Jump to content

Opening my own motorcycle shop in cinci!

gixxie750

By gixxie750
in Daily Ride

 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 84
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

YSR_Racer_99
YSR_Racer_99

http://www.ohio-riders.com/showthread.php?t=70087

Moto-Brian
Moto-Brian

I'll say it on here as opposed to again on your site. YOU NEED TO DITCH BUYING FROM A NORMAL DEALER. You need to get in with Parts Unlimited, Tucker, Western, etc and get TRUE dealer cost on product

rick37 Experienced

rick37

Posted
Posted

Congrads on taking the leap, I hope you succeed and do well...

Some friendly advice from a fellow businessman....

1.PAY YOUR TAXES ON TIME

2.Keep track of your inventory(family and friends will be the first to steal)

3.make sure u put money back for a rainy day (it will come)

4.set realistic goals and reward yourself each time you reach those goals

5.get a payroll service if u have employees trust me u will not regret it

Again I wish u the best of luck and most of my suggestions are from learned mistakes..

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DTM Brian Veteran

DTM Brian

Posted
Posted
congrads on taking the leap, i hope you succeed and do well...

Some friendly advice from a fellow businessman....

1.pay your taxes on time

2.keep track of your inventory(family and friends will be the first to steal)

3.make sure u put money back for a rainy day (it will come)

4.set realistic goals and reward yourself each time you reach those goals

5.get a payroll service if u have employees trust me u will not regret it

again i wish u the best of luck and most of my suggestions are from learned mistakes..

+2389238427287287128472385723948717192475632174129

Link to comment
Share on other sites
KL9 F4i Collaborator

KL9 F4i

Posted
Posted

Congrats! Looks like a pretty legit place....Number one form of advertising is Word of Mouth...Do a good job and be a good friendly business man and you will have lifetime customers who will then spread your work to others....one thing I find is that a lot of places who "specialize" in one area or another generally can have some pretty shitty people who do not come off as nice working for them and people do not want to go to someone who isnt friendly even if you do a good job. Best of Luck to you. Hopefully, ill get the chance to stop in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
chevysoldier Grand Master

chevysoldier

Posted
Posted
Congrats! Looks like a pretty legit place....Number one form of advertising is Word of Mouth...Do a good job and be a good friendly business man and you will have lifetime customers who will then spread your work to others....one thing I find is that a lot of places who "specialize" in one area or another generally can have some pretty shitty people who do not come off as nice working for them and people do not want to go to someone who isnt friendly even if you do a good job. Best of Luck to you. Hopefully, ill get the chance to stop in.

Very true but there is a hitch. If a customer has a good experience, they will tell one of their friends. If they have a bad experience, they will tell three of their friends. Good luck Gixxie!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
gixxie750 Grand Master

gixxie750

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I'm only wondering if he's officially changed his position on the necessity of torque wrenches? :dunno:

Yea we will use them for all customer bikes. I will not be head mechanic thank god so costumers bikes will be safe. I personally will watch him use one and it will feel good knowing that its done 100% correct on other peoples bikes. My bikes will maybe just maybe get one used on them,but only if he is working on it. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
gixxie750 Grand Master

gixxie750

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Good luck Brandon! Hope the shop doesn't affect some of the other advertisers on your site...

The best part of all this is the site sponsors are all a big part of this! Once Jan 1st rolls around you will notice allot less site sponsors because we are going to team up with the ones who are really willing to help us out. Its going to help us have killer deals on ANYTHING these bigger shops can get and we all win!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
buildit Grand Master

buildit

Posted
Posted

From experience watching friends businesses go up and down I would suggest investing in a stockpile of used parts or bikes from commonly used bikes so you can part them out at discounted prices vs buying new parts. Other than that I think you will have to give up riding for the next year. Opening a business is a sacrifice to your personal life. I hear it's like raising a child for ten years all in one year. Good Luck and know success makes all the sacrifice worth while. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Moto-Brian Grand Master

Moto-Brian

Posted
Posted
The best part of all this is the site sponsors are all a big part of this! Once Jan 1st rolls around you will notice allot less site sponsors because we are going to team up with the ones who are really willing to help us out. Its going to help us have killer deals on ANYTHING these bigger shops can get and we all win!

I'll say it on here as opposed to again on your site. YOU NEED TO DITCH BUYING FROM A NORMAL DEALER. You need to get in with Parts Unlimited, Tucker, Western, etc and get TRUE dealer cost on products. Outside Lithium, none of them are solid vendors and they aren't getting any better deals than what you could. You are paying them to buy stuff and in this industry, margin is tight to begin with. Even Lithium isn't getting as good of deals as the top dealers out there. If in Ohio and you want a great dealer to buy from, go to Iron Pony and tell them what you are doing and buy from them. I can promise on tires and such, they buy better than ANY of the dealers you have currently and can get you probably the same % above dealer cost, but it will still be lower than the other guys because Iron Pony's dealer cost is lower on a lot of things... Don't let a dealer tell you they get the best deal at Parts, Tucker, etc. There are better deals than Platinum, etc...

