Want some opinions about a business thing

[cbartlett419]

About a month ago I bought a small bicycle shop (http://tinyurl.com/TurboGoatFaceBook) in my little nook of the world. Everything is doing well, business is paying me and the bills and a little profit. The public transition went smoothly as the small town pleasantville hell is the reality. We are a full service bike shop, we carry Kona Felt and Electra bikes and Pearl Izumi apparel. The deal is http://tinyurl.com/Ruston-LA is a university town of about 40k people 9 months out of the year and then very abruptly that number drops roughly 15k. The town is that stereotypical old money strangling development story, but the good news is it's achangin' and developers have been crawling all over this place and in the next 5-7 years it's going to see some momentum in new development and the population grows by the thousands a year.

My idea is to slowly start to think about this thing in terms of an alternative transportation shop. I want to put a couple of Ct 90's or something of the like, nicely freshened up by me on a nickel/dime/late night budget on the floor and see if I can't make a little coin and do a couple more, besides riding season is almost over and the days will be slow and long.

Does anybody have a line on a source of donor bikes pre resto bikes, small displacement enduros?

I've put an add in my local craigslist with no hits and the ebay thing I've done but never for something like this and quite frankly I hate the bidding wars. I guess I'm looking for a reliable graveyard.

[Pedro-bot]

Damn Homie!! That's awesome. 

Sorry to say but I have no business savvy ideas for ya, other than suggest something you may have already thought of.

1. Have you placed said CL ads on larger market cities, maybe even here in Houston? One possible scenario would be to have a local contact (you have several in H-Town) that can maybe store the few bikes you secure and maybe make a trip once a good sized collection has accumulated. Storage issues would be the only hurdle I anticipate being the major concern.

Best of luck to you and keep up the good work man! 

[Raux]

there are A LOT of lowcost alternative transportation electric bikes in europe. maybe finding a source and do an import/export exchange.

at the local markets here in germany they sell 49cc scooters for about 1000 euro. don't need a special license for those here. maybe check the licensing for scooters in your state and see if selling inexpensive scooters that don't need special licensing will work.

also, have you thought about how to support your shop in the winter months? maybe bike storage with fees? get some hanging rakes for you store room. kinda like a drycleaner shop. or stock some some winter sport products?

oh also in a college town, courier bags.

[WetDuc]

I live in a college town as well (Tallahassee), and I know exactly what you mean by the fluctuating population and economy in these types of cities.
 
Your business idea sounds good in that selling alternative transportation, I think, is a sound plan.  But spending most of your effort acquiring cheap bikes sounds a bit counterproductive.  If your main target buyers are college students (with their parent's money), they just want something that runs and is not too expensive, so nice, name brand scooters, etc. are out of the game.  Are you planning to mostly build the transportation vehicles yourself?  If so, maybe you could look for the parts instead of the whole vehicle and spend the effort building instead of searching.  Also, would any brands of alternative transportation vehicles be willing to set up a business account with you as a dealer?
 
Just some ideas from me, good luck, I think your idea is pretty interesting and I'd like to know how you end up executing it (if you do).

[Bun-bun]

No help with electric bikes, but a few observations that may give you an edge;

Be sure you have enough saved to get you through the summer months, when the students are gone.

Check with your local police dept., and the police dept. in the nearest big city for bike auctions. Our local PD holds stolen bicycles for 90 days, then sells them auction style if noone picks them up. They could be resold in your shop at a significant profit.

Consider a line of cheap scooters, Roketa comes to mind. You can buy in quantity for about half retail. I'm East coast, so can't help with a distributor, but I'm sure there are several in your area.
Hope this helps.

[MotoCreations]

If you are near a college campus, might as well make money on that fact.  Friend in Oregon at the end of the school year goes on a buying spree with cash and buys mopeds / scooters / bicycles for cheap.  Students leaving and they can't transport or store for the Summer.  When they all come back in Fall, he has them cleaned up and available for purchase.  He has been doing it for 15+ years as a supplement to his regular bicycle business.  Almost always 100% rollover of products within the first two weeks of the new school year. 

As for selling "alternative power" vehicles?  Look at your demographic you are selling to -- if most are students, they have a limited income at best or funded via their parents.  Only a very small demographic will have $$$$ money to buy new / unique items.  Thus keep that in mind.

[sugarcrook]

If you are near a college campus, might as well make money on that fact.  Friend in Oregon at the end of the school year goes on a buying spree with cash and buys mopeds / scooters / bicycles for cheap.  Students leaving and they can't transport or store for the Summer.  When they all come back in Fall, he has them cleaned up and available for purchase.  He has been doing it for 15+ years as a supplement to his regular bicycle business.  Almost always 100% rollover of products within the first two weeks of the new school year. 

I was going to suggest this.  There are a few bike shops in Ann Arbor doing it and, from what I recall, are doing quite well. 

[CapnCrunch]

source some 50cc bolt to bicycle frame motors and do something like these guys

http://www.derringercycles.com/slideshow/gallery.htm

they quoted me $3500 for one with all the bells and whistles, and a matching helmet

it could be done for less.

[cbartlett419]

http://www.derringercycles.com/slideshow/gallery.html

Link didn't work.

This is all great shit, people, thanks. Our dead months are Jan and Feb. I'm not interested in becoming scooter dealer, as there would be minimum units and huge over head. My thinking is just resto on the cheap and have one or two on the floor. I'm not thinking there is going to be huge margins, but if one could pay for the next one, eventually there would be profit. I'm going to try Pedro's idea for now and see what happens.

[CapnCrunch]

fixed

[cbartlett419]

fixed

those guys are awesome, and that too could become a project

[metallimonster]

A guy in my home town takes older pedal bikes of all kinds and puts little  1-4hp motors on them and paints them up to look nice.  Sells the crap out of them.  Sounds like something you could look into.

[m1moto]

It seems that custom label single speeds made up from the parts bin is quite the item these days.
http://www.missionbicycle.com/
http://www.republicbike.com/

Hook up with a custom painter in town that can paint the frames for you. Brand them as TurboGoat and sell them in your shop and online. Online sales is a good way to get your business beyond the city limits.

You have a great brand name there with TurboGoat. Milk that "goat" with extra branded items like apparel, water bottles, parts etc.

Here's another one that is a bit more upmarket using old classic bike parts but a similar idea
http://www.bertellibici.com/index.php

[cbartlett419]

A guy in my home town takes older pedal bikes of all kinds and puts little  1-4hp motors on them and paints them up to look nice.  Sells the crap out of them.  Sounds like something you could look into.

where does he score the engines? and those custom singles are gorgeous, christ people the mind reels, what else?

[metallimonster]

Check out ebay I was looking at them yesterday.  About $150 for a kit that has everything you need to fit on any bike out there.  Includes tank, line, chains everything.  Also saw a couple good forums out there.

I like the older bikes that are all nice but it might be good for you to get some newer bikes and just put the motors on there.  They also have generator kits to run brake and headlights.  Really doesn't seem that hard to do.  I think I might try one this summer.