oct 8, 2007 at 22:29 Quote
boxxerride wrote:
you should think about kelowna there is like 4 or 5 shops here but most of them suck if u had good prices and good staff and service i think you would have huge sucsess

Yea I know some people that have a nice summer house out in Kelowna...

If we based a shop out there, then It would have wakeboard accessories as well
flag supermanseatgrab
Posted: Oct 8, 2007 at 22:35 Quote
guerin wrote:
sounds like a great plan
but i think your thinking too big right now
with a skate park comes a lot more insurance costs
there is alot more maintenance need and a lot more space as well
another thing to put into consideration is that do reaserch on what the companies actually are because a lot of them operate out of one lager name
but good plans just look into the details more
also sounds like your still in school so i would see what your school offers in business courses
but good luck

Ya I am still in high school, but next year is when we would actually be thinking about putting our plan into action. You are right about us thinking too big, but this is what we plan to achieve, not all at once. It is expensive to start up a business, and it would be wise to start off smaller and then use future profits to expand our business and our customers. Also we cant get every single company as I have perviously stated because I am pretty sure that some distributors wont let you have all of their conflicting comapnys as competetitors in the same shop, thats why not all bike shops will carry Norco and Kona, or Race Face and Deity.
flag dotca
Posted: Oct 8, 2007 at 22:44 Quote
But you have to carry dobermann, burton, fit bike co, specialized, race face, circa, dc, orchid, lotek, and some other major ones that I can't think of, oh ya world industries, they have cool stuff to offer.
flag supermanseatgrab
Posted: Oct 8, 2007 at 22:56 Quote
dotca wrote:
But you have to carry dobermann, burton, fit bike co, specialized, race face, circa, dc, orchid, lotek, and some other major ones that I can't think of, oh ya world industries, they have cool stuff to offer.

I would carry dobermann for sure cause I am currently sponsored by them and I think it might help in the long run....DC is my personal favorite so they would be garunteed. I like Race Face as well but some of their stuff can get expensive so I would have to research them over Deity. Burton is a definate, and world industires makes some pretty dope stuff and they are quite high on my list, along with Plan B, and Flip, and Chocolate
flag nateb
FL
Posted: Oct 8, 2007 at 23:03 Quote
You have some start up money available? With the sound of your plan I think you are talking 6 figures worth just to get going. You think these lines like Burton for example just hand out accounts with good payment terms (90 days etc.) to anyone? I would bet you can expect to pay up front for your order for the first few business years, or have some serious collateral (parents house?) to make this happen. If you plan on purchasing your location, I hope you are sitting on a half a million plus to get into a suitable store front.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news man, but what you should be concentrating on is some post secondary education in business management, or perhaps get a job at a shop and put in 5 or 6 years there, from the ground up until you are managing for someone, dealing with the orders and accounts, receiving product, managing inventory etc, and then there might come a time when you are ready to go it alone. The worst thing you could do is start up when you aren't ready, run a shitty shop and have it die before it ever becomes anything good.

nate
flag supermanseatgrab
Posted: Oct 8, 2007 at 23:28 Quote
-nate- wrote:
You have some start up money available? With the sound of your plan I think you are talking 6 figures worth just to get going. You think these lines like Burton for example just hand out accounts with good payment terms (90 days etc.) to anyone? I would bet you can expect to pay up front for your order for the first few business years, or have some serious collateral (parents house?) to make this happen. If you plan on purchasing your location, I hope you are sitting on a half a million plus to get into a suitable store front.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news man, but what you should be concentrating on is some post secondary education in business management, or perhaps get a job at a shop and put in 5 or 6 years there, from the ground up until you are managing for someone, dealing with the orders and accounts, receiving product, managing inventory etc, and then there might come a time when you are ready to go it alone. The worst thing you could do is start up when you aren't ready, run a shitty shop and have it die before it ever becomes anything good.

nate

Well your right, but like ive said before, this is the big idea, we would start off smaller, and then go bigger from there.... There is more than one of us startign off this business so its not as hard to start up, also there would be help from sponsors to get this up and running
flag ezekiel
Posted: Oct 9, 2007 at 8:53 Quote
supermanseatgrab wrote:
Well your right, but like ive said before, this is the big idea, we would start off smaller, and then go bigger from there.... There is more than one of us startign off this business so its not as hard to start up, also there would be help from sponsors to get this up and running

Well what do you and your friends have in terms of sustained jobs to get loans? What do you have in terms of credit? It can easily cost you $250,000 to get a store front plus your initial stock. If you want some good ideas of startup fees, go to your LBS and ask to speak to the owner.

Another thing to remember, the more people you bring in, the more mouths to feed. So if you have 4 people paying in, then everyone wants their cut so for every $100,000 profit, each person will get $25000. That's a little better than minimum wage.

What do you mean by sponsors? Just because you're sponsored by Dobermann doesn't mean they want you selling their bikes. Its not like they are going to flow you bikes at cost that you can sell for your profit. They are already functioning on a small profit margin. So they're going to sell the frame to you at their website cost (maybe $50-100 off for buying bulk) to maintain their profit, then you're going to have to convince people why they should pay $600 from you when they can get it for $400 directly from the manufacturer with whatever custom pieces they want.

I entirely agree with Nate, find out how to run a business first then worry about running a business. This isn't an easy game to get into and you sure as hell shouldn't be approaching it as light-heartedly as you are. If you try and fail, you can easily be paying back loans for the rest of your life.