You need to get the best deal on the best things right off the bat in an effort to not be constantly trying to keep the lights on.

I've said it once and will say it again - thin margins to get people in, to satisfy "buddies", to beat deals in the area, etc are a death sentence. You aren't going to satisfy everyone. One guy will want a certain tire brand, one will want another. You need to maintain the top three choices and leave it be. Special ordering will only go so far. If I come into a shop that I have to wait until you get it shipped to you before I buy and have to come back? I will go somewhere else...

Shops in Cincy are not good at carrying accessories. Only Cycle Specialties is... That being said, they ALL carry a decent supply of chemicals, tires and hard parts. You NEED to be at MINIMAL, on that same level or you will have a tough time right off the bat. It will go like gang busters as you will be new, but the novelty will fade and the challenge will get tougher.

DO NOT rely on friends. DO NOT ask on forums what to carry. YOU NEED TO SHOP OTHER SHOPS and take the best stuff and incorporate it into your shop.

Used parts, fairings, etc are all things that sound good on paper, but will absorb money that can be better spent elsewhere. Used parts is a really bad idea anyways. Unless you are a salvage dealer and then you can sell used parts. Otherwise, going in to a business where you think carrying used parts to satisfy customers that have less money is fine. Right up until a customer that wants new parts comes in and sees all you carry is used stuff. Catering to a lower price point customer is OK. But, they will require lower price point on everything. Again... Margin.

Get away from site sponsors as an outlet for stuff you can get. Get the cash to buy the minimum needed to be a Parts, Tucker and Western dealer. All three are the top distributors in the US for this industry and will battle each others prices to get you the best deal. The Tucker guy in your area is the shit and is a great guy and doesn't want to loose a dealer to Parts. Western is smaller and the rep force is pretty green, but they want to make a dent and would get you better prices when they can. Use them against each other and get the best margins to provide the best prices.

If you are planning on price matching, you will loose right away. People that go to a dealer to price shop and then go online are typical now. However, if it is there and in front of them, the people that buy to save 15% total and have to wait 1-2 days vs now, are not customers you want anyways. YOU CANNOT discount everything. That being said, you have to watch what you sell and what prices you list or you will price yourself out of a category immediately. You will need loss leaders, you will need to make bigger buys to price sone lower priced items within the store, etc. But, mainline stuff that is current and what people want are usually price protected online and not an issue. But, the issue then becomes what dealer has them in stock vs what dealer has to order everything. Then, if you order from another dealer, the timeline gets stretched even more... That will not last long.

WATCH the prices going direct also. Check with the Parts guy as to the price on Dunlops vs. if you are going to a vendor or similar. Dunlop may be able to sell through the race distributors, but understand that Dunlop itself wants to make money also and race tires are cheaper there vs. street tires. You can typically get a better price through Parts or the others on street tires vs. direct through a race distributor...

Anyways, good luck. But, ditch the dealers you are working with. Only consider another dealer on OEM parts and OEM chemicals. Everything else? Why pay them when you can make an additional 10-25%?

One final note... You better figure on not racing in 2011... My buddy did the shop thing and he was in that shop from open to close. Saturdays and Sundays especially... You are going to have to sacrifice a lot. Employees at this stage and for the start up you are suggesting is not going to support paying others to mind the shop. Sacrifices are needed and guess what goes first?;) I have always wanted to do a shop with the knowledge I have gained over the years doing this. However, the one thing I am not willing to sacrifice is my time with family and my hobby. Not yet at least...

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
gixxie750 Grand Master

gixxie750

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Liz I already know the sacrifice of this venture! I have been working 2 jobs 7 days a week for 2 months now. I have saved and saved and saved,sold my boat,sold all my stuff and selling the RV next. Along with my partner we are going to have the $ to get all the accounts we need along with all the major tools and bikes/inventory. As for the site sponsors they are just there to help get the things we cannot get without having an acoount. Say we need something special and we don't have an account so we just get it through them.

As for shopping around at other shops I can say I have been to every shop here locally and around the tri-state and I have to say they all mostly suck. I think its the customer service that is the worst part of all the dealers. Yes they can get anything I want,but most the time they don't have a clue what I even want and seemed annoyed to even look it up. The main factor in doing this shop is simply do to the full of suck feeling I get whenever i walk into a local "motorcycle" shop. I am deep into this sport along with my co-owner and we know bikes and have the passion. So once someone walks in for some tires and sees pics and vids of us and local people doing the sport they will see this is a place where they want to shop for the rest of their lives!

Prices and parts will be as low as we can make them and deals will be = to buddies and strangers. Everyone around cincy is willing to give us a try and know that if we are to survive that we have to make $. Used stuff is going to be very new to the city and we will have tons of used modern parts from the many salvage bikes we have and will buy. So if you need a stock reaset I bet we will have it used for a decent price.

I love reading all the info all of you jhave and never want it to stop so I can make this thing work. My main goal is to have a shop where you can get new or used parts and know that you can stand there and ask all the stupid questions you have ever wanted to ask from guys in the sport.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...