[jonboy]

I'm looking for insight into what it takes (and what you get out of) owning or managing a bike shop.

Thanks

 

[PsychO!1]

Hahaha, i managed a shop for about 10 years.
Low pay and dealing with the public, work weekends and most holidays.
Do it for the love of bicycles, there's nothing else in it.

 

[sanjuro]

If you like to drink on the job, bike shop manager is a great position. Everything else sucks, unless you love bikes.

 

[Nobody]

Love:
Bikes
Poverty
Crabby members of the Public
The sentence: "I can get this cheaper online"

Ignore:
Richer friends working in Grocery Stores
Co-workers wrenching on bikes while stoned on cheap weed
Boss who thinks his employees are his biggest liabilities.*

Enjoy:
Some truly Excellent Customers
Making some Great Friends
Learning how to build wheels!

Get Over:
Profit and Loss Statements that have lots of red ink.**
Your Wasted Youth.
Dreams of Retirment.

*Yeah, i know - technically, Payroll is usually the largest cash liability in small retail operations. But having a boss that tells his employees this on a regular basis is just plain wrong.

**If you don't understand simple junk like P/L statments and Cashflow Charts, stay out of the ownership end.

 

[rideit]

I owned a shop for the last eight years, and i do NOT want to talk about it.












JK, it had it's great and not so great facets. More later....

 

[patineto]

owning a bikeshop is the best and easiest way to become Alergic to Bicycles

 

[jonboy]

Ouch - so many unsaticfying experiences.

I am considering getting involved in a well established shop. It is in a college town (Pop. 125k), very near campus, and the city has a pretty strong cycling community.

I have been a bike fanatic for nearly twenty years and know the industry pretty well, but I have never worked in a shop.

Am I crazy? (I have a wife and 5 month old daughter too)

 

[sanjuro]

the simple reality is this: do you have other job prospects? do they make you more money than the 25-35k you might pull in the first years of owning a shop?

is that extra money worth it to you?

 

[Ascentrek]

Love:
Bikes
Poverty
Crabby members of the Public
The sentence: "I can get this cheaper online"

Ignore:
Richer friends working in Grocery Stores
Co-workers wrenching on bikes while stoned on cheap weed
Boss who thinks his employees are his biggest liabilities.*

Enjoy:
Some truly Excellent Customers
Making some Great Friends
Learning how to build wheels!

Get Over:
Profit and Loss Statements that have lots of red ink.**
Your Wasted Youth.
Dreams of Retirment.

*Yeah, i know - technically, Payroll is usually the largest cash liability in small retail operations. But having a boss that tells his employees this on a regular basis is just plain wrong.

**If you don't understand simple junk like P/L statments and Cashflow Charts, stay out of the ownership end.

This sums it up perfectly.