If you are deadset on trying to jump right into a business straight out of school, I'd say to look into franchising with someone like Cyclepath. You pay them a startup, they give you their distributors and a startup stock and all you have to worry about is a storefront.
flag mynameiscam
Posted: Oct 9, 2007 at 11:58 Quote
Go to college or university and take a business course for a year or two, then think about some of these things.

You can just up and own a business with your buds and have no idea how to run one. I can garentee you would fold in less than a month unless someone of your friends has a extreme amount of business knowledge already.
flag lancifer
Posted: Oct 9, 2007 at 12:26 Quote
My local shop owners pointed out to me when I was wanting to open their sister shop was, how much do I like to ride??? Daily?? Owning/running a bike shop drastically cuts into riding time in a big time way. Sure you get sweet parts, epic riding locales/ bros, BUT business is business! Something must get sacrificed, usually it's riding time. Good on ya for wanting to do what ya love, just do lots of asking/checking around, so you can be around for a long while, --Good Luck!!
flag davidmountaincycles
Posted: Oct 9, 2007 at 12:31 Quote
i have a bike co. that i run along wiht another guy in the village, because the local bike shop is a load of shit to be honest any one who bikes gets ther bikes and parts fixed thorw me or him and u can do it whenever it suits you. but there are some ways that you can make yourself an offical company and get trade prices for parts so you can get a profit for man hours and parts but still have the best rates around.
flag gibson19
Posted: Oct 9, 2007 at 13:18 Quote
I don't mean to rain on your parade... but I don't think this will work out for you at all... maybe in the future but not at this age... heres why

1. Your 17/18 (whatever) You and your friends probably have no experience creating and running a business.
2. Once again you 17/18 where are you gonna get capital???
3. With skate parks come liability and insurance... also costs lots of money.
4. Most bike companies wont just sell you products at decently discounted rates unless your buying a lot of them... and then you would have to have a big shop.

I think if you guys are still into this idea 3/4 years down the road once your out of a post secondary school and have enough money to maintain and stick out with this business then you should go for it....

Until then you could perhaps make an online business as those don't require a shop and are fairly self sufficient.
flag s1rmeowingt0n
O+
Posted: Oct 14, 2007 at 17:58 Quote
supermanseatgrab wrote:
guerin wrote:
sounds like a great plan
but i think your thinking too big right now
with a skate park comes a lot more insurance costs
there is alot more maintenance need and a lot more space as well
another thing to put into consideration is that do reaserch on what the companies actually are because a lot of them operate out of one lager name
but good plans just look into the details more
also sounds like your still in school so i would see what your school offers in business courses
but good luck

Ya I am still in high school, but next year is when we would actually be thinking about putting our plan into action. You are right about us thinking too big, but this is what we plan to achieve, not all at once. It is expensive to start up a business, and it would be wise to start off smaller and then use future profits to expand our business and our customers. Also we cant get every single company as I have perviously stated because I am pretty sure that some distributors wont let you have all of their conflicting comapnys as competetitors in the same shop, thats why not all bike shops will carry Norco and Kona, or Race Face and Deity.

also put this in consideration
if you were to start out by working full time for a year and on the weekends goto a bike store and help out the mechanics and learn the service section and then when you feel you are ready find a prime location and the shop doesnt need to be huge just enough room for a front till a couple work station and places for bikes and open up a repair store and develope customer relationships because thats what will keep people comming back and once you feel your business is big enough to expand look for a new location and lease it for a couple years and sell one kind of bike line and some accesories and just keep moving up

on a side note i took entrepreunership in school so i know how to make a decent business plan so if you need some help with that let me know im not a pro but i do know the basics
flag Termenaitor
Posted: Oct 15, 2007 at 4:43 Quote
ok look, if your really into this thing this is my opinion:
1) wait, get a job and learn buisness and money managing. you cant just walk in and start a shop without knowing anything. also in that time you and all your freinds get money from jobs.
2) ask a bike shop how they started, and whats good/bad stuff to do, what shipment company is good etc..
3) location. very important. you have to try a place where there are a lot of riders around but no good bike shops. usually in these places people order from the web parts. i think kelowna is such a place. and if rvc won't build up, then edmonton.
4) prices. you have to look into a place that wont cost a lot of money. rent can seriously bite into your income.
5) service. make sure that the shop has good service and its fun to buy there.
get some speakers and play music. plaster posters over the wall. have in the back a six pack, and next to it a rail and after that a box jump from wood and a wood path from there to a quarter pipe. it wont cost a lot. just tell the people while building the shop to put a couple dirt piles in the back for like 20$.
6) staff. you and your freinds should be the main staff.
have every one of you learn buisness management and the everyone learn some thing else. one will learn to be a bike mechanic, one will be manager and bike "seller",
one will take care of incurance, orders from the bike companys, and money management, another will be shop designer, publish the store, take care of sponsored riders, be site manager and make the demos and so forth.
7) alternative money making. find as much ways as you can to save/earn money. like if you have dj's then making contests that cost like 10$ for each guy and have prizes.
8 ) loans. check in a lot of places for the best deal for loans. i hear theres special loans for buisness starters too.
flag simtra-psycho
Posted: Oct 15, 2007 at 12:46 Quote
I honestly think that you should all work regular jobs for the next few years while selling parts and maybe some clothes and stuff out of you basement in your spare time. This would also give you time to get all you designs and stuff for your clothing line and shop together and give you some management skills and money.
Once you are well on your way then maybe you could buy a small storefront because you will be better known so buisness will be better right away.

 


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